The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invites the community to “Be Our Guest” to its 25th anniversary celebration of Disney Animation classic Beauty and the Beast. A special event featuring creatives and stars of the groundbreaking animated film will be held Monday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and three-time Oscar nominee and Honorary Academy Award recipient Angela Lansbury (a.k.a. Mrs. Potts) will join voice actors Paige O’Hara (Belle), Richard White (Gaston) and Robby Benson (Beast); supervising animators Andreas Deja, Mark Henn and Glen Keane; key story artist Brenda Chapman; Oscar-nominated producer Don Hahn and director Gary Trousdale onstage.
Part of the Academy’s Marc Davis Celebration of Animation, the event will include a screening of the 1991 film from a pristine, 70mm original theatrical release print from the Academy Film Archive. Special guests will discuss the film’s lasting impact and its place in motion picture history as the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture. Beauty and the Beast won two Oscars: for Best Original Score (Menken) and Original Song for “Beauty and the Beast” (music by Menken, lyric by Howard Ashman). The original songs “Be Our Guest” and “Belle” were also nominated, and the film was nominated in the Sound category.
Tickets are $5 for general admission and $3 for Academy members and students with valid ID, available at oscars.org.
