Human Again was a deleted song from Beauty and the Beast that was restored in the 2002 Special Edition released on IMAX and the Special Platinum Edition DVD (also included on the 2010 Diamond Edition Blu-ray). It debuted as part of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical. It shows the enchanted objects cleaning the castle in preparation for the iconic Ballroom scene when they all assume that Belle and Beast will confess their love for each other. The song also expands the role of The Wardrobe giving her a solo. In the between scene Belle and Beast are seen reading Romeo & Juliet in the film and King Arthur in the musical. In the film it takes place between Something There and Beauty & the Beast. The song was composed by Alan Menken and lyrics were written by Howard Ashman. In the film it was primarily performed by Lumière (Jerry Orbach), Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers), Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), and The Wardrobe (Jo Anne Worley).
Lyrics
Lumiere: I'll be cooking again, be good-looking again,
With a mademoiselle on each arm
When I'm human again, only human again
Poised and polish and gleaming with charm
I'll be courting again, chic and sporting again
Mrs. Potts: Which should cause several husbands alarm.
(Lumiere: Ha, ha!)
Lumiere: I'll hop down off this shelf, and tout de suite be myself,
Lumiere and Mrs. Potts: I can't wait to be human again
Essentials: When we're human again, only human again
When we're knickknacks and whatnots no more
When we're human again, good and human again
Wardrobe: O, cherie, won't it all be top drawer?
I'll wear lipstick and rouge
And I won't be so huge
Why, I'll easily fit through that door
I'll exude savoir faire
I'll wear gowns, I'll have hair
It's my prayer to be human again
Mrs. Potts & Cogsworth: When we're human again, only human again
When the world once more starts making sense
Cogsworth: I'll unwind, for a change
Lumiere: (really? That'd be strange)
Cogsworth: Can I help it if I'm t-t-tense?
In a shack by the sea, I'll sit back, sipping tea
Let my early retirement commence
Far from fools made of wax, I'll get down to brass tacks and real-A-A-A-x!
Chorus: When I'm human again!
So sweep the dust from the floor
Let's let some light in the room
I can feel, I can tell someone might break the spell any day now
Shine up the brass on the door
Alert the dust pail and broom
If it all goes as planned our time may be at hand any day now
Open the shutters and let in some air
Mrs. Potts: Put these here and put those over there
Chorus: Sweep up the years, the sadness and tears and throw them away
We'll be human again, only human again
When the girl finally sets us all free
Cheeks a-blooming again, we're assuming again
We'll resume our long-lost joie de vivre
We'll be playing again, holidaying again
And we're praying it's ASAP
We will push, we will shove
They will both fall in love
And we'll finally be human again...
[Transition to the library]
Belle: "...There never was a story of more worth than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
Beast: Could you read it again?
Belle: Well, here. Why don't you read it to me?
Beast: Uhhh...Alright.
Hmm...I-I can't.
Belle: You mean you never learned?
Beast: I learned, a little. It's just been so long.
Belle: Well here, I'll help you. Let's start...here.
Beast: Here, tw-o-
Belle: Two.
Beast: Two (I knew that). Two households, both alike in dignity...
We'll be dancing again, we'll be twirling again
We'll whirling around with such ease
When we're human again, only human again
We'll go waltzing those old one-two-threes
We'll be floating again, we'll be gliding again
Stepping, striding, as fine as you please
Like a real human does, I'll be all that I was
On that glorious morn, when we're finally re-born
And we're all human again!
Broadway Lyrics
Lumiere:
Ha ha, we, my friends.
The day we have waited for may be at hand!
Mrs. Potts:
Oh, only if that were true,
Lumiere!
Lumiere:
Aaah...human again
Mrs. Potts:
Human again
Lumiere:
Yes, think of what that means!
Lumiere:
I'll be cooking again
Be good-looking again
With a mademoiselle on each arm
When I'm human again
Only human again
Poised and polished and gleaming with charm...
I'll be courting again
Chic and sporting again
Mrs. Potts:
Which should cause sev'ral husbands alarm!
Chip:
I'll hop down off the shelf
Lumiere:
And toute suite be myself
Chip:
I can't wait to be human again
Mme. De La Grande Bouche, Mrs. Potts, Babette:
When we're human again
Only human again
When we're knickknacks and whatnots no more
Chip:
Little push, little shove
They could, whoosh fall in love
Mme.
De La Grande Bouche:
Ah, cherie, won't it all be top-drawer
I'll wear lipstick and rouge
And I won't be so huge
Why, I'll easily fit through that door
I'll exude savior-faire
I'll wear gowns! I'll have hair!
It's my prayer to be human again
Cogsworth:
When I'm human again
Only human again
When the world once more making sense
I'll unwind for a change
Lumiere:
Really? That'd be strange!
Cogsworth:
Can I help it if I'm t-t-tense?
In a shack by the sea
I'll sit back sipping tea
Let my early retirement commence
Far from fool made of wax
I'll get down to brass tacks and relax
All:
When I'm human again
So sweep the dust from the floor!
Let's let some light in the room!
I can feel, I can tell
Someone might break the spell
Any day now!
Lumiere/Babette:
Shine up the brass on the door!
Alert the dustpail and the broom!
All:
If all goes as planned
Our time may be at hand
Any day now!
Mrs. Potts, Egg Timer, Whisk:
Open the shutters and let in some air
Mrs. Potts:
Put these here and put those over there
All:
Sweep up the years
Of sadness and tears
And throw them away!
Belle:
When Guenèvire heard that Arthur was slain,
she went away to a convent, and no one could
make her smile again. The end.
Beast:
What a beautiful story
Belle:
Oh, I knew you would like it!
I would like to ask you something
Beast:
What's that?
Belle:
A second chance. Would you have dinner with me tonight?
Beast:
Huh? Me? You? Well, that would be,
I mean -- Oh, yes!!
All:
When we're human again
Only human again
When the girl fin'lly sets us all free
Cheeks a-bloomin' again
We're assumin' again
We'll resume our long lost joie de vie
We'll be playin' again
Holiday' again
And we're prayin' it's A-S-A-P
When we cast off this pall
We'll stand straight, we'll walk tall
When we're all that we were
Thanks to him, thanks to her
Coming closer and closer
And closer and...
We'll be dancing again!
We'll be twirling again!
We'll be whirling around with such ease
When we're human again
Only human again
We'll go waltzing those old one-two-threes
We'll be floating again!
We'll be gliding again!
Stepping, striding as fine as you please
Like a real human does
I'll be all that I was
On that glorious morn
When we're fin'lly reborn
And we're all of us human again!
Production
The song was originally written for the 1991 film, but was cut due to pacing issues and its length. It was included in the 1994 Broadway musical, and was brought back for the 2002 DVD release of the film.
Don Hahn explained: "Kirk and Gary and I were sitting around talking about the Star Wars Special Edition that had just come out and Kirk jokingly suggested, 'wouldn't it be fun to do a special edition of Beauty with Human Again or new material in it?' When the head of Feature Animation said he thought it was a great idea, we stopped joking and began thinking about how we could actually do it. We had storyboarded the sequence for the original production, but completely reworked it for this special edition of the film."
Kirk Wise (who directed the original film) also directed the reanimated sequence, with co-director of Beauty and the Beast Gary Trousdale. Wise explained, "we had many of the same animators, same background painters, same artists that worked on the sequence".
Composition
Show Biz Training: describes the song as a "beautiful waltz".
Removal
Human Again is considered as somewhat of a controversial song within Beauty & the Beast. DigitalMediaFX said "there's a reason that the "Human Again" song was not a part of the original Beauty and the Beast - it didn't quite fit", and cites Disney's own statement, "...the song posed story problems which couldn't be solved in a timely manner. Originally conceived as an 11-minute musical number, the song was ultimately replaced with the shorter and more direct 'Something There'". Show Biz Training explains the song was cut "in spite of the writers' and film makers' strong desire to keep it in the film". They eventually chose service to the story over self-indulgence and reluctantly cut the number.
Kirk Wise explained the motivation behind the song's removal from the film and reinstatement in the stage version thus: "Back when it was originally written and storyboarded it was initially 11 minutes long, which is a pretty heavy milieu for an animated feature that already had a lot of songs. Length was one problem and the structure of the song was also a problem at the time because it indicated the passage of time, months of time, leaves falling. That presented a couple story problems for us because we kept asking, 'Well what? Is Maurice wandering around in the woods all this time? Is Gaston just sitting around in a tavern drinking beer after beer growing a long white beard?' we couldn't quite figure out what to do with the other characters during this time that Bella's at the castle and keep the motor of the story running. Those were the reasons for cutting it at the time. It wasn't until we saw the Broadway version where Alan had made a substantial edit in the music and had found a slightly different place for the song to sit, so we realized there was a way to make this work. The bridge which was all about time passing was removed... so that issue went away. And Alan did a couple of additional edits for us when we were tailoring it for the movie, and now it works. There's a great little suite of music now that starts with "Something There," the song that B&B sing while they're having a little snowball fight, which segues into "Human Again" which gives the object perspective on what they hope for when B&B fall in love and that transitions into "Beauty and the Beast" the ballad, which is the culmination of their relationship. So, it's a nice little story within a story now."
Reception
DigitalMediaFX said "The first half of the song (including the intro to it) seem a bit weak, yet it got better as the song continued. Then, three-fourths the way through the song there is a scene where Belle is teaching Beast to read. This single sequence, albiet short, deepened the story and the relationship issue. It is definitely an excellent addition to the movie. I also must admit that it was quite interesting to have something "new" to see. But at the same time, "Human Again" almost makes it feel like there is "one too many" songs in this classic, particularly coming so soon after "Something There." I think the movie would have been perfect if the "learning to read" scene had been added without the song". A review of Beauty and the Beast 3D by Collider noted the exclusion of the number, deeming it a smart move due to not being a "bad song", but being "nowhere near as good as the rest of the number and it slows down the pacing".
External Links
 |
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Human Again (Beauty and the Beast). 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. |
