Author: Charles Solomon
Publication Date: 2010
Publisher: Disney Editions
Pages: 176
Although some of the older Disney films have had art books devoted to them, this one for Beauty and the Beast marks the beginning of a near-continuous chain of them; all but a handful of Disney films since this one have had an accompanying book written. As animation began to get more sophisticated and high-tech in the nineties and people started to take it more seriously, the filmmakers must have been keen to inform their audiences about all of the painstaking work that went into making each film, so they began to document the “making-of” process in lavish art books like this one. That said, this particular volume didn’t actually come out alongside in the film in 1991 – in fact, it took almost twenty years before Beauty and the Beast finally got a book in 2010. Although it is a shame that the film didn’t get one of the large, glossy Hyperion editions that its younger brethren did, the book it did get was certainly worth the wait.
Tale as Old as Time is a sleek and deceptively thin book that contains a treasure trove of goodies within its limited number of pages. The book as a whole looks great; it has a simple but luxurious-looking cover done in purple and gold with a small centrepiece featuring Belle and the Beast in the famous ballroom scene, and inside, the chapters are beautifully laid out with stylish fonts and plenty of high quality artwork. There’s a lot of concept art (something I especially enjoy in these books) as well as production photographs, snaps of the cast and crew and other pieces of art related to the story, with Solomon’s informative text woven carefully between them all. Charles Solomon is definitely up there with the likes of Jeff Kurtti, Christopher Finch and John Culhane as one of the all-time great art book writers – his works are always richly detailed and easy to read, turning the making of a motion picture into a compelling story in its own right.
The chapter titles in this volume use lyrics from the film’s songs in creative ways, giving fans a little rush of nostalgia as they read. The book opens with the origins of the story of Beauty and the Beast, going from the depths of Ancient Rome to the eighteenth-century versions of the French salons and on to the world of cinema and Jean Cocteau, which leads nicely into a short chapter on the context of the Disney company in the late eighties (a turbulent time, to say the least). I find that this is something which only the best art books do, taking the time to pause and look back at the history of the story that the film is based around instead of rushing straight into the creation of the film itself. It’s a shame that many other modern art books have so little text; part of the point of them is to learn about how the film was made, surely? So many books now are little more than a collection of stills from the finished film – if you wanted to see those, you could just, you know, watch the film.
Anyway, after we’ve been given a little taste of Disney history, we launch into the making of Beauty and the Beast, with Solomon leading us through the changes in directors and plot development, the research trip to the Loire valley and the arrival of Ashman and Menken, the creation of the characters and finally on to the hugely successful release of the film in late 1991. This latter chapter also features a moving tribute to lyricist Howard Ashman, who sadly died of AIDS just months before the premiere and who had an immense impact on the creation of the film beyond working on the songs. Two final chapters talk about the stage adaptation and the IMAX and 3D rereleases, followed by the bibliography and index; the newer 2017 edition of the book also features a section on the making of this year’s live-action remake, but since I wasn’t a huge fan of that I opted not to buy a second copy of what is basically the same book.
If you’re a fan of Beauty and the Beast, I really can’t recommend this enough – it’s a must-have. Gorgeous and elegant like the film it’s about, Tale as Old as Time is a worthy addition to any Disney library (and thanks to the new edition, it’s not out of print like so many of the other art books!). I’ll be reviewing other Charles Solomon works down the line, but my next book review will be of John Culhane’s volume on Aladdin, the first of the nineties art books. Stay tuned!
Buy it on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Beauty-Disney-Editions-Deluxe/dp/1484758374 – UK (2017 edition)
https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Old-Time-Animated-Live-action/dp/1484758374 – US (2017 edition)
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