 These ideas were somewhat similar to elements of the 1946 French film version of Beauty and the Beast , which introduced the character of Avenant , an oafish suitor somewhat similar to Gaston as well as inanimate objects coming to life in the Beast 's castle . The animated objects were , however , given distinct personalities in the Disney version . By early 1990 , Katzenberg had approved the revised script , and storyboarding began again . The production flew story artists back and forth between California and New York for storyboard approvals from Ashman , though the team was not told the reason why . 
