It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years since I first saw Beauty and the Beast in theaters. I was 9 and in love with all things Disney. I still remember watching the ballroom dancing scene with Belle, in her gorgeous gold gown. As I looked on in amazement,รย it felt as if I was really there with them, which was confusing at the time because it’s an animated film!
Beauty and the Beast 3D is now open in theaters nationwide, and it’s exciting to know my daughter will have the chance to experience that same sense of wonder and awe that I felt watching the film for the first time 20 years ago.
As a longtime Beauty and the Beast fan, I never thought in my wildest dreams that one day I would have the opportunity to participate in group interview with Paige O’Hara — the voice of Belle. It was fascinating to go “behind the scenes” and hear, first hand, Paige’s thoughts on the “tale as old as time” and how the role changed her life.
Here’s a few of the highlights from my interview with Paige O’Hara:
That moment when youรขโฌโขd heard youรขโฌโขd be voicing Belle รขโฌโ
รขโฌลIt was an incredible week because I had auditioned for it 5 times and I was really excited about it and I really was thinking I was going to get it and my husband to be — รย he proposed to me the day before I got the job, it was my birthday, so I got engaged and it was my birthday and Beauty and the Beast all happened in a matter of 3 days and it was just one of those things … that moment was a life-changing experience.รขโฌย
Do you see yourself in Belle and how do you relate to her character?
รขโฌลI relate to her quite a bit actually. Particularly the part of her that felt out of place and odd. Because when I was growing up in Ft. Lauderdale and my friends wereรย listening to Led Zeppelin and I was listening to Gershwin and Rogers & Hammerstein. And I was also you know, a theater person, which is kind of like not the norm, I was totally indulged in theater since the time I was 6 years old as well as my artwork.รขโฌย
รขโฌลSo I was sort of an oddball รขโฌยฆ and Iรขโฌโขve always loved books and Iรขโฌโขve always loved that side of her wantingรขโฌยฆ I really wasnรขโฌโขt looking for a man. You know, and thatรขโฌโขs the thing about Belle, sheรขโฌโขs the only princess thatรขโฌโขs not looking for a man. She wants to enjoy life, and thatรขโฌโขs Paige as a young teenager, wanting to you know go to Broadway and experience, you know, travel around the world with my career … So there are a lot of aspects of myself in her.รขโฌย
While making Beauty and the Beast, did you ever think it would be the classic that it is today?
รขโฌลI knew it would be special but I didnรขโฌโขt really think it would be the classic that it turned out to be until we went to the film festival in New York. And it was right before the film opened and it was a special premiere where it was about 60 % completed and the rest was hand drawn, and coming from NY as a Broadway actress, I know how tough the audiences are and how tough the critics are, and after the film — first of all they laughed and applauded through the whole movie, but then after the film there was a 10 minute standing ovation from the toughest critics in the world. And I thought, รขโฌหWow, OK, this is something beyond what I ever comprehended it would be.รขโฌโข And so I sort of knew then it was going to be a classic.รขโฌย
How does it feel to be identified with a character you portrayed over 20 years ago?
รขโฌลItรขโฌโขs just a little over a year ago that we were promoting the Blu-ray and Disney put me on a tour, a press tour, we went to London, we went to all these different cities. There was a very funny moment I was with little kids, you know 5 & 6 year oldsรขโฌยฆ and I walked in the room and their jaws dropped and this little girl came up to me, she says, รขโฌลBelle whereรขโฌโขs your ball gown?รขโฌย
รขโฌลSo they couldnรขโฌโขt really equate Paige, the older Paige as Belle and then I just popped on the floor, opened up the book and starting reading the book in Belleรขโฌโขs voice and all of a sudden I had like 150 kids around me and it was like, it was timeless, it was like 20 years just didnรขโฌโขt matter. It really was a remarkable thing. I felt like the Pied Piper.รขโฌย
Whatรขโฌโขs your favorite sceneรย and song from Beauty and the Beast?
รขโฌลWell my favorite scene is where [Belle and the Beast] are playing in the snow and รขโฌยฆ the little bird hops on his paw, and heรขโฌโขs seeing the bird and he looks up at her, and I spoke with my directors, we decided that was the moment she begins to fall in love with him. And so for the time when she sings รขโฌลNew and a Bit Alarming,รขโฌย sheรขโฌโขs feeling romantic feelings for him for the first time. So I think that is my favorite scene.รขโฌย
รขโฌลOf course my favorite song is one I didnรขโฌโขt sing, which was the title song, Beauty and the Beast, which I thought was one just of the greatest moments in film-making.รขโฌย
Belle is alongside Cinderella and Snow White, sheรขโฌโขs what little girls love, how do you feel being a part of that legacy?
รขโฌลItรขโฌโขs one of the greatest honors of my life … Coming from the Broadway world and the theater world where a lot of the performances you know, are long forgotten, this is something Iรขโฌโขm a part of thatรขโฌโขs going to affect children รขโฌยฆ for generations and generations to come. I know that Mary Poppins had a huge effect on me, when I saw it and Julie Andrews was the main reason why I went into the theater, that movie made me want to go into theater, and of course I think thatรขโฌโขs my favorite movie of all time, I really loved Cinderella as well, and I was just really glad at this time when this film came out that belle was more independent and more of the intellectual side and had her goal was to not get a man, her goal was to find adventure, and to learn about the world, and itรขโฌโขs really just kind of amazing that that itรขโฌโขs still going on and itรขโฌโขs going to go on still long after Iรขโฌโขm gone.รขโฌย
Beauty and the Beast 3D opens in theaters January 13, 2012.
Special thanks to Paige O’Hara for taking the time to participate in this interview.
