Something There
{{Short description|1991 song from Disney's Beauty and the Beast}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Something There
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson featuring Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury and David Ogden Stiers
| album = Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
| released = October 29, 1991
| format =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 2:18
| label = Walt Disney
| composer = Alan Menken
| lyricist = Howard Ashman
| producer = {{flat list|
- Howard Ashman
- Alan Menken
}}
}}
"Something There" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Walt Disney Pictures animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991). Sung by the majority of the film's main cast, the song was recorded by American actors Paige O'Hara as Belle and Robby Benson as the Beast via voice over, featuring actors Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury and David Ogden Stiers as Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth, respectively. The only song performed by the Beast, "Something There" is heard midway through Beauty and the Beast during a scene in which Belle and the Beast finally begin to acknowledge their feelings for each other.
A last-minute addition to the film, the simple love song was quickly written by Ashman and Menken to replace the more elaborate and ambitious "Human Again" after the latter was cut from Beauty and the Beast. O'Hara based her own vocal performance on that of American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, whom Ashman advised the actress to impersonate, while O'Hara herself convinced the songwriters to have Benson record the song. Critical reception towards "Something There" has been positive, with film and music critics alike praising Ashman's abilities as both a songwriter and a storyteller.
Background
"Something There" was written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken.{{Cite web|url = https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE2DF1330F930A25752C1A967958260|title = Beauty and the Beast (1991) Review/Film; Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' Updated in Form and Content|date = November 13, 1991|access-date = November 30, 2014|website = The New York Times|last = Maslin|first = Janet}} According to Menken, "Something There" was written as "a very quick replacement for ... 'Human Again'," the latter of which was ultimately cut from Beauty and the Beast because it was considered "too ambitious" for the film.{{Cite web|url = http://www.comicmix.com/2010/10/02/alan-menken-revisits-beauty-and-the-beast/|title = Alan Menken Revisits 'Beauty & The Beast'|date = October 2, 2010|access-date = November 11, 2014|website = ComicMix|last = Greenberger|first = Robert}} Eleven minutes in length, producer Don Hahn explained that the song was cut because "We just couldn't figure out how to make it work and not take away from the central story of Belle."{{Cite web|url = http://www.awn.com/animationworld/beauty-and-beast-disneys-big-hit-gets-bigger|title = Beauty and the Beast: Disney's Big Hit Gets Bigger|date = December 21, 2001|access-date = December 5, 2014|website = Animation World Network|publisher = AWN, Inc|last = DeMott|first = Rick}} Upon learning that "Human Again" was removed from Beauty and the Beast, Ashman and Menken were forced to return "to the drawing board to write something more contained and simple," the ultimate result of which was the love song "Something There,"{{Cite web|url = http://howardashman.com/blog/interview-with-alan-menken-part-one/|title = Interview with Alan Menken, part one|date = 2010|access-date = November 11, 2014|website = Howard Ashman|publisher = Shoptalk Ltd}} which has been described as "shorter and more direct" than "Human Again".{{Cite web|url = http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Beauty/beauty-beast-review.html|title = Digital Media FX Review of Beauty and the Beast Special Edition (IMAX)|access-date = January 1, 2014|website = Digital Media FX|publisher = Digital Media FX Magazine|last = Tracy|first = Joe|archive-date = May 8, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210508100118/https://www.digitalmediafx.com/Beauty/beauty-beast-review.html|url-status = dead}} The creative team had originally believed that the Beast saving Belle from the wolves was enough to justify the dance sequence near the end of the film, though later realised they had in fact not yet earned this moment; this quiet song where Beast gives Belle his library was pitched and written by Howard Ashman and "as soon as that was written, we knew the movie was going to work".{{Cite web|url=http://whysoblu.com/beauty-and-beast-glen-keane-interview/|title=A Talk with Beauty and the Beast's Glen Keane|last=Ferguson|first=Sean|date=October 7, 2010|website=Why So Blu?}}
In his biography I'm Not Dead... Yet!, actor Robby Benson, voice of the Beast, revealed that it was co-star Paige O'Hara's idea to have Benson's character duet with O'Hara's Belle in "Something There".{{Cite web|url = http://family-room.ew.com/2012/12/21/beauty-and-the-beast-robby-bensons-book-goes-behind-the-scenes-excerpt/|title = 'Beauty and the Beast': Robby Benson's book goes behind the scenes -- EXCERPT|date = December 21, 2012|access-date = December 5, 2014|website = Entertainment Weekly|publisher = Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc|last = Breznican|first = Anthony}} According to Benson, the actress "explained to Ashman and Menken that [Benson] had made records and sang in Broadway musicals."{{Cite book|title = I'm Not Dead... Yet!|last = Benson|first = Robby|publisher = Bengal Prods Inc|year = 2012|isbn = 9780983141655|location = United States|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=awqgsyBUDkAC&q=something+there+beauty+and+the+beast&pg=PT225}} O'Hara briefly struggled to record one of the song's lines – "a bit alarming" –{{Cite web|url = http://screeninvasion.com/2012/01/being-belle-interview-with-paige-ohara-belle-from-beauty-and-the-beast/|title = Being Belle: Interview with Paige O'Hara , "Belle", from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST|date = January 11, 2012|access-date = November 6, 2014|website = Screen Invasion|publisher = Invasion Media|archive-date = August 30, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190830152818/http://screeninvasion.com/2012/01/being-belle-interview-with-paige-ohara-belle-from-beauty-and-the-beast/|url-status = usurped}} to which an ailing Ashman, who was forced to communicate with O'Hara and the studio via telephone from his hospital bed in New York due to his illness, simply responded "Streisand." By this, Ashman meant that he wanted O'Hara to impersonate singer and actress Barbra Streisand, and by doing so O'Hara finally recorded the song successfully.{{Cite web|url = http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/toon-times-ashman-left-disney-his-heart/|title = Toon Times: Ashman left Disney his heart|date = May 4, 2011|access-date = November 11, 2014|website = North by Northwestern|publisher = North by Northwestern|last = Poletick|first = Rachel|archive-date = March 27, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190327034552/http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/toon-times-ashman-left-disney-his-heart/|url-status = dead}} "Something There" was recorded by O'Hara and Benson accompanied by a live orchestra.
Context, sequence and analysis
In the book The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook, author Jerry Griswold observed that the "Something There" musical sequence is preceded by "the once feisty Belle ... bandaging and nursing [the Beast]" after he rescues her from the wolves.{{Cite book|title = The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook|last = Griswold|first = Jerry|publisher = Broadview Press|year = 2004|isbn = 9781551115634|location = United States|pages = 240|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ecQuvwSSgzEC&q=%22something+There%22+%22beauty+and+the+beast%22&pg=PA240}} Contextually, the purpose of the song has been identified as "Dramatizing [Belle and the Beasts'] partnership."{{Cite book|title = Women's Studies in Communication|publisher = Organization for Research on Women and Communication|year = 1996|location = United States|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZAhAQAAMAAJ&q=womens+studies+in+communication+something+there}} Leading up to the musical sequence, the Beast first "surprises Belle by showing her his library and then they learn to eat together." Author Robin O. Winter observed that "During the scene they begin to see beneath their outer appearances and start to appreciate each other's inner qualities,"{{Cite journal|url = http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2007/February/Robin93.pdf|title = Do You Love Me: Teaching Couple Dynamics|access-date = October 4, 2014|journal = Family Medicine|publisher = Society of Teachers of Family Medicine|last1 = Winter|first1 = Robin O.|last2 = Birnberg|first2 = Bruce A.|year = 2007|volume = 39|issue = 2|pages = 93–5|pmid = 17273950|archive-date = September 24, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924110334/http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2007/February/Robin93.pdf|url-status = dead}} while one critic identified this as one of the scenes in "which Belle and the Beast hesitantly slowly open up to one another."{{Cite web|url = http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/beautyandthebeast1991|title = Beauty and the Beast (1991)|access-date = November 5, 2011|website = Decent Films Guide|publisher = Steven D. Greydanus|last = Greydanus|first = Steven D}} Writing for Wesleyan University, Rachel Anne Silverman observed that "Something There" depicts "The first time Belle and the Beast's attraction is introduced," describing the couple's relationship as "a passion that has developed over time."{{Cite web|url = http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1368&context=etd_hon_theses&embedded=true&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com.au%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D%2522Something%2BThere%25E2%2580%258E%2522%2Bbeauty%2Band%2Bthe%2Bbeast%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252C5%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22Something%20There%E2%80%8E%20beauty%20beast%22|title = New Dreams, Old Endings: Searching for "A Whole New World" in Disney Second-Wave Animated Romance Films|date = 2009|access-date = November 4, 2014|website = Wesleyan University|publisher = Wesleyan University|last = Silverman|first = Rachel Anne}} Initially, Belle is alarmed "as she realizes her growing love for the Beast,"{{Cite book|title = Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out|last = Griffin|first = Sean|publisher = NYU Press|year = 2000|isbn = 9780814731239|location = United States|pages = [https://archive.org/details/tinkerbellesevil00grif_0/page/151 151]|url = https://archive.org/details/tinkerbellesevil00grif_0|url-access = registration|quote = something there beauty and the beast.}} briefly hiding behind a tree as she sings.{{Cite web|url = http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=lux|title = Beauty-ful Inferiority: Female Subservience in Disney's Beauty and the Beast|date = 2013|access-date = November 4, 2014|website = Claremont|last = Chow|first = Jeremy}} According to the Hal Leonard Corporation and Music Theatre International, the castle's staff of enchanted objects also discover "something different between Belle and the Beast."{{Cite web|url = http://www.halleonard.com/broadwayjr/beautyBeastJr.jsp|title = Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr.|access-date = November 6, 2014|website = Hal Leonard Online}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000340|title = Disney's Beauty and the Beast JR.|access-date = December 5, 2014|website = Music Theatre International|publisher = Enterprises, Inc|archive-date = September 19, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150919014754/http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000340|url-status = dead}} "Something There" concludes with Belle and the Beast retreating to a fireplace and reading.{{Cite web|url = http://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies/article/Beauty-and-the-Beast-IMAX-1585988.php|title = Beauty and the Beast IMAX|date = January 1, 2002|access-date = November 13, 2014|website = Houston Chronicle|publisher = Hearst Newspapers, LLC|last = Westbrook|first = Bruce}} In the original film, "Something There" immediately precedes the film's title song. However, for its special edition re-release, the song is immediately followed by the newly reinstated "Human Again".{{Cite web|url = http://themoviereport.com/movierpt92.html#b&b|title = Beauty and the Beast Large Format Special Edition (G)|date = January 1, 2001|access-date = November 13, 2014|website = The Movie Report|publisher = Michael Dequina|last = Dequina|first = Michael}}File:Something_There.jpgIdentifying the song as "where the genius of music as storytelling kicks in," Simon Brew of Den of Geek felt that "Something There" is "the track with the heaviest workload." The author observed that "In two minutes and 19 seconds, [the song] gets across just how the position and feelings of the characters have changed."{{Cite web|url = http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16589/looking-back-at-disney%E2%80%99s-beauty-and-the-beast|title = Looking back at Disney's Beauty And The Beast|date = November 4, 2010|access-date = November 4, 2014|website = Den of Geek|publisher = Dennis Publishing Limited|last = Brew|first = Simon|archive-date = February 11, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170211100951/http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16589/looking-back-at-disney%E2%80%99s-beauty-and-the-beast|url-status = dead}} For instance, "At the beginning of 'Something There,' Belle admits that she thought the Beast was mean, coarse, and unrefined. By the end, she’s feeling pretty smitten," according to Oh My Disney.{{Cite web|url = http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2013/08/20/a-lot-can-happen-in-a-song/|title = A Lot Can Happen During a Disney Song|date = 2013|access-date = December 30, 2014|website = Oh My Disney|publisher = Disney}} The song also depicts the film's passing of time,{{Cite web|url = http://www.cinemablend.com/dvds/Beauty-and-the-Beast-Diamond-Edition-4878.html|title = Beauty and the Beast (Diamond Edition)|access-date = December 7, 2014|website = Cinema Blend|publisher = Cinema Blend LLC|last = Grabert|first = Jessica|archive-date = August 30, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190830152830/https://www.cinemablend.com/dvds/Beauty-and-the-Beast-Diamond-Edition-4878.html|url-status = dead}} while providing audiences with an opportunity "to appreciate Beast and first see the potential for Belle and him."{{Cite web|url = http://www.dvdizzy.com/disneysongscountdown/index3.htm|title = TOP 100 DISNEY SONGS|access-date = November 5, 2014|website = DVDizzy.com|publisher = DVDizzy.com}} On the song's role in the special edition version of the film, co-director Kirk Wise explained, "There's a ... little suite of music now that starts with 'Something There' ... which segues into 'Human Again' which gives the object perspective on what they hope for when [Belle and the Beast] fall in love and that transitions into 'Beauty and the Beast' the ballad, which is the culmination of their relationship."{{Cite web|url = http://rossanthony.com/interviews/kirkwise.shtml|title = Interview with Beauty & the Beast Director|access-date = November 13, 2014|website = Ross Anthony|publisher = Ross Anthony|last = Ross|first = Anthony}} Dubbing the song "soliloquies of Belle and the Beast," TV Guide drew comparisons between "Something There" and songs from the musical South Pacific.{{Cite web|url = http://movies.tvguide.com/beauty-and-the-beast/review/128275|title = Beauty and the Beast|date = 1991|access-date = November 5, 2014|website = TV Guide|publisher = CBS Interactive Inc}}
The "Something There" musical sequence was added towards the end of Beauty and the Beast
Composition
{{Listen|type=music|pos=right|filename=Something_There.ogg|title=Something There|description=Sample of "Something There".}}Written in the key of D-flat major at a quick allegretto tempo of 108 beats per minute in common time, the "playful"{{Cite web|url = http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/b/beauty.html|title = Beauty and the Beast|date = 1991|access-date = November 5, 2014|website = ReelViews|publisher = James Berardinelli|last = Berardinelli|first = James}} "Something There" is a Broadway musical-inspired duet in which Belle and the Beast finally conclude that "there's something there that wasn't there before." The song spans a duration of two minutes and eighteen seconds, making it the third shortest song on the soundtrack behind the reprises of "Belle" and "Gaston", respectively.{{Cite web|url = https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beauty-beast-original-motion/id156087130|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100414174445/http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beauty-beast-original-motion/id156087130|url-status = dead|archive-date = April 14, 2010|title = Beauty and the Beast (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Various Artists|access-date = November 12, 2014|website = iTunes|publisher = Apple Inc}} Describing "Something There" as "a fluffy song," Filmtracks.com observed that the song "shares many instrumental devices with 'Belle';" one of Belle's verses in "Something There" serves as "a reprise of the secondary phrase from ['Belle']".{{Cite web|url = http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/beauty_beast.html|title = Beauty and the Beast|access-date = November 6, 2014|website = Filmtracks.com|publisher = Christian Clemmensen (Filmtracks Publications)}} Combined, O'Hara and Benson's vocal ranges span two octaves, from the low note of A-flat (musical note) to the high note of E-flat (musical note).{{Cite web|url = http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0057799|title = Something There – From Beauty and the Beast: The Broadway Musical - Digital Sheet Music|access-date = November 4, 2014|website = Musicnotes.com|date = 28 May 2007|publisher = Walt Disney Music Publishing}} The song, described as "a poignant character number"{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television|last = Hischak|first = Thomas S.|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 9780195335330|location = United States|pages = 55|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XbBz3C4Gr0EC&q=%22something+There%22+%22disney%22&pg=PA56}} performed "Against a background of the easy rhythms of soft, lilting violins," "allowed [O'Hara and Benson] to blend their voices."{{Cite book|title = The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History|last = MacDonald|first = Laurence E.|publisher = Scarecrow Press|year = 2013|isbn = 9780810883987|location = United States|pages = 371|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=e0NYYHWtz6sC&q=%22something+There%22+%22beauty+and+the+beast%22&pg=PA371}} In addition, Women's Studies in Communication observed that the "tentative bursts of notes symbolize the uncertainties of this new way of relating".
In the song's first verse, "Belle articulates how her attraction to [the Beast] stems from his shut-off demeanor," singing, "There's something sweet/And almost kind/But he was mean/And he was coarse and unrefined/But now he's dear/And so unsure/I wonder why I didn't see it there before."{{Cite web|url = http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=anthos|title = Learning to Read (Gender): Children's Animation and the New Heterosexism|date = 2014|access-date = November 11, 2014|website = Portland State University|last = Kaelyn|first = Flowerday}} The Beast's verse reads, "when we touched she didn't shudder at my paw."{{Cite web|url = https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/42895/Disney-Soundtracks-Beauty-and-the-Beast/|title = Soundtrack (Disney) – Beauty and the Beast|date = April 10, 2011|access-date = November 5, 2014|website = Sputnikmusic|publisher = Sputnikmusic.com|last = Tan|first = Irving}} According to Laurence E. MacDonald, author of the book The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History, Benson "shocked many filmgoers with his richly resonant baritone." Finally, Belle sings the song's bridge, which reads, "New and a bit alarming/Who'd have ever thought that this could be?/True, that he's no Prince Charming/But there's something in him that I simply didn't see." According to the Los Angeles Times, by the end of "Something There", "the audience understands what Belle and Beast feel and how disconcerting those emotions seem."{{Cite web|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-31-et-solom31-story.html|title = But It Was Big Enough Already|date = December 31, 2001|access-date = November 13, 2014|work = Los Angeles Times|last = Solomon|first = Charles}}
Reception
"Something There" has garnered mostly positive reviews from film and music critics. Writing for Den of Geek, Simon Brew felt that "Something There" is "where the genius of music as storytelling kicks in." In Brew's opinion, the "utterly convincing and un-mawkish" song works "because the two characters aren't on screen singing directly at each other." Brew concluded, "Everyone who makes an animated film that has a love story at the heart should watch this." Filmtracks.com described "Something There" as an "affable" song. Particularly praising Ashman's songwriting, Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Ashman's songs advance the plot by exploring the characters' emotions and making story points more concisely than conventional exposition." Solomon concluded, "By the end of the deceptively simple-sounding 'Something There,' the audience understands what Belle and Beast feel and how disconcerting those emotions seem." O'Hara continues to cite "Something There" as her favorite of the film's songs,{{Cite web|url = http://pro.boxoffice.com/articles/2012-01-meet-paige-ohara-the-voice-and-more-of-disneys-smartest-heroine?q=Jodi+Benson|title = Meet Paige O'Hara: The Voice—And More—Of Disney's Smartest Heroine|date = January 13, 2012|access-date = November 6, 2014|website = BoxOffice|publisher = BoxOffice® Media, LLC|last = Nicholson|first = Amy|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141106201011/http://pro.boxoffice.com/articles/2012-01-meet-paige-ohara-the-voice-and-more-of-disneys-smartest-heroine?q=Jodi+Benson|archive-date = November 6, 2014}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.disneydreaming.com/2010/10/05/interview-with-paige-ohara-the-voice-of-belle-in-beauty-and-the-beast/|title = Interview With Paige O'Hara, The Voice Of Belle In "Beauty and the Beast"|date = October 5, 2010|access-date = November 6, 2014|website = Disney Dreaming|publisher = DisneyDreaming.com}} elaborating, "Every time I see the Beast with that grin on his face and the bird in his hand, my heart just melts."{{Cite web|url = http://www.hollywoodthewriteway.com/2010/10/interview-with-paige-ohara-of-beauty.html|title = An Interview with Paige O'Hara of Beauty and the Beast|date = October 13, 2010|access-date = November 6, 2014|website = Hollywood The Right Way|last = Simpson|first = Melody}}
For the studio's pending live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, Julia Emmanuele of Hollywood.com suggested that the filmmakers "feel free to drop 'Something There' if there’s no room for it" because "it won't be missed."{{Cite web|url = http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/57079733/live-action-beauty-and-the-beast-disney-bill-condon?page=all|title = Everything Disney Should Do (and Not Do) with Its New Live Action 'Beauty and the Beast'|date = June 5, 2014|access-date = November 4, 2014|website = Hollywood.com|publisher = Hollywood.com, LLC|last = Emmanuele|first = Julia}} However, when English actress Emma Watson confirmed in January 2015 that she will be portraying Belle via Facebook, she cited "Something There" as one of her favorite songs from her childhood.{{Cite web|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/disney/11370294/Belles-ring-for-Emma-Watson-in-Disneys-live-action-Beauty-and-the-Beast.html|title = Belles ring for Emma Watson in Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast|date = January 26, 2015|access-date = February 20, 2015|website = The Telegraph|publisher = Telegraph Media Group Limited|last = Brown|first = Kat}} Irving Tan of Sputnikmusic jokingly called "Something There" "the closest the movie comes to admitting its horrendously inappropriate stance on human-animal sexual relations."
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Gold|title=Something There|relyear=1991|certyear=2024|access-date=December 30, 2024}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Disney's Beauty and the Beast}}
{{Howard Ashman}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Disney Renaissance songs
Category:Songs from Beauty and the Beast (franchise)
Category:Songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman
Category:Songs with music by Alan Menken