Disney classics revive in new forms
Having got into the hands of Disney, the classical fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, has not only revived in the cinema screens, but also on stage. Appearing in the world's cinemas on 13th January in 3D format, one of the most beautiful love stories has already conquered the hearts of the fans of animation, meanwhile on the same day in Alaska (USA) the theatrical debut of Beauty and the Beast gained the critics' approval.
Disney presented the first musical animation film Beauty and the Beast in the cinemas around the world back in 1991. The contemporary version won two Oscars for the Best Original Song and Best Original Score, and became the first animated film to be nominated in the Best Picture category. It kept this position until 2009, when this nomination was gained by another Disney animation – Up. Beauty and the Beast also owns 3 Golden Globes, 5 Grammy awards and a line of others.
Until 29th January of this year the film has already grossed slightly over 418 million US dollars and is called the most profitable Disney animation yet. It is anticipated that - thanks to the film appearing in cinemas in 3D format - the profit will grow considerably.
Besides, converting the story of Beauty and the Beast into the 3D format was encouraged by the success of another Disney animation – Lion King – transformation to the 3D format. The conversion of Beauty and the Beast cost the Disney company 10 million US dollars. The revived Beauty and the Beast should also reach the major Lithuanian cinema screens as well.
In 1994 the musical Beauty and the Beast debuted in the heart of New York's theatre – Broadway – where the main character – Belle – was for a while played by the renowned singer Toni Braxton. This musical was being performed in Broadway until 2007. In total, 5461 performances have been shown, and it allows this musical secure a position of one of the top ten longest-running performances in the history of Broadway.
A spectacular show and an infinity of the most beautiful emotions, especially for kids, is also provided by new Dsiney family members constantly being introduced. A couple of years ago the lot of the family members was joined by the ninth Disney princess – an Afro-american Tiana. She is the first Afro-american princess in Disney world, and one of the main characters in Princess and the Frog story, based on Brothers Grimm's The Frog Prince.
While creating and conquering the world by new characters, new forms of presentation are being created as well. One of them – the Disney character ice shows, which there are eight of being shown right now, performed in all continents around the world.
One of these performances – Princess Classics – could be seen by the Lithuanian audience three years ago. This year on 3rd - 4th March in Vilnius Siemens Arena Disney On Ice will present one more, this time the newest performance Princesses and Heroes. Here the audience will see the most popular and now classical Disney stories of fairy tale princesses and princes. The performance will also include the newest princess Rapunzel, who only appeared in public a couple of years ago.
During the years of its existence, Disney has created over 800 different characters in total, which were used in the company's animated films. They have presented over 350 films to the cinemas, 73 of them being animated. This year 7 more films are going to be shown. In the near future the popular fairy tale of Snow Queen and the story of Mickey Mouse should be revived.
