“Beauty and the Beast” was adapted from a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740. Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 to produce the version most commonly retold. Later, Andrew Lang retold the story in Blue Fairy Book, a part of the Fairy Book series, in 1889. In 1991, Beauty and the Beast was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation as a feature film. Beauty and the Beast is the 30th Disney animated feature film. The meaning of the story behind Beauty and the Beast is a tale as old as time. By choosing to let her go, the Beast is letting go of the importance he places on physical beauty. Not only is he letting go of the most beautiful person he's ever seen (and literally letting go of “beauty”, the meaning of her name), but also letting go of his own chance of ever being outwardly beautiful again.

Copyright 2024 Steve Adams

Bedtime Stories for Children is produced by Magic Monorail