Disney’s Beauty & the Beast spin-off live-action TV series featuring Gaston and LeFou finally gets a title. Musician Alan Menken accidentally revealed that it would be called The Little Town, in reference to a line from Belle’s song in the movie.
Menken spilled the beans about the Beauty & the Beast spin-off during his interview with Variety. The composer said that he’s quite excited about the Gaston TV show and casually mentioned the title for the first time: The Little Town.
Fans of the Disney fairy tale will recognize the title because Belle sings about their “little town” in the opening of the movie. Menken also said that the show would be referencing both the live-action and animated films a lot.
Luke Evans and Josh Gad start rehearsing
Returning for the Beauty & the Beast spin-off is Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou. Evans revealed in early July that he and Gad had a read and ran through of the scripts from at least three episodes of The Little Town.
“We’ve heard some of the new songs written by Mr. Menken himself,” Evans said. “We are so excited about this. It’s going to be a joy to work with Josh again.”
Disney announced the spin-off TV series in March 2020. The show will be a six-episode musical and set before the events of the movie.
Other stars from the live-action film could also appear in the TV show as guests, such as Emma Watson (Belle) and Dan Stevens (Beast). Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the creators of the fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, will serve as executive producers.
Will The Little Town explore Gaston’s PTSD?
The live-action version implied in bits and pieces of Gaston’s backstory that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while serving the French army. Evans also talked about this while promoting the film in 2017.
“[He] is a broken human being. He’s jaded, and the second he realizes that he’s not going to get what he wants, this military creature comes out of him,” Evans said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
The actor said that as much as Gaston is the villain in the films, there’s still a likeability element about him. For Evans, this makes Gaston a better villain than other Disney characters with powers because his flaws are relatable human qualities like bigotry, jealousy and chauvinism, and narcissism.
Evans also said that Gaston and his sidekick LeFou have a wealth of history together. They have kept their friendship and each other alive for years.
“Without LeFou, Gaston is just another buffoon in the village, but with LeFou, he’s revered and lifted to a higher level,” Evans said.
Disney+ has not yet earmarked a release date for the Beauty & the Beast spin-off as production is still on hold due to the coronavirus crisis.
Image used courtesy of Inside the Magic/YouTube