document_title: Phoebe Halliwell

question_text: when does phoebe get the power of levitation

text: Phoebe Halliwell

text: Casting and development[edit]

text: In 1998, The WB began searching for a drama series, and looked to Spelling Television, which had produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven, to create it. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural-themed dramas, the production company explored forms of mythology to find mythological characters they could focus on with contemporary storytelling.[1] In order to create the series, Constance M. Burge was hired as the creator as she was under contract with 20th Century Fox and Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah.[1]

text: The character of Phoebe Halliwell was conceived by Burge, who wrote the pilot script for Charmed. The pilot script was based around three mismatched sisters[1] who are initially based on Burge and her two older sisters, Laura and Edie Burge.[2][3] Phoebe is based on Burge herself.[3] On creating the Halliwell sisters, Burge stated "Phoebe was honestly the easiest. It just grew from within."[2] Executive producer Brad Kern claimed Phoebe was written into the series as the classic younger sibling[1] and stated that at the start of series Phoebe is "trying to find her own identity by living life large and not really having a care in the world."[1]

text: When the series was in its first development stages, actress Lori Rom was cast in the role of Phoebe.[2] Rom played the role in a 28-minute test pilot (the "unaired pilot" never aired on television) with which the series was picked up by The WB. Rom later pulled out from the series before a 45-minute version of the pilot could be filmed for proper network television, leaving the role of Phoebe vacant.[2] Executive producer Aaron Spelling then turned to actress Alyssa Milano, who was previously cast in another television series produced by Spelling Television, Melrose Place. While Milano was in Hawaii shooting an episode for Fantasy Island, Spelling phoned Milano and asked her to consider joining the series.[2] After receiving a copy of the original pilot and the script, five days later Milano began shooting the re-shot pilot episode.[2]

text: Appearances[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text: Phoebe enters the series as the youngest Halliwell sister. She was first portrayed by Lori Rom in the unaired pilot, which the role was later given and portrayed by Alyssa Milano in all of the show's aired 178 episodes. At the start of season one (1998–99), six months have passed since the death of her Grams, Penny Halliwell (Jennifer Rhodes). A jobless Phoebe returns from New York City and moves back into her family's Victorian Manor with her two sisters Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs).[4] On the night of Phoebe's return, she finds a book called the Book of Shadows within the Manor's attic.[4] After Phoebe unknowingly recites aloud what turns out to be an incantation from the book, the three sisters each receive a magical power and discover their destiny as The Charmed Ones – the most powerful good witches the world has ever known.[4] Phoebe obtains the power to "see the future" which contrasts with her known reckless persona. Because of her free-spirited nature, Phoebe often brings conflict into the Halliwell Manor, more often with Prue during the first season — this is especially in regards to their witchcraft. Initially drawn apart due to Prue's speculation of Phoebe being the cause of her failed engagement to Roger (Matthew Ashford),[4] the two sisters mend their relationship over the course of the season.

text: In season two (1999–2000), Phoebe is seen re-entering college and majoring in psychology.[5] She continues to embrace her destiny as a witch and is noted by her sisters as being the best at writing new spells.[6] In the absence of an active power, Phoebe becomes progressively adept at martial arts in order to better fight demons and warlocks. Throughout the season, Phoebe struggles to open herself up to love[7] and attempts to find a love interest who can live up to her "ideal guy" as portrayed in her favorite in-verse movie, Kill It Before It Dies by the character Billy (Chris Payne Gilbert).[8] In the season two finale, Phoebe and her sisters discover that the many attacks on their lives by evil beings have been orchestrated by a demonic force known as The Council.[9] In the show's third season (2000–01), Phoebe receives the active power of levitation and enters a relationship with Cole Turner (Julian McMahon),[10] who is actually the demon mercenary Belthazor that was sent by The Triad (who have replaced The Council) to kill The Charmed Ones.[11] Upon this discovery, Phoebe struggles between her loyalty to her sisters and her love for Cole.[12] After a tumultuous love affair, often deterred due to Cole's frequent struggle between good and evil, Phoebe manages to graduate from college.[13] Phoebe and her sisters eventually learn that The Triad work for an even greater evil, The Source of All Evil who is the leader of the demonic realm known as The Underworld.[12] In the season three finale, Phoebe ventures into The Underworld to save Cole from his dark side, while her sisters face dire consequences in the world above. Prue and Piper unwittingly expose themselves as witches to the world after being caught on camera by a local news crew fighting with The Source's personal assassin Shax. This results in Piper's catastrophic death in the arms of Prue, and Phoebe unable to help them.[14] In order to save Piper's life, Prue orders Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause) to find Phoebe and pass on a deal to The Source to turn back time. The Source agrees, knowing that he plans to double cross her in the end as Phoebe will be immune to the time reset while in The Underworld.[14] Time is reversed to the sisters' first encounter with Shax,[14] however Phoebe no longer answers when Prue calls for help, as she was never sent back. The season ends on a cliffhanger with Piper and Prue left for dead after losing in the fight against Shax.[14] Meanwhile, Phoebe remains trapped in The Underworld.[14]

text: The opening episode of the fourth season (2001–02), "Charmed Again (Part 1)", reveals that Phoebe was rescued from The Underworld by Leo and Cole.[15] However, because of this they arrived too late and were only able to heal Piper of her injuries from the season three finale. Prue's injuries from Shax were too severe and was unable to be saved.[15] Later in the episode, while attending Prue's funeral, Phoebe meets Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan) and receives a premonition of the woman being attacked by Shax.[15] This incident leads to Phoebe and Piper discovering that Paige is their younger half-sister. By the end of the season premiere, Paige helps to restore the Power of Three and avenge Prue's death in vanquishing her murderer Shax.[15] During this season, Phoebe finds herself forced into the role of the middle sister as she attempts to play mediator between Piper and Paige, much like Piper was once for her and Prue.[16] Alongside continuing her Charmed role, Phoebe receives a marriage proposal from Cole,[17] accepting after he becomes stripped of his demon half.[18] Phoebe eventually pens the spell to vanquish The Source,[19] whom escapes a final vanquish by possessing the now human Cole.[19] For the remainder of the season, Phoebe plans to marry Cole unaware that he has become the new Source of All Evil and ruler of The Underworld. After being tricked by Cole and The Seer (Debbie Morgan) into participating in a dark marriage ceremony,[20] Phoebe lands a job as an advice columnist for the newspaper The Bay Mirror.[21] Soon after she discovers that she is pregnant and subsequently chooses to join Cole as his queen in The Underworld.[22]

text: As season four draws to a close, Phoebe is forced to choose between her husband and her sisters. She mournfully sides with her sisters to vanquish Cole.[23] Later, her unborn child is magically stolen by The Seer who claims that the child is rightfully hers and was never Phoebe's.[24] About to be sacrificed as human offerings during The Seer's coronation as the new Source, Phoebe and her sisters tap into "The Power of Three" and vanquish The Seer and the entire Underworld council.[24] In the season finale, the Angel of Destiny (Dakin Matthews) visits and gives the sisters an offer to live a normal life without magical powers or the threat of demons.[25] After some contemplation Phoebe declines alongside her sisters, but the Angel of Destiny is not done with the sisters' and makes hints about Piper's pregnancy, which only Phoebe takes the hint and announces it.[25] For season five (2002–03), Phoebe attempts to live a life without Cole where she can focus on her career.[26] This plan is stunted when a resurrected Cole returns to San Francisco eager to reconcile with Phoebe.[26] After a series of attempts to win back Phoebe's affections,[27][28][29] even trying to seduce her to evil once again,[30] Cole is vanquished in the 100th episode of the series, "Centennial Charmed".[31] Later in the season, Phoebe helps to deliver Piper and Leo's first child, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell.[32] Soon after she begins a romantic relationship with her new boss, multi-millionaire Jason Dean (Eric Dane).[33]

text: In season six (2003–04), Phoebe continues her relationship with Jason and also sees her magical abilities grow to include the power of empathy.[34] Phoebe eventually becomes more serious with Jason, moving with him to Hong Kong.[35] After a year of dating, Jason discovers Phoebe's secret identity as a witch by accident and, unable to handle the revelation, breaks up with her.[36] Phoebe subsequently moves back to San Francisco and into the Manor. In the episode "The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell", Phoebe experiences a vision quest and not only discovers that her new time-traveling whitelighter Chris (Drew Fuller) is actually the second child of Piper and Leo, but that she is also destined to have a child of her own.[37] This puts Phoebe on a selfish path of using her psychic powers to find the father of her child to the neglect of her other duties. For this, Phoebe is stripped of her unique powers by a Tribunal Council made up of both high-powered demons and Elders, though she retains her basic abilities as a witch and Charmed One.[38] In the sixth-season finale, the sisters, Leo and Chris discover that a powerful Elder named Gideon (Gildart Jackson) wishes to destroy the Twice-Blessed Wyatt, an act which causes Wyatt to turn his back on good in the future.[39]

text: At the start of season seven (2004–05), Phoebe is still stripped of her powers.[40] After she begins to feel disconnected from her advice column audience, Phoebe takes a sabbatical from work and is temporarily replaced by a ghost-writer Leslie St. Claire (Nick Lachey).[40] Phoebe and Leslie enter a brief romance,[41] but it does not last long as Leslie moves to Los Angeles.[42] In the episode "Styx Feet Under", Phoebe only regains her power of premonitions.[41] In the hopes of having a demon-free life, Phoebe and her sisters join forces with The Avatars, powerful beings who are neither good nor evil, in their plan to turn the world into a utopia.[43] Phoebe is the first of the sisters to regret this when her premonition powers show her how much the world has been robbed of its free will.[44] The Charmed Ones team up with The Underworld's new leader, Zankou (Oded Fehr) to defeat The Avatars.[44] However, Zankou then turns on the sisters, becoming their adversary for the remainder of the season. During this season Cole, while stuck in Limbo, arranges for the good-natured demon Drake De'mon (Billy Zane) to enter Phoebe's life and keep her from giving up on love.[45] In the season seven finale, during a suicide mission to vanquish Zankou, Phoebe and her sisters fake their deaths in order to escape the constant threat of demon attacks, as well as police and government investigations.[46]

text: For the eighth and final season (2005–2006), Phoebe takes on the false identity of Julie Bennett (Monica Allgeier) and begins a relationship with an artist named Dex Lawson (Jason Lewis).[47] While under the influence of a spell cast by the prodigy of the Charmed Ones, Billie Jenkins (Kaley Cuoco), Phoebe marries Dex under the alias of Julie.[48] Unsure if she could ever have a lasting marriage with someone she is not completely honest with, Phoebe reveals the truth of her hidden identity to Dex.[48] The pair eventually break up and agree to get an annulment.[48] Phoebe later meets a cupid named Coop (Victor Webster), who was sent by The Elders to help her find love again. When Phoebe discovers that Billie and her sister, Christy (Marnette Patterson) are the ultimate power The Charmed Ones must defeat to save Leo from the Angel of Death (Simon Templeman), she has reservations because the women are human and not demons.[49] In the end, Phoebe participates in the ultimate battle between The Charmed Ones and the Jenkins sisters, which destroys the Halliwell Manor, and only Piper and Billie survive.[50] In the series finale "Forever Charmed", Piper uses Coop's time-traveling ring to call upon her mother and grandmother and save Phoebe and Paige.[51] After Christy is defeated, Phoebe and her sisters write about their lives in the Book of Shadows. An epilogue shows Phoebe and Coop getting married and that their marriage will produce three children, all daughters. Phoebe also becomes a successful author, writing a self-help book on finding love.[51]

text: Literature[edit]

text: As one of the central characters throughout the entire series, Phoebe appears in the majority of Charmed literature. These appearances first began in the series of novels. The novels follow no strict continuity with the series or each other, and are often considered to be non-canon. However, the television series producers have final approval of everything in the novels,[52] which could indicate the literature fitting into the established canon of the series and the so-called "Charmed universe".[53] Phoebe's first appearance in Charmed literature takes place within the novel The Power of Three by Eliza Willard on November 1, 1999, which acts as a novelised version of the series premiere episode. Her last appearance in a Charmed novel takes place within Trickery Treat by Diana G. Gallagher on January 1, 2008.

text: In 2010, Charmed gained an officially licensed continuation in the form of a comic book, which is often billed as Charmed: Season 9. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. Set eighteen-months after the series finale, the sisters are seen living happy demon free lives and have each entered into motherhood. Phoebe has had her first daughter with her husband Coop,[54] who is named Prudence Johnna and nicknamed P.J. by Grams.[55] Phoebe is also seen preparing to return to work as an advice columnist for The Bay Mirror. In the second issue of the comic, Phoebe regains her previously stripped powers of Levitation and Empathy.[56] In Issue #6 of the comic, Morality Bites Back, Phoebe learns that she used Advanced Empathy to murder Cal Greene in a previously visited future of February 26, 2009 by reflecting his emotions back onto him which caused his brain to overload.[57]

text: Powers and abilities[edit]

text: Magical powers[edit]

text: In Charmed it is revealed that magical witches can develop and master a variety of magical skills and powers which include; scrying,[58] spell casting,[4] and brewing potent potions.[59] As a magical witch Phoebe can utilize scrying, a divination art form that allows one to locate a missing object or person. Phoebe can also cast spells, often written in iambic pentameter or as a rhyming couplet, to influence others or the world around her. She can also brew potions, most often used to vanquish foes or to achieve other magical feats similar to the effects of a spell. As a witch and Charmed One, Phoebe has also developed a number of magical powers which include premonitions, levitation, empathy and pathokinesis.

text: Premonitions[edit]

text: When Phoebe first comes into her powers, the first power she develops is the ability to see the future in the form of premonitions. Premonitions are considered to be a passive power. She triggers this power when she touches or is in the presence of something that is related to the subject of her premonitions, making them a form of psychometry. This originally only encompassed precognition, to see the future, but grew to include retrocognition, to see the past, as well.[59] This power was initially uncontrollable, but in later seasons she learns to summon premonitions at will.[60] While her premonitions are initially shown as black and white in the show, it is mentioned several times that Phoebe experiences them in color.[61] As her power grows, her premonitions become more vivid to where they become slightly colored and she can hear and feel what is taking place. Phoebe's premonition powers also allow her visions to reveal the truth. For instance, in the season one finale, "Deja Vu All Over Again", when the world is caught within a recurring time loop by the time sorcerer Tempus (David Carradine), Phoebe is able to realize that the same day is repeating over and over again because of her premonition powers.[62]

text: By season five, her power evolves to enable her to experience aspects of astral projection allowing her to interact with the environment of her premonitions.[63] This aspect of her power is highlighted in the season five episodes "The Eyes Have It"[63] and "Sand Francisco Dreamin'",[64] as well as the season eight episode "Hulkus Pocus".[65] Her premonition powers also evolve to allow Phoebe to anticipate the actions of others as in many instances Phoebe has sidestepped and jumped out the way of incoming fireballs and energy balls with perfect timing. Examples of this can be seen in the season seven episodes "Freaky Phoebe",[66] where Phoebe is able to sense a demon who is behind her with a pair of scissors, and in the episode "Ordinary Witches",[67] where Ronnie (Brian Howe), a cab driver Phoebe loses her powers to, is able to sense when and where the next fireball of a demon is going to be launched using her power of premonitions. Phoebe also develops the power to trigger a vision in someone else with similar powers, "sharing" visions with Elders[68] and knowing how to trigger a specific "trap" premonition in the evil witch Mitzy (Jenny McCarthy), who has temporary possession of her powers.[69] Kyra (Charisma Carpenter), a powerful demonic seer, tells Phoebe her powers were once limited to psychometry but they grew, like Phoebe's will in time.[68]

text: Levitation[edit]

text: At the start of season three, in the episode "The Honeymoon's Over", Phoebe obtains her first active power in the form of levitation, the power to defy gravity and float in the air.[10] This power is uncontrollable when she first obtains it, but she later learns to maintain complete control over it. When new to her power, Phoebe is unable to move horizontally, and in the season three episode "Once Upon a Time", Prue uses telekinesis to guide Phoebe across a cavern while she is levitating.[70] Later in the series, Phoebe often mixes her martial arts and kick boxing with her levitating power to knock out her enemies. In season four, the power advances so that Phoebe is able to glide short distances while levitating[16] and she even learns to use her power to walk on walls.[21] During the fifth season, she is able to propel herself while levitating, as seen when she propels herself through a ventilation duct with her levitation powers in the episode "The Importance of Being Phoebe".[30] In the season six episode "Forget Me... Not", Phoebe showcases a form of projective levitation, when she levitates herself and a weatherman.[71] Phoebe displays projective levitation again in the episode "Love's a Witch" when she levitates the pillow she is sitting on along with her.[72]

text: In the Charmed comic books, specifically in issue #16 "The Heavens Can Wait", her power has been shown to have grown stronger, allowing Phoebe to levitate Paige's orb-shield which contained herself, her two sisters and Leo.[73] While inside the Nexus of The All, Phoebe became able to use her power to its full potential, allowing her to not only fly but also to carry Piper and Paige with ease. Later, Prue tells Phoebe that her power will advance to this stage naturally at some point in the future.[74]

text: Empathy[edit]

text: Season six sees Phoebe develop the power of empathy, the power to sense and experience the emotions of others.[34] Being an empath allows Phoebe to directly channel the emotions of those around her. This initially causes considerable problems, as after encountering the emotions of others Phoebe would sometimes act on their whims or amplify and broadcast her own feelings, such as once triggering a fight in the Bay Mirror offices by accident (Although this could have unintended advantages; when the Halliwells were attacked by a demon that trapped them in their ideal worlds, Phoebe quickly realized something was wrong because her empathy powers caused her to tap into her boyfriend's desire for her to be a large-scale success where Phoebe was content being a local celebrity). In the Charmed series, magical powers are tied to the user's emotions, and because Phoebe can feel the emotions of others, her empathy allows her to sometimes tap into other characters' magical powers. This is first seen in the second half of the two-part season six premiere, "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 2)". When a Valkyrie-turned-Piper attacks Phoebe, she channels Piper's telekinetic Valkyrie powers to where she can use them herself.[75] This channeling of Valkyrie Piper's powers, also made her powers, when used against Phoebe, ineffective.[75] In later episodes, Phoebe also uses empathy to deflect energy balls and fireballs, causing them to backfire on their users.[36][76]

text: Pathokinesis[edit]

text: In the season two episode, "Morality Bites", when the sisters travel to the future, it is revealed that Phoebe uses a magical power to kill a man named Cal Greene out of revenge.[77] In the Charmed comics issue #6, "Morality Bites Back", Phoebe learns that this power is an advanced form of empathy, which is called Pathokinesis.[57] Phoebe discovers that her empathy powers grow to allow her to incapacitate or even kill another person. In the comics, Phoebe realizes that she murders Cal Greene by reflecting his emotions back onto him, flooding his mind with painful emotions and memories of the women he had hurt, which causes his brain to overload.[57]

text: Natural abilities[edit]

text: Early in the series, Phoebe is revealed to be a skilled pick-pocket; having picked up the technique during her rebellious teen years.[78] Also, to make up for initially only having a passive power, Phoebe takes classes in self-defense.[79][80] Her skills in hand-to-hand combat which includes Kung-Fu, Jeet Kune Do, & Kickboxing have advanced to the point where Phoebe is capable of beating multiple adversaries, most notably demonic wrestlers, furies, and vampires.[16][81][82]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Milano and Doherty's rumored off-screen feud earned them a nomination for Best Fight at the 2001 Wand Awards.[83] In 2004, she was nominated for Favorite Female TV Character at the Spacey Awards in Canada.[83] At the 2005 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Milano was nominated for Favorite Television Actress.[84] The following year, she was nominated for Television – Choice Actress at the Teen Choice Awards.[85]

text: Kristin Sample of AOL TV called Phoebe "the hottest" witch out of the Halliwell sisters.[86] In his review of the pilot episode, Ray Richmond of Variety magazine described Phoebe as "a free-spirited, self-absorbed conspiracy buff."[87] In another review of the pilot episode, John Levesque of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer also labelled Phoebe "free-spirited", but felt that Milano's acting needed "seasoning."[88] PopMatters' Michael Abernethy wrote that Milano provided "a lighter touch" to Charmed and noted that her "comic training" in sitcoms was "ideal for her carefree character" Phoebe.[89] Angelica Bastien of Bustle magazine called Phoebe a "fan favorite" and commented that Milano "definitely fits the role much better than Lori [Rom] did. Just check out the Youtube video comparing their different takes on the character to see why it's best Milano took on the role."[90] Brett Cullum of DVD Verdict named Phoebe "a wacky free spirit spitfire" and also believed that Milano was the right choice for Phoebe as she "provided an innate sense of comedy that rounded out the cast well."[91] Rob Lineberger of the same publication felt that Milano's acting in the fifth season was "over the top in every way" and noted that she had a "hysterical physical presence."[92][93] In his review of the sixth season, Lineberger wrote that Milano was "still singularly, blissfully goofy."[93] Entertainment Weekly's Gillian Flynn also praised the comedy moments in the sixth season, writing "Milano has turned exasperation into an art form, as she's morphed into everything from Mata Hari to her combat-booted former teen self this season."[94]

text: Iona Kirby of the Daily Mail praised Milano's wardrobe choices on the show, noting that Phoebe "was always seen in sexy – and often bizarre – outfits that were in fashion at that time."[95] BuzzFeed's Jarett Wieselman also commented on Phoebe's outfits in the later seasons, noting that many of the episodes featured her wearing "a series of progressively revealing and ridiculous costumes in the name of vanquishing."[96] Joshua Levs of CNN labelled the costumes worn by Phoebe and her sisters "so skimpy", and noted that some of her memorable costumes included being a mermaid, "a leather-clad comic-book hero", and "topless on a horse." Levs also added that casting directors should pay attention because "Milano can act."[97] A writer for MovieWeb described Phoebe as a "great, interesting, and relateable character." The writer also praised Milano for delivering an "incredibly convincing and believable performance", further adding that she "was another great casting choice" for Charmed.[98] Hypable.com's Tariq Kyle felt that Phoebe was the best character on the show, adding "She's sweet and innocent in a lot of ways, but she's also strong and realistic. She's smart, but she's relatable. She still fails and makes mistakes, but she constantly grows."[99]

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: In 2007, AOL TV ranked Phoebe at number seven on their list of the Top TV Witches.[86][100] She also ranked seventh on the same list the following year.[101] Virgin Media placed Phoebe at number 11 on their list of TV Temptresses, writing "As one of the trio of glamorous witches on ghostly drama Charmed, Phoebe can use her psychic premonitions for all sorts of japery including romance."[102] Milano was referenced in the 2002 teen comedy film Big Fat Liar due to her portrayal as a witch in Charmed. In the film, Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) recalls watching an episode of Charmed on The WB where Milano "was about to cast a spell on her cute demon boyfriend."[103] In his review of the television series Witches of East End being too similar to Charmed, Christian Cintron of Hollywood.com noted that Jenna Dewan-Tatum's "ne'er-do-well, bed-hopping character" Freya Beauchamp is a lot like Phoebe.[104]


document_title: Gabi Hernandez

question_text: who is the father of gabby's baby on days of our lives

question_tokens: who is the father of gabby 's baby on days of our lives

root

text: Gabi Hernandez

text: Casting[edit]

text: Gabriela Rodriguez first appeared in the role of Gabi on November 20, 2009.[3] Of auditioning, Rodriguez said "It was honestly so random. I had never auditioned for a soap opera before and I was like "wow this is different. I think I want to give it a try." She seemed like such a cool girl, I was like "hey let's go for it." [...] I ended up talking with the casting director for a while and she just kind of explained to me about the character [...] The next day I got called for a callback and that was that."[4] Fellow Hispanic actress Camilla Banus had also auditioned. Banus stated "I went in and read for the role. It was actually a pretty long process. The first audition then the second audition, then I went in again to meet the casting director and the producer. They then said they wanted me for a screen test. I did the screen test and they ended up not choosing me. They ended up going with the other girl [Rodriguez]. They told me that they wanted to go a little bit younger for the part."[5]

tag: p

text:
"So, I put it out of my mind and said ‘Days is over. Keep on moving forward’ and I did."[5]

—Banus on failing to win the part following her audition

tag: div

text: In July 2010, Soap Opera Digest reported that Rodriguez had been replaced by Banus.[6] The news of Rodriguez' departure came straight after Lindsay Hartley, who played Gabi's on-screen sister Arianna Hernandez, was killed off.[7] Jillian Bowe of Zap2it noted that Banus would play a "slightly older version of the role."[6] Banus was previously best known for her role as Lola Montez on One Life to Live.[8][9] Banus, who first aired as Gabi on October 4, 2010, said that the transition was "super easy" and she was welcomed onto the set with "lots of love".[3][10]

text: Explaining her being hired by Days of our Lives, Banus said that two months after her initial audition she was again offered the role of Gabi by its casting director due to the character being aged, but rejected them because of other career projects. She recalled thinking "Days is over" again and "they were never going to call me again".[5] Two months after this, Banus received a second call asking her to reconsider; she said "At that point I felt there was something there and that I HAD to do this, like it was something that was calling me and I said, ‘Yes.’"[5] At the 2013 Emmy ceremony, Banus revealed that she would be departing from the series when her current contract expired. Her announcement followed the news that her costars Casey Deidrick and Chandler Massey were also leaving.[11] Banus last aired on June 12, 2014, and briefly appeared on December 22 to 29, 2014. On April 24, 2015, it was confirmed that Banus will be reprising the role of Gabi to take part in the soap's fiftieth anniversary celebrations; Banus returned on September 17, 2015.[12]

text: Character development[edit]

text: Characterization and family[edit]

text: Initially, Gabi was "sweet" and "innocent".[13] During an interview with TV Source magazine, Rodriguez described Gabi as "very loving", and said "even though sometimes she can come off like loudmouth and just like I guess bratty, but she's not. She's a really good girl and has a really big heart. She loves her brother and sister and would do anything for them."[4] Rodriguez said that she is sensitive, has a strong personality and shows her soft side with people she's "comfortable with", and believed these were all traits Gabi has.[4] Banus feels that she is like Gabi in the sense that she's "very, very sassy", stating "When Gabi has that kind of fiery thing, that’s totally Camila. Gabi is very motherly and likes helping the people that she loves, which is very much like me as well."[14] She said that Gabi is sensitive when people say things about her.[14] Gabi has three siblings: Rafe (Galen Gering), Arianna (Lindsay Hartley) and Dario Hernandez (Francisco San Martin).[15] Rodriguez said that although they get into "little bickering fights every once in a while", the siblings love each other.[4] Banus said that compared to her three siblings, Gabi "is extremely independent, responsible and she has been on her own for a little bit", but noted that "She is a family girl and loves taking care of family."[13] She enjoys working with Galen, having stated "I love working with him. I think he’s my favorite person to work with, because we just have that brother and sister relationship."[14]

text: Banus loves playing the "evil bitch"-type character,[10] and had that opportunity when Gabi underwent a personality change in 2012. About.com said that she was "the epitome of sweetness and light" but a rocky road led by finding out her first love Will Horton (Chandler Massey) was gay lead the character to undergo a "major personality switch".[16]

text: Of Gabi's transformation from a "sweet girl" to doing terrible things, Banus said "things I think are going on in Gabi’s head that nobody gets to see". The actress who enjoys playing the "dark side of Gabi" credited Ariana's death as the reasoning for Gabi's life going downhill.[13] The actress sent a message to fans, "I want to tell them to be patient with me. The girl they once knew will come back."[13] The new Gabi was described as "obsessive and crazy" and also "manipulative" and "psycho", which received flack from fans. Banus confessed to seeing the backlash on social media websites including Twitter. She said "People say mean things, but it doesn’t really get to me at all. I’m used to it". She noted that her previous role, Lola Montez on One Life to Live, was worse, stating "When I was on One Life to Live I was worse than Gabi is right now. She was a bad girl. She popped holes in condoms. That’s pretty bad. She took acid. That’s pretty bad."[14][17]

text: Relationship with Chad DiMera[edit]

text: While the role was still being portrayed by Rodriguez, Gabi had a brief romance with Chad DiMera (Casey Jon Deidrick). However, Chad left her for Mia McCormick (Taylor Spreitler). Rodriguez said that Gabi was still into him, but was "heartbroken because they really didn't have a chance at a real relationship. It was just kind of left like on the verge of something new and interesting. She was just starting to like him and she didn't know where it was going."[4] She felt that the relationship had potential, as Gabi still "might have a little thing for him".[4]

text:
"She sees how cute he is, and she thinks there’s something there. Plus, now they’re doing all these sexy modeling shoots wearing God knows what. Or, rather, not wearing God knows what. She wants him."[18]

—Banus on Gabi's attraction to Chad during their photoshoot

text: In January 2012, the romance was re-visited in a storyline which Deidrick felt that the writers dropped their brief past, and "You'd never know that happened if you were tuning into Days for the first time now."[17] Gabi and Chad became "superstar models" as the new faces of Countess Wilhelmina Cosmetics. This included a "steamy ad campaign", which Banus described as them having "no clothes and they're dripping wet. It's pretty intense."[17][18] However, Chad was in a committed relationship with Melanie Jonas (Molly Burnett) at the time.[18] On-Air On-Soaps wrote: "So will this be a case of fatal attraction? If so, Melanie better watch out, given that we have seen Banus play man-crazy when she went off the rails as One Life to Live's Lola Montez."[18] Banus felt that it wasn't love, but an infatuation, "[Gabi] is obsessed with having the ideal boyfriend because she has never had an ideal boyfriend. The person she thought was the ideal boyfriend turned out to be gay."[13] She also noted during an interview with TV Guide that "Gabi is attracted to Chad and she sees this modeling thing as a way to be near him." Everyone at the photoshoot felt that they made a good couple, while Deidrick said "Meanwhile, Chad's like, "Huh? What?" He's clueless."[17] Banus called her attraction to Chad a "rebound" from Will; Deidrick said "He's oblivious to her feelings, which is hard because Camila is such a beautiful woman."[17] Gabi was shocked to find out that Chad was dating Melanie when she showed up to the photoshoot and shared a kiss with Chad.[17]

text: Banus said that Gabi: "sees Chad with Melanie and realizes she is not the girl for Chad. Gabi is the girl for Chad. So she focuses all her time and devotes her energy to making sure that is clear to him. At the point where they are at, I think she would do a lot to get that, and that is where she is at right now."[13] However, she noted that "Melanie, deep down, is really her friend. And honestly, she really does care about Melanie a whole lot and never wants to see her get hurt.[13] Gabi knew Melanie being kidnapped by her stalker, Andrew but didn't do anything because Andrew blackmailed her.[3] Chad discovered this and has since had a bitter vendetta against Gabi, despising her.[3]

text: Relationship with Will Horton[edit]

text: Following Arianna's tragic death, Gabi leaned on her sister-in-law Sami Brady's (Alison Sweeney) son, Will Horton (Chandler Massey) for support.[3] Of a possible Will and Gabi pairing, Rodriguez said "I think that would be so perfect. They're so compatible. They're just very good people. I think that would be fun, and I think the audience would like that."[4] Both virgins, the couple had sex. However, Will soon lost all interest in sleeping with her again which was unsettling to Gabi.[19] Banus said "To be completely denied by him in this way is definitely going to make her feel like something is wrong with her."[20] She also stated "Gabi loves Will. Before they were ever boyfriend and girlfriend, they were best friends, who were there for each other."[20] It was then announced by Days of our Lives that Will would come out as gay. Banus looked forward to playing the "fallout", and said "For me there are so many questions [...] How is Gabi going to react? Is she going to turn to somebody [else]? Is she going to break up with Will? Is he going to go behind her back? So many things could happen that could affect Gabi, her brother, Sami ... It's going to be an amazing storyline."[20] Previewing Gabi's reaction, the actress said: "I feel like when it happens she is going to understand what it was. She is going to go through all those occasions where she felt something weird between them and know what it was. Obviously she will feel hurt because she's invested a lot."[21] The couple eventually parted ways.[13]

text: Banus said that Gabi knew things weren't "completely 100 percent" during their relationship despite the fact that she loves and cares for him. She explained that "when they do break up and he comes out to her, she always honestly feels like everything is her fault. And she blames herself for a lot of things."[13] Chandler said "Will loves her as well. There is just no sexual/physical attraction." Prior, viewers picked up on the fact that Will's lack of physical connection with her became one of Gabi's "minor obsessions". Banus joked that his affection was "all she wants". Chandler noted that "There's no doubt Will loves Gabi [...] It's just not in the 'let's get freaky' way".[21] Additionally, the actor felt that the show "didn't drop the dynamic" of the couple after he came out, but it became "more powerful".[22]

text: Nick Fallon and pregnancy[edit]

text: In August 2012, Will and Gabi both ended up having "a bad week" and have sex, despite him previously announcing he was gay.[23] Nothing developed from this.[3] Following her ordeal with Will, Banus said "Gabi needs a man. It’s really important. If she doesn’t get a man soon, she’s going to go ballistic. It needs to be somebody that she doesn’t choose, but they choose her."[14] It was announced that Blake Berris would return as former "braniac" Nick Fallon who was just let out of prison.[24] Banus said that if he was paired with Gabi, they could be "crazy together".[14] Nick and Gabi eventually inched closer and quickly began a romance in October 2012.[3] During an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Banus explained their relationship: "Since both Gabi and Nick were in such dark places in their lives, they don't trust what is happening to them... There's a part of them that feels, I'm not good enough to have this happen."[24] Berris said: "Camila is very funny, and I'm not sure she gets to play that often on screen."[24] Additionally, Berris said of the pairing: "I love Camila. She’s awesome, and Nick and Gabi are an interesting pairing. Both characters have gone through so much. I like how slowly they built [the relationship]. Nick was almost freaked out about what would happen to him, if he got involved with somebody."[25]

text: That November, Gabi received shocking news that she was pregnant. Janet Di Lauro of About.com said "Let's face it. It's a move viewers saw coming, after a down-and-out Gabi shared a night of passion with her gay ex, Will."[26] Gabi nearly had an abortion but decided to go ahead with the pregnancy.[27] Despite Will being the unborn baby's biological father, Gabi and Nick convinced Will to let them raise the baby as their own.[28] He agreed, and they have begun planning their wedding.[29] At the wedding, Chad—still nursing a grudge over her part in his breakup with Melanie—announced that Gabi was pregnant when her and Nick met. This made Will admit to being the father of Gabi's baby. She and Nick get married in March 2013. Nick blackmailed Will into giving up his parental rights. She gave birth to her daughter, Arianna Grace Horton in May 2013 and Nick—after Will saved his life—allowed Will to be her father. When he revealed to Gabi about his blackmailing Will Andy not wanting him in her or the baby’s life because Will was gay, she sought an annulment.

text: When Nick plots to remove Will from Arianna's life and become her primary guardian, Gabi and Nick have a physical altercation in which Gabi strikes him with a rock to keep him from raping her, "killing" him (or so she believes). Sami and Kate help Gabi dump him in the river in which he wakes up before believing he drowned. However, he returns continues to blackmail Gabi until the character was killed in a whodunit murder mystery.

text: Storylines[edit]

text: Gabriella Josephina Hernandez is born in 1992 or 1993 in Salem, Illinois.[30][31] She is the younger sister of Rafe, the late Arianna, and Dario Hernandez. Rafe and Arianna felt that they were being stalked while at the Brady pub, but were shocked to find out that Gabi had come to Salem and was spying on them. Initially for her winter break, Gabi decided to permanently move to Salem, and moved into a vacant room at the Brady Pub. Arianna and Gabi briefly argued but eventually bonded. She befriended other local teens including Chad Peterson-Woods (later revealed to be Chad DiMera). They briefly dated, but he left her for Mia. Saddened by the break-up, Gabi focused herself fully on school. She befriended Will Horton who attended the Salem High formal as her date. Arianna was killed in a hit-and-run accident. She leaned on Will for support and they shared their first kiss. The couple's romance deepened as they were there for one another during mutual times of crisis. They slept together, but Gabi noticed that Will didn't want to sleep with her again. He later came out as gay, and they split up. Gabi earned a job at Quinn Hudson's (Bren Foster) Intensity Day Spa and developed another crush on Chad, and began scheming to break him and his girlfriend Melanie Jonas (Molly Burnett) up. To make Chad worry over her, she pretended to have a stalker, writing fake threatening notes. Chad had Gabi move in with him. So further keep up with her lie, she hired a guy named Andrew to pose as her stalker. Eventually, Andrew's actions became too much and Gabi told him to stop. He ended up kidnapping Melanie, to Gabi's knowledge. Andrew blackmailed Gabi into not telling anybody about Melanie. The truth was eventually revealed, and Chad hated Gabi for it. Feeling down, she ended up having a one night stand with Will, but agreed that it was a mistake. Chad consistently reminded Gabi that she would continue to pay for what she did. She then began a relationship with Nick, who was released from jail after serving time because he kidnapped Melanie. Nick reassured everyone he was a changed man. Chad assaulted Nick, who promised not to press charges if Chad dropped his threats towards Gabi, which he did. Gabi and Nick began planning their happy future, but she realized that she was pregnant with Will's child. Eventually, Gabi, Nick and Will decided that they would pretend that Nick is the father, and Gabi and Nick decided to get married. But when Gabi accidentally let it slip that she is further along than she originally said, Nick covered for her, saying that the two had a one-night stand the day they met. Despite there being some anger at this, everyone has accepted the duo as a couple, except for Chad, who wants Gabi to pay for her misdeeds. Chad told Sonny Kiriakis, Will's boyfriend, about Gabi's role in Melanie's kidnapping. Ever since, Sonny has cut all his ties to Gabi and warned Will to avoid her. On May 20, 2013, Gabi gave birth to a daughter, Arianna Grace Horton, after Gabi's sister and Rafe's deceased goddaughter. Nick finally tells Gabi about what happened to him in prison, and what he did to Will. Gabi moves in with Will, Sonny and baby Arianna and her marriage to Nick is annulled. Despite being divorced, Nick continued to be obsessed with Gabi. When Gabi refused his advances, he tried to rape her. Gabi took a rock and bashed Nick on the head. Sami and Kate arrived and help Gabi throw Nick's body in the water. Nick briefly woke up before sinking into the water, and Gabi was haunted by the fact that they had let him die. On the day of Arianna's christening, Nick showed up at the ceremony alive, and lied about the events that happened that night. Nick wanted to reconcile with Gabi and slowly spent time with her and Arianna. He tried to get Gabi to take Arianna away from Will, but was eventually shot and killed with Gabi revealed to be the shooter. Gabi explained that she was scared of Nick's influence over her and felt she had to kill him to stop him from being a threat to Arianna. She also admitted her role in Melanie's kidnapping and told Marlena about her, Kate and Sami throwing Nick in the river. EJ, who served as Gabi's lawyer, thought it would be better for her to have a plea deal than go to trial and have the truth about Melanie's kidnapping come out. Gabi accepted the plea deal and got ten to twenty years in prison.

text: Gabi is visited by Rafe and later on by Will, Sonny and Arianna for the holidays. She gets another visitor, but it's Melanie, instead of Will and Sonny, who forgave Gabi her past decisions.

text: Gabi is released from prison in September 2015 and shares a happy reunion with Rafe, Will and Arianna thanks to an error made in her sentencing. As Gabi settles back into her life and relaunches her modeling career when Kate hires her at Basic Black working opposite retired baseball player Paul Narita (Christopher Sean), she is devastated when Will is murdered by a serial killer. The killings lead to Gabi's reunion with her estranged father Eduardo (A Martinez) for the first time since she was an infant as one of the serial killer victims is Gabi's half-sister Paige (True O'Brien). In December 2015, Gabi bonds with JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss) and they begin dating, but the romance is short-lived and he had cheated on her with Abe's daughter, Lani. In 2016, her best friend Abigail Devereaux DiMera (JJ's sister) is presumed dead, and Gabi later begins a relationship with her husband Chad. But in November 2016, Chad's wife Abigail returns to Salem and they reconcile, so Gabi tries to ignore her feelings for Chad. Chad and Gabi are locked in a meat locker by Deimos Kiriakis and Chad tells Gabi he loves her. Abigail, with the help of Gabi's brother Dario, who has developed feelings for Abigail himself, rescue them. Chad tells Abigail that he still has feelings for Gabi, but that he loves Abigail and wants to keep his marriage, and eventually decides he must remove Gabi from his life entirely. The day that Chad decides to tell Gabi this, Deimos kidnaps Abigail and Gabi and poisons them both and gives Chad only enough antidote to save one of the women, forcing him to choose which woman would live and which would die. Chad, however, gives half of the antidote to each one, saving both of their lives, however Gabi remains in a coma.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Janet Di Lauro of About.com said that the character is crazy and "naughty."[14] Of being the only Hispanic during her time on Days of Our Lives, Banus stated in 2012: "I’m definitely grateful. I’m proud be a Latina, and I’m really proud to represent for all the Latinas out there; especially the young Latina women. It’s important for them to have a role. I feel really empowered to be the young Latina on the show, and I have no problem carrying all of the responsibility on my back."[14] Banus' portrayal of Gabi earned her a nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series at the 42nd Daytime Emmy Awards in 2015.[32]


document_title: Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

question_text: who plays the voice of the candle in beauty and the beast

text: Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In Rococo-era France, an enchantress disguised as a beggar arrives at a ball and offers the host, a coldhearted prince, a rose for shelter. When he refuses, she transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects, and erases the castle from the memories of their loved ones. She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the curse will never lift unless he learns to love another, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls.

text: Years later, in the village of Villeneuve, Belle dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston, an arrogant former soldier. Lost in the forest, Belle's father Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast's castle, but the Beast imprisons him for stealing a rose from his garden as a birthday gift to Belle. Belle ventures out in search for him and finds him locked in the castle dungeon. The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice's place.

text: Belle befriends the castle's servants, who treat her to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the rose, the Beast, enraged, scares her into the woods. She is cornered by wolves, but the Beast rescues her and is injured in the process. As Belle nurses his wounds, a friendship develops between them. The Beast shows Belle a gift from the enchantress, a book that transports readers wherever they want. Belle uses it to visit her childhood home in Paris, where she discovers a plague doctor mask and realises that she and her father were forced to leave her mother's deathbed when her mother succumbed to the plague.

text: In Villeneuve, Gaston sees rescuing Belle as an opportunity to win her hand in marriage and agrees to help Maurice. When Maurice learns of his ulterior motive and rejects him, Gaston abandons him to the wolves. Maurice is rescued by the herb-wife Agathe, but when he tells the townsfolk of Gaston's crime, but is unable to provide solid evidence, Gaston convinces them to send Maurice to an insane asylum.

text: After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle discovers her father's predicament using a magic mirror. The Beast releases her to save Maurice, giving her the mirror to remember him with. At Villeneuve, Belle proves Maurice's sanity by revealing the Beast in the mirror to the townsfolk. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston has her thrown into the asylum carriage with her father and rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to slay the Beast. Maurice and Belle escape, and Belle rushes back to the castle.

text: During the battle, Gaston abandons his companion LeFou, who then sides with the servants to fend off the villagers. Gaston attacks the Beast in his tower, who is too depressed to fight back, but regains his will upon seeing Belle return. He overpowers Gaston but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. However, Gaston fatally shoots the Beast from a bridge, but it collapses when the castle crumbles, and he falls to his death. The Beast dies as the last petal falls and the servants become inanimate. When Belle tearfully professes her love to him, Agathe reveals herself as the enchantress and undoes the curse, repairing the crumbling castle and restoring the Beast's and servants' human forms and the villagers' memories. The Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Emma Watson as Belle, a beautiful and benevolent bibliophile who develops feelings for the Beast and begins to see the humanity within him.

Daisy Duczmal portrays an infant Belle.

Dan Stevens as The Prince / Beast, a cold-hearted prince who is transformed into a hideous beast and forced to earn back his humanity by learning to truly love and be loved in return.[9][10]

Adam Mitchell[3] portrays the younger version of the Prince.

Luke Evans as Gaston, a narcissistic and arrogant hunter and veteran of the French Royal Army who is willing to go as far as it takes to have Belle as his trophy wife.
Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle's protective widowed father.[11]

Jolyon Coy portrays the young Maurice.

Josh Gad as LeFou, Gaston's flamboyant and long-suffering sidekick who bolsters his friend's ego but gets very little in return.[12]
Ewan McGregor as Lumière, the Beast's charismatic bouteiller who has been transformed into a candelabra.[13]
Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the neurotic court composer and Madame de Garderobe's husband who has been transformed into a harpsichord.[14]
Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe, a world-renowned opera singer and Cadenza's wife who has been transformed into a wardrobe.[15]
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, one of the castle maids and Lumière's lover who has been transformed into a feather duster.[16]
Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the Beast's gruff but loyal majordomo and the head of the household staff who has been transformed into a mantel clock.[17]
Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, the castle's motherly head housekeeper who has been transformed into a teapot.[11]
Hattie Morahan as Agathe, an impoverished hermit and resident of Villeneuve who, in reality, is the Enchantress responsible for cursing the Prince.[18] Morahan also narrates the prologue.

Rita Davies portrays the Enchantress in her beggar woman form.

Nathan Mack as Chip, Mrs. Potts' plucky son who has been transformed into a teacup.[19]
Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque, the sly warden of the local asylum who is bribed by Gaston to have Maurice institutionalized.[18]
Gerard Horan as Monsieur Jean Potts, an absent-minded potter and resident of Villeneuve who is later revealed to be Mrs. Potts' husband and Chip's father.
Haydn Gwynne as Clothilde, a fishmonger and resident of Villeneuve who is later revealed to be Cogsworth's wife.
Michael Jibson as the Tavern Keeper, the owner and keeper of Villeneuve's local tavern where Gaston and the village residents drink.
Ray Fearon as Père Robert, Villeneuve's local chaplain who encourages Belle to borrow the books in the chapel's meager library.
Sophie Reid, Rafaëlle Cohen, and Carla Nella as the Village Lasses, a trio of women who fawn over Gaston and have a jealousy for Belle.
Jimmy Johnston, Dean Street, and Alexis Loizon as Tom, Dick, and Stanley, a trio of men who serve as Gaston's henchmen.
Zoe Rainey as Belle's mother, Maurice's late wife who contracted the plague and died when Belle was an infant.
Clive Rowe as Cuisinier, the castle's head chef who has been transformed into a stove.
Gizmo as Frou-Frou, Maestro Cadenza's and Madame de Garderobe's pet Yorkshire Terrier who has been transformed into a footstool.
Thomas Padden as Chapeau, the Prince's valet who has been transformed into a coat rack.
Tom Turner[4] as The King, the Prince's father who, following his wife's death, raised his son to be just as selfish and arrogant as he was.
Harriet Jones as The Queen, the Prince's mother who died of an illness when he was a child.
Dale Branston as Baker, Villeneuve's residential baker.
Chris Andrew Mellon as Nasty Headmaster, the unnamed headmaster of an all boys school in Villeneuve that disapproves of Belle teaching a young girl how to read.
Vivian Parry as the Village Lass' Mother, an unnamed seamstress who is the mother of the Village Lasses.

tag: ul

text: Cast notes[edit]

text: ^ In the initial theatrical release, Mitchell was miscredited as Rudi Gooman in the cast, but listed under his real name in the soundtrack credits.[20]

text: ^ In the initial theatrical release, Turner is miscredited as Henry Garrett in the cast.[20]

text: Stephen Merchant also appeared in the film as Monsieur Toilette, a servant who was turned into a toilet. This character was cut from the film, but is featured in the deleted scenes.[21]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Previously, Disney had begun work on a film adaptation of the 1994 Broadway musical.[22][23] However, in a 2011 interview, composer Alan Menken stated the planned film version of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical "was canned".[24]

text: By April 2014, Walt Disney Pictures had already begun developing a new live-action version and remake of Beauty and the Beast after making other live-action fantasy films such as Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book.[25] In June 2014, Bill Condon was signed to direct the film from a script by Evan Spiliotopoulos.[26] Later in September of that same year, Stephen Chbosky (who had previously directed Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower) was hired to re-write the script.[27]

text: Before Condon was hired to direct the film, Disney approached him with a proposal to remake the film in a more radical way as Universal Studios had remade Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Condon later explained that "after Frozen opened, the studio saw that there was this big international audience for an old-school-musical approach. But initially, they said, 'We're interested in a musical to a degree, but only half full of songs.' My interest was taking that film and doing it in this new medium—live-action—as a full-on musical movie. So I backed out for a minute, and they came back and said, 'No, no, no, we get it, let's pursue it that way.'"[28] Walt Disney Pictures president of production Sean Bailey credited Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn with the decision to make the film as a musical: "We worked on this for five or six years, and for 18 months to two years, Beauty was a serious dramatic project, and the scripts were written to reflect that. It wasn't a musical at that time. But we just couldn't get it to click and it was Alan Horn who championed the idea of owning the Disney of it all. We realized there was a competitive advantage in the songs. What is wrong with making adults feel like kids again?"[29]

text: Casting[edit]

text: In January 2015, Emma Watson announced that she would be starring as Belle, the female lead.[30] Watson was the first choice of Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn, as he had previously overseen Warner Bros. which released the eight Harry Potter films that co-starred Watson as Hermione Granger.[29] Two months later, Luke Evans and Dan Stevens were revealed to be in talks to play Gaston and the Beast respectively,[31][32] and Watson confirmed their casting the following day through tweets.[9][33] The rest of the principal cast, including Josh Gad, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci were announced between March and April to play LeFou, Mrs. Potts, Maurice, Madame de Garderobe, Cogsworth, Plumette, Lumière and Cadenza, respectively.[12][11][15][17][16][13][14][34]

text: Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle on Broadway, commented on the casting of Watson as "perfect".[35] Paige O'Hara, who voiced Belle in the original animated film and its sequels, offered to help Watson with her singing lessons.[36]

text: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Emma Watson was reportedly paid $3 million upfront, together with an agreement that her final take-home pay could rise as high as $15 million if the film generated gross box office income similar to Maleficent's $759 million worldwide gross.[37]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography on the film began at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, United Kingdom, on May 18, 2015.[11][38][39] Filming with the principal actors concluded on August 21.[40][41] Six days later, co-producer Jack Morrissey confirmed that the film had officially wrapped production.[42]

text: The Beast was portrayed with a “more traditional motion capture puppeteering for the body and the physical orientation", where actor Dan Stevens was "in a forty-pound gray suit on stilts for much of the film". The facial capture for the Beast was done separately in order to "communicate the subtleties of the human face" and "[capture the] thought that occurs to him" which gets "through [to] the eyes, which are the last human element in the Beast.” The castle servants who are transformed into household objects were created with CGI animation.[6]

text: Before the release of the film, Bill Condon refilmed one certain sequence in the "Days of the Sun" number, due to confusion among test audiences caused by actress Harriet Jones, who looked similar to Hattie Morahan, who portrayed Agathe. In the original version of the scene, it was Jones's character, the Prince's mother, who sings the first verse of the song, with Rudi Goodman playing the young Prince and Henry Garrett playing his father; but in the reshot version of the scene, the singing part is given to the Prince (now played by Adam Mitchell). The King was also recast to Tom Turner, although Harriet Jones was still the Queen, albeit with dark hair. Both Goodman and Garrett's names were mistakenly featured in the original theatrical release's credits, but was later corrected in home releases.[20]

text: Music[edit]

text: When released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast marked a turning point for Walt Disney Pictures by appealing to millions of fans with its Oscar-winning musical score by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken. In Bill Condon's opinion, that original score was the key reason he agreed to direct a live-action version of the movie. "That score had more to reveal", he says, "You look at the songs and there's not a clunker in the group. In fact, Frank Rich described it as the best Broadway musical of 1991. The animated version was already darker and more modern than the previous Disney fairytales. Take that vision, put it into a new medium, make it a radical reinvention, something not just for the stage because it's not just being literal, now other elements come into play. It's not just having real actors do it".[43]

text: Condon initially prepared on only drawing inspiration from the original film, but he also planned to include most of the songs composed by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice from the Broadway musical, with the intention of making the film as a "straight-forward, live-action, large-budget movie musical".[44] Menken returned to score the film's music, which features songs from the original film by him and Howard Ashman, plus new material written by Menken and Tim Rice.[45] Menken said the film will not include songs that were written for the Broadway musical and instead, created four new songs.[46] However, an instrumental version of the song "Home", which was written for the musical, is used during the scene where Belle first enters her room in the castle.[47]

text: On January 19, 2017, it was confirmed by both Disney and Céline Dion—singer of the original 1991 Beauty and the Beast duet song, with singer Peabo Bryson—that Dion would be performing one of the new original songs "How Does a Moment Last Forever" to play over the end titles.[48] She originally had doubts about whether or not to record the song due to the recent death of her husband and manager René Angélil, who had previously helped her secure the 1991 pop duet. While ultimately accepting the opportunity, she said: "[The] first Beauty and the Beast decision was made with my husband. Now I'm making decisions on my own. It's a little bit harder. I couldn't say yes right away, because I felt like I was kind of cheating in a way". She eventually felt compelled to record the song because of the impact Beauty and the Beast has had on her career. According to Dion, "I was at the beginning of my career, it put me on the map, it put me where I am today". Also, Josh Groban was announced to be performing the new original song "Evermore" on January 26, 2017.[49][50][51][52]

text: The 2017 film features a remake of the 1991 original song Beauty and the Beast recorded as a duet by Ariana Grande and John Legend.[53][54] Grande and Legend's updated version of the Beauty and the Beast title song is faithful to the original, Grammy-winning duet, performed by Céline Dion and Peabo Bryson for the 1991 Disney film.[55]

text: Emma Thompson also performed a rendition of "Beauty and the Beast", which was performed by Angela Lansbury in the original 1991 animated film release.[56]

text: Disney debuted the music video for Ariana Grande and John Legend's interpretation of the title song "Beauty and the Beast" on Freeform television network on March 5, 2017, and it has since attained over 100 million video views on the Vevo video-hosting service.[56]

text: Release[edit]

text: On March 16, 2015, Disney announced the film would be released in 3D on March 17, 2017.[11] The first official presentation of the film took place at Disney's three-day D23 Expo in August 2015.[57]

text: The world premiere of Beauty and the Beast took place on February 23, 2017, at Spencer House in London, United Kingdom;[58] and the film later premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, on March 2, 2017. The stream was broadcast onto YouTube.

text: A sing along version of the film released in over 1,200 US theaters nationwide on April 7, 2017.[59] The United Kingdom received the same version on April 21, 2017.[citation needed]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: Disney spent around $140 million for marketing the film worldwide.[60] Following an announcement on May 22, 2016,[61] Disney premiered the first official teaser trailer on Good Morning America the next day.[62] In its first 24 hours, the teaser trailer reached 91.8 million views, which topped the number of views seen in that amount of time in history, including for the teasers for other films distributed by Disney such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Captain America: Civil War.[63] This record has since been broken by Thor: Ragnarok and It.[64] The first official teaser poster was released on July 7, 2016.[65] On November 2, 2016, Entertainment Weekly debuted the first official image on the cover of their magazine for the week along with nine new photos as well.[66][67] One week later, Emma Watson and Disney debuted a new poster for the film.[68] On November 14, 2016, the first theatrical trailer was released again on Good Morning America.[69] The trailer reached 127.6 million views in its first 24 hours, setting a new record as the trailer with the most views in one day, beating out Fifty Shades Darker.[70] This record has since been broken again by The Fate of the Furious.[71] A TV spot with Watson singing was shown during the 74th Golden Globe Awards.[72] Disney released the final trailer on January 30, 2017.[73]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Beauty and the Beast was released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on June 6, 2017.[74] The film debuted at No. 1 on the NPD VideoScan overall disc sales chart, with all other titles in the top 20, collectively, selling only 40% as many units as Beauty and the Beast.[75] The movie regained the top spot on the national home video sales charts during its third week of release.[76] The movie became available on Netflix on September 19, 2017.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Beauty and the Beast grossed $504 million in the United States and Canada and $759.4 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $1.263 billion.[a] With a production budget of $160 million, it is the second-most expensive musical ever made; only Hello, Dolly! (1969) with a budget of $25 million ($165 million in 2016 dollars) cost more.[4] In just ten days, it became the highest-grossing live-action musical of all time, beating the nine-year-old record held by Mamma Mia!. It is currently the second-biggest musical ever overall, behind Disney's Frozen (2013).[78] Worldwide, the film proved to be a global phenomenon, earning a total of $357 million over its four-day opening weekend from 56 markets. Critics said the film was playing like superhero movies amongst women. It was the second biggest March global opening, behind only Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the thirteenth-biggest worldwide opening ever and the seventh-biggest for Disney.[79] This includes $21 million from IMAX plays on 1,026 screens, a new record for an IMAX PG title.[80] It surpassed the entire lifetime total of the original film in just six days.[81][82]

text: Beauty and the Beast is the 300th digitally remastered release in IMAX company's history, which began with the re-release of Apollo 13 in 2002. Its robust global debut helped push the company past $6 billion for the first time,[83] and led to analysts believing that the film had a shot of passing $1 billion worldwide from theatrical earnings.[84][85][86][87] On April 12, it passed the $1 billion threshold, becoming the first film of 2017, the fourteenth Disney film, and the twenty-ninth film overall to pass the mark. It became the first film since Rogue One (also a Disney property) in December 2016 to make over a billion dollars, and did so on its twenty-ninth day of release.[88][89][90] It is currently the highest-grossing film of 2017,[91] the highest-grossing March release,[92] the highest-grossing remake of all-time,[93] and the fifth-biggest Disney film.[94] Even after inflation adjusted, it is still ahead of the $425 million gross ($760 million in 2017 dollars) of the original film.[93]

text: North America[edit]

text: In the United States and Canada, Beauty and the Beast topped Fandango's pre-sales and became the fastest-selling family film in the company's history, topping the studio's own animated film Finding Dory released the previous year. Early tracking had the film grossing around $100 million in its opening weekend, with some publications predicting it could reach $130 million.[95][96][97] By the time the film's release was 10 days away, analysts raised projections to as high as $150 million.[98][99] It earned $16.3 million from Thursday previews night, marking the biggest of 2017 (breaking Logan's record), the biggest ever for a Disney live-action film (breaking Maleficent's record), the second biggest ever for both a G or PG-rated film (behind the sixth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which also starred Watson), and the third biggest ever in the month of March (behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Hunger Games).[100] An estimated 41% of the gross came from IMAX, 3D and premium large format screenings which began at 6 pm, while the rest—59%—came from regular 2D shows which began at 7 p.m.[101] The numbers were considered more impressive given that the film played during a school week.[102]

text: On its opening day, the film made $63.8 million from 4,210 theaters across 9,200 screens, marking the third biggest in the month of March, trailing behind Batman v Superman ($81.5 million) and The Hunger Games ($67 million).[103][104] It was also the biggest opening day ever for a film that wasn't PG-13, displacing the $58 million opening Wednesday of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Its opening day alone (which includes Thursday's previews) almost matched the entire opening weekend of previous Disney live-action films, Maleficent ($69.4 million) and Cinderella ($67.9 million).[105] Unlike all previous four Disney live-action films witnessing a hike on their second day, Saturday, Beauty and the Beast actually fell 2%, but nevertheless, the dip was paltry, and the grosses are so much bigger compared to the other titles.[83] Earning a total of $174.8 million on its opening weekend, it defied all expectations and went on to set numerous notable records.[106] This includes the biggest opening of the year as well as the biggest for the month of March and pre-summer/spring opening, beating Batman v Superman,[107][108] the biggest start ever for a PG title (also for a family film), surpassing Finding Dory,[109] the biggest debut of all time for a female-fueled film, ahead of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,[110] the biggest for a Disney live-action adaptation, ahead of Alice in Wonderland[110] and the biggest musical debut ever, supplanting Pitch Perfect 2. Furthermore, it is also Watson's highest-opening, beating Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 same with Emma Thompson, director Bill Condon's biggest debut ever ahead of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and the biggest outside of summer, save for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, not accounting for inflation.[106]

text: It became the forty-third film to debut with over $100 million and the fifteenth film to open above $150 million. Its three-day opening alone surpassed the entire original North American run of the first film ($146 million; before the 3D re-release), instantly becoming the second-biggest film of the year, behind Logan ($184 million), and also the second-highest-grossing musical, behind Grease's $188 million cumulative gross in 1978.[111] Seventy percent of the total ticket sales came from 2D showings signifying that people who don't go to theaters frequently came out in bulk to watch the film. About 26% of the remaining tickets were for 3D. IMAX accounted for 7% ($12.5 million) of the total weekend's gross, setting a new record for a PG title, ahead of Alice in Wonderland ($12.1 million) while PLF repped 11% of the box office.[83] Seventy percent of the film's opening day demographic was female, dropping to 60% through the weekend.[110] According polling service PostTrak, about 84 percent of American parents who saw the film on its opening day said they would "definitely" recommend it for families.[112][113] The film's opening was credited to positive word of mouth from audiences, good reviews from critics, effective marketing which sold the title not just as a family film but also as a romantic drama, the cast's star power (especially Emma Watson), lack of competition, being the first family film since The Lego Batman Movie a month earlier, nostalgia, and the success and ubiquity of the first film and Disney's brand.[112][114]

text: On Monday, its fourth day of release, the film fell precipitously by 72% earning $13.5 million. The steep fall was due to a limited marketplace where only 11% K-12 and 15% colleges were off per ComScore. Nevertheless, it is the second-biggest March Monday, behind Batman v Superman ($15 million).[115] This was followed by the biggest March and pre-summer Tuesday with $17.8 million, a 32% increase from its previous day. The same day, the film passed $200 million in ticket sales.[116] It earned $228.6 million in the first week of release, the sixth-biggest seven-day gross of all time.[117] In its second weekend, the film continued to maintain the top positioning and fell gradually by 48% earning another $90.4 million to register the fourth-biggest second weekend of all time, and the third-biggest for Disney.[118] In terms of percentage drop, its 48% decline is the third-smallest drop for any film opening above $125 million (behind Finding Dory and The Force Awakens).[78] The hold was notable considering how the film was able to fend off three new wide releases: Power Rangers, Life, and CHiPs.[119] As a result, it passed the $300 million threshold becoming the first film of 2017 the pass said mark.[120] The film grossed $45.4 million in its third weekend, finally being overtaken for the top spot by newcomer The Boss Baby ($50.2 million).[121] On April 4, 2017, its nineteenth day of release, it passed the $400 million threshold becoming the first film of 2017 to do so.[122] By its fourth weekend, the film began was playing in 3,969 cinemas, a fall of 241 theaters from its previous weekend. Of those, approximately 1,200 cinemas were sing-along versions. It earned $26.3 million (-48%) and retained second place. By comparison, previous Disney films Moana (−8%) and Frozen (−2%) both witnessed mild percentage declines the weekend their sing-alone versions were released.[123] Its seventh weekend of release was in contemporaneous with another Emma Watson-starring new film The Circle.[124] That weekend, The Circle was number four, while Beauty and the Beast was at number six.[125] By May 28, the film had earned over $500 million in ticket sales becoming the first (and currently only) film of 2017, the third female-fueled film (after The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story followed by Wonder Woman) and the eighth overall film in cinematic history to pass the mark.[126][127][128]

text: It has already become the biggest March release, dethroning The Hunger Games (2012),[129] the biggest musical film (both animated and live-action),[130] as well as the biggest film of 2017.[131]

text: Outside North America[edit]

text: Internationally, the film began playing on Thursday, March 16, 2017. Through Sunday, March 19, it had a total international opening of $182.3 million from 55 markets, 44 of which were major territories, far exceeding initial estimations of $100 million and opened at No. 1 in virtually all markets except Vietnam, Turkey, and India. Its launch is the second-biggest for the month of March, behind Batman v Superman ($256.5 million). In IMAX, it recorded the biggest debut for a PG title (although it carried varying certificate amongst different markets) with $8.5 million from 649 screens, the second-biggest for a PG title behind The Jungle Book.[132] In its second weekend, it fell just by 35% earning another $120.6 million and maintaining its first position hold. It added major markets like France and Australia.[133] It topped the international box office for three consecutive weekends[134] before finally being dethroned by Ghost in the Shell and The Boss Baby in its fourth weekend. Despite the fall, the film helped Disney push past the $1 billion thresold internationally for the first time in 2017.[135][90]

text: It scored the biggest opening day of the year in Hong Kong and the Philippines, the biggest March Thursday in Italy ($1 million, also the biggest Disney Thursday debut), the biggest March opening day in Austria, and the second-biggest in Germany ($1.1 million), Disney's biggest March in Denmark, the biggest Disney live-action debut in China ($12.6 million), the UK ($6.2 million), Mexico ($2.4 million) and Brazil ($1.8 million) and the third-biggest in South Korea with $1.2 million, behind only Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.[136][137] In terms of opening weekend, the largest debut came from China ($44.8 million), followed by the UK ($24.3 million), Korea ($11.8 million), Mexico ($11.8 million), Australia ($11.1 million), Brazil ($11 million), Germany ($10.7 million), France ($8.4 million), Italy ($7.6 million), Philippines ($6.3 million), Russia ($6 million) and Spain ($5.8 million).[132][133]

text: In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film recorded the biggest opening ever for a PG-rated film, the biggest Disney live-action opening of all time, the biggest March opening weekend, the biggest opening for a musical (ahead of 2012's Les Misérables), the number one opening of 2017 to date and the fifth-biggest-ever overall with £19.7 million ($24.5 million) from 639 theatres and almost twice that of The Jungle Book (£9.9 million).[138] This included the second-biggest Saturday ever (£7.9 million), only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[139] It witnessed a decline in its second weekend, earning £12.33 million ($15.4 million). Though the film was falling at a faster rate than The Jungle Book, it had already surpassed the said film and its second weekend is the third-biggest ever (behind the two James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre).[140][133] In India, despite facing heavy competitions from four new Hindi releases, two Tamils films and a Malayalam and a Punjabi release, the film managed to take an occupancy of 15% on its opening day, an impressive feat despite tremendous competitions.[141][142][143] It earned around ₹1.5 crore (US$230,000) nett on its opening day from an estimated 600 screens which is more than the three Hindi releases—Machine, Trapped, and Aa Gaya Hero—combined.[144] Disney reported a total of ₹9.26 crore (US$1.4 million) gross for its opening weekend there. It was ahead of all new releases and second overall behind Bollywood film Badrinath Ki Dulhania.[145][146][147] In Russia, despite receiving a restrictive 16 rating, the film managed to deliver a very successful opening with $6 million.[148]

text: In China, expectations were high for the film. The release date was announced on January 24, giving Disney and local distributor China Film Group Corporation ample time—around two months—to market the film nationwide. The release date was strategically chosen to coincide with White Day. Preliminary reports suggested that it could open to $40–60 million in its opening weekend. Largely driven by young women, its opening day pre-sales outpaced that of The Jungle Book.[149] The original film was, however, never widely popular in the country.[150] Although China has occasionally blocked gay-themed content from streaming video services, in this case, Chinese censors decided to leave the gay scene intact. According to local box office tracker Ent Group, the film grossed an estimated $12.1 million on its opening day (Friday), representing 70% of the total receipts. Including previews, it made a total of $14.5 million from 100,000 screenings, which is 43% of all screenings in the country.[151] It climbed to $18.5 million on Saturday (102,700 showings) for a three-day total of $42.6 million, securing 60% of the total marketplace. Disney on the other hand reported a different figure of $44.8 million.[152][153] Either ways, it recorded the second-biggest opening for a Disney live-action film,[150] with $3.4 million coming from 386 IMAX screens.[132] Japan—a huge Disney market—served as the film's final market and opened there on April 21.[133] It debuted with a better-than-expected $12.5 million on its opening weekend helping the film push past the $1.1 billion threshold. An estimated $1.1 million came from IMAX screenings, the fourth-biggest ever in the country.[154][155] The two-day gross was $9.7 million, outstripping Frozen's previous record of $9.5 million.[156] Due to positive reviews, good word-of-mouth and benefitting from the Golden Week, the film saw a 9% increase on its second weekend. The hold was strong enough to fend off newcomer The Fate of the Furious from securing the top spot. The total there is now over $98 million after seven weekends[157][158][159] and is the biggest film release of the year and, overall, the eleventh-biggest of all time.[160] It topped the box office there for eight consecutive weekends.[161][162]

text: The only markets where the film did not top the weekend charts were Vietnam (behind Kong: Skull Island), Turkey (with two local movies and Logan ahead) and India (where Badrinath Ki Dulhania retained No. 1).[132] It topped the box office for four straight weekends in Germany, Korea, Austria, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Switzerland and the UK (exclusive of previews).[135][163] In the Philippines, it emerged as the most successful commercial film of all time—both local and foreign—with over $13.5 million.[164] In just five weeks, the film became one of the top 10 highest-grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom and Ireland, ahead of all but one Harry Potter film (Deathly Hallows – Part 2) and all three The Lord of the Rings movies (which also starred Ian McKellen).[165] It is currently the eighth-biggest grosser with £70.1 million ($90 million), overtaking Mamma Mia! to become the biggest musical production ever there.[154][166] The biggest international earning markets following the UK are Japan ($108 million), China ($85.8 million), Brazil ($41.5 million), Korea ($37.5 million), and Australia ($35 million).[161] In Europe alone, the cumulative total is $267 million to become the second-highest-grossing film in the past year (behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story).[154][157][167]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Beauty and the Beast received generally positive reviews, with praise for the faithfulness to the original film with a few elements of the Broadway musical version, cast performances, visuals, Jacqueline Durran's costume designs, production design, Alan Menken's musical score and songs, though the designs of the Beast and the servants' household object forms received mixed reviews.[168][169] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 294 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material."[170] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[171] In CinemaScore polls, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[172][173]

text: Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "It's a Michelin-triple-starred master class in patisserie skills that transforms the cinematic equivalent of a sugar rush into a kind of crystal-meth-like narcotic high that lasts about two hours." Felperin also praised the performances of Watson and Kline as well the special effects, costume designs and the sets while commended the inclusion of Gad's character of LeFou as the first LGBT character in Disney.[174] Owen Gleiberman of Variety, in his positive review of the film, wrote: "It's a lovingly crafted movie, and in many ways a good one, but before that it's an enraptured piece of old-is-new nostalgia." Gleiberman compared Steven's character of the Beast to a royal version of the titular character in The Elephant Man and the 1946 version of the Beast in Jean Cocteau's original adaptation.[175] A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised the performances of both Watson and Stevens, and wrote: "It looks good, moves gracefully and leaves a clean and invigorating aftertaste. I almost didn't recognize the flavor: I think the name for it is joy."[176] Likewise, The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday complimented Watson's performance, describing it as "alert and solemn" while noting her singing ability as "serviceable enough to get the job done".[177] Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three and a half stars, lauded the performances of Watson and Thompson which he drew a comparison to Paige O'Hara's and Angela Lansbury's performances in the 1991 animated version while appreciating the performances of the other cast and also pointing out on its usage of the combination of motion capture and CGI technology as a big advantage which he stated: "Almost overwhelmingly lavish, beautifully staged and performed with exquisite timing and grace by the outstanding cast".[178] Mike Ryan of Uproxx praised the cast, production design and the new songs while noting the film doesn't try anything different, saying: "There's certainly nothing that new about this version of Beauty and the Beast (well, except it isn't a cartoon anymore), but it's a good recreation of a classic animated film that should leave most die-hards satisfied."[179] In her A- review, Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News praised the film's emotional and thematic depth, remarking: "There's an emotional authenticity in director Bill Condon's live-action Beauty and the Beast film that helps you rediscover Disney's beloved 1991 animated film and 1994 stage show in fresh, stirring ways."[180] James Berardinelli of ReelViews described the 2017 version as "enthralling".[181]

text: Brian Truitt of USA Today commended the performances of Evans, Gad, McGregor and Thompson alongside Condon's affinity with musicals, the production design, visual effects featured in some of the song numbers including new songs made by the composers Alan Menken and Tim Rice, particularly Evermore which he described the new song with a potential for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.[182] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone rated the film three out of four stars which he deemed it as an "exhilarating gift" while he remarked that "Beauty and the Beast does justice to Disney's animated classic, even if some of the magic is M.I.A (Missing in Action)."[183] Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine gave a positive review with a description as "Wild, Vivid and Crazy-Beautiful" as she wrote "Nearly everything about Beauty and the Beast is larger than life, to the point that watching it can be a little overwhelming." and added that "it’s loaded with feeling, almost like a brash interpretive dance expressing the passion and elation little girls (and some boys, too) must have felt upon seeing the earlier version."[184] The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle struck an affirmative tone, calling it one of the joys of 2017, stating that "Beauty and the Beast creates an air of enchantment from its first moments, one that lingers and builds and takes on qualities of warmth and generosity as it goes along" while referring the film as "beautiful" and also praised the film for its emotional and psychological tone as well Steven's motion capture performance.[185] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film four stars out of five and wrote that "It dazzles on this chocolate box of a picture that feels almost greedy yet to make this film work, down to a sugar-rush finale to grasp the nettle and make an out-an-out, bells-and-whistles musical" while he praised the performances of Watson, McKellen, Thompson, McGregor, Evans and Gad.[186] Mark Hughes of Forbes also similarly praised the film which he wrote that "it could revive the story in a faithful but entirely new and unique way elevating the material beyond expectations, establishing itself as a cinematic equal to the original" and also complimented the importance of undertaking a renowned yet problematic masterpiece as well addressing changes in the elements of the story while acknowledging the film's effectiveness in resonating to the audiences.[187]

text: Several critics regarded the film as inferior to its 1991 animated predecessor. David Sims of The Atlantic wrote that the 2017 film "feels particularly egregious, in part, because it’s so slavishly devoted to the original; every time it falls short of its predecessor (which is quite often), it’s hard not to notice".[188] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune said that the 2017 film "takes our knowledge and our interest in the material for granted. It zips from one number to another, throwing a ton of frenetically edited eye candy at the screen, charmlessly." Phillips wrote that the film featured some "less conspicuously talented" performers who are "stuck doing karaoke, or motion-capture work of middling quality", though he praised Kline's performance as the "best, sweetest thing in the movie; he brings a sense of calm, droll authority".[189] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised Watson's performance and wrote that the film was "lit in that fascinatingly artificial honey-glow light, and it runs smoothly on rails—the kind of rails that bring in and out the stage sets for the lucrative Broadway touring version." In the same newspaper, Wendy Ide criticized the film as "ornate to the point of desperation" in its attempt to emulate the animated film.[190][191]

text: Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B-, writing that while the film looks "exceptionally great", he sensed that the new songs were "not transporting". He felt the film needed more life and depth, but praised Watson's and Steven's performances as the "film’s stronger elements".[192] Dana Schwartz of The New York Observer felt that some of the characters, such as Gaston and the Beast, had been watered down from the 1991 film, and that the additional backstory elements failed to "advance the plot or theme in any meaningful way" while adding considerable bloat. Schwartz considered the singing of the cast to be adequate but felt that their voices should have been dubbed over, especially for the complex songs.[193]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipient(s) and nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

MTV Movie & TV Awards
May 7, 2017
Movie of the Year
Beauty and the Beast
Won
[194]

Best Actor in a Movie
Emma Watson

Best Kiss
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens
Nominated

Best Duo
Josh Gad and Luke Evans

Golden Trailer Awards
June 6, 2017
Best Animation/Family
Beauty and the Beast
[195]

Best Original Score

Best Animation/Family TV Spot

Best Fantasy Adventure TV Spot

Teen Choice Awards
August 13, 2017
Choice Movie: Fantasy
Won
[196]
[197]

Choice Movie: Fantasy Actor
Dan Stevens
Nominated

Choice Movie: Fantasy Actress
Emma Watson
Won

Choice Movie Villain
Luke Evans

Choice Movie Ship
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens

Choice Liplock

Choice Scene Stealer
Josh Gad
Nominated

Choice Hissy Fit
Luke Evans

Dan Stevens

tag: table

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Gay character[edit]

text: Controversy erupted after director Bill Condon said there was a "gay moment" in the film, when LeFou briefly waltzes with Stanley, one of Gaston's friends.[198] Afterwards in an interview with Vulture.com, Condon stated, "Can I just say, I’m sort of sick of this. Because you’ve seen the movie—it's such a tiny thing, and it’s been overblown." Condon also added that Beauty and the Beast features much more diversity than just the highly talked-about LeFou: "That was so important. We have interracial couples—this is a celebration of everybody's individuality, and that’s what’s exciting about it.”[199] GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis praised the move stating, "It is a small moment in the film, but it is a huge leap forward for the film industry."[200]

text: In Russia, Vitaly Milonov agitated the culture minister for banning the film,[201] but instead it was given a 16+ rating (children under the age of 16 can only be admitted to see it in theaters with accompanying adults).[202] Additionally, a theater in Henagar, Alabama did not screen the film because of the subplot.[203] In Malaysia, the Film Censorship Board insisted the "gay moment" scene be cut, prompting an indefinite postponement of its release by Disney, followed by their decision to withdraw it completely if it could not be released uncensored.[204][205][206] The studio moved the release date to March 30, to allow more time for Malaysia's censor board to make a decision on whether or not to release the film without changes.[207] The distributors and producers then submitted an appeal to the Film Appeal Committee of Malaysia, which allowed the film to be released without any cuts and a P13 rating on the grounds that the "gay element" was minor and did not affect the positive elements featured in the film.[208][209] In Kuwait, the movie was withdrawn from cinemas by National Cinema Company which owns most of the cinemas in the country. A board member of the company stated that the Ministry of Information's censorship department had requested it to stop its screening and edit it for things deemed offensive by it.[210]

text: There were also a number of boycotts against the film. A call to boycott on LifePetitions received over 129,000 signatures,[211] while the American Family Association featured a petition to boycott with the film, asking the public to help crowdfund a CGI version of Pilgrim's Progress instead.[212]

text: Belle and the Beast's relationship[edit]

text: Disney has sought to portray Belle as an empowered young woman,[213] but a debate questioning whether it is possible to fall in love with someone who is holding you prisoner, and whether this is a problematic theme, has resulted.[214] As was the case with the original animated film, one argument is that Belle suffers from Stockholm syndrome (a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity). Emma Watson studied whether Belle is trapped in an abusive relationship with the Beast before signing on and concluded that she does not think the criticism fits this version of the folk tale.[215][216] Watson described Stockholm Syndrome as "where a prisoner will take on the characteristics of and fall in love with the captor. Belle actively argues and disagrees with [Beast] constantly. She has none of the characteristics of someone with Stockholm Syndrome because she keeps her independence, she keeps that freedom of thought", also adding that Belle defiantly "gives as good as she gets" before forming a friendship and romance with the Beast.[217]

text: Psychiatrist Frank Ochberg, who coined the term "Stockholm syndrome", said he does not think Belle exhibits the trauma symptoms of prisoners suffering from the syndrome because she does not go through a period of feeling that she is going to die.[218] Some therapists, while acknowledging that the pairing's relationship does not meet the clinical definition of Stockholm syndrome, argue that the relationship depicted is dysfunctional and abusive and does not model healthy romantic relationships for young viewers.[219][220] Constance Grady of Vox writes that Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast was a fairy tale originally written to prepare young girls in 18th-century France for arranged marriages, and that the power disparity is amplified in the Disney version.[221] Anna Menta of Elite Daily argued that the Beast does not apologize to Belle for imprisoning, hurting, or manipulating her, and his treatment of Belle is not painted as wrong.[222]

text: Notes[edit]

text: ^ Jump up to: a b Beauty and the Beast at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 14, 2017.

tag: ol