The opening (told through stylized stained glass windows) sets up the traditional tale: a young man, a prince, coldly refuses shelter to an ugly old hag. But she is a witch, and she curses him to become a hideous beast until he has been given the kiss of true love. He must break the spell before "the last petal falls" on a magic rose, or be trapped as a beast forever.

Disney animators keep elements of the traditional tale but add some "American" twists. The opening musical number sets out a different conflict: Belle, the Beauty, must avoid a provincial marriage to the village bully in order to follow her heart to that ineffable "something more." There is an inventor-father who requires Belle's care, and a group of servants bespelled as household objects who long to become human again.

THERE MUST BE SOMETHING MORE

BELLE: Little town, it's a quiet village,
Everyday like the one before
Little Town, full of little people,
Waking up to say Bonjour!
There goes the baker with his tray like always,
The same old bread and rolls to sell.
Every morning, just the same as the morning that
We came to this little poor provincial town.

.....lots more singing......

BELLE: Oh isn't this amazing?
It's my favorite part, because, you'll see
Here, when she meets Prince Charming,
But she doesn't discover that it's him till chapter three.

Now it's no wonder that her name is Beauty;
Her looks have got no parallel.
But beyond that fair facade,
I'm afraid she's rather odd.
She's nothing like the rest of us

GASTON: I knew the moment when I met her, saw her
I said, "She's gorgeous," and I fell.
So I said, "Who is she? In the town
There's only she
That's as beautiful as me."
So I'm making plans to woo and marry Belle.

GROUPIES: Look there he goes, say he's so dreamy
Monsieur Gaston, Oh he's so cute

GASTON: There must be more than this provincial life.
Say what! I'm going to make Belle my wife.
Oh, there she goes, the girl that's strange, but special
It's a pity and a sin--she doesn't quite fit in:
A beauty, but a funny girl a beauty but a funny girl,
A beauty but a funny girl, that's Belle!

VOCABULARY: primeval, trophies, gorgeous

BELLE: Madame Gaston, can't you just see it?
Madame Gaston, his little wife!
No sir, not me, I guarantee it--
I want much more than this provincial life.
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere;
I want it more than I can tell.
And for once it might be grand to have SOMEONE understand
I want so much more than they've got planned. . .

LeFu: Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Gaston.
Looking so down in the dumps.
All the guys here'd love to be you, Gaston.
Even when taking your lumps.
No man in town's as admired as you.
You're everyone's favorite guy.
Everyone's awed and inspired by you
And it's not very hard to see why.

No one's slick as Gaston; no one's quick as Gaston
No one's neck is as incredibly thick as Gaston
For there no man in town half as manly
You're perfect, a pure paragon.
You can ask any Tom, Dick or Stanley,
And they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on.
No one's big as Gaston, no one's ________ as Gaston
No one's got a small cleft in his chin like Gaston.

GASTON: As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating

FOLLOWERS: Hurrah for a guy like Gaston.
Gaston is the best, and the rest is all drips

For there's no one as burly and brawny.

GASTON: As you see, I've got biceps to spare!

FOLLOWER: Not a bit of him's scraggly or scrawny
GASTON: And every last inch of me's covered with hair.

I'm especially good at expectorating (spitting)
My what a guy that Gaston

When I was a lad, I ate four dozen eggs
Every morning to help me get large.
And now that I'm grown, I eat five dozen eggs
So I'm roughly the size of a barge.

FOLLOWERS: No one shoots like Gaston;
No one __________ _________ like Gaston,
Or goes stomping around wearing boots like Gaston.

GASTON: I use antlers in all of my decorating.

Le Fu, I'm afraid, I've been thinking . . .

LeFu: A dangerous pastime GASTON: I know.
BUt that crazy old "coot" is Belle's father.
And his sanity's only so-so.
The wheels in my head have been turning
Since I looked at that looney old man.
See I promised myself I'd be married to Belle
And right now I'm evolving a plan

FOLLOWERS: No one plots like Gaston,
Takes cheap shots like Gaston.
Likes to persecute harmless crackpots, like Gaston.
So his wedding we soon will be celebrating
My what a guy! GASTON!

"Beauty and the Beast"

Tale as old as time; true as it can be
Barely even friends, then somebody bends--unexpectedly!
Just a little change: small to say the least.
Both a little scared, neither one prepared: Beauty and the Beast.

More than just a tale,
Ever a surprise.
Ever as before, Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise.

Tale as old as time; tune as old as sun,
Bittersweet and strange: finding you can change --admitting you were wrong.
Certain as the sun rising in the east.
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme,
Beauty and the Beast.