Several characters in Beauty and the Beast (1991) are an homage to characters in the 9-time Academy Award-winning Gigi (1958): Lumiere is a tribute to Maurice Chevalier, perfectly impersonated by Jerry Orbach. The main male protagonist's name is Gaston, with a similar air of confidence as Gaston from Gigi. When Gigi rebuffs him in the 1958 film, it is similar to when Belle rebuffs Gaston and both sing a self righteous song of indignation. Gaston of Beauty and the Beast is not redeemed in the end however unlike Gigi's Gaston. Beauty and the Beast is itself a take on the classic french novel La Belle et la Bete. Though not the same source material, both being french themed, Disney's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast pays homage to great French actors and themes past in Gigi. Watching Gigi will lead to a greater appreciation of Beauty and the Beast. Jerry Orbach intended Lumiere's voice to be similar to Maurice Chevalier's, and even pays tribute to him in the middle of the "Be Our Guest" number (right as he says "course by course, one by one..."