Who voiced Lumiere in Walt Disney Pictures' animated feature film Beauty and the Beast?
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Robby Benson as Beast[11] – A young prince who is transformed into a beast by an enchantress as punishment for his arrogance. The animators drew him with the head structure and horns of an American bison, the arms and body of a bear, the ears of a deer, the eyebrows of a gorilla, the jaws, teeth, and mane of a lion, the tusks of a wild boar, and the legs and tail of a wolf. Chris Sanders, one of the film's storyboard artists, drafted the designs for the Beast and came up with designs based on birds, insects, and fish before coming up with something close to the final design. Glen Keane, supervising animator for the Beast, refined the design by going to the zoo and studying the animals on which the Beast was based.[10] Benson commented, "There's a rage and torment in this character I've never been asked to use before."[14] The filmmakers commented that "everybody was big fee-fi-fo-fum and gravelly" while Benson had the "big voice and the warm, accessible side" so that "you could hear the prince beneath the fur".[10] Richard White as Gaston[11] – A vain hunter who vies for Belle's hand in marriage and is determined not to let anyone else win her heart. He serves as a foil personality to the Beast, who was once as egotistical as Gaston prior to his transformation. Gaston's supervising animator, Andreas Deja, was pressed by Jeffrey Katzenberg to make Gaston handsome in contrast to the traditional appearance of a Disney villain, an assignment he found difficult at first. In the beginning, Gaston is depicted as more of a narcissist than a villain, but later he leads all the villagers to kill the beast, enraged that Belle would love a Beast more than him.[15] Jerry Orbach as Lumière[16] – The kind-hearted but rebellious valet of the Beast's, who has been transformed into a candlestick. He has a habit of disobeying his master's strict rules, sometimes causing tension between them, but the Beast often turns to him for advice. He is depicted as flirtatious, as he is frequently seen with the Featherduster and immediately takes a liking to Belle. A running gag throughout the movie is Lumière burning Cogsworth. Nik Ranieri served as the supervising animator for Lumière. David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth[17] – Majordomo, the head of the household staff and Lumière's best friend, who has been transformed into a clock. He is extremely loyal to the Beast so as to save himself and anyone else any trouble, often leading to friction between himself and Lumière. Will Finn served as the supervising animator for Cogsworth. Stiers also narrates the prologue. Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts[18] – The castle cook, turned into a teapot, who takes a motherly attitude toward Belle. The filmmakers went through several names for Mrs. Potts, such as "Mrs. Chamomile", before Ashman suggested the use of simple and concise names for the household objects.[10] David Pruiksma served as the supervising animator for Mrs. Potts. Bradley Pierce as Chip[19] – Mrs. Potts' son, who has been turned into a teacup. Originally intended to only have one line, the filmmakers were impressed with Pierce's performance and expanded the character's role significantly, eschewing a mute Music Box character.[10] Pruiksma also served as the supervising animator for Chip. Rex Everhart as Maurice[11] – Belle's inventor father. The villagers see him as insane for crafting devices believed impossible to construct in reality, but his loyal daughter believes he will be famous one day. Ruben A. Aquino served as the supervising animator for Maurice. Jesse Corti as Lefou[11] – Gaston's often abused yet loyal sidekick. Chris Wahl served as the supervising animator for Lefou. Hal Smith as Philippe[20] – Belle's Belgian horse. Russ Edmonds served as the supervising animator for Philippe. Jo Anne Worley as the Wardrobe[21] – The castle's authority over fashion, and a former opera singer, who has been turned into a wardrobe. The character of Wardrobe was introduced by visual development person Sue C. Nichols to the then entirely male cast of servants, and was originally a more integral character named "Madame Armoire". Wardrobe is known as "Madame de la Grande Bouche" (Madame Big Mouth) in the stage adaptation of the film and is the only major enchanted object character whose human form does not appear in the film. Tony Anselmo served as the supervising animator for the Wardrobe. Mary Kay Bergman and Kath Soucie as the Bimbettes[22] – A trio of village maidens who constantly fawn over Gaston, known as the "Silly Girls" in the stage adaptation. Brian Cummings as the Stove[23] – The castle's chef who has been transformed into a stove. He is named Chef Bouche in 1998's Belle's Magical World. Alvin Epstein as the Bookseller[24] – The owner of a book shop in Belle's hometown. Tony Jay as Monsieur D'Arque[25] – The sadistic warden of the Asylum de Loons. Gaston bribes him to help in his plan to blackmail Belle. Alec Murphy as the Baker[26] – The owner of a bakery in Belle's hometown. Kimmy Robertson as the Featherduster[27] – A maid and Lumière's sweetheart, who has been turned into a feather duster. She is unnamed in the 1991 film (listed as Featherduster in the credits); Babette is the name given to this character later in the 1994 stage adaptation of the film; Fifi in the 1998 animated musical film Belle's Magical World and Plumette in the 2017 live-action remake. Frank Welker as Sultan[28] – The castle's pet dog turned into a footstool.
Beauty and the Beast (musical)
Still recovering from Walt Disney's demise, Disney's animated films continued to experience a noticeable decline in quality while struggling to attain critical and commercial success during the 1970s and 1980s. The Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner was hired to ensure the performance of the studio's next animated projects, despite having virtually no animation experience. Eisner himself had been a theatre major in college. Eisner's first hire as Disney's CEO was theatrical producer Peter Schneider, who subsequently became responsible for hiring more artists who shared similar theatrical backgrounds to contribute to the studio's next animated releases, among them lyricist Howard Ashman and his long-time collaborator, composer Alan Menken. Ashman and Menken had previously amassed great live musical success with their Off-Broadway production "Little Shop of Horrors", but the performance of Ashman's first Broadway venture "Smile" had been disappointing. Eager to redeem himself, Ashman agreed to work on Disney's animated film "The Little Mermaid" (1989), which he and Menken would famously decide to approach as though they were scoring a Broadway musical. Upon release, "The Little Mermaid" was a massive critical and commercial success, garnering two Academy Awards, both of them for Ashman and Menken's original music. Disney established a successful renaissance period, during which Ashman and Menken became responsible for teaching the art of transforming traditional animated films into animated musicals.Inspired by "Mermaid"s success, production on an animated musical adaptation of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale began shortly afterward, during which Ashman finally confessed to Menken that he was dying of AIDS, a secret he had been keeping from the studio in fear of being discriminated against or fired. Before the film had even been completed, executive vice president Ron Logan suggested to Eisner that he consider adapting "Beauty and the Beast" for Broadway, an idea Eisner quickly deflected. While the film, written by screenwriter Linda Woolverton, was premiering at the New York Film Festival, an ailing Ashman was being cared for at St. Vincent's Hospital; the lyricist succumbed to his disease four days later on March 14, 1991, dying eight months before the film's November release. "Beauty and the Beast" became the last project on which Menken worked with Ashman. The film was released to immediate critical acclaim and commercial success, outperforming "The Little Mermaid" by becoming the highest-grossing animated film in history, as well as the first animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Once again, Academy Awards were won for Ashman and Menken's music. Several critics noticed the film's live musical potential, among them prolific "New York Times" theatre critic Frank Rich. Lamenting the Broadway selection at the time, Rich famously praised the songwriting duo for having written "[t]he best Broadway musical score of 1991", while hailing the film as a "better [musical] ... than anything he had seen on Broadway" in 1991. Rich's review would ultimately provide Eisner and Katzenberg with the confidence needed to seriously consider the film as a potential Broadway project. Disney was also inspired by the successes of Broadway musicals such as "Cats", "Les Misérables" and "The Phantom of the Opera" strongly believing their production could be just as profitable.