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Gaston's handsome makeover gets a second look at The Academy

Animator Andreas Deja recalls why a mustache and a villainous jaw gave way to a face the whole town could admire.

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The Academy Story of November 11, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Why Disney’s First Gaston “Wasn’t Handsome Enough”!

Why make a villain harder to recognize? Andreas Deja initially resisted that very idea while designing Gaston for Beauty and the Beast. In The Academy's most-watched new upload, he recalls animating the character with a big jaw and mustache, only for Jeffrey Katzenberg to tell him Gaston wasn't handsome enough.

Deja's objection was straightforward: "Handsome? He's the villain!" But the redesign served the film's central contrast. The Beast's frightening exterior conceals kindness; Gaston's good looks conceal arrogance. Making him attractive was not a distraction from the story, but part of telling it.

The clip has reached nearly 700,000 views and remains the channel's busiest upload right now. Viewers are discussing both the storytelling logic and the sketches themselves, with several fixating on how much difference that mustache actually makes. Others connect Gaston's appearance to Belle's ability to see through him.

The Academy's other two new uploads offer different kinds of filmmaking memory. Jamie Lee Curtis explains why she kept scripts and memorabilia, then recalls Laurie Strode's classroom dialogue from Halloween. Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, meanwhile, identifies an image of Po's mother as the emotional starting point for Kung Fu Panda 2.

Across the channel, weekly views topped a million while subscribers held steady. Its daily viewing is currently below its usual level, with nearby film channel Fandango also running below its typical daily audience. Beyond Gaston, Inde Navarrette's camera-in-hand tour of horror props at the Academy Museum remains an active draw, followed by Taylor Swift's gala performance. For a week spanning animation sketches, saved scripts and museum objects, the things filmmakers keep have supplied plenty to watch.

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Where next?

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A different discovery todayVideo taking off 49x its usual first dayWomen in ITV's Power and Silence say David Walliams pursued them as teenagersTwo of the women were 15 when they met him. Walliams denies all wrongdoing, saying in a statement: "I am not a sexual predator".Channel: ITV News · Story of November 11, 2026

What viewers say

Gaston with a moustache looks like Clayton from Tarzan
@llittledrummerboy4035See it on YouTube
No one judges a book by its cover like Gaston
@simple7708See it on YouTube
I think I speak for everyone when I say: It was well worth the effort.
That change made the movie great.
@imofage3947See it on YouTube

Public comments from the video's page on YouTube