Beauty and The Beast (musical) - Differences Between The Musical and Film

Differences Between The Musical and Film

• In the film prologue it is stated that the enchanted rose "would bloom until 21st year." In the stage adaptation this is changed to an unspecified "many years."
• During the opening song “Belle,” instead of sitting at a fountain and singing about the contents of her favorite book to a passing herd of sheep, Belle grabs the arm of a nearby townsperson and shows them instead.
• The three town Bimbettes plead Gaston to choose one of them over Belle on his way to her cottage- he smugly assures them that his marriage to Belle will have no effect on any future rendezvous he will most likely have with them.
• Gaston’s marriage proposal to Belle takes place in her front yard as she attempts to hang laundry; there are also no villagers present to witness Gaston’s humiliation until after she runs inside.
• Philippe the horse is removed from the story. Instead, Belle knits Maurice a scarf for good luck for his trip to the inventors’ fair. After he becomes prisoner of The Beast, the scarf is found in the woods by LeFou- having been sent there by Gaston to fetch a deer for the feast after his presumed marriage to Belle- and worn back to town (not knowing who it belongs to), thereby alerting Belle to her father’s disappearance. She heads into the woods on foot.
• Maurice’s wood-chopping machine is not located in the basement of the home he and Belle share- instead it is on the back of a bicycle-like contraption, which he rides to the fair in place of Philippe.
• LeFou sings many of the male villagers’ lines during “Gaston.”
• The Feather Duster's name is Babette. In the film, it never says her name just like the wardrobe.
• The Wardrobe in Belle’s room (unnamed in the Disney film) is called Madame de la Grande Bouche and revealed to be a former famous opera diva.
• The dog-turned-footstool of the castle is not present in this version.
• Chip the teacup, though present, has his role greatly diminished due to the difficulty of pulling off his character convincingly. The head of his actor is usually stuck through the tops of tables and rolling carts wearing a teacup-shaped helmet. He is not seen individually mobile until after the spell is broken and he is human again.
• Belle and the Beast’s argument about her joining him for dinner takes place inside of her bedroom- instead of opposite sides of a closed door.
• Belle joins Lumiere and the other dancing dishes during “Be Our Guest,” instead of remaining seated at a table and merely observing the spectacle.
• The magic behind the transformations is slightly modified: Instead of being fully transformed (as shown in the movie), the characters are slowly transforming into their respective objects. Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Babette the Feather Duster lament this fact, revealing that some of the servants have already completely transformed and cannot speak, see, or move; they fear the same will happen to them if the spell is not broken soon.
• As Lumiere and Cogsworth take Belle on a tour (right before she sneaks off to explore the West Wing), the Beast makes his way to her room with a plate of food in hopes of making amends with her. However, he overhears Belle voicing her distaste of him, and throws the plate away in anger and sulks off.
• A scene only briefly seen in the background in the film is expanded upon, where Belle teaches the Beast to read. Additionally, the book they read in the film is Romeo & Juliet while in the musical it is King Arthur.
• During the Mob Song, Belle and Maurice are not imprisoned in their own basement; instead they decide to get a head start on the angry villagers and sneak off to the castle halfway through the musical number.
• During the fight on the roof, Belle is physically below Gaston and Beast, calling up to them rather than reaching down from a higher balcony.
• Gaston repeatedly stabs Beast in the back rather than only once before losing his balance.
• After the spell is broken, Cogsworth and Madame de la Grande Bouche appear to have a romantic connection.