The Surprising Reason Angela Lansbury Almost Didn’t Sing This Grammy-Nominated Hit
It’s hard to imagine Beauty and the Beast without Angela Lansbury‘s beautiful voice singing its titular song. Interestingly, the now-classic ballad that went on to win a Grammy and an Academy Award almost never happened — at least not with Lansbury, who was born 100 y ago today. The reason was a terrifying bomb threat that forced her plane to make an emergency landing on the very day she was headed to New York to record the track.
Lansbury later recalled how her flight was grounded for hours while security handled the situation. By the time she finally made it to the studio, she had been awake all night and could easily have canceled the session. But instead, as producer Don Hahn and composer Alan Menken often tell it, she walked into the booth, stood at the microphone, and recorded “Beauty and the Beast” in one flawless take. “We were all worried that she would be too exhausted,” remembered co-producer Peter O’Hara during a Q&A, “but she came in like a trooper. They took the first take for the film!” Lansbury herself explained, “We made it just in time, and I think it was the excitement and the sense of doing it now that helped me sing the song.”
Walt Disney Pictures/Everett Collection
Looking back, Lansbury felt that the film itself carried a message that went beyond its fairy tale setting. She believed that Beauty and the Beast gave children a chance to use their imaginations in a world that was already filling up with technology. “Children see things that we aren’t even aware of, and that’s what makes it so interesting to play in a movie which appeals directly to the imagination, and the sense of make-believe that children want to believe in,” she said, according to Vanity Fair.
Lansbury also expressed concern that modern gadgets were pulling kids away from dreaming, as the legacy for Beauty and the Beast went on over the years. “Particularly today, so much is mechanical in their hands, these iPads and so on, that they really are missing out so much. They don’t get to use their imaginations in a way that we want them to, which is to dream. For that reason, I hope that this film will remain and live through generations. We are going to be around for a long time, and that’s very comforting.”
Where to Watch Beauty and the Beast
The animated film is available to stream on Disney+. You can also sometimes catch it on Freeform.
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