The Original Story…
Although many now associate the classic tale with the Disney version, Beauty and the Beast was actually first published in 1740, by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, in a version very different from the one people now know! Included within a larger volume of stories called ‘The Young American and Marine Tales’, was the bones of the story ‘Beauty and the Beast’. It was inspired by the real-life story of Petrus Gonsalvus, a nobleman in France who had hypertrichosis, a condition where hair grows all over the face, and his romance with noblewoman Catherine.
This original version was much longer and more elaborate and included plenty of juicy extra plot lines, including full backstories for both Beauty and the Beast, Evil Fairies, assassination attempts, and fortune tellers! However the core of the story, a woman becoming imprisoned in a castle and falling in love with a beast who is really a prince, has always remained the same.
Arrival of a Classic…
The more commonly told version of the story came sixteen years later, when Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont published it in her collection of children’s stories. This was a more pared back and abridged retelling, losing a lot of the extraneous details and focusing on the romantic core of the tale, as well as making it more appropriate for children. This retelling also introduces the concept of the servants in the Beasts castle, which was used to great effect in the Disney version!
Onto the Big Screen…
Beauty and the Beast became steadily more popular, being included in many fairytale collections, each telling a slightly different version of the tale. It was in 1946 however, that the story first found itself on the big screen, in Jean Cocteau’s French film La Belle et la Bete. The film has since become a classic of French cinema, and introduced the idea that Belle’s father is imprisoned for stealing a rose, and Belle offers to swap places with him.
The most famous adaptation is, of course, the Disney animated film, which is still regarded to this day as one of the studio’s best films, including having the honour of being the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. With timeless songs, beloved side characters in the form of the Beast’s servants, and an iconic ballroom scene, this is still many people’s first exposure to the story.
Our Magical Retelling…
Our version of Beauty and the Beast is based on the earliest version, taking inspiration from the Beast and Belle’s original backstory’s, as well as including new elements, such as the mischievous goblins and mechanical servants. But don’t worry, the romance that you all know and love is still very much at the centre of this tale, as love triumphs, kindness prevails and Bella learns that not everything is as it first appears…