Walt Disney contemplated adapting "Beauty and the Beast" during his lifetime, considering it as a potential project after the success of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in 1937.
Beauty and the Beast" departed from traditional animated movie practices by hiring Linda Woolverton as the screenwriter, making her the first woman credited as the screenwriter of an animated feature.
The film marked the directorial debut of Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who replaced the original director Richard Purdum after Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg rejected Purdum's ideas.
Originally conceived as a non-musical film, "Beauty and the Beast" became a musical at the insistence of Disney chairman Katzenberg, leading to Howard Ashman and Alan Menken being hired to write the songs.
Howard Ashman's work on "Beauty and the Beast" was posthumously released as he passed away before the film's completion, adding emotional weight to the film's music.
Disney expanded the original fairy tale by introducing additional characters such as enchanted household objects and the villain Gaston to enrich the narrative.
Rather than opting for celebrity voices, Disney cast Broadway actress Paige O'Hara as Belle and Robby Benson as Beast, while considering celebrities like Val Kilmer and Laurence Fishburne for the role of Beast.
Gaston was intentionally designed to be handsome rather than traditionally menacing, reflecting a departure from typical Disney villain aesthetics.