America's "Beauty and the Beast"

Abstract

Sometimes extraordinary events happen to people, even professors, One day, a few years ago (and shortly after Disney's film "Beauty and the Beast" won an Academy Award), I received a phone call from a program director at BBC4, the radio network in England, He was thinking about doing a show on fairy tales, "I wonder," he asked, "do you think fairy tales say anything to us today? I apologize for being so vague but what, for example, do you think about Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast?'" An hour later, the phone rang agaln, This time it was a film producer in Hollywood, "We're trying to expand our list," she explained, "and we've realized we're weak in potential children's films, Can you recommend some stories we might consider? We're thinking about the incredible popularity of Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'" An hour later, the phone rang again, This time it was a film producer in Hollywood, "We're trying to expand our list," she explained, "and we've realized we're weak in potential children's films, Can you recommend some stories we might consider? We're thinking about the incredible popularity of Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'"