"Beauty and the Beast" is a song by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. It was written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Walt Disney Pictures' 30th animated feature film Beauty and the Beast (1991), serving as its theme song. Originally recorded by Angela Lansbury in her film role as Mrs. Potts, it was featured as the final track on the film's soundtrack album, from which it was released on November 16, 1991. Additionally, Dion included the song on her eponymous seventeenth studio album. A pop ballad, it describes the relationship between the film's main characters, Belle and the Beast.
The song has garnered a positive reception from critics, who praised its dual role as both a musical number and a commercial single. The song won several awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, Academy Award for Best Original Song and Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. As a single, it was a commercial success, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming both Dion and Bryson's second top ten hit in the United States. Its success has been credited with establishing Dion's career as a singer.
The release of the song was accompanied by a music video, directed by Dominic Orlando. Dion and Bryson have performed the song several times live, including at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992 and the 35th Grammy Awards in 1993. Both singers have included the song on some of their respective greatest hit and compilation albums. It has been covered numerous times by various performers. Both American pop group Jump5 and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks have recorded pop renditions of the song for the film's platinum and diamond edition re-releases.
Background and recording
Film
After ordering director Richard Purdum's attempt at adapting Beauty and the Beast into an animated feature film scrapped and restarted, Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered that the film be written in the style of a Broadway musical reminiscent of The Little Mermaid (1989), hiring lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken to write its songs. Ashman and Menken, who had just recently completed scoring The Little Mermaid, had already begun writing songs for their then-upcoming animated project Aladdin (1992). Ashman, who had been recently diagnosed with HIV, was initially reluctant to join the struggling production crew. However, he eventually agreed.
Angela Lansbury provided both the speaking and singing voices of the character Mrs. Potts in the film. She told The Huffington Post that Ashman and Menken had originally written the song in the style of a rock ballad. Although she enjoyed it, she felt incapable of recording it because of the unfamiliar style in which it was written. She questioned the songwriters' choice in her, asking them, "Are you sure you want me to do this?" She also felt as though her voice she was not in suitable condition to record "Beauty and the Beast", feeling insecure about having to sustain its several "long, extended notes". Ashman and Menken simply advised her "to sing it the way [she] envisioned it". Ultimately, she successfully recorded it in only one take.
Single
Because the film garnered three separate Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song, producer Don Hahn expressed concern that this would result in a tie. In an attempt to persuade the audience to vote for the film's title song, Disney decided to release it as a single. Menken considered it a "turning point" in his career, explaining that it was the first time one of his compositions was re-arranged for such a purpose. "[Music producer] Walter Afanasieff...molded ["Beauty and the Beast"] into something very different than I ever intended," Menken reflected. "Walter made it his own". Because the studio could not afford a "big singer," they hired Céline Dion, who was virtually unknown in the United States at the time, to record a pop version of it. Fearing she would not draw much attention because of her relative obscurity, Disney hired Peabo Bryson, who was a more popular and successful artist at the time, to record the song alongside her in the form of a duet. Ultimately, it won Best Original Song. Its success is often accredited with introducing her to a worldwide audience and establishing her career as an international recording artist.
Lyrics and Composition
The song is a romantic pop ballad. Damon Smith of the Chichester Observer described the its melody as "haunting," while Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum referred to Lansbury's rendition as a "lullaby". Commonly identified as the film's theme song, its lyrics describe the relationship between the film's two main characters, Belle and the Beast, and specifically addresses how it has managed to transform them, allowing their friendship (and later, love) to grow. One reviewer writing for JoBlo.com wrote that the song serves its purpose in the film by "offering a sure sign of romance between" Belle and the Beast.
Lyrics
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast
Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast
Versions
During the film, the song is performed by Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, and is heard whilst Belle and the Beast dance in the castle ballroom. Another version is performed by Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson at the end of the film. This was also the version released on a CD single and is also included on Dion's self-titled album (1992). A music video, directed by Dominic Orlando, was released in January 1992.
- Lansbury, Dion, and Bryson all performed the song live on stage during the 64th Academy Awards. Dion and Bryson performed it also at the Grammy Awards in 1993.
- In 1998, a version of the song, called "Beauty and the Bees", was made for the 3D movie It's Tough to Be a Bug!'s queue at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney California Adventure.
- Paige O'Hara covered it along with other non-Disney songs on her album Dream with Me.
- The song was included later on Céline Dion's greatest hits albums All the Way… A Decade of Song (1999) and My Love: Essential Collection (2008).
- In 2002, the song was covered by the group Jump5 and placed on the CD, Disneymania.
- In 2005, Julie Andrews selected the song for her album Julie Andrews Selects Her Favorite Disney Songs.
- A brief minor version can be heard in the score of Enchanted, which, not coincidentally, was also composed by Alan Menken.
- In 2009, the CD Disney's Dream Pop: Tribute to Tokyo, the song is covered by the group Bright.
- In 2010, Jordin Sparks recorded her cover version of the song and filmed an accompanying music video with director Philip Andelman.
- In the Phineas and Ferb episode "Gaming the System", the notes to the lyric, "Tale as old as time" can be heard when Perry, Heinz Doofenshmirtz, and Candace get clothed in ball gowns.
Once Upon a Time
In the first episode of the fourth season of the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, Mr. Gold plays the song when he dances with Belle.
It reappears, and in a much fuller orchestrated form, in the Season 6 premier, as Rumple uses the song in an attempt to awaken Belle from her nightmarish dreamscape.
Kingdom Hearts II
Template:Listen An arrangement of the song created by Yoko Shimomura plays during the finale of the episode at the Beast's Castle when the Beast and Belle are dancing on the courtyard of the castle.
Reception
The song was very successful on the charts around the world, becoming Dion's first international hit. The single reached number 9 in the U.S. (number 8 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales and number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay) and hit top 10 in Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It was certified gold in the U.S. for selling over 500,000 copies, and platinum in Japan (100,000 copies sold). Thanks to its success, the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack was certified 3x platinum in the U.S., for selling over 3,000,000 copies.
Other Versions
| Performer(s) | Title(s) | Translations(s) | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alma Koleci | Albanian | ||
| ? | Arabic | ||
| Miriam Peracchi | Brazilian Portuguese | ||
| Людмила Чешмеджиева (Lyudmila Cheshmedzhieva) | Bulgarian | ||
| 陳麗卿 (Chan Lai Hing) | Cantonese | ||
| Marta Martorell | Castilian Spanish | ||
| Denis Grabarić | Croatian | ||
| Gabriela Vránová | Czech | ||
| Kirsten Cenius | Danish | ||
| Henny Orri | Dutch | ||
| Anneli Saaristo | Finnish | ||
| Lucie Dolène (1992 version) Christiane Legrand (2002 version) |
French | ||
| Ingeborg Wellmann | German | ||
| Χρυσούλα Διαβάτη (Chrisoula Diavati) | Greek | ||
| רחל אטאס (Rachel Attas) | Hebrew | ||
| मैरियन डी'क्रूज़ (Marianne D'Cruz Aiman) | Hindi | ||
| Erzsi Galambos | Hungarian | ||
| Éva Ásrún Albertsdóttir | Icelandic | ||
| Fransisca Sri Setyaningsih | "Kisah Abadi" | "Tale as Old as Time" | Indonesian |
| Isa Di Marzio | Italian | ||
| ポプラ (Popura) | "美女と野獣"
(Bijo to Yajū) |
"Beauty and the Beast" | Japanese |
| Жабелланы Асият (Jabellanı Asiyat) | Karachay-Balkar | ||
| 윤복희 (Yun Bok-Hui) | Korean | ||
| Norma Herrera | Latin American Spanish | ||
| Malay | |||
| 崔幗夫 (Cui Guo-Fu) | Mandarin | ||
| Marathi | |||
| Wenche Foss | Norwegian | ||
| Krystyna Tkacz (1993 version) Mirosława Krajewska (2002 version) |
Polish | ||
| Helena Rocha | Portuguese | ||
| Putonghua | |||
| Alexandrina Halic | Romanian | ||
| Елена Дриацкая (Elena Driatskaya) | Russian | ||
| Jeanette Švoňavská | Slovak | ||
| Meta Velander | Swedish | ||
| ? (1991 version) คุณสุกานดา ศิริธนาภิรมย์ (Sukarnda Siritanapirom) (2002 version) |
Thai | ||
| Nukhet Duru | Turkish | ||
| Надія Кондратовська (Nadia Kondratowska) | "Давня, як сам Час, Казка про Любов" | "It's as Old as Time itself, Tale about the Love" | Ukrainian |
Awards
The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1992, marking Menken and Ashman's (posthumously) second win after the 1989 award for "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. A couple of months before, it had also won the 1992 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It later went on winning two Grammy Awards in 1993, for the Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The song was also nominated for two other important Grammys: Record of the Year and the Song of the Year. In Canada, it won a Juno Award for the Single of the Year.
Formats and track listings
Worldwide CD single
- "Beauty and the Beast" – 4:04
- "The Beast Lets Belle Go" (Instrumental) – 2:19
Canadian CD maxi single
- "Beauty and the Beast" – 4:04
- "The Beast Lets Belle Go" (Instrumental) – 2:19
- "Des mots qui sonnent" – 3:56
- "Délivre-moi" (Live) – 4:19
Official Versions
- "Beauty and the Beast" (Radio Edit) – 3:33
- "Beauty and the Beast" (Album Version) – 4:04
- "Beauty and the Beast" (Instrumental) – 4:07
Charts and Certifications
Charts
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Year-end Charts
Certifications
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Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- Every single verse of the song has five syllables.
- The song was parodied on Dave the Barbarian, called "Beauty and the Zit."
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Beauty and the Beast (Disney song). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |
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