The first song in Beauty and the Beast is called “Belle.” This is fitting because you get to know the main character of the film, but it also is the setting for some conflicts that will arise later. Belle is seen as a modest young woman who has a daily pattern, “every day like the one before.” She sees the town as small and poor and dreams of far off places that she reads about in her fairy tale books. Attractive and tall, she stands out among the other villagers. The interactions between them and her prove that she is not very popular in her village. She is asked by the baker how she is doing, but is interrupted while she tries to explain the book she read.
This could be seen as a way to elevate Belle’s intelligence over the rest. While she dreams of far off places, the villagers continue in their daily, dull existence. They see her as odd and peculiar, “with a dreamy far off look and her nose stuck in a book, what a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle.” She is also seen as modest and humble. She ignores the comments and stares of the other villagers until the very end when she turns around and everyone scatters. When the baker doesn’t bother listening to her story she shrugs it off. The bookseller likes her and this is shown when he gives her the book she’s read twice before.
The next character introduced is Gaston; the stereotypical “hottie.” He’s large and full of himself. His sidekick, Le Fou; which literally means “fool”, follows him around and compliments his ego. Gaston declares he’s going to make Belle his wife, but misses his opportunity because he is too busy looking at himself in the mirror. Then the “bimbettes” describe him when they say, “look there he goes, isn’t he dreamy? Monsieur Gaston, oh he’s so cute, be still my heart, I’m hardly breathing.” The regular villagers see him as a “prince” while Belle is unaffected. He declares he must marry her because she is the most beautiful, which means she’s the best. Gaston is seen as unintelligent in making this comment.
The opening song of Beauty and the Beast sets the story of a young girl trying to get out of her “provincial” and poor town. The villagers are puzzled by her because she reads books and wants a better life. Gaston is presented as the antagonist. He wants the most beautiful girl, without knowing anything about her. “Belle” is the premise for the movie Beauty and the Beast. “Gaston” is the next song.
After Belle rejected his marriage proposal, Gaston sits at the bar and pouts. This song shows the kind of man Gaston is. He sits in the bar at a huge chair set apart from the others. The chair has animal horns on the side; it looks like a Viking’s chair. Le Fou offers him beer, and Gaston replies, “what for nothing helps.” His ego seems to be bruised. Le Fou then boosts his ego right back up to the top.
“Every guy here’d like to be you Gaston, even while taking your dumps.” It doesn’t take long for Gaston to join in the song. He brags about his muscles and how much he has to eat. He picks up and bench with three girls on it saying, “You see I’ve got biceps to spare.” All the people in the bar are singing praises to Gaston at the end of the song, until Maurice, Belle’s father, shows up. He describes how the Beast has taken his daughter.
The men laugh at him and throw him out of the bar into the cold. Gaston then says, “Le Fou, I’m afraid I’ve been thinking,”A dangerous pastime”, “I know.” This last part of the song shows that Gaston isn’t really a great guy. He is physically large and adored by the townspeople, but he is not a compassionate man. The townspeople don’t consider intelligence to be a good quality, which is another reason Belle is not accepted in her village. This leads to the “Mob Song”, which show ignorance and a form of racism. Unaware of any facts about the Beast, Gaston leads the villagers to the castle to kill the Beast.
He leads them to believe that the Beast will kill their children by using phrases like, “The Beast will make off with your children; he ” ll come after them at night; we ” re not safe till his head is mounted on my wall; I say we kill the Beast.” After the “Gaston” song it is easy to understand why the villagers as a whole would blindly follow him. They think he’s a hero. Then he says, “if your not with us you ” re against us.” This was directed to Belle and her Father, but the villagers understand the consequence of not going with Gaston. Belle and her Father were locked up in the cellar. While the men were on the march to the castle, they sang, “We ” re counting on Gaston to lead the way; where within the haunted castle, something’s lurking that we don’t see everyday.” This can be interpreted as racism. The Beast represents the unknown, which can be very scary until a person gets to know it.
They don’t see something everyday and they are ready to kill it, because Gaston told them to. At the castle gates the say, “Here we come, we ” re fifty strong; and fifty Frenchman can’t be wrong.” Fifty men with one opinion that is not based on fact, is not considered strong. Ignorance and racism are seen in the “Mob Song” through the words of Gaston and the villagers. They have no idea who the person is that they are going to fight, but blindly follow Gaston. The next two songs are about the love that grows between Beauty and the Beast. “Something There” introduces the audience to the interest that begins between the main characters.
The setting is a sunny winter day, which doesn’t happen around the castle very often. Love doesn’t happen around the castle at all, so the sunny day is a metaphor for the love that starts. Belle first notices something, “There’s something sweet and almost kind, but he was mean and he was course and unrefined, but now he’s dear and so I’m sure, I wonder why I didn’t see it there before.” The Beast’s kindness and interest in Belle shows up in the way he tries to impress her. At mealtime she shows him how to slurp the soup so he doesn’t make a mess while trying to use a spoon. The spoon was a way to show her that the Beast was not really a monster. Belle begins to notice the attraction she has for him.
Beast sees the change that Belle goes through in their interactions. He says, “No it can’t be, I’ll just ignore; but then she’s never looked at me that way before.” He still has some insecurity about being a Beast, but realizes that Belle sees through his exterior. “Something There” is the beginning of the love that develops between Beauty and the Beast. The following song confirms the love that they share. “Beauty and the Beast” is sung by Mrs. Potts which leaves the audience to watch the development of the main characters.
The lyrics express how their love is “as old as time.” It’s not a new story that a Beauty would fall in love with a Beast, but it’s still a good story. Following “Something There”, the song expresses the change that happens earlier in the movie, “finding you can change; learning you were wrong.” Both characters had no idea that they would fall in love with each other, which makes the song very meaningful. “Beauty and the Beast” is the song in the movie that shows the main characters have fallen in love. While, “Beauty and the Beast” is the signature song of the movie, “Be our Guest” is the most entertaining.
It appeals to all audience levels. Boundaries are exceeded in the song. It’s more like a Broadway musical than a cartoon. Lumiere, the candelabra, is the star of the show leading his group into a musical tribute for their unexpected guest. The castle comes to life for the first time in ten years.
They take on human characteristics saying, “most days we just sit around the castle; flabby fat and lazy you walk in and oops a daisy!” Disney goes above and beyond the fairy tale in this scene to show how excited the servants are that Belle has arrived. They treat her very well, not because she could be the one to break the spell, but because she is a guest. They sing, “life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving.” The audience sees the details of each kitchen utensil being an animate object. The stove takes on the chef role; he’s large and a little scary. This song also introduces the audience to the characters in the castle. They go against their masters’ rules to not feed Belle by making a feast.
This shows that they are not scared of the repercussions. Ten years together under a spell make the servants and master become close. Lumiere is the leader of the group in this song; he’s the most rebellious when it comes to going against the Beast’s rules. Mrs. Potts is very excited and acts as the lady of the castle.
She says, “The wine’s been poured, thank the lord, I’ve had the napkins freshly pressed.” She’s eager to make Belle feel comfortable but also let her know that she is in a castle with fine china and excellent service. Since they haven’t had any guests in a long time, they want to impress Belle.