Disney's Beauty and the Beast Education Guide | Garden Theatre

Disney's Beauty & The Beast Educational Guide

"Magic should be for all of us, and this show will prove it."

-Roberta Emerson, Director

Table of Content 1 - Original Beauty and the Beast Story 2 - Disney Movies to Broadway 3 - Language: French to English 4 - Act I P.1 5 - Act I P.2 6 - Act II P.1 7 - Act II P.2 8 - Themes Pre-Show Discussions 9 - Pre-Show Activity 10 - Post-Show Discussion 11 - Post-Show Activity 12 - Interview Game 13 - Rose Activity 14 - Rose Paper 15 - Bye!

A tale as old as time...

The Original Beauty and the Beast

The original story dates back to the 1700s, written

by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve; La Jeune Americaine, et Les Contes Marins. (La Belle et la Bete)

In the orginal novella, both Belle and the Beast's backstory are told. The Beast was a young prince who was left in the care of an evil fairy. She tried to seduce the prince, but when he refused she transformed him into a beast. It is revealed that Belle is not the daughter of a merchant, but is born from the king and a good fairy. Belle is hidden as the daughter of a merchant because a wicked fairy tried to have Belle killed, so she could marry her father the king.

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Disney Movies To Broadway Beauty and the Beast Movie - 1991 Musical-1994

The Lion King Movie-1994 Musical-1997

Aladdin Movie-1992 Musical-2011

Frozen Movie-2013 Musical-2018

The Little Mermaid Movie-1989 Musical-2008

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Language French to English

The original story of Beauty and the Beast is French. Find out where a few of the names of the story came from.

Belle means Beauty Lefou means The Fool Lumiere means Light Madame de la Grande Bouche means Madame Mouth/Loudmouth (opera singer)

WL.K12.NM.7.1

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Act I P.1

An old beggar woman arrives at a young, spoiled prince's castle on a chilly winter night, offering him a single rose in exchange for shelter. The prince, on the other hand, rejects her merely because of her appearance. The woman cautions him not to be fooled by appearances since true beauty is found within, only to be rejected once more. She then transforms into a lovely enchantress and transforms the prince into a monstrous Beast, as well as his servants into various household items. She hands him the rose. Before the last petal falls, the only way he can break the spell is to learn to love someone and gain her love in return.

Time change, ten years later. A lovely young girl named Belle arrives in town to purchase a book from the local bookshop. On the way, she professes her desire to live in a world like her novels, one that is full of adventure, while the locals admire her beauty but think her love of books strange. Gaston has also taken notice of Belle but admires her solely for her beauty.

She confides in her quirky father and inventor, Maurice, about her anxieties about the town's perception of her, and he tells her that she is anything but odd. Maurice sets out, but gets lost in the woods and is attacked by a wolf pack. He enters the Beast's castle after surviving a wolf attack. Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Chip are among the staff he meets. They greet him warmly, then the terrifying Beast appears and imprisons Maurice in the cell for trespassing.

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Act I

P.2

Later in the town, Gaston proposes to Belle, but she gently declines. Taken aback by Gaston's boldness, Belle expresses her desire for a life outside of the town. LeFou, Gaston's sidekick, emerges from the woods with the scarf Belle sewed for her father.

Belle realizes her father is in danger and sets out to find him in the woods. She eventually arrives at the castle, where she discovers her father imprisoned in a dungeon. She strikes a deal with the Beast, and Maurice is set free, but she stays.

They agree, and Maurice is returned to town without being given the opportunity to say his goodbyes. The Beast gives Belle a room and orders her to join him for dinner.

Mrs. Potts and Madame de la Grande Bouche try to cheer her up.

Gaston bemoans his loss of a bride at the local pub. LeFou and the other men try to cheer him up. They laugh at Maurice when he runs in claiming a Beast has Belle imprisoned, but Gaston devises a diabolical plot. The Beast is irritated back at the castle since Belle has failed to join him for dinner. Cogsworth informs him that she will not be attending. Following a shouting fight between Belle and the Beast, the Beast tells her that if she can't eat with him, she won't eat at all. He sulks and makes a mental note of his fate in his quarters if the curse does not break. Belle eventually gets hungry and goes into the kitchen, where the servants, despite the Beast's orders, offer her a meal. They put on a fantastic show for her.

Cogsworth and Lumière give Belle a tour of the castle after dinner. Her curiosity takes her to the West Wing, a forbidden area according to the Beast. She is fascinated by a strange rose floating in a bell jar and reaches out to touch it, but the Beast stops her and demands that she leave, mistakenly shoving her. Belle flees the castle for fear of her life. The Beast realizes his fatal error and realizes that unless he learns to love her, he will remain a monster forever.

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Act 2

P.1

Belle is ambushed by wolves in the woods, and the Beast saves her, during the attack, he is injured and collapses. Rather than taking advantage of the situation to escape, Belle decides to help him in returning to the castle.

She cleans his wounds, they argue, but then the Beast acknowledges her kindness, and their friendship is forged. The Beast gives Belle his large library as a thank-you present, which she loves. The servants see a break in Belle and the Beast's relationship, and she notices a change in the Beast's personality.

Back in the village, Gaston and LeFou meet with Monsieur D'Arque, the owner of the local asylum. They intend to imprison Maurice in order to force Belle to marry Gaston.

The Beast and Belle attend a beautiful meal and intimate ball, where they dance in the ballroom together. The Beast, who is about to tell Belle that he loves her, asks if she is happy here, to which she replies positively but conveys her longing for her father. He offers her his Magic Mirror through which she can see him. Maurice is unwell and lost in the woods, and she is concerned about his safety. Despite the fact that the Beast is certain that only a few hours remain till the last petal of the rose falls, he permits Belle to leave to save her father.

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Act 2P.2 Belle locates her father and returns him to their home. She tells him about her life with the Beast. A mob arrives led by Gaston to try and take Maurice to the asylum. Belle uses the Magic Mirror to stop them and confirm her father's sanity by demonstrating to the villagers that the Beast is real, but she is unaware of what she has done. The Beast inspires terror in the townspeople, but Belle claims that he is gentle and loving. When Gaston notices her tone and realizes her feelings for the Beast, he gathers the mob to slay the Beast.

Belle and Maurice try to beat the mob to the castle in order to alert the Beast.

They arrive too late, however, as Gaston and the mob have already arrived at the castle.

The mob is kept away by the servants, but Gaston breaks through and confronts the Beast in his tower. He gets into a fight with him. With Belle's departure, the Beast has lost his will to live making him an easy target for Gaston. Belle appears just as Gaston is about to kill the Beast. The Beast quickly turns on Gaston and prepares to murder him, but is overcome by his fear and spares his life. The Beast and Belle are reunited, but at the last second Gaston stabs the Beast in the back. Gaston loses his balance and he falls to his death.

Belle assures the Beast that he will live. She begs him not to abandon her because she has found a home in his company, but he dies nevertheless; through tears, Belle embraces him, and confesses her love just as the final rose petal falls. The Beast reverts to human form. Though Belle does not recognize him at first, she sees the Beast within him, and they share a kiss. The two of them sing about how love has changed their lives, and dance once again.

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Pre-Show Discussion

Themes What Is Beauty?

What is beauty? Beauty and the Beast teach us to value the real beauty that lies within. Belle can love Beast for that reason. She can see beyond the outside and love who he truly is.

Why is it important to value inward qualities?

Being True to Oneself.

What does it mean to be different? Belle celebrates her father’s quirkiness, and she does not change who she is even though the townspeople gossip about how odd she is. Talk about an experience where you felt judged because of your differences.

Seeing not Judging.

Belle sees the Beast as a fearsome creature at first, and the Beast sees her as a disobedient unwanted guest.

They both do not see each other for what they truly are. We experience judgment all the time.

Are first impressions always right? What can be learned from judging someone before getting to know them?

8 TH.68.C.1.3, TH.68.S.1.2

Pre-Show Activity “Do not be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.”– The Enchantress

Objective Draw how you see yourself on the inside.

Materials Piece of Paper Writing Utensils

Directions: Ask students to draw how they see themselves on the inside.

Afterward, have a class discussion about their drawings.

Discussion Questions What did you learn from your drawing?

What's different between your inside to your outside?

Did anything surprise you from other people's drawings.

TH.68.H.1.5

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Post-Show Discussion Discussion with classroom after the show.

Questions for Discussion Where do we see forgiveness in the show?

Why were Maurice and Belle different from the townspeople?

Who changed the most throughout the story? Who changed the least?

What causes Belle and the Beast to change?

What does it mean to live “happily ever after?”

TH.68.C.1.3, TH.68.S.1.2, TH.68.O.2.1

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Post-Show Activity Transformation Objective: During this exercise, students will use their creativity and movement to work as a group to perform a physical transformation with their bodies.

Directions Divide the classrooms into groups of three or four (depends on classroom size) Assign each group an object (examples: car, table, TV, bed, book) and then ask them to work together and create the object with their bodies. (They must create the action with each other not separated) After all the groups have established their action for the object, have each group share their action and have the rest of the class copy the action.

Have fun and laugh as the students try to demonstrate their object through movement!

TH.68.S.1.2, TH.68.S.3.1, TH.68.O.3.3, TH.68.H.3.3

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Interview Time Improv Game

Objective: The "interview host" has to try and figure out which Beauty and the Beast character they are interviewing.

Directions Ask for a volunteer to be the “interview host” and send that student out of the room, so the classroom can discuss who the host will be “interviewing” Ask for two more volunteers and assist them characters from Beauty and the Beast to act as.

Then ask the “interview host” to come back into the classroom.

One by one the host will interview each character until they discover what character the student is acting as!

TH.68.S.1.2, TH.68.F.1.2

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Time to Color!

Show off your true self!

Objective: Color in rose activity.

Students will use colors and patterns to show what their rose would look like.

Materials Rose Activity Paper (on next page) Colors Creativity!

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Curriculum guide graciously sponsored by

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