Celine Dion Will Sing an Original Song for Disney’s Live-Action ‘Beauty and the Beast’
If anything, the live-action Beauty and the Beast will give us all the urge to curl up with some nice, cozy nostalgia for a few hours. With its faithful-to-the-cartoon costumes and songs, it’ll be like a leveled-up version of the classic, and today Disney has doubled-down on the nostalgia factor: Celine Dion, who recorded her own version of the title tune “Beauty and the Beast” for the original movie, is returning to the story with a new original song “How Does a Moment Last Forever.”
And it sounds like the song will appear in the movie a few more times than in just the end credits, as is usual. According to the statement from Disney:
Written by eight-time Oscar®-winning composer Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin”) and veteran lyricist and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (“The Lion King,” “Evita”), “How Does A Moment Last Forever” is an emotional ballad about holding onto life’s precious moments. Portions of the song are performed throughout the film and interpolated into the underscore before Dion’s full-length version debuts in the film’s custom main-on-end title design.Says Dion, “Being a part of the original ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was such a magical experience in my life, and I'm truly honored to be a part of this film again.”
Mitchell Leib, Disney’s President of Music (now there’s a job title) said that Dion was a no-brainer addition to the movie: “Celine was the unanimous choice of the filmmakers and studio to perform this song,” he said. “And everyone involved with the film is thrilled she agreed to be part of this new live-action adaptation.”
The new song will appear on the movie’s soundtrack as well, which is now available for ore-order. Beauty and the Beast stars Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson, and Josh Gad, and opens in theaters March 17.