#robby benson

[thewaltcrew]

Director Kirk Wise, screenwriter Linda Woolverton, and actor Robby Benson on casting the Beast [x]

They gave me an incredible amount of freedom. I didn't want Beast to be a cartoon character. I played it as though I were doing a Broadway show. As if this was a living person. And I wanted him to be funny. By funny, I don't mean shtick or one-liners. I am talking about real comedy. When real comedy works, and is truthful, especially with the Beast, it comes out of the fact that he is so pathetic. For some reason, I really understood that. Ha! Because of that, they gave me a lot of leeway. [x]

My first audition was recorded on, of all things, a Sony Walkman. As a musician, I had branched out into recording engineer and loved to play with sound. When I saw the Sony Walkman I knew it had a little condenser microphone in it, and if I were to get too loud, the automatic compressor and built-in limiter would 'squash' the voice— and there would be very little dynamic range to the performance. I did a quick assessment and wondered how many people who had come in to audition for the part were making that error: playing the Beast with overwhelming decibels, compressing the vocal waveforms. I decided to give the Beast 'range.' Because of my microphone technique, and an understanding of who I wanted Beast to be, they kept asking me to come back and read different dialogue. After my fifth audition, Jeffrey Katzenberg the hands-on guardian of the film, said the part was mine…

Beauty and the Beast was so refreshingly fun and inventively creative to work on that I couldn't wait to try new approaches to every line of dialogue. Don Hahn is one of the best creative producers I have ever worked with. The two young directors, Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, were fantastic and their enthusiasm was contagious. I not only was allowed to improvise, but they encouraged it. It never entered my mind that I was playing an animated creature. I understood the torment that Beast was going through: he felt ugly; had a horrible opinion of himself, and had a trigger-temper. Those are things that, if done right, are the perfect ingredients for comedy. Painful and pathetic comedy— but honest. The kind of comedy I understood...

In the feature world of Disney animation, the actors always recorded their dialogue alone in a big studio, with only a microphone and the faint images of the producers, writers, directors and engineer through a double-paned set of acoustic glass. Paige O'Hara and I became good friends; it was her idea that for certain very intimate scenes, such as when Beast is dying, we record together. We were able to play these scenes with an honest conviction that is often absent in the voice-over world...

The success of this film was the culmination of a team effort but I must say, the honors go to the animators— and for me (Beast), that's Glen Keane — and to Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. This was the perfect example of a crew who 'cared'. And the final results (every frame) of the film represent that sentiment. [x]

[male-beauty-gifsets]

[museumlover23]

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

“Take it with you so you’ll always have a way to look back… and remember me.” - The Beast

[yen-sids-tournament]

Beauty and The Beast: Animated (1991) v Live Action (2017)

You do not have to see both to vote, but it might have been helpful.

Feel free to share opinions or explanations with comments/tags/rbs

[forever70s]

Robby Benson, circa 1977

[elijones94]

🥀 Along with Glen Keane, the Beast’s chief animators included Aaron Blaise, Broose Johnson, Anthony DeRosa, Tom Sito, and Brad Kuha. 🐾

[loveboatinsanity]

[ladyjuliapearle]

Number 27, 'Beast', is a tribute to 'Beauty and the Beast' from 1991.

They made a real life adaptation in 2017 where Dan Stevens plays prince Adam / Beast, and I think one of my favourite songs from the movie is 'Evermore'.

This is my take on the Beast, and prince Adam, old school style 👑

[gene-forrester]

I have total recall. Sure. Prove it.

The Chosen (1981) dir. Jeremy Kagan

[certain-as-the-sun]

Robby Benson

[nataliawoods]

[angrylovelyheart]

Robby Benson in Harry & Son (1984)

[mikyapixie]

33 years ago today Beauty and The Beast released in theaters!!!

I know I’m not the only one who was disappointed with beast’s face reveal!!!

[oldshowbiz]

[seventyskid]

[vintagewarhol]