Ashman, who additionally served as the film's executive producer, died of AIDS-related complications six months before the film's release, and the film is thus dedicated to his memory.īeauty and the Beast premiered as an unfinished film at the New York Film Festival on September 29, 1991, followed by its theatrical release as a completed film at the El Capitan Theatre on November 13. Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken wrote the film's songs. The film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise in their directorial debut, with a screenplay by Linda Woolverton and the story was supervised by Roger Allers. Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg eventually dismissed Purdum's idea and ordered that the film be a musical similar to The Little Mermaid instead. Following the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Walt Disney Pictures decided to adapt the fairy tale, which Richard Purdum originally conceived as a non-musical. Walt Disney first attempted to adapt Beauty and the Beast into an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s, but was unsuccessful. The film also features the voices of Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury. To break the curse, Beast must learn to love Belle and earn her love in return before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose or else the Beast will remain a monster forever. Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (voice of Robby Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster and his servants into household objects as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (voice of Paige O'Hara), a young woman whom he imprisons in his castle. The 30th Disney animated feature film and the third released during the Disney Renaissance period, it is based on the 1756 French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (who was only credited in the French dub), and ideas from the 1946 French film of the same name directed by Jean Cocteau. Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released by Walt Disney Pictures, produced by Don Hahn, and directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise.