Beauty And The Beast Song Free Download

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"Beauty and the Beast" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for the Disney animated feature film Beauty and the Beast (1991). The film's theme song, the Broadway-inspired ballad was first recorded by British-American actress Angela Lansbury in her role as the voice of the character Mrs. Potts, and essentially describes the relationship between its two main characters Belle and the Beast, specifically how the couple has learned to accept their differences and in turn change each other for the better. Additionally, the song's lyrics imply that the feeling of love is as timeless and ageless as a "tale as old as time". Lansbury's rendition is heard during the famous ballroom sequence between Belle and the Beast, while a shortened chorale version plays in the closing scenes of the film, and the song's motif features frequently in other pieces of Menken's film score. Lansbury was initially hesitant to record "Beauty and the Beast" because she felt that it was not suitable for her aging singing voice, but ultimately completed the song in one take.

"Beauty and the Beast" was subsequently recorded as a pop duet by Canadian singer Celine Dion and American singer Peabo Bryson, and released as the only single from the film's soundtrack on November 25, 1991. Disney first recruited solely Dion to record a radio-friendly version of it in order to promote the film. However, the studio was concerned that the then-newcomer would not attract a large enough audience in the United States on her own, so they hired the more prominent Bryson to be her duet partner. At first Dion was also hesitant to record "Beauty and the Beast" because she had just recently been fired from recording the theme song of the animated film An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). First heard during the film's end credits, the single was produced by Walter Afanasieff who also arranged it with Robbie Buchanan, and included on Dion's self-titled album (1992) and Bryson's album, Through the Fire (1994). The single was accompanied by a music video. Directed by Dominic Orlando, it combined footage of the singers recording the song at The Power Station with excerpts from the film.

Both versions of "Beauty and the Beast" were very successful, garnering both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as Grammy Awards for Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The single was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Lansbury's performance has been universally lauded by both film and music critics. While the Dion-Bryson version received mixed reviews from critics who felt that it was not as good as Lansbury's original, the single became a commercial success, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the better-known of the two renditions. In addition to returning Disney songs to the pop charts after a thirty-year absence, the success of "Beauty and the Beast" also boosted Dion's career and established her as a bankable recording artist. After "Beauty and the Beast" became the first Disney song to undergo a complete pop transformation, several contemporary artists were inspired to release their own radio-friendly renditions of Disney songs throughout the decade. Considered to be among Disney's best and most popular songs, "Beauty and the Beast" has since been covered by numerous artists. In 2004, the American Film Institute ranked "Beauty and the Beast" at number 62 on their list of the greatest songs in American film history.

The song is also featured in the 2017 live-action adaptation; sung by Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts during the film and also as a duet cover version by Ariana Grande and John Legend during the end credits.[1][2][3] Grande and Legend's version of the song is an homage to the cover performed by Dion and Bryson for the 1991 film.[4][5] The song was also performed by Shania Twain in the 2022 television special Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, and as a duet with H.E.R. and Josh Groban.[6][7]

"Beauty and the Beast" was written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken in 1990.[8] Intending for the song to be "the height of simplicity",[9] the songwriters drew much of its influence from Broadway music.[10] Due to Ashman's failing health, some of Beauty and the Beast's pre-production was relocated to a hotel in Fishkill, New York, near Ashman's residence.[11] Of the songs he wrote for Beauty and the Beast, Menken devoted the most time to the title song.[9] The track was first recorded by British-American actress Angela Lansbury, who voices the character Mrs. Potts, an enchanted teapot. The songwriters first introduced "Beauty and the Beast" to Lansbury as a demo recording, which was accompanied by a note asking her if she might possibly be interested in singing it.[12] Although a seasoned film and stage performer who had previously done her own singing for Disney in the musical film Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971),[13] Lansbury, who was more accustomed to performing uptempo songs,[14] was hesitant to record the ballad because of its unfamiliar rock style.[15] Although she liked the song,[16] Lansbury also worried that her aging singing voice was no longer strong enough to record "Beauty and the Beast",[17] and was especially concerned about having to sustain its longer notes.[18] Lansbury suggested that the songwriters ask someone else to sing "Beauty and the Beast",[19] but they insisted that she simply "sing the song the way [she] envisioned it".[15]

On October 6, 1990,[8] "Beauty and the Beast" was recorded in a studio in New York City accompanied by a live orchestra; the songwriters preferred to have all performers and musicians record together, as opposed to separating the singers from the instrumentalists.[20] On the day of her scheduled recording session, Lansbury's flight was delayed due to a bomb threat, which prompted an emergency landing in Las Vegas.[21] Unaware of her whereabouts for several hours, the filmmakers had begun making plans to reschedule the session until Lansbury finally telephoned the studio once she arrived safely in New York.[20] At the behest of one of the directors, Lansbury recorded a demo of the song for them to use in the event that no other actress was available to sing it on her behalf, or no character other than Mrs. Potts was deemed suitable.[13][22] Ultimately, Lansbury recorded her version in one take, which wound up being used in the final film.[22][23] Producer Don Hahn recalled that the actress simply "sang 'Beauty and the Beast' from beginning to end and just nailed it. We picked up a couple of lines here and there, but essentially that one take is what we used for the movie".[23] Lansbury's performance moved everyone who was present in the recording studio at the time to tears.[24] Lansbury credited recording the song with ultimately helping her gain further perspective on Mrs. Potts's role in the film.[25]

The scene in Beauty and the Beast during which the song is heard is the moment when Belle and the Beast's true feelings for each other are finally established.[27][28] Set in the ballroom of the Beast's castle, "Beauty and the Beast" is performed by the character Mrs. Potts, an enchanted teapot, midway through the film as she explains the feeling of love to her young teacup son Chip,[29] referring to the emotion as "a tale as old as time".[30] According to Armen Karaoghlanian of Interiors, "Belle familiarizes the Beast with the waltz and as soon he feels comfortable, he gracefully moves her across the floor".[27] Afterwards, the song continues to play instrumentally as Belle and the Beast retire to the balcony for a romantic candlelit dinner.[31] Believed to be the "centerpiece that brings Beauty and her Beast together,"[32] the sequence offers an insight into both characters' psyches. From the Beast's perspective, it is the moment he realizes that he wants to confess his true feelings for Belle to her[31] and "decides he wants to tell Belle he is in love with her".[33] Meanwhile, Belle begins to fall in love with her captor.[34] Writing for The Globe and Mail, Jennie Punter reviewed it as the scene in which "romance finally blossoms".[35] Film critic Ellison Estefan, writing for Estefan Films, believes that the sequence is responsible for "add[ing] another dimension to the characters as they continue to fall deeply in love with each other".[36] Explaining the song's role in the film, director Kirk Wise described the scene as "the culmination of their relationship,"[37] while producer Don Hahn pegged it as "the bonding moment of the film when the two main characters finally get together".[38]

The scene had long been envisioned as having a more live-action feel to it than the rest of the film, an idea that originated from story artists Brenda Chapman and Roger Allers, who were the first to suggest that the ballroom be built using computers.[40] As the film's executive producer, former Head of Disney's film division Jeffrey Katzenberg recalled that he began working on Beauty and the Beast deciding what its "wowie" moment would be, defining this as "the moment in the movie where you see what's on the screen and go, 'Wow-IEE'"; this ultimately became the film's ballroom sequence.[41] According to Hahn, the scene was conceived out of the filmmakers' desire to manipulate the camera in order to "sweep" the audience away.[42] Allers and Chapman conceived the ballroom in order to provide the characters with an area in which they could linger, and were surprised by the amount of artistic freedom with which they were provided by the animators, who agreed to adjust to the changes in perspective that would result from the moving camera.[42] While Allers decided to raise the camera in order to view the dancing couple from the overhead chandelier, Chapman decided to rotate the camera around Belle's skirt as the couple danced past it.[42].mw-parser-output .templatequoteoverflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequoteciteline-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0

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