24 Fascinating “Beauty And The Beast” Secrets That Will Leave You Stunned
Like how the actress who voices Belle found out by accident that she had gotten the part…
It’s been a full 25 years since we were gifted with the Disney magic that is Beauty and the Beast.
In honor of its special anniversary, BuzzFeed.com recently spoke with the voice of Belle, Paige O’Hara, and the lead animator for Belle, Mark Henn. They also attended the film’s San Diego Comic-Con panel to get as many delightful details about the movie as they could.
Here’s what they learned:
1. Some actors didn’t get the role of the beast because they sounded “too handsome.”
2. During the auditions, those deciding on casting would sometimes “shield their eyes” to block out the voice actors so they could try and imagine them speaking as their characters.
3. To get into character, Robby Benson — the voice of Beast — would request that all of the lights in the recording studio be turned off. The only light you could see was the one illuminating the script in front of him.
4. The ballroom scene where Belle and Beast are dancing together took months to complete.
Although the scene itself wasn’t long, Henn said it took “several months, three to six months,” to illustrate.
5. And the guests in the wedding dance scene are frozen in time partly due to budgeting issues.
As Mark Henn said, “Those kind of shots are notorious for being expensive. [Also], if you look at the end of Sleeping Beauty, you’ll see a very similar situation where all the peripheral characters are largely held, because all you’re focusing on are the main characters… In this one, it’s the same idea, we’re just focused on Belle and the prince dancing and we don’t really worry about [the others].”
6. Apparently Lumière is one of the only characters with a French accent because, well, Jerry Orbach just wanted to have one.
“Jerry just wanted to…and you know, he’s the great Jerry Orbach,” said Paige O’Hara.
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In honor of its special anniversary, BuzzFeed.com recently spoke with the voice of Belle, Paige O’Hara, and the lead animator for Belle, Mark Henn. They also attended the film’s San Diego Comic-Con panel to get as many delightful details about the movie as they could.
Here’s what they learned:
1. Some actors didn’t get the role of the beast because they sounded “too handsome.”
2. During the auditions, those deciding on casting would sometimes “shield their eyes” to block out the voice actors so they could try and imagine them speaking as their characters.
3. To get into character, Robby Benson — the voice of Beast — would request that all of the lights in the recording studio be turned off. The only light you could see was the one illuminating the script in front of him.
4. The ballroom scene where Belle and Beast are dancing together took months to complete.
Although the scene itself wasn’t long, Henn said it took “several months, three to six months,” to illustrate.
5. And the guests in the wedding dance scene are frozen in time partly due to budgeting issues.
As Mark Henn said, “Those kind of shots are notorious for being expensive. [Also], if you look at the end of Sleeping Beauty, you’ll see a very similar situation where all the peripheral characters are largely held, because all you’re focusing on are the main characters… In this one, it’s the same idea, we’re just focused on Belle and the prince dancing and we don’t really worry about [the others].”
6. Apparently Lumière is one of the only characters with a French accent because, well, Jerry Orbach just wanted to have one.
“Jerry just wanted to…and you know, he’s the great Jerry Orbach,” said Paige O’Hara.
