Emma Watson sings “Belle” in first “Beauty and the Beast” clip

Disney has unveiled the first full clip from the live-action “Beauty and the Beast”, and it features a memorable musical number from the 1991 animated Best Picture nominee. The clip gives a snippet of Emma Watson's rendition of “Belle”, and it's really good one. The number, as envisioned by “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon, still has the vibrancy and town-chorus of the animated film, but is brought into the live-action realm in an interesting way that maintains the theatricality of the beloved classic. That's been one of the biggest questions with regards to “Beauty and the Beast”: how with the musical nature of the animated film translate to live-action? This was sidestepped in “Cinderella” and “Pete's Dragon” by not using songs, and “The Jungle Book” only featured a couple of very stripped down pieces of music, but “Beauty and the Beast” is a full-on musical in every sense of the word.

Disney's track record is good reason to be optimistic about “Beauty and the Beast”, and the talent of Watson as a performer bodes well. 

Scripted by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos with music by Disney veteran Alan Menken, the film also stars Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, and Emmat Thompson. 

“Beauty and the Beast” opens in theatres on March 17.

Source: Collider