Inside the Movie Beauty & The Beast 3D: Interview with Paige O’Hara

Beauty and the Beast 3D enchants it’s way into theaters January 13th, giving audiences the chance to share the magic of their childhood with their children. I remember seeing Beauty and the Beast in the theaters and being amazed at the screen with how far technology had come combining hand drawings with a few computer enhancements mixed in. It was amazing and the 3D is pretty fascinating as well. Today, I had the opportunity to interview Paige O’Hara over the phone and it reminded me of a year and a half ago when I met her in person for the Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray release.

Paige is an amazingly talented Broadway singer who found out she was going to be the voice of Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast just after getting engaged so it was like icing on top of the cake for her at that time. As you can imagine, She was really excited. During today’s interview Paige was asked if she had any idea that Beauty and the Beast would be the hit that it remains to be when she played the part of Belle from the beginning, she said not at first. It wasn’t until the screening when the movie received a standing ovation that people realized it was going to be great. It was so good that it was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Paige said it was quite an exciting time and because the music was nominated as well, she was asked to sing live on stage at the Oscars.

Trying to imagine being on stage like that just makes me really nervous, and Paige said she was shaking with nerves at that point, and Angela Lansbury was standing next to her shaking with nerves as well. She was going to announce Paige on stage, and she leaned over to her and said, someone as old as I am knows when to be nervous and when not to be, and honey with a voice like yours you have nothing to be nervous about. Paige said that it was an amazing compliment to her for Angela to say to her. I’ve heard her sing in person without any music, Paige O’Hara is an amazing, very personable and kind Hollywood talent.

Paige has been doing oil painting for Disney for about two years now and I wanted to know if she had any input in the 3D version of Beauty and the Beast. She said she hasn’t seen the entire 3D version yet, but there wasn’t any animation differences in the characters or scenes. It was just changed into 3D. She said the only scene she’s previewed was the ballroom scene which is my favorite scene in any version!! And her favorite character is The Beast.

What was Paige O’Hara’s favorite scene? Her favorite scene in Beauty and the Beast is when Belle realizes she’s starting to fall for the beast and she sings about the changes they are both going through. How he’s never looked at her that way before. And her favorite song, she couldn’t pick just one. She found Belle to be a very relatable character to her childhood. She enjoyed classical music and theater at a very young age, plus she said, “I really was not looking for a male”. She wanted to travel with her career and have great adventures like Belle dreamed of. Being Belle still resonates with her and she is amazed and quite proud of being part of the Disney Princess legacy. Children meet her and realize that she’s Belle and ask her where her ball gown is. She just loves that. She also loves that she’s going to touch generations and generations through her role of a Princess with big dreams.