Audra McDonald

Floral floats, marching bands and equestrian units took to the streets under a sunny California sky as the 135th Rose Parade drew hundreds of thousands of spectators on New Year's Day.

The Pasadena tradition on Jan. 1 featured Broadway legend Audra McDonald as grand marshal and the theme "Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language."

Jennifer Hudson says she is nervous and excited for people to see "Respect," her personal tribute to the late Aretha Franklin in which she was cast for the role by the Queen of Soul herself.

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Franklin, who died in 2018 at age 76, handpicked Hudson, an Oscar winner for "Dreamgirls," to play her in the biographical movie that arrives in theaters on Aug. 13.

In 1991, Disney struck gold with "Beauty and the Beast." The film enchanted audiences and critics alike, and raked in several hundred million dollars along the way, but also upended expectations of what an animated film could be. It was the first-ever animated film to be nominated for a best picture Oscar.