Disney invites Beauty And The Beast fans to be their guest for 30th anniversary special
The two-hour animated and live-action special–titled Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration–stars H.E.R., Josh Groban, and Martin Short, among many others
Aux News Disney
It’s a tale as old as time. Well, at least as old as 30 years, in the case of Disney’s animated classic Beauty And The Beast, which celebrated its pearl anniversary last year. Now, Disney is throwing a massive birthday party for the fan-favorite, much-adapted film in the form of a “two-hour animated and live-action blended special” featuring a truly impressive guest list of stars from both stage and screen.
Rita Moreno (an EGOT winner!) will narrate the special, which stars five-time Grammy and Academy Award winning recording artist H.E.R. as Belle opposite Josh Groban (who has also been nominated for an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award) as The Beast. Tony and Grammy-nominated actor (are you starting to notice a pattern here?) Joshua Henry will play Gaston, with Rizwan Manji as his loyal sidekick LeFou. Rounding out the cast of human characters is Jon Jon Briones as Belle’s father, Maurice.
Perhaps the most talented set of table-ware ever assembled is made up of Emmy winner Martin Short as Lumière, Tony winner David Alan Grier as Cogsworth, five-time Grammy winner Shania Twain (!!!) as Mrs. Potts, and Leo Abelo Perry as her teacup son, Chip.
Hamish Hamilton, who has directed every Super Bowl halftime show since 2010, is set to direct the special, which promises to “take viewers on a magical adventure through the eyes of Belle” with Jon M. Chu as executive producer. (Maybe if this is successful, Chu will take the hint and re-combine his two planned Wicked movies back into one. A dream is a wish your heart makes!)
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration airs December 15 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on ABC and will be available the next day on Disney+.
14 Comments
Why on earth would I wa….Shania Twain as Mrs Potts…I’m putting this in my calendar now.
Look its my favorite film, it means a lot to me, but I think I’m gonna pass. Just about every other adaptation post 1991 is kind of a mess, the 2017 version especially is heinous and frankly this could only go up in comparison. But that’s not saying much, sorry Shania, your not Angela Lansbury rest her soul.
I thought Emma Watson and Dan Stevens we’re great casting (I know Watson doesn’t have the best singing voice but she’s so very endearing).But the cast was failed by a very by-the-numbers approach to the movie. It just didn’t feel special and lacked the magic of the animated version.I fear this is going to happen to The Little Mermaid. It’s especially shitty to expose Bailey to enormous scrutiny and then let her down by offering up a bad movie. But hopefully that’s not the case.
Ive never been a Watson fan and I thought she was all around awful. Singing especially, I know I’m hopelessly bias because I know the original 1991 Belle and I think highly of her singing, but I found Watsons voice just, bad. I don’t intend to be cruel but it was a car crash of a singing voice.
One of my problems with the 2017 movie is all the unnecessary “trying to fill in things CinemaSins complained about” additions, like “If she’s Mrs. Potts, where’s Mr. Potts?” Or “Why were the servants also cursed?” And the answers were usually dumb.
Belle (2021) is not bad, it is a very different take on the story
The anime? Yeah it was pretty good, very loose adaptation to a point where I don’t consider it one, but yes its very good.
Love the animated film, still my favorite of the Disney movies… but jeebus, couldn’t even get through 30 min of the live action movie. Thought I’d either really love or just appreciate it for camp, but bleah.
Yeah it just doesn’t have anything appealing to say about it. Not a single thing is done better then the 1991 film and its not even enjoyable on its own two legs.
um math….1991+30 does NOT equal 2022….A 30th special on Aladdin would have been just as popular.
Crazy old Maurice, hmmm?
Slight correction just found out my friend Paige actually has a cameo in this project. Well, guess I gotta watch it now. That’s already an improvement over the 2017 remake, yes I’m so bias it hurts.
Typically a special like this would be a hard pass for me, but Joshua Henry has one of the most beautiful voices on Broadway today and Gaston has some of the best music in the score, so I’ll definitely be checking this out when it’s streaming on Disney+. I’ve been impressed by everything I’ve heard from HER, too, so excited to she what she does with Belle. Hoping they let Josh Groban do “If I Can’t Love Her” from the Broadway production (we do not speak of the awful new songs added to the live action atrocity) because otherwise the Beast has about two lines to sing in the original.