There’s Going To Be A Beauty And The Beast Prequel

There’s going to be a Beauty and the Beast prequel series on Disney+, and anyone who questioned that information has never critically thought about the humble kiwi. Sometimes, something may seem off-putting, confusing, strange even. That feeling persists until it culminates in confrontation or distance. In the case of the kiwi, you got an ugly little fruit that tastes like sunshine and the color joy the second you rip past its anatomically-reminiscent exterior. Like the delicious kiwi, a fruit that exists as a paradox of itself, this Beauty and the Beast prequel might actually be good. 

Who’s In The Beauty and the Beast Prequel Series?

Josh Gad is the executive producer and writer behind the series. This might seem telling until you try to find the halfway point between Gad as Olaf and Gad as Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon. Luke Evans is also reprising his role as Gaston, and that’s something. He made a great Gaston, though he did stray a bit away from the comical bravado and into the “I killed a lot of people” territory, but that’s hardly his fault. Beyond the titillating twosome is newcomer Briana Middleton, who will play Tilly, LeFou’s stepsister. Middleton is relatively new to film, but Disney doesn’t often take risks on casting, and if LeFou needs anything, it’s someone who isn’t Gaston to play off of. Maybe the introduction of another character for LeFou to care for will give Gaston the chance for introspection, to reflect and change. Or not because this is a prequel and we know where he ends up. 

Image via Disney

Why This Show and Why Now?

This prequel to the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast is set to explore the past of two of the most important characters to the story that can still have their lives explored without irrevocably changing the story of the main film: Gaston and LeFou. The story is set to depict how these two profoundly different characters created such a strong relationship, how this hairy shark and invisibly-gay remora came to swim the same waters, how these diametrically opposed bros found each other grew enough to put the “man” into bromance. 

Image via Disney

This series asks a question so unnecessary, it has no choice but to be fantastic. Many shows struggle to live up to the gravity of their concept.  They flop, crafted in the heights of arrogance, a review of ill-advised casting decisions and plot oversights.  Too many fantasy novels and their cinematic interpretations can vouch for the truth of that tragedy. In contrast, this series has no stakes. None. They can’t even mess up the whole LeFou being gay thing because even giving him a entirely hetero character arc wouldn’t differ much from the infinitesimal mote of LGBT rep we got from the live-action Beauty and the Beast. 

There are absolutely no stakes for this series. Yeah, people enjoyed the meat-people interpretation of the classic animated film, but will anyone say their childhood was ruined by an eight-episode run of prequel to a semi-popular interpretation of a 30-year old movie? Probably, but it won’t happen that much. Disney has been playing a high-stakes game making so many new Star Wars and Marvel movies and series. It makes sense that they’d both want to make something closer to their roots and do it with something that can’t go that wrong.

What do you think about a prequel to Beauty and the Beast? Are you jazzed, annoyed, utterly indifferent and just waiting for the next episode of Loki to drop? Tell us about it! 

Featured image via Disney

Jessica Kanzler is a freelance writer and editor who lives with her wife and cats. Jessica has bad taste in tv and an MA in Rhetoric, Writing, and Digital Media studies. Talk to her about Frasier on Twitter @Jessicaakanzler