Josh Gad, who played LeFou in 2017’s live-action adaption of Beauty & The Beast, has revealed new information about the movie’s upcoming spinoff series. The big-screen version of Disney’s acclaimed 1991 musical joined the likes of Alice In Wonderland, Maleficent and The Jungle Book in seeking to reinvent and reintroduce its seminal source material to Disney fans. Beauty & The Beast expanded the character of LeFou, Gaston’s righthand man, thanks in no small part to Gad’s performance, which portrayed the simple villain as far more intelligent and nuanced than his cartoon counterpart.
Literally translated as ‘the fool’ in French, LeFou’s original incarnation served as a bumbling sidekick to the chauvinistic Gaston. Gad and his co-star Luke Evans previously spoke of the challenges of updating such beloved Disney characters - while changes to LeFou faced some opposition online, the development of the duo was ultimately heralded by critics as one of the adaption’s improvements over the original. Last year, it was announced that Gaston and LeFou would return to screens in a Disney+ prequel series that would further elaborate on their story before the events of Beauty & The Beast.
Speaking to Collider, Josh Gad has revealed a roadmap for the series and enlightened audiences on some of the more dramatic developments they might not be expecting. Confirmed to be eight episodes long, Little Town (named after lyrics from the Beauty & The Beast song “Belle”) was reportedly born out of a winning working relationship between Gad and Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitis on an ill-fated Muppets project at Disney+. With Horowitz and Kitsis on board as Little Town’s showrunners, the series is currently scheduled for release in early 2022. Voicing his excitement for the project, Gad had this to say:
We’re doing eight episodes – should be early next year. We are in the midst of finishing the scripts right now. I can tell you that it is one of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever been a part of. Luke [Evans] and I are so excited about bringing these characters back to life, alongside a brilliant and unique new talent in Brianna Middleton, playing this incredible new character named Tilly.
Liesl Tommy, who’s our director, is planning to do some unbelievably ambitious things with this series – as well as our showrunners Adam and Eddy, who are really, really, really going places I think audiences are not necessarily ready for. I cannot be more excited about this show; I think it’s going to be enormously special.
Little Town seems to be following in the footsteps of other small-screen successes on Disney+, namely The Mandolorian and MCU offerings such as WandaVision and Loki. It’s a play that seeks to draw in fans of the company’s classic properties to the streaming service while also expanding upon the lore of fan-favorite movies and their characters. They don’t get much bigger than Beauty & The Beast - the 1991 classic became the first full-length animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture, and it received an Oscar for Best Original Song for its eponymous ballad, “Beauty & The Beast”. Little Town will see Alan Menken, who previously orchestrated music for both versions of the film, return to write new music, accompanied by Glenn Slater of The Little Mermaid and Tangled fame.
Little Town is shaping up to be another success for Disney+. While traits of their live-action adaptations have been derided, the company’s reinterpretations of the studio's biggest successes have kept them firmly in the hearts and minds of audiences of all ages. Horowitz and Kitsis’ pedigree inventing a host of Disney Princesses in live-action is already proven. Likewise, the lauded duo of Josh Gad and Luke Evans reprising their roles from Beauty & The Beast – and Gad’s undeniable enthusiasm – signal big things for Little Town when it’s released early next year.
Source: Collider