By Travis Johnson
Like so many Disney animated classics (All of ’em? Someone check), Beauty and the Beast is, of course, a musical. And so too is the upcoming live-action remake. Now, you’d be a fool or a madman to tinker with the construction of that music too much – the soundtrack had awards simply thrown at it and made a tonne of money to boot – obviously you’re going to want a fresh set of lungs behind those classic tunes.
And so, Disney has announced that pop princess Ariana Grande and R&B stylist John Legend – both of whom are possessed of fairly flamboyant names, now that we think of it – will be singing the title song on the new soundtrack.
“The enchanting ballad, originally performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson featuring eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken’s beautiful melody and two-time Oscar-winner Howard Ashman’s unforgettable lyrics, received an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy Award, among other accolades, upon its release in 1991.
“The new rendition of the classic song is produced by Grammy-winning veteran Ron Fair, whose music career spans 37 years as a major-label record company leader and accomplished producer, arranger, recording engineer and musical director. Fair was brought in to produce by Disney’s president of Music & Soundtracks, Mitchell Leib, who also brought Grande and Legend to the project. The history of collaboration between Leib and Fair in film music goes back to the highly-successful Pretty Woman soundtrack.”
The song will be featured in the film, of course, and on the soundtrack album, plus we’re getting a music video directed by Dave Meyers, who has worked with the likes of P!nk, Janet Jackson, Ice Cube, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry. In fact, he shot the video video for P!nk’s “Just Like Fire” from Alice Through The Looking Glass.
The soundtrack is also going to feature three new songs by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice, so that’s something to look forward to.
So, how are we feeling about this? truth be told, we have almost no opinion on Grande, although Legend was good in La La Land – they’ve almost certainly got the chops for this. Given the original involved Celine Dion this is surely, at worst, a step sideways? Penny for your thoughts.
