Human Again (song) facts for kids

Human Again is a popular song from the Disney animated movie Beauty and the Beast. It was first written for the 1991 film but was removed. Later, it was put back into the movie for a special edition in 2002. The music for the song was created by Alan Menken, and the original lyrics were by Howard Ashman.

The song is a cheerful waltz. It is sung by the enchanted objects and servants in the Beast's castle. They sing about their hope that the Beast and Belle will fall in love. If this happens, the magic spell on the castle will break, and they will all become human again. In the movie, the song is mainly performed by Lumière (voiced by Jerry Orbach), Cogsworth (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), Mrs. Potts (voiced by Angela Lansbury), and The Wardrobe (voiced by Jo Anne Worley). Belle and the Beast do not sing in this song, but they are seen together. Belle teaches the Beast to read Romeo and Juliet during the song.

Making the Song: From Idea to Screen

This song was first planned for the 1991 Beauty and the Beast movie. However, it was cut because it was very long and made the movie's story feel slow. Even though it was cut from the film, it was added to the Broadway musical version in 1994.

Bringing "Human Again" Back to the Movie

In 2002, "Human Again" was brought back into the animated film for a special DVD release. The filmmakers were inspired by how Star Wars had added new scenes to its special edition.

Kirk Wise, who directed the original movie, also directed the new animated part for "Human Again." Many of the same animators and artists who worked on the first film helped bring this song to life.

Why "Human Again" Was Removed and Then Restored

"Human Again" was a bit of a challenge for the Disney team. It was originally planned to be 11 minutes long! This was too long for an animated movie that already had many songs.

Story Challenges and Solutions

One big problem was that the song showed a lot of time passing, like months. This created questions for the story: What was Maurice doing all this time? Was Gaston just waiting around? The filmmakers found it hard to keep the rest of the story moving forward while Belle was at the castle for so long.

When the song was used in the Broadway musical, Alan Menken made some important changes to the music. He found a better place for the song in the story. The part about time passing was removed. These changes made it possible to add "Human Again" back into the movie.

Now, "Human Again" fits perfectly between two other songs. It comes after "Something There", which shows Belle and the Beast getting closer. Then, "Human Again" gives the enchanted objects' point of view, showing their hopes for the spell to break. Finally, it leads into the famous "Beauty and the Beast" ballad, which is about Belle and the Beast's growing love. This makes "Human Again" a nice part of the movie's musical story.