Beauty and the Beast [2017] (2 discs)

Random Trivia For This Title:

• Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts) and Hattie Morahan (Agathe) played the role of Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. Thompson was in Sense and Sensibility, Morahan was in Sense & Sensibility, which also featured Dan Stevens (Beast) as Edward Ferrars.
• It was Josh Gad's idea for LeFou to slowly question Gaston's actions, and ultimately reform, after Gaston's obsession with Belle turns into insanity.
• Ryan Gosling was offered the role of the Beast, but turned it down to appear in La La Land instead. Emma Watson was offered the lead role in that film, but turned down that film to star in this one.
• Sir Ian McKellen originally turned down the voice of Cogsworth in the original Beauty and the Beast.
• When Director Bill Condon first spoke to Disney about adapting Beauty and the Beast, they actually weren't sure they were going to do this new version as a musical. Condon said, "With all due respect, I think you're crazy. The songs are too good. You're going to spend all this time making a huge, gorgeous live-action "Beauty and the Beast" and not do 'Be Our Guest'?"
• Ewan McGregor performed Lumière's "Be Our Guest" dances in motion-capture. However, he was embarrassed at wearing the motion-capture suit, and couldn't dance properly, unless he was completely alone with the filming crew.
• According to Ewan McGregor, the hardest part about playing Lumière was getting the character's French accent right, although his wife ^[?] Eve Mavrakis is French. He said his voice ended up sounding Mexican instead of French, so he had to redo his dialogue after filming had completed.
• Emma Watson (Belle), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Luke Evans (Gaston) and Nathan Mack (Chip) all share the same birthday, April 15, which was also the date of the first cast read through.
• Alan Menken, who scored Beauty and the Beast, returned to score this live-action adaptation, which includes new recordings of the original songs, in addition to new songs written by Menken and Tim Rice.
• During the ballroom scene, Emma Watson had a hard time not looking at her feet, because Dan Stevens was wearing steel toed shoes, and she was afraid he would step on her.
• The song "Gaston" has new lyrics that were written by the late Howard Ashman, but never made the final cut of the 1991 film. As a result, the song is slightly longer, and is more mature themed, but minus the reprise.
• According to Emma Watson, when Belle had to be intentionally struck in the face by a snowball, the whole sequence required numerous attempts, until a satisfactory hit was accomplished. In the end, Emma had to keep moving her face (target) into the line of fire, in order to increase the chances of a direct hit.
• In Beauty and the Beast, the Beast's castle is shown to be quite close to the village, yet nobody in the village knew about it, nor noticed the absence of those who live there, when they are cursed. The prologue of the 2017 version elaborates on this part of the story, explaining part of the curse involved the world forgetting about the castle and its inhabitants.
• Shortly after it was announced that Emma Watson would be playing Belle, Belle's voice actresses Paige O'Hara (the original voice of Belle in Beauty and the Beast) and Susan Egan (who originated the role on Broadway) expressed their endorsement and approval of Watson as a live-action Belle.
• Josh Gad and Luke Evans were allowed to improvise in many of their scenes. Most notably, the end of the the "Gaston" song in the theatrical release was one of over a dozen different endings Gad improvised; while the song had been pre-recorded, they were able to improvise their actions.
• Luke Evans (Gaston) had to wear fake teeth during filming, due to having canines that are longer than normal, which he said would have made Gaston look like a vampire. Luke Evans played a vampire in Dracula Untold.
• According to some sources, Danny DeVito was considered for the role of Maurice.
• Laura Linney, who collaborates frequently with Director Bill Condon on his films, was considered to play Mrs. Potts.
• Emma Watson was considered to play the title role in Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella.
• Emma Roberts, Kristen Stewart, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and ^[?] Emmy Rossum were considered for the role of Belle.
• Robert Pattinson was briefly considered for the role of the Beast. According to some early sources, Josh Brolin was rumored to be considered for the role of the Beast, but it's likely that he was deemed too old for the part.
• ^[?] Jean Dujardin was strongly considered, and was the filmmakers' choice, for the role of Lumière. Some early sources suggest that Simon Pegg was briefly considered for the role of Lumière, however, nothing came about it.