Be. Our. Guest! – A Breakdown of the “Beauty and the Beast” Trailer and Cast Live Chat
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know all about how Emma Watson was cast as Belle in the live-action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. This week, we were treated not only to the first full-length trailer but also to a live chat by the cast where they answered questions submitted by fans.
The trailer opens up with the haunting melody from the prologue of the 1991 film, and we see the interior of the castle with the Beast (played by Dan Stevens) in the West Wing. The iconic enchanted rose sits on the table, and the camera pans to the Beast’s old family portrait, seen with claw marks across the faces.
Maurice (Kevin Kline) then enters the garden to pick a single white rose. The Beast discovers him and attacks, dragging him into the castle dungeon. It then cuts to Belle (Emma Watson) coming upon the Beast’s castle and entering. She calls out, “Papa?” in search of Maurice. Belle finds him in the dungeons, where Maurice tells her to leave and that the castle is alive. A loud roar is then heard from off-screen. We hear a deep voice ask if she would like to take her father’s place. Belle asks him to step into the light and is terrified upon seeing the Beast’s form.
We then see the Beast again in the West Wing with his magic mirror. He asks it to show him “the girl.” He sees she is unhappy. Lumière (Ewan McGregor) offers some hope, saying, “What if she is the one? The one to break the spell?”
Lumière and Cogsworth (Sir Ian McKellen) show up to let Belle out of her prison. She is clearly shocked to see a candelabra and a clock talking and walking about. She exclaims, “You can talk?!”, to which Cogsworth replies, “Well, of course we can talk!” Belle then meets some of the other talking housewares, namely Chip (Nathan Mack) and Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), who tells her, “The Master is not as terrible as he appears.”
We then see the wolf scene where Belle is surrounded, trying to fend off the wolves herself. The Beast then saves the day by jumping in and fighting off the wolves, scaring them away and offering us a look into the Beast’s more protective side.
In the next scene change, we see Belle in the forbidden West Wing. She comes across the enchanted rose and looks at it curiously.
Back at the village, we see Gaston (Luke Evans) egging on an angry mob, yelling, “I say we kill the Beast!“, which is met with cheers as he lights a wagon on fire.
At the Beast’s castle, Belle and the Beast share a heartfelt moment in the snow.
Think of the one thing you’ve always wanted. Find it in your mind’s eye, and feel it in your heart.
The Beast then brings Belle to the castle library, where she is taken aback by the sheer volume of books.
Enter, the classic ballroom scene. This is bound to give anyone chills. Belle’s yellow ball gown twirling as the pair dances across the floor, blissfully unaware of the chaos Gaston is inciting back at the village.
Cue the angry mob. We then get flashes of the Beast/Gaston rooftop fight. Maurice tells Belle, “Don’t be afraid”, as we see the mob breaking into the castle. “I’m not afraid”, she replies.
The trailer then enters its last 30 seconds with flashes from various scenes, including one from Gaston’s tavern with LeFou (Josh Gad).
To end it all, we see one singular petal fall from the enchanted rose to the ending notes of “Beauty and the Beast.”
This trailer just gave everyone a tiny taste of just how amazing this movie will be.
We were then treated to an 18-minute Q&A session with some of the cast and crew from the movie: Josh Gad, Dan Stevens, Emma Watson, Luke Evans, and director Bill Condon.
The cast was presented with questions that were submitted by fans, written on folds of paper, and placed into a bowl.
Gad’s humor made an appearance right away, when while introducing the new trailer, he called it,
the trailer you’ve been waiting for, Star Wars: Episode VIII… oh, I’m sorry, Beauty and the Beast.
The first question asked was for the whole group.
If you could cast yourself in the role of any other Disney movie, what would it be and why?
Emma kept it close to home and said she would love to play the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, giving it a little bit of a gender-switch. She elaborated, saying there was something so interesting about him and his darkness and his redemption. She also stated she just really wants to play a character with a lot of angst.
The next question had the cast pondering what their favorite Disney film was growing up.
Emma said that her favorite Disney movie growing up was Pocahontas, while Gad joked that he really loved the uplifting film The Black Cauldron.
When asked what household objects they would want to transform into, the group seemed to already have answers on hand. Gad said he’d like to be a refrigerator, stating, “obvious reasons,” Stevens said he’d like to be a coffee machine, Emma said she’d like to be a teapot, and Evans said, “a nice, sturdy table.”
Emma and Stevens were then asked if the singing or the dancing was easier. Emma apparently had a hard time with both, because she stated, “Neither!” Stevens followed up, saying that dancing was easier because they had each other to lean on and work with, even though Emma was constantly worried about being stepped on by Stevens.
As far as common traits the cast have with their characters, Emma surprised no one with her answer, stating that she gets very excited around books and libraries. Evans had the most insightful answer of the night when asked what he has in common with Gaston. He simply stated, “I like eggs.”
It seems very clear that the cast works so well around each other and had an amazing time filming the movie. There is so much talent packed into one cast, and we can’t wait to see what comes next!
The film opens March 17 and also features fellow Potter actress Emma Thompson.
What did you think of the trailer and the live chat? Are you excited for the movie?
