Beauty+the Beast :Diary of A Film
I haven't read all of the posts so forgive me if you already know this but answers to alot of the technical questions can be found in Cocteau's book "Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film". It also details all of the hardships the cast and crew went through while trying to film in post-World WarII France,how they were able to make such exquisite costumes out of nothing, and even goes in to how they got the Beast's ears to move... There are also stills from the movie in the book, which are in black and white.
I don't know if it is still in print, mine is a 1972 Dover reprint of the 1947 original.
P.S. Recently went to see Stevie Nicks and the film is projected behind her during her song "Beauty and the Beast"...a real treat!!!