Beauty and the Beast: The Adaptation of the Famous Fairy Tale

The name of the play is “Beauty and the Beast.” It was executed at Disneyland Hollywood Studios, Bay Lake, Florida, USA on September 6, 2016. It is supervised and conducted, of course, because it is a play in Disneyland, by The Walt Disney Company. It is an adaptation of the original one entitled “La Belle et la Bête,” that was written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve who was a French author, influenced by various précieuse writers, that also published and promulgated oeuvres such as Le Phénix conjugal and La Jardinière de Vincennes. The 1946 film La Belle et la Bête was directed by Jean Cocteau.

The Walt Disney Feature Animation, that creates films and TV specials for The Walt Disney Company, also produced a 1991 film which was an animated musical romantic fantasy movie. As stated by Vanity Fair, Beauty and the Beast became “one of Disney’s profitable gambles.” The original film took home earnings of $425, which was already immense at that time, while the movie that was released 2017 passed $1 billion making Disney and Universal Studios rule the Box Office.

The story starts with a selfish and spoiled prince— who repudiated a rose from an old woman who, on one night, came at his castle and tried to give him it. What he did not know is that this old woman was an obscure enchantress and because of him being hostile and coldhearted, she mutated him to a beast, along with the people with him in the castle to punishing transformations, and cursed them that if no one ever learns to love the prince and them as well, they will remain like that forever. Years later— in a quiet French neighborhood, is a girl named Belle, a bibliophile and kind girl but no ordinary lass walks in her village and sings alongside with people and sees Gaston— his boastful suitor who’s obsessive with her— brags about how he “loves” Belle and how he wants to marry her but Belle politely refused. Soon after peculiar happenings, she finds herself in the castle and meets the “magical castle inhabitants” and they had a perception that she might be the one to break the curse and so they made a phenomenal dinner for her where they all sang along while serving her different foods. After that, Belle took a tour on the castle and when she reached the West Wing—in where she finds the rose, which was restricted, made the beast exasperated that caused him and Belle to argue. 

Belle told him that he should learn to control his temper while the others told the beast to be accommodating and affectionate towards her for she might be break the spell when she learns to love him. Meanwhile, Gaston— who got tired being rejected by Belle every time— convinced the villagers to come with him to the castle and kill the beast because he is dangerous. They all went there and when Gaston and the beast fought, Gaston stabbed the beast. Belle saw the beast almost lifeless and that’s when the time she admitted that she already loves him, exactly when the rose petal fell, which broke the curse and turned everyone back to normal like before. They kissed as a sign that they are happy and then they danced gracefully as an ending to their beautiful story.

“Beauty and the Beast” truly captures people’s hearts and makes them realize that it’s kind of ironic that we all have standards when it comes to having our significant other— but it’s always the wit and inner characteristics of someone that makes us fall in love. The story tells people should give more value to the personality of someone than his or her physical aspects because why settle for someone having perfect looks but their attitude is execrable?

In terms of the elements, well, the play was organized but if you compare it to movies or the original story, you will not get satisfied with it because the revisions done in the play made the story fast and a little complicated especially if you have already watched the original one. You will ask a lot of “whys.” Starting with directing, it was good. But like what I said, having too much changes or changing the important parts of the story made the story different comparing to the original story. The concept of having a love story by being attracted beyond looks was seen in the play. In terms of acting, actors were exaggerated which was tremendous because it is an important element in a play. The techniques in acting and changing in backdrops were creative because they didn’t have to waste time. The props looked a little rock bottom for me, especially the cloth because it just looked odd when it was used during the significant events. The stage is just right, but the play would’ve looked better if there were more people because the “villagers” looked inadequate— it could’ve made the scenes involving them realistic. The costumes were great but the props were too minimalized that you think that you feel like there’s something incomplete— something should be here, something should be there; it could’ve made the scenes better. And in the scene where Gaston was looking at the mirror, they should’ve used a real one because using the fake one just looked weird; it was like Gaston had no reflection. I didn’t like the second scene where villagers were singing while Belle was roaming around when she was walking, she should’ve just walked slowly until the song finishes. Regarding the backdrop, it was impressive because it changes quickly but in a way that didn’t look displeasing. The “Be Our Guest” scene was kind of fast and it was a lot different from the original one. 

Regarding the scene where the beast got mad on Belle because she discovered the rose, they should have emphasized it more because they didn’t really show that much on the reason why he was enraged. Then when the candelabra said that the beast should be patient with Belle because she lost her freedom and ‘her father’ in one day was kind of unfitting already because they didn’t show any scenes involving him. After that scene was when Belle already sang “Something There” where she said the lyrics “There's something sweet and almost kind but he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined. And now he's dear, and so unsure. I wonder why I didn't see it there before” but there really weren’t scenes before that proved he already changed. He just apologized but he did not change. Concerning where the backdrop was changing for the scene after that, the actors, especially Gaston, should have waited Belle and the beast fully covered before acting. After that was when the fighting scenes were involved— the villagers fighting with the magical inhabitants looked hilarious because they looked like they were smiling because of their costumes. When it comes to the beast and Gaston, they should’ve made their movements strong and exaggerated because they only looked like they were playing. When Gaston stabbed the beast, he should’ve covered it because the people saw he only stabbed him at the side. Then when Belle said he loved him to that broke the curse, it seemed that the story was really fast because there weren’t so many scenes where the beast and she was sweet. Lastly, in the ending, it could’ve been better if there was a spotlight for Belle and the prince, especially when they were dancing. And the kissing scene should’ve been here or it should’ve lasted here instead of the scene after the curse was broken because it’s already the ending.

There was really a big difference between the live play and the original story of the Beauty and the Beast. But the play still included and executed well the scenes where the lesson you should get is that the physical looks of a person does not matter as long as he or she is good at heart and knows how to change, even after a tragic past.

Adaptation being defined as “a movie, television drama, or stage play that has been adapted from a written work, typically a novel” is not the right term for the play because a lot of important scenes were not shown which makes you feel like there are really some things missing. And that’s why I think the original masterpiece of a person is what you should read or watch to appreciate them and the work they’ve done because it has everything and of course it is better— because it has no changes or alterations.

The play may not be as great as the original story or film but it’s still admirable that Disney was able to pull off on summarizing the story but making it comprehensible. There might be a lot of mistakes, missing scenes, and flaws, but these are okay and understandable since Disneyland does plays like this many times a day and it is not easy and not that practical to make it too long. Overall, if I were to rate it, I would rate it 7/10. Average but well done. If they accept the beast inside you and still love you after seeing you past and flaws, I promise you, they’re worth it.