Here’s Everything We Learned From the Animated Beauty and the Beast AMA

With the 25th anniversary celebration of the animated classic Beauty and the Beast in full swing, and excitement at an all time high for the live-action reimagining starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, we’ve been seeing a considerable amount of the beloved film–and we aren’t complaining. It’s like reading a good book you don’t want to put down. Today, the voice actors behind the original movie took to Reddit for an official Ask Me Anything (AMA). Here’s a round-up of all of the fun things we learned about Paige O’Hara (Belle) and Richard White (Gaston).

They worked on the voiceover for two and a half years.

O’Hara explained, “We can record the movie entirely in one day. However, it was constantly changing and the animators would draw from us for a few months and then we’d return. Sometimes there were new lines. The whole film took four years to make and the voice actors worked on it for two and half years.”

O’Hara is excited to see Emma Watson play Belle in the live-action movie.

When asked about the actress, she said that she was “Really excited.” She elaborated, “I think Emma is the perfect choice for Belle.”

White loved playing the villain.

When asked about lending his voice to Gaston, and whether he had fun voicing Gaston, he responded, “Yes indeed! The villain is often the most interesting character in a story. They have an agenda and they go to great lengths to achieve it. Gaston is also a wonderfully comedic character. I have a ball doing him!”

O’Hara voiced Belle in Kingdom Hearts.

Regarding the experience, she stated “Kingdom Hearts was a lot of fun. Wish I could have done more.”

Belle’s library would probably be full of adventure novels.

Belle’s love of reading is truly inspirational. When one fan asked what kind of books Belle would have in her library, O’Hara said, “Belle would have all of them. She loved adventure novels, especially ones she could escape into and imagine herself as a part of them. Belle’s favorite play is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.” The actress also listed the Harper Lee classic To Kill a Mockingbird, as her own personal favorite.

Working on the movie changed O’Hara’s life.

“It changed my life. We knew from the beginning the writing was wonderful and after working on it for the first year, we realized this is going to be a classic. A truly great blessing to voice this part.”

One of Belle’s quirks is based on O’Hara.

Regarding the recording process, O’Hara explained, “Because they are videotaping us, they will capture our expressions. Many of those are in the film of all of the actors. The stroke of the strand of hair was certainly me!”

Gaston probably didn’t die.

Despite falling off the roof towards the end of the movie, White is of the opinion that Gaston might still be alive. He said, “Who said he died??! Did you ever see a body? I feel certain that he simply bumped his head and will be resurfacing in a spinoff at a theatre near you sometime soon.”

The cast recorded their lines in the same room.

“As a rule, voice work is done alone in a booth, but in our case, Paige was able to talk them into allowing us to react to one another while we were recording,” explained White. “We feel that helped a great deal in establishing relationships between the characters.”

Beauty and the Beast’s 25th Anniversary Edition is now available on Digital HD, Disney Movies Anywhere, and on Blu-ray.

What was your favorite fact? Let us know below!