An excerpt from an interview with Charles Solomon by Didier Ghez with regards to the new book Mr. Solomon has put together with the artwork from 'Beauty and the Beast'.

DG: As Disney historians and enthusiasts, can we expect any "revelations" or surprises in this book?

CS: Not many people know Beauty and the Beast was originally going to be produced in London and that it was going to be a darker, more conventional retelling of the story with no songs. I was able include an account of that version of the film with artwork, and discuss how and why it was changed.

You may or may not know that this exact 'revelation' could be said for 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. It was originally much darker and faithful to the feeling of the book and film we so well know but one fine day the Disney executives decided to take another direction ad hence the songs etc.

I certainly think the directors should have been allowed to create each film as they had seen fit and it is a shame that these different approaches were shelved in exchange for 'conventional' narratives.