Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, Beauty and the Beast is the 30th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and the third film of the Disney Renaissance. Starring Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson in the title roles, Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between a selfish prince who is consequentially transformed into a hideous beast and a beautiful young woman named Belle, whom he imprisons inside his castle. In order to return to his human form, the Beast must earn Belle's love within a limited time frame, lest he remain a beast forever.
Walt Disney attempted to adapt "Beauty and the Beast" into an animated feature film during the 1930s and 1950s, but was unsuccessful. Following the unprecedented success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Walt Disney Feature Animation decided to adapt the fairy tale, originally conceived by then-director Richard Purdum as a non-musical. Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg eventually discontinued the idea and ordered that the film be a musical similar to The Little Mermaid instead, resulting in Purdum's resignation. Beauty and the Beast was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, with a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton and a story accredited to Roger Allers. Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken wrote the film's songs. Ashman, who additionally served as an executive producer on the film, died of AIDS eight months before the film's premiere. The film is dedicated to him.

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