carollbelivet:Say a prayer, then we’re thereAt the drawbridge of a castleAnd there’s something truly
carollbelivet:Say a prayer, then we’re thereAt the drawbridge of a castleAnd there’s something truly terrible insideBeauty and the Beast + Howard Ashman’s impact (AKA Beauty and the Beast is a metaphor for AIDS)Once upon a time, Walt Disney Studios released a daring animated film into our movie theaters that was, in fact, secretly about AIDS. That film, Beauty & the Beast, was a metaphor for the epidemic that appeared to be sweeping the land back in 1991, and it is a message that is still good today, as the scourge has only gotten worse around the world.Some telltale signs are obvious: the film is dedicated to Howard Ashman, the song lyricist and creative genius behind it, who died of AIDS before the film was released. Then there was that song “Kill the Beast,” which seemed like an indictment of the vigilante mentality that had taken root in America in the early 90’s as parents lashed out at the AIDS-afflicted children in their neighborhood schools. And what was the Beast’s affliction exactly? He wasn’t a werewolf. And what about Gaston, that hyper-masculine figure who seemed to satirize the vain, gay bodybuilder and bathhouse culture of the 80’s? Finally, there was that evocative red rose, with its petals falling, that seemed like the life blood ebbing away in the lives of AIDS and HIV patients in our communities. - (x)Katzenberg hired Howard a private nurse and ensured that he received the most advanced medications available. Every few weeks, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin’s production crew flew to New York to collaborate with Howard. From his deathbed, Howard wrote the lyrics for Beauty and the Beast’s songs – three of them would be nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards, and the movie’s title song would win the Oscar. The film was the first-ever animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture, but Howard wouldn’t live to see its release. - (x)“I don’t want him to be romanticised as this Disney hero, I want people to remember that he was a person.” -- source link
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