<P> The scene in Beauty and the Beast during which the song is heard is the moment when Belle and the Beast's true feelings for each other are finally established . Set in the ballroom of the Beast's castle, "Beauty and the Beast" is performed by the character Mrs. Potts, an enchanted teapot, midway through the film as she explains the feeling of love to her young teacup son Chip, referring to the emotion as "a tale as old as time". According to Armen Karaoghlanian of Interiors, "Belle familiarizes the Beast with the waltz and as soon he feels comfortable, he gracefully moves her across the floor". Afterwards, the song continues to play instrumentally as Belle and the Beast retire to the balcony for a romantic candlelit dinner . Believed to be the "centerpiece that brings Beauty and her Beast together," the sequence offers an insight into both characters' psyches . From the Beast's perspective, it is the moment he realizes that he wants to confess his true feelings for Belle to her and "decides he wants to tell Belle he is in love with her ." Meanwhile, Belle begins to fall in love with her captor . Writing for The Globe and Mail, Jennie Punter reviewed it as the scene in which "romance finally blossoms ." Film critic Ellison Estefan, writing for Estefan Films, believes that the sequence is responsible for "add (ing) another dimension to the characters as they continue to fall deeply in love with each other ." Explaining the song's role in the film, director Kirk Wise described the scene as "the culmination of their relationship," while producer Don Hahn pegged it as "the bonding moment of the film when the two main characters finally get together ." </P> <P> The scene had long been envisioned as having a more live - action feel to it than the rest of the film, an idea that originated from story artists Brenda Chapman and Roger Allers, who were the first to suggest that the ballroom be built using computers . As the film's executive producer, former Head of Disney's film division Jeffrey Katzenberg recalled that he began working on Beauty and the Beast deciding what its "wowie" moment would be, defining this as "the moment in the movie where you see what's on the screen and go,' Wow - IEE"'; this ultimately became the film's ballroom sequence . According to Hahn, the scene was conceived out of the filmmakers' desire to manipulate the camera in order to "sweep" the audience away . Allers and Chapman conceived the ballroom in order to provide the characters with an area in which they could linger, and were surprised by the amount of artistic freedom with which they were provided by the animators, who agreed to adjust to the changes in perspective that would result from the moving camera . While Allers decided to raise the camera in order to view the dancing couple from the overhead chandelier, Chapman decided to rotate the camera around Belle's skirt as the couple danced past it . </P> <P> In their dance together, Belle and the Beast move toward the camera, as we pan up and into the 3D chandelier . In the next shot, the camera slowly drops from the ceiling as we once again move alongside the 3D chandelier . This adds depth to the scene, as the chandelier is placed at the forefront of the image and Belle and the Beast are in the distance . This shot continues as we move down below and gracefully move around them . The Beast then sways Belle around and near the camera, once again providing us with an illusion that a camera is following these characters around in an actual ballroom . In a wide shot of Belle and the Beast dancing, the camera begins dollying back as Mrs. Potts and Chip appear in the frame . These beautiful compositions and camera movements show us how space functions within an animated feature film . </P> <P> Regarded as an example of "a pronounced use of height and of vertical movement in sets and settings, in virtual camera movement...and in the actions of characters" by Epics, Spectacles and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History author Sheldon Hall, Beauty and the Beast was one of the first feature - length animated films to use computer - generated imagery, which is prominently exhibited throughout the film's "elaborate" ballroom sequence . Light Science: Physics and the Visual Arts author Thomas D. Rossing believes that the filmmakers aimed to achieve "a moving perspective that would follow the dancers around the room, giving visual expression to the soaring emotions of the scene ." CGI supervisor Jim Hillin was hired by Hahn to oversee the design of the scene's graphics . However, because the computer - animation medium was so unfamiliar to the filmmakers at the time, at one point they had considered having Belle and the Beast simply dance in complete darkness--save for a single spotlight--should the project be unsuccessful; they jokingly referred to this idea as the "Ice Capades" version . </P>

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