Dame Angela Lansbury lent her iconic voice to Disney and helped bring to life a tale as old as time. Before recording Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast's beloved title song, the late Dame Angela Lansbury had a harrowing night of travel. Based on her account, it seems that the leftover adrenaline from her difficult experience may have enhanced the film's magic.
Lansbury provided the voice of Mrs. Potts, a kind and caring teapot. As a part of this role, she sang "Beauty and the Beast" in the film's iconic ballroom scene. The song's lyrics comment on both the development of Belle and the Beast's relationship and on the repetitive and predictable nature of love stories. Lansbury's expressive voice wonderfully complements the scene's animation and is fundamental to the scene's emotional impact. Amazingly, according to Insider, Lansbury recorded "Beauty and the Beast" in a single take just after experiencing a bomb scare, being up all night, and arriving in the studio in the nick of time.
Lansbury Tells the Tale of Recording the Famous Disney Love Song
Insider reports that when Lansbury was flying to New York City to record "Beauty and the Beast" with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, her plane suddenly had to reroute for a new landing because of a bomb call. The following investigation determined that the call was a hoax, allowing Lansbury to continue to New York. Following a sleepless night, she arrived in the studio with only moments to spare. She proceeded to record the phenomenal track that Disney fans know today on the first try. Lansbury attributed her immediate success with the recording to the residual adrenaline from the previous night's events. Insider quotes her as saying, "I think it was the excitement of it all, the sense of 'do it now!'"
If she was correct, Beauty and the Beast certainly benefits from the unintended "excitement" of Lansbury's journey. Throughout the song, the tone of Lansbury's voice beautifully accompanies and enhances the animation. Singing as Mrs. Potts, she starts quietly and gently, like a wise storyteller sharing a sage insight. Both Mrs. Potts's physical closeness to her son, Chip, and Belle and the Beast's romantic candlelit dinner add to the scene's intimacy. Lansbury's voice starts to crescendo when Belle and the Beast begin to dance, and it swells to an emotional high as they glide across the floor. She concludes as quietly as she began, leaving the happy couple in the darkness and hush of the ballroom.
Lansbury's Voice Defined 'Beauty and the Beast'
While there are other notable versions of "Beauty and the Beast," arguably none are as cinematically or culturally significant as Lansbury's rendition. During the animated Beauty and the Beast's credits, Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion and soul singer Peabo Bryson sing a pop version of the song. Disney released their version as a single. In 2017's live-action Beauty and the Beast, Emma Thompson voices Mrs. Potts and sings the title track. Finally, pop stars Ariana Grande and John Legend sing the version that plays during the live-action film's credits. Still, without the enchantment of the animated film's iconic ballroom scene, these other versions likely would not have the same emotional power.
Perhaps Lansbury would have always delivered a knock-out performance, and it is doubtful that fans would have wanted her to suffer. What is certain, however, is that her vocal performance is an indispensable part of the animated Beauty and the Beast and its legacy.