The First Years Disney Baby Mickey Mouse Fork and Spoon Set
- "He's handsome, all right, and rude and conceited and... Oh, Papa, he's not for me."
- ―Belle expressing her dislike for Gaston to her father
Gaston is the main antagonist of Disney's 1991 animated feature film, Beauty and the Beast. He was an arrogant and chauvinistic hunter who was greedily determined to have Belle's hand in marriage, even by force if necessary. His obsession turned him into a ruthless and traitorous villain, especially upon his discovery that Belle's love was not for him, but for the Beast.
Contents
- 1 Background
- 1.1 Official Description
- 1.2 Development
- 1.2.1 Death
- 1.3 Personality
- 1.4 Physical appearance
- 1.5 Abilities
- 2 Appearances
- 2.1 Beauty and the Beast
- 2.2 House of Mouse
- 2.3 Other appearances
- 3 Live-action appearances
- 3.1 Sing Me a Story with Belle
- 3.2 Once Upon a Time
- 3.3 Beauty and the Beast (2017)
- 3.4 Prequel series
- 4 Printed media
- 4.1 Comics
- 4.2 Kingdom Keepers
- 4.3 Villain Files
- 4.4 The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince
- 4.5 Descendants: Isle of the Lost
- 4.6 As Old as Time (A Twisted Tale)
- 4.7 Princess Adventure Stories
- 5 Video games
- 5.1 Belle's Quest
- 5.2 Disney Princess
- 5.3 Kingdom Hearts
- 5.4 Disney Magic Kingdoms
- 5.5 Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
- 5.6 Other games
- 6 Musical
- 7 Disney Parks
- 7.1 Walt Disney World
- 7.2 Tokyo Disneyland
- 7.3 Disneyland Paris
- 7.4 Hong Kong Disneyland
- 8 Gallery
- 9 Trivia
- 10 References
- 11 External links
Background
Official Description
- An egotistical hunter who vies for Belle's hand in marriage and is determined not to let anyone else win her heart, even if it means killing her true love.
Development
In the 1988 screenplay, Gaston himself wasn't part of the story. Instead, there existed three suitors for Belle who competed for her hand in marriage who were ultimately similar to him and shared the role of antagonist with Belle's sisters. They ultimately were transformed into animals, alongside Belle's sisters, by the Enchantress as punishment for their misdeeds, including nearly murdering the Beast.
In the 1989 screenplay, the three suitors were condensed into a single character, Gaston. In this version, Gaston was depicted very differently. Instead of a hunter who was the town hero, he was a marquess or French nobleman. He would have shared the role of antagonist with Belle's aunt Marguerite, who would have chosen him as Belle's suitor, specifically as revenge towards Maurice (who in this version was a failed merchant who lost his wealth at sea, just like in the original tale). He also was shown to only be interested in Belle due to Marguerite's insistence that he marry her, and when Belle refused, he was implied to have initially respected Belle's refusal of him enough to indicate that returning to try and get her hand in marriage was unlikely when asked by Marguerite. In the climax, he was to have traveled to the Beast's Castle, also stealing the Sedan Chair to ensure he tracked down the castle, and upon arrival, fight off several of the Enchanted Objects with a rapier before personally dueling the Beast in battle. He also met his fate differently (see Death section below).
Gaston's original design.
As such, his design was also completely different. He was tall and lank with a mole on the left side of his face and a crooked nose. His attire consisted of a sky-blue jacket and a powdered wig tied with a red ribbon. All of these features gave him a somewhat similar appearance to French noblemen, such as Jean Rousseau or Napoleon.
After Jeffrey Katzenberg demanded a rewrite of the film, Gaston's characterization was altered significantly, being made into the town hero as well as the village's local hunter. According to Linda Woolverton, she had based this version on Gaston on her own unsuccessful relationships, and she had also wanted Belle's decrying of Gaston being her suitor (whom Woolverton referred to as a blockhead) to be the focal point of the film, necessitating that Belle's wicked sisters and their respective love interests be left out, as well as cutting her snobbish Aunt Marguerite.
Story reels for the original screenplay (included in the Platinum and Diamond Editions of the final film) indicate that his surname was proposed to be LeGume, as he is referred to as such by Marguerite. This acted as a pun on his small-minded views. The name was presumably dropped by the first draft of Linda Woolverton's treatment of the story, as in both "Belle" and its reprise, the Bimbettes, and Belle referred to him and herself as "Monsieur Gaston" and (albeit sarcastically) "Madame Gaston" respectively, implying that "Gaston" was his surname. In addition, Linda Woolverton's initial draft of what would become the story of the film had his role largely being similar, although he would have paid slightly more attention to the triplets by giving them a handsome look their way during the opening song, and also proceeded to sarcastically give his "review" of a book Belle was reading, and also supplied her with a trophy as a "gift." In addition, Gaston when learning the failure of his plans and Belle falling for Beast, also nearly attempted to hit Belle, but stopped when realizing the villagers were watching, although it was implied that their fearful gasps at what his nearly hitting Belle was what inspired him to rabble-rouse them into killing the Beast. The initial draft also emphasized that Gaston was feared by the village rather than truly loved during the aftermath of the wedding scene, where he went over to the wedding cake in fury and the villagers were horrified. One of the cut lyrics for the Gaston song also had "Who breaks hearts like Gaston", implying that even before the Beast entered the picture, Gaston was a very treacherous individual to his friends and allies. He also was intended to directly go over to Monsieur D'Arque's asylum to recruit him, instead of having him arrive at the Tavern illicitly.
In the original fairy-tale there is no character resembling Gaston in the plot with the antagonists having been Belle's jealous sisters who were adapted into the Bimbettes. Gaston's character can however be found in the influential 1946 Beauty and the Beast film by Jean Cocteau of which the Disney version takes some inspiration. In that film there is a character named Avenant who attempts to have Belle marry him only to have his affections scorned, plots to murder the Beast in order to marry Belle, climbs up the walls of Beast's castle and attempts to murder him only to be killed himself. While no notes from production reference Avenant as an influence of Gaston, the similarities are apparent and it is known the Jean Cocteau film was a point of inspiration.
Death
Story threads show that in the original screenplay, Gaston would have tried to use his sword to stab the Beast, only to fall over a garden wall. In the 1989 screenplay, Gaston was not meant to be killed at the end of the film. Instead, the Beast was to finish their battle by knocking him over a wall, leaving him unconscious.
In one of the earliest scripts, Gaston's death would have been different, as the battle against Beast would have taken place in the forest. In this early version of the script, Gaston would wound the Beast and nearly kill him with his gun when Belle strikes him from behind with a rock. This would have prompted him to fall off a cliff. Upon trying to stand up, he notices that the wolves who attacked Maurice and Belle earlier are looking at him, and kill him. This idea was scrapped because the writers thought that it was too gruesome and horrible. Although this idea was later used in The Lion King, more specifically in the sequence of Scar's death at the hands (or rather, jaws) of the hyenas. Ironically, the above-mentioned scene of Scar's death (as the final version of the ending) was chosen for the exact same reason why Gaston's original death was cut: the original ending was deemed to be too graphic and scary for a Disney film.
In addition, the final version of Gaston's death also had some alterations: moments prior to his plunge from the castle to his unseen death, Gaston was supposed to stab the Beast in the back, and later in the leg, but the second injury was cut from the final script to edit violence; it was also originally intended for Gaston to commit suicide after stabbing the Beast in the back and laugh madly as he fell from the tower, believing that if he could not win Belle, nobody else would (which might explain why Gaston chose such a dangerous position to stab the Beast from behind, despite knowing that he would never win Belle's heart). However, this was edited out due to the dark nature of the scene. In the initial draft of Linda Woolverton's story, Beast would have immediately fought Gaston after the latter kicked the footstool, with the Wardrobe also aiding Beast to some degree. In addition, Gaston, after Beast decided to be merciful and spare him, proceeded to run Beast through the back with his sword, with Beast, in turn, punching him off the balcony to his death.
Personality
Gaston is strong and handsome and exploits these traits to the fullest. While it is not clear if he considers himself as a good person or not (like Governor Ratcliffe and Claude Frollo do), the villagers very much do, considering how popular he is with them (especially the Bimbette triplets), and how they seem unaware of his true nature (Gaston reprise in the original film notwithstanding), and this serves to fuel his already massive ego. A narcissist who sees himself as superior to everyone around him, Gaston is proud, boorish, uncultured, greedy, short-tempered, bad-mannered, narcissistic, and sexist. He is also impulsive and arrogant, as evidenced by his setting up a wedding before he even proposed to Belle under the expectation that she'd approve of becoming his wife, thinking she was in love with him. Convinced that he is powerful enough to defeat the bigger and stronger Beast by himself, Gaston even taunts the Beast, wanting him to fight back as he wants to prove that he can kill him in a fair fight. However, his arrogance makes him underestimate his opponent and once he realizes his life is on the line, he may have to rely on desperate measures to survive. Despite this, he was not arrogant enough to believe there was no risk of being killed by the Beast, as he freely admits that fighting the Beast does have the likelihood that he or the other villagers might very likely die during "The Mob Song".
Despite his belief that thinking is "a dangerous pastime" (suggesting that he is anti-intellectual), Gaston can be cunning, calculating, and manipulative, which is emphasized twice in the story: first when he comes up with a plan to blackmail Belle into marrying him by threatening to have her father, Maurice, thrown into an insane asylum should she refuse. Due to poor management and cruel treatment of inmates, this is a surprisingly harsh threat. When that plan is foiled by Belle showing the Beast with a magic mirror, Gaston simply improvises and quickly turns the tables by manipulating the villagers into forming a mob to kill the Beast, thus eliminating his competition. Gaston is not above using underhanded tactics, which had earlier been implied with LeFou's claim about Gaston being "slick" as well as Gaston's admission about being good at "taking cheap shots", and confirmed when he shows himself to literally be a backstabber in his final moments, showing that he also cheats at things. In fact, his "begging" to the Beast may have been nothing more than a trick: he still had a knife on his person, and if the Beast was as "kind and gentle" as Belle described him to be, then Gaston would have appealed to his enemy's better nature, thus allowing him to be brought back on solid ground before he could get one last shot. Regardless of his cunning and manipulation, Gaston is far from the smartest Disney Villain.
Gaston is the kind of person who won't give up on his goals easily; no matter how much Belle evades him or however hard the humiliation he receives, he is determined to make her his wife. His persistence is such that he will go to great lengths and sink so low to ensure he wins. Even when the Beast overwhelms him, Gaston will not tolerate losing Belle to this "monster". This drive will blind him to the dangers of climbing a balcony, which overlooks a deep abyss, causing him to fall to his death.
In the film, Gaston's vocabulary skills are slightly inconsistent; when Belle refers to him as being "positively primeval" early in the film, the latter apparently takes it as either a compliment, clearly not knowing what the term actually means, or a joke. However, in the "Gaston" song, he accurately uses the word "expectorating" in reference to his skills at spitting ("expectorating" being a more fancy way of saying the term "spit").
Gaston with the object of his "affections": Belle.
Gaston's view of women is extremely sexist and misogynistic even by standards of the time in which the film takes place. While he appears charming to all the other women of the village, such as the Bimbettes (who, being products of an upbringing in the village, grew up to see nothing wrong with Gaston's behavior, completely mesmerized by his muscles and handsome face), Belle is the only woman in the entire town to be able to see him for what he really is from the very start of the film. He believes that women like Belle are not supposed to be smart, think for themselves, or get ideas, and he even tosses Belle's book into the mud in an attempt to get her to focus on "more important things" (namely, himself). Because of this, Gaston's attempts to charm Belle always fall flat because of his chauvinistic, boorish behavior. His sexism and misogyny is also shown by the fact that he does not seem to even consider the possibility of fathering any daughters, as he states he wants "six or seven strapping boys" like himself.
Gaston suffers from obsessive love, which is shown by his intense infatuation with Belle. Indeed, he is so obsessed with her that he ignores all the other pretty women in the village who would be happy to be his "little wife", even ironically, those who technically matched Gaston's standards of how women should behave. When Gaston is singing about wanting to marry her in the opening song, he says "When I met her, saw her, I said she's gorgeous and I fell", implying that he fell in love for Belle at first sight. The Marvel Comics serial likewise strongly implied that he had feelings for Belle since they were children. These facts imply that another reason for his relentless pursuit of Belle is to satisfy his pride after it had been hurt by her rejection of his marriage proposal. Gaston is also adulterous (at least in the musical), as he states to Claudette and her sisters that his "rendezvouses" with the girls will continue after he marries Belle, which makes it clear that he does not know or care that marriage is a one-woman commitment or that is it supposed to be based on love and devotion rather than ownership of property.
Notably, at the start of the film and musical play, Gaston did not seem truly evil; rather, he was simply conceited, male-chauvinistic, boorish, and rude than a true villain. But as time goes on, his pride, arrogance, and obsession with Belle becomes so intense that it turns him into a twisted, sadistic, ruthless, murderous monster. With his obsession consuming him, Gaston becomes manipulative at this point; his speech to get the mob to kill the Beast in order to protect the village is nothing more than a ploy to get them to help him infiltrate the castle. All he wants is to kill his rival so he can have Belle as his property. By the time of his death, Gaston feels that if he can't have Belle, nobody can. In an earlier version of the story, he was even going to commit suicide after killing the Beast as he knew that no matter what he did, Belle would never love him.
Physical appearance
As noted throughout the film, Gaston possesses an athletic build, a double square chin, and a handsome appearance. He has icy blue eyes and his black hair is long and tied with a crimson band into a ponytail. He generally wears yellow hunting gloves, although he discards them by the midpoint, but wears them again towards the end of the film. Gaston also wears a red tunic and black tights, alongside black boots. He mainly carries a quiver of arrows on his back and sports a cape during cold evenings and his final battle with the Beast. He also has a lot of hair on his chest.
During the failed wedding attempt, Gaston wears a red tailcoat trimmed with gold fabric, a waistcoat, black ribbon tie, breeches, black boots, and white tights with rose socks with gray toes and heels (the right one has a hole where one of his toes are revealed).
As a child, Gaston's hair was slightly disheveled with its ends standing on top, although he retained the ponytail. In addition, he possessed freckles, and his outfit consisted of a shirt, pants, and elf-shoes.
Abilities
- Enhanced Strength: While lacking in agility, Gaston is shown to possess a tremendous amount of physical strength, evidenced by his effortlessly lifting a bench with three adult females (the Bimbettes) on it, as well as holding it up with only one hand. He later effortlessly rips off a stone ornament from the castle to use as a makeshift club during his battle with the Beast. The fact that he can fight and knock back the Beast is also quite impressive, given his size. Still though, compared to the creature his strength is inferior.
- Skilled Marksman: He is also able to fire his blunderbuss with pinpoint accuracy, noted by LeFou proclaiming, "Wow! You didn't miss a shot, Gaston!" This, however, was briefly contradicted in the Marvel Comics, where he manages to miss a rabbit despite it being fairly close by. In addition, he has proved that he is a skilled archer during the climax at the castle.
- Stealth: He is also shown to be skilled at stealth attacks, as implied in the song "Gaston" with the lyrics: "No one's slick as Gaston," and confirmed when he manages to stab the Beast in the back while the latter was distracted with joy that Belle returned, even though he had to climb up several areas to reach him.
- Skilled Tactician: As noted above, despite his otherwise revulsion to the concepts of reading, getting ideas, and overall intelligence and intellectualism (specifically for women), he is shown to be a somewhat skilled plotter, having come up with the blackmail idea. In addition, he also had decent enough observation skills to pick up the hint that Belle may have had feelings for the Beast just from a few subtle clues late into the film.
- Skilled Manipulator: He is also very good at manipulation; after discovering that Belle is in love with the Beast, he uses the villagers' ignorance and prejudices (as well as his own popularity) to rally them into killing the Beast. Despite this, however, he ultimately shows himself to be very reckless regarding his planning. This is especially evident in Gaston's reprise where he loudly divulges in a crowded tavern enough key details about his blackmail plan to have all but ensured that everyone knows his true nature (though most of them still went along with it anyway).
Appearances
Beauty and the Beast
Gaston in Beauty and the Beast.
Gaston is a professional hunter and the local hero of a small French village. He owns a large tavern where he and the villagers drink and talk. Inside, there is a large portrait of himself along with "trophies" from his hunt consisting mostly of animal antlers. He also says he eats five dozen eggs every morning to help make him "roughly the size of a barge" (even though he earlier mentions to Belle that he would have his latest kills roast over the fire).
He starts off in the film shooting down a waterfowl headed south with perfect accuracy (implying that he had just returned from a hunting trip) and declaring his intent to marry Belle after acknowledging from LeFou his popularity with the females in the village. Gaston then started pursuing Belle throughout the village as she returns home after buying a book from the local bookstore. Their meeting starts off well, but Gaston throwing Belle's book into a mud puddle and making sexist remarks about women like Belle reading drive her away from him. When he tries to take away her book again and force her to come with him to the tavern and look at his trophies for a date, Belle takes her book back, rejects his invitation, and continues her way home, leaving Gaston disappointed. In addition, when LeFou mocks Belle's father Maurice after she says she has to get home to help him, Gaston laughs with him at first. But when Belle defends her father against the two men, Gaston scolds LeFou for mocking Maurice (although he does this in an attempt to impress Belle rather than out of any genuine concern for Maurice).
Gaston's "proposal".
The next day, however, Gaston organizes a whole wedding outside Belle's cottage in an attempt to "surprise" her, complete with various decorations, a priest, and a wedding cake. Without waiting for her to open the door first or be given her permission to come inside, Gaston forces his way into Belle's cottage and keeps walking towards her, trying to make her keep her eyes on him and block her attempts to get away. He dirties her book for the second time by putting his mud-covered boots on it before kicking them off, and again makes sexist remarks about women and housewifery (he even envisions the home they would live in as a "rustic" hunting lodge, with his latest kill roasting over the fire and his "little wife" massaging his feet while their children—six or seven strapping boys—play on the floor with their dogs). When Gaston finally makes his "proposal", in which he effectively says Belle will be his little wife (as if he is not giving her a choice in the matter), he attempts to corner Belle and plant a kiss on her. Disgusted by the thought of being his wife, Belle uses her wiles to keep Gaston at bay by slyly luring him towards the door, and when he pins her against it, she takes advantage of him keeping his eyes closed (while he tries to kiss her) by opening it and swinging around behind him. This catches Gaston off guard and causes him to fall forward into a swamp of mud (complete with cat-tail plants) in front of the cottage, where it's revealed that Maurice and Belle's pig (Pierre) is there, too. Once he is completely outside, Belle throws Gaston's boots on her doorstep before closing her door, effectively rejecting his marriage proposal. Furious and humiliated, Gaston storms off, but not before vowing to make Belle his wife, regardless of her refusals, and throwing LeFou into the mud.
Gaston strikes a deal with Monsieur D'Arque.
Later that night, during a snowstorm, Gaston is in the tavern sulking after being rejected and humiliated by Belle, so the villagers along with LeFou, sing a song about Gaston's greatness to cheer him up. Maurice suddenly interrupts and warns the villagers about a monstrous beast who has locked up Belle as a prisoner in the tower of his castle. Thinking he is talking nonsense, the villagers, amid Gaston ambiguously affirming that they'll "help [Maurice] out", throw him out of the tavern into the snow. Gaston then realizes that he can use Maurice's outrageous claim to his advantage. In a surprising display of animalistic cunning, he bribes the owner of the local asylum, Monsieur D'Arque, to threaten to throw Maurice into the asylum in order to pressure Belle into marrying him. While D'Arque realizes that even Maurice's nonsense about a beast and his odd inventions do not make him dangerous, he is willing to accept the bribe, mostly because he liked the despicability of the plot. Considering the management of asylums of the 18th century (the time that the film takes place), this is an extremely harsh threat. However, just before Gaston and LeFou barge into Belle and Maurice's cottage, Maurice leaves for the castle on his own. Gaston orders LeFou to stay outside the cottage and wait for their return.
When Belle and Maurice eventually return to the cottage, LeFou immediately informs Gaston, and he sets his plan into motion. With the villagers gathered outside the house, D'Arque has his men drag Maurice towards their carriage, while Gaston slinks out of the shadows and slyly makes Belle his offer - he will clear up the "misunderstanding" if she marries him. Horrified and disgusted, Belle refuses, and a smug Gaston allows Maurice to be dragged away. Belle, however, manages to prove her father's apparently insane claims about a beast inhabiting a huge castle in the woods to be true by using a magic mirror that the Beast had given her, showing him to Gaston and the entire village. Gaston grows even more frustrated after his plan fails and is shocked that Maurice was indeed telling the truth, but becomes increasingly jealous when Belle begins referring to the Beast as "kind and gentle," realizing that she prefers a "monster" over himself. The final straw is when he refers to the Beast with this insult and Belle angrily retorts back that he is the real monster.
Gaston rallies his mob to strike the Beast's castle.
In his jealousy and pride, Gaston furiously snaps and snatches the mirror from Belle, spitefully declaring that she is just as crazy as her father. He then successfully convinces the villagers that the Beast is a threat to the village and therefore must be brought down immediately. Shocked, Belle tries to stop him, but perceiving that Belle is against him, Gaston has her and Maurice locked in the basement to keep them from warning the Beast. Mounting his horse, he leads a lynch mob to attack the Beast's castle and leave no one alive while declaring that he himself is to take down the Beast. They even carve a battering ram from a tree in the woods to use for breaking in. As they enter, the rioters are attacked by the castle servants. Gaston bypasses the ensuing battle and confronts the Beast alone in the West Wing. He fires an arrow into him, tosses him out of the window before kicking him over the balcony and onto a lower section of the roof and taunts him. His expectations of the apparent "monster" in front of him were met with a sympathetic creature more noble than his hunter. In spite of Gaston's continuous attacks, the creature remains silent and unwilling to fight back, much to the hunter's delight. When the Beast doesn't respond, having lost his will to live since Belle's departure (to rescue her lost ill father, who was searching for her), Gaston breaks off a nearby castle statue and uses it as a makeshift club to try to kill the Beast. Just as he is about to deliver the first blow, Belle arrives outside the castle (she had escaped from the basement with help from Chip, who stowed away with her) and calls up to Gaston, urging him not do this terrible thing, but the hunter ignores her. Seeing Belle regains the Beast's strength and determination to keep fighting for his life as he grabs the club, viciously using strength and animal ferocity, much to Gaston's sudden surprise. The newly reemerged Beast stands tall to his full, imposing posture and towers above his attacker, growling like a dangerous animal. For the first time, Gaston is faced with prey that imposes a challenge of fighting back. The colour drains from his face and a look of shock and horror phases him once he sees the opponent standing before him is more dangerous than he first thought.
Gaston plummeting to his death.
Though roughly even with his adversary, Gaston soon realizes that he cannot rely on brute strength alone to kill the Beast, as he is faced with a creature as powerful as a bear, with the agility and speed of a wolf, claws and teeth of a lion, head of a buffalo, climbing of gorilla and most passionate of motives: love. The two struggle atop a tower roof before the Beast roaringly leaps forward and drags Gaston with him. The two eventually land and Gaston kicks him off. He then swings down his club on what he assumes to be his enemy, only to discover it to be a gargoyle statue. Gaston then walks cautiously while aggravating the Beast, who utilizes the surrounding statues and darkened rain clouds as cover. The hunter begins taunting him in order to infuriate him enough to let his guard down, pushing the final button by claiming that Belle could never love a monster, which prompts the Beast to resume attack. After another struggle, Gaston finalizes his goading by saying it's over and that Belle belongs to him. The plan works, but immediately backfires with the Beast lunging forth, overcome by animalistic urges and emotion, head-butting him in the chest, grabbing him, and then holding the terrified hunter at his mercy by the throat above the castle moat. With his life at stake, Gaston reveals his cowardly side by abandoning his pride and pathetically begging for mercy; the Beast accepts, ordering Gaston to leave immediately and never return. In spite of this, when Gaston recovers his strength, he looks up to see the Beast climbing up a balcony to embrace Belle, which makes him more jealous than ever. Determined to kill his rival once and for all, an ungrateful Gaston follows and stabs the Beast in the back with a knife while dangling somewhat precariously from the balcony. He tries to stab the Beast a second time; however, this final cruel deed proves to be his ultimate undoing when the Beast swings his arm backward at him in pain, causing Gaston to lose his balance when he tries to dodge it, fall off the castle, and plunge into the deep moat below to his death.
Despite laying a deep stab on the Beast, Gaston's last-ditch effort to kill the Beast proved to be in vain; just as the Beast nearly succumbed to his own wound, Belle confessed her love for him just before the last petal of the enchanted rose that kept him bound to his beast form fell, breaking the spell, healing his injuries, and above all, returning him and his servants to their human forms. All in all, Gaston had learned the hard way that pride literally comes before a fall.
House of Mouse
Gaston in House of Mouse.
Despite his death in the film, Gaston gained a recurring role on House of Mouse as a guest character, once again voiced by Richard White.
His most notable appearance, in the episode "Daisy's Debut", had a running gag in which he frequently injected himself into other people's conversations to say that "No one [verbs] like Gaston!" This gag would later go through the entire series and would become a memorable catchphrase for Gaston, as well as becoming something of an internet meme.
Notable examples of this are when Daisy compliments Ariel's singing voice. He walks by and says, "No one sings like Gaston!", and, after Daisy compliments Ariel's range, "No one has a range like Gaston!" Another occurs later on, when Hades complains about receiving decaf coffee, which he hadn't ordered. Gaston, from another table, says "No one orders decaf like Gaston!", which Hades finds unfunny. Yet another happens when Timon and Pumbaa are making a face in a spoon. Gaston leans over and says, "No one makes faces in spoons like Gaston!" with an annoyed Timon answering back, "Actually, no one asked the opinion of Gaston!"
He also overhears Goofy complementing Mickey and Minnie on their performance after Daisy pretended to break her leg so that Minnie could perform, saying that he should pretend to break his leg to help Mickey with Gaston misunderstanding and saying "No one breaks their leg like Gaston!" He then goes off-screen and a tremendous crash is heard leaving Goofy and Daisy stunned, which is assumed that he literally tried to break his own leg by injuring himself.
In the episode "Halloween With Hades", he eats one of the queen's poisoned apples, saying "No one eats candied apples like Gaston!", ignoring Daisy's warnings prior. Consequently he falls into the Sleeping Death, to which Daisy says "and now no one needs a wake-up kiss like Gaston".
Gaston was one of the many villains to join the takeover in Mickey's House of Villains.
Other appearances
An emoticon version of Gaston appears in the Beauty and the Beast entry of the As Told by Emoji short series.
Live-action appearances
Sing Me a Story with Belle
Gaston made sporadic appearances in Sing Me a Story with Belle, mostly acting as a comedic foil to Belle. Once again, he is trying to convince Belle to marry him.
Once Upon a Time
Gaston in Once Upon a Time.
Gaston is featured in the ABC series in a very minor role played by Sage Brocklebank. Here, he was engaged to Belle through an arranged marriage, and as in the film, she did not love him because she found him "shallow." He attempted to reclaim her from Rumplestiltskin regardless but was transformed into a rose and given as a gift to Belle. A nobleman, Gaston was the eldest son of Lord LeGume, a reference to the original surname planned for his Disney counterpart.
Gaston returns in the fifth season episode "Her Handsome Hero", now portrayed by Wes Brown.[1] In this episode, Gaston's backstory is more fleshed out. Lord LeGume has agreed to ally his kingdom with Sir Maurice's if Maurice's daughter Belle were to marry his son Gaston. In the beginning, Gaston is portrayed as nobler and focused than his Disney counterpart, but he is later proven to be just as villainous. After he and Belle discovered a captive Ogre, Gaston tortured the youngling for information, an act Belle considered to be unconscionable. It is hinted that Gaston's aggression might have provoked the Ogres into war. In order to protect the kingdoms, Belle finally agrees reluctantly to marry Gaston. As stated above, he is later killed by Rumplestiltskin when he tried to rescue Belle from the Dark Castle.
After his death, Gaston grew further villainous, as the circumstances of his death caused him to blame Belle for his death. Rather than following Belle's idea of forgiveness and redemption, Gaston now believed that it was wisest to defeat an enemy by being strong and that he should have brought an army before he confronted Rumplestiltskin. After Belle and Rumplestiltskin turn up in the Underworld, Hades offers Gaston the chance to redeem himself by killing the Dark One. The god makes a further deal to Belle, that if either Gaston or Rumplestiltskin push the other one in the River of Lost Souls, then Belle could keep her unborn son. However, when the time came, Belle tried to convince Rumplestiltskin not to harm Gaston, as she was not prepared to protect Gideon in this way. However, when Gaston tried to fire at the Dark One, Belle accidentally knocked her ex-fiance into the river, damning him for eternity. Unfortunately, Belle darkened her soul just to save Rumplestiltskin, as Hades found a loophole in their deal; the deal was for either Rumplestiltskin or Gaston to push the other one in the river, not Belle.
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Luke Evans as Gaston in the 2017 remake.
Gaston appeared in the 2017 remake, portrayed by Luke Evans. However, in this film, Gaston is portrayed as a former army captain prior to his career as a hunter due to a portrait of him standing over fallen soldiers in the tavern. It is also implied that this incarnation of Gaston is a much darker portrayal than in the original, as he is far more psychopathic and violent in nature.
Just like his animated counterpart, Gaston is well-liked and respected in the village for his previous war heroics against the Portuguese and aims to have Belle as his wife. At first, he attempts to woo her to get her approval for marriage many times, but she respectfully turns him down due to his rude behavior. It is for this reason Gaston wants to marry Belle, for he's used to girls swooning over him. Gaston warns Belle that she will end up being in the streets as a beggar if she doesn't marry him, but she still refuses by saying that she's not that simple to hang out with, much to his dismay.
Eventually, in the tavern, Gaston gets cheered up by LeFou and the villagers following his failed attempts to woo Belle, right before Belle's father Maurice arrives and exclaims that Belle has been taken prisoner by the Beast (the son of a wicked king) in his castle. The villagers instantly laugh at this as they find Maurice to be insane (due to a spell cast by an enchantress that erases all the townsfolk's memories of the castle), but Gaston decides to tag along, seeing an opportunity to get Maurice's approval for Belle's hand in marriage. However, as they stroke into the woods with LeFou, Gaston tires himself of Maurice's apparently groundless story and begins to lose his temper with the old man. LeFou intervenes, calming Gaston down with memories of the war. Even as Gaston apologies for his outburst and proceeds to ask for Maurice's blessing, an indignant Maurice refuses. Outraged, Gaston knocks Maurice out in a fit of rage, then ties him up in a tree and leaves him to be fed by hungry wolves (despite LeFou's objections), though Maurice ends up being saved and nursed back to health by a hermit, Agathe.
As Gaston returns to his tavern, he is shocked to see that Maurice has returned alive and is now accusing him of his attempted murder. However, Gaston uses his charisma to convince the villagers that Maurice is insane and must be locked up in the local asylum (even secretly silencing an uneasy LeFou from testifying against him and convincing everyone that Agathe is untrustworthy). To that end, Gaston gets the villagers to torment Maurice before having the local asylum owner Monsieur D'Arque to take Maurice away. However, Belle arrives back to the village and foils this by revealing the Beast's existence with the magic mirror that he has given to her, making the townsfolk realize that Maurice was telling the truth. Realizing Belle loves the Beast, fearing that his crimes could get exposed, and seizing a chance to improve his reputation in the village, an angry Gaston snaps out by stealing the magic mirror and rallies the villagers into helping him kill the Beast, much to Belle and Maurice's horror.
After having Monsieur D'Arque to lock up Belle and Maurice in the asylum carriage and keep them on watch, Gaston leads the villagers to attack the Beast's castle, which forced the castle servants to fight back against the villagers. During the battle, Maurice frees himself and Belle before allowing the latter to head to the castle while Gaston betrays the villagers by leaving them to their fates, even using LeFou as a human shield before leaving him for dead, which incited an outraged LeFou to side up with the servants, finally turning against the man he admired for years. As the villagers flee away in humiliation and defeat, Gaston heads over to the West Wing, where he finds the Beast sulking (as the latter lost his will to live after letting Belle go). Taking the opportunity, Gaston shoots the Beast, arrogantly claiming that Belle sent him over to kill him. However, Belle arrives to the rescue by breaking Gaston's arrows, throwing away his gun and briefly pushing him off the balcony into the roof, demanding him to stop. Undeterred by Belle's intervention, Gaston sadistically vows that he will mount the Beast's head in his tavern wall and marry Belle by force before climbing through the roof to kill the Beast. However, the Beast regains his will after witnessing Belle's return and realizing what Gaston said is a lie, so he fights back against Gaston for good.
After a brief fight, the Beast finally overpowers Gaston and grabs him by the neck, preparing to drop him off the tower for the trouble he caused. With his life at stake, Gaston begs for mercy, to which the Beast grudgingly obliges by coldly telling Gaston that he is not a beast. Shoving Gaston away from his sight, the Beast furiously orders him to leave the castle before climbing back on the castle balcony to reunite with Belle. However, Gaston retrieves his gun and shoots the Beast fatally twice from a footbridge, much to Belle's horror. However, Gaston's victory is short-lived when the footbridge breaks apart (due to the curse slowly crumbling the castle as the Beast succumbs to his wounds), leaving Gaston to fall screaming to his death to the castle floor below, similar to that of the original.
Prequel series
Luke Evans will reprise his role as Gaston in the prequel TV series on Disney+.[2] It was revealed in July 2020 that the prequel series is called "The Little Town"[3]
Printed media
Comics
Gaston appeared in the official comic adaptation for the film. His role is largely the same as in the film, although because of the songs (including the Gaston reprise) being cut from the comic, it is implied that only he, LeFou, and Monsieur D'Arque knew about the blackmail plan unlike the film where the other villagers were strongly implied to be in the know about the plan.
Aside from the comic adaptation above, Gaston also appeared in various side panels of the comics produced by Marvel Comics in 1994 to 1995, three to four years after the release of the film. In the first issue, Gaston apparently noticed Belle's disappearance and was looking for her. The Bimbettes were nearby and decided to sway him away from Belle by spraying a "love potion" (implied to actually be a strong-smelling perfume) in their direction. However, Gaston alongside LeFou was forced to flee after a skunk ended up emitting an odor in anger of potential competition. Later, during a hunting trip with LeFou, Gaston attempted to shoot a rabbit, although he accidentally caused it to flee, shoving LeFou in irritation, also unknowingly placing LeFou into a net trap set by the Bimbettes that was meant for Gaston.
Gaston and LeFou in one of the Beauty and the Beast comic stories.
In Issue 2, Gaston decided to announce a wife auction in the hopes that Belle would be lured over. During this time, he also shows himself off, causing the Bimbettes to faint. Later on, the maidens proceeded to rush to Gaston. In Issue 3 "Has Gaston Finally Won Belle's Hand at Last?", he is holding an auction for his perfect wife. Naturally, he is looking for Belle, and she seemingly comes to him having forgone reading and intelligence for being Gaston's "little wife". It is actually Laurette, one of the Bimbettes in a clever disguise. He eventually ranted about being publicly humiliated, although he eventually decided that Belle may not have gotten the message and forgave the insult, although not without determining how to get Belle to marry him.[4]
In issue 4, Gaston, after doing 783 lift ups (ironically with a stack of books) as the Bimbettes watched, ended up deciding to take a mountain hike in the hopes this would actually impress Belle (which might have impressed her had she been there as the Bimbettes were extra determined to stop him because they feared that actually would impress Belle), and even managed to restrain a hibernating bear so he could demonstrate to Belle that he killed it (he initially planned to kill it then and there until LeFou reminded Gaston that bears hibernate during the winter). However, this plan ended up foiled by the Bimbettes, who tricked the Bear into thinking it was springtime. Gaston tried to fight the bear (mostly to show off), although he ended up thrown out of the cave by the Bear, and decided with LeFou that it was probably easier to just give Belle a smaller bear.
Although he does not appear in Issue 5 of the main serial (despite being mentioned in the solicitation for the issue to still be plotting to make Belle his), he does appear in Belle's flashback to her time in the village, although his reason for Belle not wanting to read books was tweaked a bit to imply that he was attempting to flirt with her in a poorly-done manner. In Issue 7, Gaston became irritated that Belle hasn't even appeared at all, and eventually decided to simply stake her out at the bookstore via the bookshop owner, even having LeFou keep watch at the bookstore in case Belle shows up. However, the Bimbettes thwarted this plan by interacting with LeFou, hoping to make Gaston jealous. Gaston eventually attacked LeFou after a heaping of eggs at the tavern, although only because LeFou was distracted from his duty to the Bimbettes' chagrin. Besides the main story, he also briefly appeared in Beautiful and Beastly mail, where he was the subject of a trivia question and was shown lifting books like in Issue 4.
Gaston only appears at the end of Belle's flashback in Issue 8, where Gaston welcomes Belle and Maurice back (Mainly Belle), who had gotten lost and barely avoided missing the fair and won first prize due to the Bimbettes sending them on the wrong direction in an attempt to ensure they don't return to the village. He is also mentioned beforehand, as the reason the Bimbettes did that was specifically so they won't have any competition regarding getting Gaston to marry them. Although he never appears in any of the remaining stories themselves after Issue 8, he did briefly appear as a trivia question for the Beautiful and beastly mail section of Issue 9, where he is shown fuming while LeFou is timidly trying to cheer him up. He also appears as a child in Issue 5 of Disney Comic Hits!, also made by Marvel Comics, alongside Belle and the Bimbettes, where he is standing on his sled during a snowy day in an obvious attempt at impressing her (with the Bimbettes trying to get his attention) before he and the Bimbettes ended up crashing into a tree. The narration also had Maurice telling Belle, when giving her a sled, that she can use it to "go sledding with your friends" when it cuts to this scene, which implies that Gaston and Belle may have been friends during childhood.
Kingdom Keepers
Gaston makes a small cameo in the fourth book of the saga. He is seen along with Prince John and the Horned King when Finn and Amanda see all the Overtakers together at Tom Sawyer Island.
Villain Files
Gaston also appears in the tongue-in-cheek book about Disney Villains called The Villain Files. According to the book, he had been vicious since he was a baby (and implied that the bearskin rug was actually created by someone other than Gaston, perhaps his father or grandfather) and met Belle while practicing archery. In addition, in the page depicting him as a baby, he was lying buck-naked on the bearskin rug, which acted as a pun on the phrase "bare on a bearskin rug," which is slang for a nude centerfold.
The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince
Gaston appeared in this book by Serena Valentino and given a slightly more sympathetic and tragic portrayal, where it was revealed that he was a former friend of the Prince who would become the Beast. He often hunted with him and hung around the tavern earning the gazes of young women. He was also indirectly responsible for the curse, as he informed the Prince that a woman he was betrothed to, Circe, was a farmer, resulting in the Prince coldly refusing her, as well as her and her sisters deciding to exact revenge by cursing the Prince and his staff. Eventually, Gaston ended up evicted from the castle by the Prince after strange episodes occurred that ruined an attempted betrothal with a princess of a nearby kingdom. Although Gaston did not turn into an object, he was nonetheless affected by the curse in the sense of forgetting his friendship with the Prince. He later ended up attacking the castle, largely due to the manipulations of Circe's sisters who wanted the spell to remain unbroken and was eventually manipulated into stabbing his former friend in the back after Beast spared him, resulting in his death.
Gaston also mentioned a prince from a neighboring kingdom who had a great success "after the matter of the glass slipper was sorted", hinting that Cinderella takes place in the same world as Beauty and the Beast, along with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Little Mermaid.
Descendants: Isle of the Lost
Gaston is one of the villains that was brought back to life only to be imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. He is now the father of twin boys named Gaston Jr. and Gaston the Third; he named them after himself due to his egomania. They even share his personality to some degree, but aren't as obsessed with women; they are even kind to other students. However, it is unknown who his wife was at this point.
In the actual film, Maleficent mentions him in passing, saying he should be jealous of Jay's outfit for Prince Ben's coronation.
As Old as Time (A Twisted Tale)
In As Old as Time (A Twisted Tale), Gaston's role is fairly similar to the original film, up to the point where he has Maurice sent to the asylum. As Belle returned for Maurice slightly later than she did in the film, Gaston's plan to send him to the asylum is a success, and it is revealed that he and D'Arque have a long-term business arrangement of Gaston dealing with various 'problems' for D'Arque. After he burns down the bookshop, Gaston is shocked when the Beast arrives in the tavern to ask the villagers for help rescuing Belle from D'Arque, the Beast using the mirror to expose the brutal conditions in the asylum, where D'Arque essentially tortures his 'patients' to try and remove their magic, even if they only possess some minor gift such as an aunt of LeFou's who made exceptional cakes. Although Gaston is just as shocked at the villagers at the sight of D'Arque's true nature and accepts the Beast's request for help, he soon reverts to type, shooting D'Arque in the back during the raid on the asylum and immediately proposing to Belle again with the explanation that they will end this dark day on a happier note. Belle coolly rejects his offer after confirming that he burned down the bookshop on D'Arque's orders, with the rest of the village rejecting him despite his past reputation after witnessing his brutality, others noting that they would have preferred for D'Arque to be put on trial rather than killed in such a manner.
Princess Adventure Stories
He appears in the storyline "Belle and the Mysterious Monster", where he volunteers (mostly due to his braggart nature) to hunt down a monster that had been plaguing the village, despite Belle's doubts about what was going on. He also sets up various traps, humorously getting himself clumsily set off in one trap. Eventually, Gaston is forced to swallow his pride and relents in trying to kill the monster after the real cause behind the village's current problems turned out to be Babette, the escaped goat of one of the village's denizens, with Belle being the one responsible for this discovery. Belle also makes a smart remark about him fighting monsters next time and putting his traps to use there, much to his chagrin and the other villagers' amusement.
Video games
Belle's Quest
In Belle's Quest, Gaston plays out his role in the film to some degree, though at the start, he appears to be much more tame, even using his strength to assist Belle in a task. Nevertheless, he continues to pursue her in hopes of marrying her, as well as invade the Beast's castle at the conclusion of the game.
Disney Princess
Gaston appears as the villain of Belle's stage. Here, he plots to manipulate the villagers into believing the Beast's castle is evil and should be destroyed. To do so, he breaks into the dark castle and tries to capture Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts, hoping to use them as proof of the castle's dark magic. However, Belle is able to defeat him using her quick wits.
Kingdom Hearts
Gaston makes his debut appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series in Kingdom Hearts χ. His role in the game is identical to the film, only he leads an army of Heartless to the castle instead of villagers, and sets the Enraged Elk Heartless to fight the player as he confronts the Beast. He is not directly fought as a boss within the game, although it should be noted that the Enraged Elk Heartless has several notable similarities to Gaston, in overall appearance, hairstyle, and attire, with the primary differences being its skin color and bearing an overall more demonic look.
Despite the events of Kingdom Hearts χ being intended to serve as a projection of future events in the series, Gaston does not appear in Kingdom Hearts II or Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. In the earliest stages of production, Gaston was intended to appear in Kingdom Hearts II, playing out the same role as in the film and serving as a boss for the series' main protagonist, Sora, but he was cut and his role in the game given to the original character Xaldin.
Disney Magic Kingdoms
Gaston in Disney Magic Kingdoms.
Gaston returns, once again in search of Belle's love. He organizes a trap to lure her to the castle under the guise of Beast, claiming a ball is to be taken place. Fifi the feather duster gets word of this and informs Lumiere, who then warns Cogsworth. They tell the Beast, and he warns Belle of the danger shortly afterward. Even so, Belle goes to the castle to deal with Gaston herself. She rejects him to his face and declares that she has an actual ball to attend, irritating and infuriating Gaston. He goes to sabotage the ball but is defeated by the combined forces of Belle, Beast, and the servants.
Agitated and aggressive as usual, Gaston tries to subdue his anger by going around the Kingdom and flaunting his greatness. Even after doing so, however, he starts to question why Belle would choose a beast over him. He briefly starts to believe he may not be as beautiful as he had always thought, but he looks to regain his confidence by checking himself out in a mirror. This works so well that Gaston forgets why he was so furious in the first place. With his renewed vigor, Gaston makes another attempt (one that's, by choice, considerably less hostile than previous attempts) to win Belle's heart, only to fail once again.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Gaston appears in the fighting video game as one of the unlockable heroes, during the login you could unlock it if you logged in before the latest version, it can also be unlocked by buying gold chests and winning raids in the elite campaign to unlock it, his abilities are the same from the movie also as a fun fact, when he scratches his shirt and during his victory pose, the sound of a mare can be heard.
Other games
In the Super Nintendo game based off of the film, Gaston appears as the final boss. In the final level, Gaston primarily attacks with arrows as the beast must get past the volley of arrows and attack the hunter. During the final phase, Gaston puts away his bow and attacks hand to hand. Unlike the film, the Beast himself sends Gaston plummeting to his death with the final blow.
In Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast, Gaston has led an invasion on the Beast's castle. The final boss is against a knife-wielding Gaston.
Gaston does not appear in Kinect Disneyland Adventures, although he is mentioned by Belle explaining that he hasn't been to Disneyland yet, probably due to the fact that there were no antlers.
In Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Gaston was one of the Disney villains the evil witch Mizrabel had the ability to morph into. However, her Gaston disguise only appeared briefly in the intro and never again throughout the rest of the game.
Musical
Donny Osmond portraying Gaston in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.
Gaston's role and personality in the musical based on the film is pretty much the same—a pompous, sexist, egotistical, boorish, brutish, brainless, and chauvinistic caveman who loves only himself. His ultimate goal is the same too—marry the prettiest girl in town and make her his "little wife" and his "property". Instead of ignoring the Bimbettes like in the film, he pays more attention to them (saying that their 'rendezvouses' will continue after his marriage to Belle, implying adultery) but still wants Belle as his wife, making them very upset (to the point of wailing and crying like infants). During the proposal scene (where there's no wedding party outside unlike the movie), Gaston gives Belle a miniature portrait of himself as a present.
In addition to the song "Gaston", the song "Me" is performed by him (in which he conceitedly proposes to Belle). The song is of interest because one verse implies that his feelings for Belle are more than for her looks (he even calls her 'pumpkin' as an endearing appellative), but he never says it outright to her. In addition, presumably to avoid any implications that the villagers were in the know regarding Gaston's plan to blackmail Maurice, he has all the patrons and staff, except LeFou, leave the tavern before conducting his reprise. The reprise itself was expanded to have Gaston and LeFou brag about Gaston's resourcefulness as well as Gaston fully admitting he doesn't have any remorse to resorting to something as dirty as blackmail to ensure Belle married him, as well as breaking the fourth wall somewhat by having them brag about Gaston being "entertaining" and capable of "keep[ing] up with these endless reprises." Like in the movie, he dies after falling off the roof of the Beast's castle, but not before fatally stabbing him multiple times (as opposed to just once in the movie) after arrogantly lying that Belle sent him to the castle to kill him.
Notable actors who have played the role on Broadway include Burke Moses (who originated the role on Broadway and in the original London production), Marc Kudisch, Christopher Sieber, Cody Carlton, and Donny Osmond (singing voice of Li Shang in Mulan). Other actors include Steve Condie. In the Australian production, the role was first played by Hugh Jackman.
Disney Parks
Walt Disney World
Gaston posing for a photo at Walt Disney World, before his updated costume was revealed.
Since 2012, Gaston has become a common and very popular character within the Walt Disney World Resort. He appears in the live stage show Beauty and the Beast: Live! at Disney's Hollywood Studios. During Halloween, he is a part of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom.
He is also seen walking around in the parks, such as walking down the International Gateway. Depending on which Cast Member is portraying him in the parks, his sexism towards women and his opinion on reading and thinking varies depending on who plays him, but he is very popular with female guests and is much nicer to young girls, as he even gives them hugs.[5]
Gaston has his own restaurant, Gaston's Tavern, in the Beauty and the Beast area of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland. He can now be found there for meet-and-greets daily, but before 2015 he was the only character present there (though LeFou is mentioned). The Bimbettes can now be met along with him. Before then, Gaston's park appearances were mostly confined to parades, shows, and special events.
Tokyo Disneyland
Gaston plays a notable part in the nighttime castle show Once Upon a Time, where he engages in a battle against the Beast during the show's climax; eventually falling to his death.
Disneyland Paris
At Disneyland Paris, Gaston can be found for meet-and-greets in Fantasyland. He also appears in several shows, specifically during Halloween time.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Gaston appears briefly at the end of Villains Night Out! as one of the villains that were invited by Maleficent.
Gaston appears in Let's Get Wicked, alongside Ursula, Mother Gothel, Cruella De Vil, and Dr. Facilier.
Gallery
Trivia
- Gaston is the first male Disney Villain in a Disney Princess film.
- While Gaston has no noble status in the final version, it is implied in one scene that he is still wealthy, at least in regard to the other villagers.
- In addition, one of the earlier drafts of the post-rewrite film also made his wealth a bit more explicit, where he was apparently a lavish spender, often being extremely careless/reckless in his extravagant endeavors. This resulted in LeFou (here named "LaFou" and acting as his long-suffering family accountant) getting high-strung and neurotic as a result of this as well as Gaston's bullying.
- On an interesting note, most of Gaston's actions were edited out of the final cut of the film: during his battle with the Beast, Gaston was originally intended to shout "Time to die!", but it was changed to "Belle is MINE!" (but his lips still mouth "Time to die!") in order to edit violence and get the main point of his rage straight. Also, Gaston's death scene originally had him stabbing the Beast in the back and willingly falling to his death while laughing maniacally, as if satisfied that if he could not have Belle, then neither would the Beast. Though this was changed to Gaston accidentally losing his footing, it appears to explain why Gaston chose such a dangerous and risky position to wound the Beast despite knowing that it would not help him win Belle's heart.
- Contrary to popular belief, Gaston himself was not actually based on Avenant, a character from the 1946 French film Beauty and the Beast, played by Jean Marais. Linda Woolverton, the screenwriter for the Disney film, refused to watch the Jean Cocteau version specifically because she didn't want to use it as the source material for the Disney movie.[6] Woolverton had instead based Gaston on several of her own unsuccessful relationships.[7]
- Richard White stated in an interview that while he himself doesn't know whether Gaston survived, he does mention that the viewers never saw the body, implying that he might have survived.
The skulls in Gaston's eyes.
-
- However, the 2002 DVD commentary confirmed his death and mentioned that the skull and crossbones are seen in his pupils as he falls.
- Interestingly enough, Disney made absolutely certain to remove the skull and crossbones from Gaston's pupils as he fell to his death in the theatrical and VHS version, yet made no attempt to do so in the later releases on DVD and Blu-ray.
- The amount of arrows in Gaston's quiver often changes from three to two and sometimes even four.
- In the comic adaptation of the film, he never wears his cape and his ponytail stays intact like Belle's even though it is raining.
- When Gaston falls, the strap of his quiver on his back is the wrong way round.
- Sometimes Gaston's hair is tied back with a brown band.
- On the 2011 Cartoon Voices Comic Con, Bill Farmer said that he had done Gaston, during Gaston's song in the bar. Bill did the sound of Gaston eating the eggs.
- Notably, until the release of Kingdom Hearts χ, Gaston was the only main antagonist who did not appear in the Kingdom Hearts series despite his homeworld, Beast's Castle, appearing in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. As Beast is shown to have transformed back into the Prince during the credits of Kingdom Hearts II, it is possible that Gaston's fight against the Beast and subsequent death occurred while Sora, Donald, and Goofy were absent from the world.
- Xaldin (an antagonist from Organization XIII and the nobody of Dilan) played the role as the antagonist of Beast's Castle in Kingdom Hearts II in substitute to Gaston (despite the fact that it isn't his homeworld). Although, his intentions were entirely different to Gaston's (being closer to that of Forte, in fact) as Xaldin used the Rose and the Beast's anger to create a Heartless and a Nobody of the Beast to serve Xaldin and only ever used Belle to further pursue his intentions of manipulating the prince by using Belle as bait.
- Ironically, his debut appearance, Kingdom Hearts χ, took place eons before the events of Kingdom Hearts II, and was meant to be a projection of future events, supposedly portraying what might have led to his confrontation with Sora in Kingdom Hearts II.
- In the book Disney Villains: The Essential Guide, Gaston appears on the very last page, where's he is shown complaining about why he didn't appear in the book.
- The trailer implies that Gaston may have been aware of the Beast's curse, and had ulterior motives besides wanting Belle as his wife for attempting to kill the Beast, as the trailer described him as being "one man who wants to keep the spell alive," although it is unconfirmed whether this was the case in the film itself.
- Gaston's proposal outfit consisted of a red tailcoat trimmed with gold fabric, a waistcoat, breeches, and even black boots,[8] which implies that the events of the film occurred sometime in the late-17th to mid-18th century. Glen Keane confirmed in the commentary for Beauty and the Beast that the film's setting was indeed intended to be the late 18th century.
- At the tavern, besides the aforementioned antler and deer-related trophies, Gaston also had among his hunting trophies a bald eagle's head and a bighorn sheep's head, implying that he may have hunted abroad (as they were not native to his village, France, or even Europe, being instead native to North America). This was further supported by his first appearance in the film, where some of the kills carried by LeFou included a raccoon (although raccoons technically were present in France via the French-German border, they weren't part of France's ecosystem at the time until two pet raccoons were released into the wild at Germany in the 1930s).
- Gaston is a dark reflection of the Beast. While the Beast is initially an ugly monster who is selfish, bad-tempered, arrogant, and spoiled, he learns to change his negative ways thanks to Belle's influence. He falls in love with Belle for reasons beyond her outer beauty, and selflessly releases her to help her sick father. Gaston, on the other hand, while being superficially handsome on the outside and praised by the populace, is actually egotistical, male-chauvinistic, and only wants to marry Belle purely for her outer beauty. He eventually allows his obsessive lust to make him a villain, which is why Belle rightfully labels him as the real monster when he calls the Beast one himself. In fact, Gaston can be seen as representing the sort of person that the Beast would have become if he had never met the Enchantress and Belle.
- One of the filmmakers even described Gaston as having "the heart of a pig" due to his sloven behavior during his proposal to Belle. In addition, after he falls into the mud pond following the failed proposal, a pig's head rises up before Gaston's head emerges, acting as a slight pun on "pigheaded", alluding to extreme stubbornness and stupidity.
- Gaston has blue eyes, the same eye color as the Beast. So far in Disney history, this is the only time the villain has had any physical features (i.e. eye color, hair color, etc.) as a protagonist.
- Before "Me" in the Broadway version begins, Gaston mentions to the Silly Girls that their "rendezvouses" will continue after he marries Belle, suggesting that he would be unfaithful and that he is an adulterer. He is the first Disney villain to conspire to commit adultery, at least in a Disney musical. In addition, one of the lyrics for the "Gaston" song in the first draft of Woolverton's treatment of the film was "Who breaks hearts like Gaston", implying that he may have committed some indiscretions with various females in the village.
- Despite various concept materials, as listed above, give Gaston the surname of LeGume, the Bimbettes during the song of "Belle" refer to Gaston as "Monsieur Gaston" and Belle in the reprise twice sarcastically refers to herself as "Madame Gaston" suggesting that Gaston is his surname in the final version.
- Although no character like Gaston originated in the original tale, the name itself was originally used in the first known tale written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, the original author of the fairy tale, and was a reference to "Gaston Phoebus", full name "Gaston III de Foix-Béarn" and also known as "Comte de Foix". Similar to Gaston in the Disney version, Gaston Phoebus was also a renowned and expert hunter, and was even used as a book-reference to the book "The Art of Hunting".
- Rupert Everett and Patrick Swayze were both considered for the voice of Gaston. Everett was turned down because he didn't sound "arrogant enough." He eventually made sure to sound as arrogant as possible when voicing Prince Charming in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, whose narcissism was coincidentally very similar to Gaston, although Charming's motives and vindictive traits were more in resemblance to Jafar (as he only wanted Fiona for the throne and seized it in the same manner).
- According to the creators, Gaston's primary color was red to symbolize evil to contrast with Belle and Beast's blue attires.
- Ironically, in the film's original screenplay, Gaston was shown wearing blue.
- The Beast himself, before falling in love with Belle, wears mostly purple, which is a mix of blue and red.
- In the Disney cruise line show Villains Tonight, Hades mentions Gaston and compares him to actor Charlie Sheen.
- His original last name LeGume is a pun on his "pea-brained" insight and views of women.
- When the objects attack the mob in the castle, Gaston's cape disappears.
- One of his stock art features him wielding an axe alongside his bow and arrows in his attire during his final battle with the Beast, despite his never actually having an axe on him at all in the film itself.
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (March 6, 2020). "'Beauty and the Beast' Prequel Series in the Works at Disney+ (Exclusive)".
- ↑ https://thedisinsider.com/2020/07/31/gaston-and-lefou-disney-series-to-be-called-little-town/
- ↑ http://coa.inducks.org/hr.php?image=http://outducks.org/renamed/us/btb/0003/us_btb_003a_001.jpg&normalsize=1
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqcpFTP5oqE
- ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-19/entertainment/ca-544_1_disney-film
- ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-19/entertainment/ca-544_1_disney-film
- ↑ http://i1.wp.com/screencaps.us/199/1-beauty-and-the-beast/full/beauty-and-the-beast-disneyscreencaps.com-1862.jpg
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The First Years Disney Baby Mickey Mouse Fork and Spoon Set
Source: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Gaston
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