Beauty and the Beast thrills Moscow

Equally popular among adults and children alike, it gained wide recognition in 1991 when Disney produced a feature-length cartoon.

The film went on to become the only animated feature ever to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.

The famous tale doesn’t start with Disney, however. The story has its roots in 18th-century France, where the first published version of the story, written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, came out in 1740.

However, it was the abridged version by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 that has become the basis for most modern-day versions. The first English version was published in 1757.

There are some differences between the original and Beaumont's abridgement.

In Villeneuve's version the beast was seduced by an evil fairy. When he refused her, he was turned into the beast.

This differs from the story that is popular today where the beast originally refused the fairy entrance while it was raining, and was turned into the beast as a result.

The beauty in the popular version was the daughter of a merchant (inventor in the Disney version), but in Villeneuve's original she was actually the daughter of a king, and the same evil fairy that tried to seduce the beast.

For her protection from the fairy she was placed under the care of a merchant.

The Disney film was adapted for the stage in 1993 by its writers Linda Woolverton and Alan Menken, and ran on Broadway from 1994 through to 2007.

The musical has been performed in 14 countries and 115 cities around the world.

Russian Beauty still waiting for her Beast