The Making of Beauty & the Beast (1991)

This is the second of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid had been to jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film, the objective of Beauty & the Beast was to solidify it. This documentary demonstrates how that was accomplished.

The Walt Disney Studios knew they had something extra special with Beauty & the Beast and that would be affirmed in the coming months with unprecedented box office returns, award wins and nominations.

David Ogden Stiers, who plays Cogsworth and the Narrator in the film, hosts this documentary in what would become the standard template for such Making of specials. Stiers would go one to portray several more characters in both Disney live action and animated films but Cogsworth was his first Disney role.

We meet the voice cast, the animators and many of the behind the scenes figures who produced this film. Given how much of this sort of thing we see today, the unique novelty of this may have worn off. There was still a lot of Walt Disney history legacy ahead of this team and it's exciting looking back at this time knowing the heights they would reach in only a few short years.

Original air date November 16, 1991

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.