Fail As Old As Time: Reviewing the Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack

As toddlers of the ‘90s, it’s safe to say that most students at Penn probably grew up watching Beauty and the Beast on repeat until the tapes in our VCR videos were frayed. Even when we weren’t watching the animated classic, some of us spent priceless hours of our childhoods listening to the film’s soundtrack (if you’re like me, this also involved the heartfelt dancing and re–enactments that come along with pretending you’re a Disney character).

A little over a week ago, Spotify handed us the addition to the Beauty and the Beast musical library that we’d known was coming for a while now—the soundtrack to the live–action movie, featuring Emma Watson as Belle. Watson’s much–hyped role meant that the Harry Potter star would be joining the musical lexicon of Paige O’Hara (who voiced Belle in the 1991 animated film) and Susan Egan (who sings on the original Broadway cast recording).

So how does the new soundtrack size up against the version that’s been seared into our minds for over two decades? To put it simply, it doesn’t. Now, this isn’t completely anyone’s fault. The sounds on this album are competing with tones and crescendos our generation knows like the backs of our hands. Our preference for the familiar alone was enough to deem it a failure.

However, it still had a (missed) opportunity to pull through, especially on its original songs, which include "How Does a Moment Last Forever," "Days in the Sun," and "Evermore." Here’s why it didn’t.

Underwhelming Original Songs

While the Beast doesn’t have his own song in the animated original, the Broadway musical gave him the powerful ballad "If I Can't Love Her." In the live–action version, "If I Can't Love Her" has been replaced with yet another new soliloquy, a song called "Evermore." While the producers have offered a Josh Groban cover of the song that’s breathtaking and downright lovely to listen to, the version of Evermore that’s in the movie is downright mediocre in comparison. Sung by Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens as the Beast, Evermore is a pretty song, but not much else. After listening to the soundtrack, I kind of just wanted to know why they didn’t cast Josh Groban instead, who’s proved his acting chops in his current turn in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway. His fellow Broadway veteran, soprano superstar Audra McDonald, steals the show with each onscreen appearance as Madame de Garderobe. 

Yet even Belle’s father Maurice, who has one of the most memorable songs in the stage version ("No Matter What"), is given a bland original, titled "How Does a Moment Last Forever." Disney—we get it. It’s tricky to crank out new musical material that feels original but still fits in with the existing classics. But if you must write space–filling numbers, please give us the good voices on them. 

Speaking of Which…

Emma Watson is so many things that we are not. She is one of the most talented and charismatic actresses of her generation. She is an active and exceptional leader of the feminist movement. She is an Ivy League graduate (I mean, fingers crossed we catch her on this one, at least).

Emma Watson is not, however, a singer. Sure, she can open her mouth and land on a note, but this just means that she can sing, not that she’s a singer. Tackling a vocal role like Belle requires a masterful level of control and musicianship that Watson simply has yet to and may never reach. When she sings, there is no weight behind her notes. Rather than hold her bigger notes out, dressing them with flashy spunk and vibrato, Watson hits them for just long enough before ending them. And, while Belle’s rebellious spitfire personality comes through in Watson’s acting, it is almost entirely missing in her vocals.

This isn’t her fault. Rather, it’s the fault of Disney executives who refused to acknowledge that they were casting a large–scale musical. A musical is a different beast (pun intended) than your standard blockbuster, and deserves to be treated as such. When Watson, along with several of her costars, have had their performances so overly drowned in autotune that it’s almost impossible at times to make the distinction between human and synthesizer, a disservice is being done both to the artist and the material. Cast someone else, dub if you must, but Disney, don’t squeeze an actress into a role that just isn’t right for her.

And I for one refuse to stand by while Big Mouse puts Hermione in any situation that makes her seem less than what she is. Which, by the way, is perfect.

Photo: Disney Movies