I loved the original Beauty and the Beast, but the live-action version did spark much debate. The original is a behemoth — the expectations were massive, obviously. It’s known as one of Disney’s most iconic movies, with some of the most memorable songs ever!
A lot of critics and fans disliked the live action movie for its changes in the library scene, for Belle becoming an inventor, and for the additional scenes with the enchantress. I’ll probably weave some arguments in about why those changes were good, in my opinion.
So there are definitely noticeable changes, but there are also ones far more hidden. A lot of heart and ideas went into the characters, costumes, and set that got overlooked in the initial release. For example, did you know some of the lyrics in the songs changed? Or did you know that original ideas for the animated film that were cut have been added to this version?
We see sides of these characters we grew up with that were not explored before, from Beast’s less known father, to Belle’s missing mother, to what ultimately happens to the enchantress who cursed the castle to begin with. The level of attention to detail in this remake needs to be explored! Here is a list of 20 details, some more obvious and others very subtle.
20 Confused Neighbours
This addition fills in the huge plot hole that we have a prince turned into a beast, but no one in neighbouring areas remembers or talks about this in the original animated version.
Being a prince is a big deal! He actually has responsibilities and a connection to the outside world, so what happened?
The enchantress who cursed the Beast and his servants had another special gift in her curse for everyone who did not live in the castle: they forgot the Beast, his servants, or the castle even existed!
This was Disney’s answer, and it makes good sense. However some fans have argued this only made a bigger plot hole: how are these people governed? People forgetting their government could lead to some issues! Are they living in anarchy? Does this work because they are cursed to not think about it that much?
19 Lost Family
It was revealed that Monsieur Jean was actually Mr. Potts by the end of the movie. What was a bit much, however, is that, not only did the curse make him forget about his wife and child, but here is evidence that he may have been the only person in Belle’s village that is constantly trying to remember the castle because of this. Some argue that the movie is not as intense as Disney was trying to go for, but I think this detail is rather deep.
This man lost his family and can’t remember them! In the beginning of the movie, Belle talks to Monsieur Jean and asks if he’s lost something again. He responds by saying he doesn’t remember. Sure, that’s foreshadowing, but it’s also showing this poor man senses that something is wrong, that something is off.
It’s been 10 years that he's felt this way!
18 Teeth?
Chip is named Chip because his human form has a chipped tooth. A lot of fans poke fun at chip because they think the chipped piece in him translates into something else. It doesn’t! Fans also wondered whether Chip’s father was actually the Beast!
It is interesting to think about what parts of an object's body correspond to which parts of a human body.
For example: would a cursed piano throw his keys at someone, and consequently have teeth missing as a human? So if you are missing a leg, would you be a chair with three legs? There is a weird focus on just people's teeth though. Why? Also don’t the objects they turn into sort of match their personalities or careers? Huh.
I guess I’d be a computer.
17 Rusting For Too Long
In the original animated Disney movie, Lumière sings “for 10 years we’ve been rusting” in “Be Our Guest.” This meant the prince would’ve been just 11 years old when he was cursed! Therefore, he could not have that when we have a full-grown man in the prologue of the movie!
In the remake, the song was clearly altered to match the Beast’s backstory.
A lot of theories went along with the 10 years passage of time the curse had. For example, if the Beast was cursed as a child, why did he turn into an adult man and his servants turn into the same people when the curse is broken? You can theorize it was because the Beast was organic, thus could grow, while his servants were inanimate and could not.
I guess we don’t need that theory anymore.
16 My Only Only Son?
A big difference between Chip in the animated and remake versions are that the live-action Chip has no siblings. In the animated version, we see a ton of teacups like him who appear to also be Ms. Pott’s children. She puts them to bed and everything! We’ve seen at least six other children in all when they pour hot tea during the battle with the mob inside the castle.
Someone assumed to be a daughter of Ms. Potts is revealed in a book, Disney Princess: Princesses And Puppies. We see a young girl with Ms. Potts wearing similar clothes. In the live-action version, we get no such scenes of other children. It would probably be weirder if we did, since then we know their dad forgot about all seven of his children!
15 The Beast’s Backstory
Did we ever really ask ourselves why the Beast was mean to the enchantress in the first place? I don’t think many of us did. We just sort of accepted that some people are bad eggs.
However, it was a welcome change when we learn that the Beast had a particular childhood with a father he didn't like. We learned that the servants blamed themselves and think they are cursed due to not intervening to help Prince Adam when he was at his father’s mercy. I think we often asked ourselves why the servants were also cursed, so this is an alright attempted to fill in that plot hole.
The backstory is something I would’ve liked a better scene about, so the internet is a great place to turn to for debate.
14 Hidden Initials
This is probably the most subtle little secret of the live-action remake. In the ballroom scene, you may notice there is a WD emblazoned on the floor. Well, what does that stand for?
Weird Donkeys? Witless Doubts? Warlock's Dread? The WD stands for Walt Disney, which makes perfect sense.
While Walt Disney did not work directly on the original Beauty and the Beast since it was after his time, he did have it on his list of stories to be worked on after his production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This is a fact according to the book Tale as Old as Time: The Making of Beauty and the Beast.
It's unfortunate that Walt Disney never got to see either the animated version or the remake. It’s good of the Disney team to pay homage the man who made all this possible.
13 A Waltz On Stilts
Did you know the Beast was actually waltzing on stilts for the iconic ballroom dance scene? “Learning to waltz on stilts was not something I thought would enter my CV,” said Dan Stevens, who played the Beast in the 2017 remake.
Using stilts makes sense when the Beast is so much bigger than Belle. Despite our technology and computers, sometimes I guess film has to get old school and put a Beast on stilts. As you can imagine, Dan Stevens had to practice a lot to get waltzing on stilts down with Emma Watson. Good bonding experience between actors!
Apparently walking around in the Beast suit was a workout for Dan’s calf muscles. While first figuring out how to maneuver on the stilts, Dan says his toes were numb for about a week!
12 Be Our What?
True Fact: Ewan McGregor, who played Lumière in the remake, never heard “Be Our Guest” until he was cast in the movie! If you tell a Disney fan you never heard “Be Our Guest,” they’d probably faint, cringe, or make you watch the entire movie.
Since he never heard the song before, he even tried singing it in his Scottish accent.
The composer Alan Menken, even learned this fact, but was pretty chill about the news. He said he was highly impressed with Ewan's accent and said he sang it wonderfully, but it was lacking a French accent. "I said, 'Oh, he's kind of a Scottish Lumière I guess.' But over time he then figured it out, how to get the French accent in there.”
11 A Cogsworth Song?
Ian McKellen, who I mostly recognize as Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, was cast as the clock Cogsworth. It certainly wasn’t a face I expected to see in Beauty and the Beast, but it was a welcome face nonetheless.
"I'd never been in a musical, and certainly not a Disney musical,” McKellen told Vulture at a luncheon for his film Mr. Holmes, hosted by the Peggy Siegal Company. The wisdom and class McKellen brings to the movie totally jives with the role of Cogsworth as the film's voice of reason.
Apparently McKellen (jokingly, I think) wrote his own song that didn’t make it into the film. "My name is Cogsworth / And I'm a clock / Tick-tock," are the words. That is so cute, I feel like I just bit into a cupcake. According to the actor, it’s called "Beauty and the Clock", and I kind of wish we'd gotten to hear it.
10 The Beast's Inspiration
Beast’s actor, Dan Stevens, apparently studied Wreck-it-Ralph and Citizen Kane in preparation for his role. Because the film actually shows the Beast's transformation instead of a stained glass painting, Stevens wanted to get deep into the roots of his role as someone whose ill behavior brought a curse upon them.
“(The director and I) were keen to bring out was this sense of a petulant, spoiled child and the sense of entitlement which led to his downfall," said Stevens. "There's this psychological rationale about what makes a beast a beast.”
I don’t know if Wreck-it-Ralph and Citizen Kane would be my first choices, though Citizen Kane certainly shows the entitlement and downfall bits. I want more from Stevens! Why study those flicks in particular? What did he learn to take to heart? Dan Stevens originally made his mark in the hearts of audiences with his amazing performance as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey. His acting style and methods are clearly leading him to fantastic horizons.
That show's going on the list!
9 LeFou Questions Gaston
LeFou was a character that got a whole makeover in the 2017 version. He wasn’t really a character meant to be taken seriously in the animated version, as he was just known as Gaston’s weird sidekick. However in this version he is actually witty and self-conscious of Gaston’s sneaky ways. Disney even got him to be an openly gay character, which we'll address later!
In the "Mob Song", a lyric change happened to show LeFou’s disapproval of Gaston’s choices. “There's a beast running wild, there's no question, but I fear the wrong monster's released.”
LeFou is even a voice of reason to Gaston in the remake! He tries to calm Gaston when he loses his temper. Unlike his animated counterpart, he probably isn’t really a villain in this version. He just sticks with Gaston due to an infatuation and then realizes that Gaston isn't that great after all.
8 Book Pockets!
One of my favorite aspects in this remake was the costume design. My jaw dropped at the dresses in the prologue and epilogue. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran put so much thought and love into the details of the outfits.
One such detail was that Belle’s blue dress got pockets so she could place her books in them. Very cute!
We women rarely have pockets, let alone ones where you can put entire books in! Belle was living the fashion dream. Finding a dress with pockets is also like discovering a unicorn, let’s be real! Where did Belle get hers, story-wise? I bet she added the pockets herself. She’s an inventor in this version too, so she’d probably think of the idea!
7 Family Crest
You may have been so distracted by the beautiful dresses and wigs in the prologue that you did not check out Prince Adam’s coat (he was wearing pretty great make-up too). Well, costume designer Jacqueline Durran put so much detail into Prince Adams coat.
“If you look closely you can see the coat has a wild boar, a dragon, and a lion which are taken directly from the Prince’s family crest,” said Durran.
I did not even know the prince’s family crest, let alone noticed that level of detail in the movie. With how much goes on in the prologue, you really have to have an eagle eye to catch this! Apparently the prince’s coat that Dan Stevens wears in the prologue features embroidery and Swarovski crystal. Fancy!
6 Villeneuve House
We can’t always get what we want. The makers of the 2017 remake wanted to film in a real French village from the 1740s called Villeneuve. Maybe part of that is because the original writer for the fairytale Beauty and the Beast’s name was Madame de Villeneuve.
While the crew considered filming on the actual location in France, that consideration never came to fruition and they built the village set at a studio in England instead. Another French village called Conques served as inspiration for the set as well. Both villages were known for the age, medieval look, and cobblestone roads. Apparently the animated film also took inspiration from Conques.
So if you ever feel like dancing around in a fairytale-like village, France is the place to go!
5 French Roccoco Style
This movie was probably a treasure for art history nerds. Director Bill Condon took a lot of inspiration for Beast’s castle’s style from the 18th-century Rococo (also known as late-Baroque) art movement in France. The best way to describe the style? Probably excessive ornateness.
This style is everywhere in Beast’s castle, from his ballroom to Cogworth’s design, to his gardens. Cogworth even talks about the style during Belle’s tour of the castle. He even makes a nerdy little art history joke.
“As you can see, the pseudo facade was stripped away to reveal a minimalist rococo design. Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the neo-classic baroque period, and as I always say, if it's not baroque, don't fix it!"
4 A Well-Known Issue?
First let’s define Stockholm Syndrome: feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of captivity, by the captive toward the captor. That sounds like Belle, right? A lot of fans have debated about this aspect of the story.
Emma Watson, who plays Belle in the 2017 remake, had her own thoughts on the matter that she shared. Being a feminist icon, Watson’s thoughts had some weight to them, and she described why she thinks Belle does not have a problem.
Emma said, “It's something I really grappled with at the beginning; the kind of Stockholm Syndrome question about this story.” She came to decide that that wasn't the case here, adding that Belle actively disagrees with the Beast constantly. Bell exhibits none of characteristics of someone with this Syndrome because she keeps her independence.
3 LeFou's Choices
This caused a bit of an internet meltdown. Some welcomed LeFou being gay and saw it as a step forward, while others found it as an insult since LeFou literally translates to fool and he is a character that is not known to be well-respected, in Disney.
I can see it problematic for the one canonically gay character in Disney to be represented as a dweeb pining for a straight and mean man. Disney, however, did put effort in making LeFou more respectable, approachable, and down to earth in the remake.
Of course there was conservative backlash, but Disney is no stranger to business and story-telling, which means they know where the wind is blowing and know they can’t be stuck in the past forever. However, to stay popular with audiences, they seem to be tiptoeing.
2 Maurice’s Music Box
At the beginning of the movie, we see Belle’s father Maurice working on a music box. It’s very elaborate with beautiful gold colors and has a windmill that actually spins!
Later on in the movie, Beast and Belle travel via book magic to where Belle’s family used to live in Paris. This is where they found out that Belle’s mother was taken by the plague.
It’s a beautiful connection, showing an emotional nostalgia for the past and probably for Belle’s mother as well.
Despite seeing both scenes, I never put two and two together and realized Maurice’s music box was based off of where they lived in Paris. So not only do we learn more about the Beast’s past and family, but we also learn more about Belle’s.
1 Beauty And The Beard?
The ending of the movie got a little surreal when Belle tells Prince Beast to grow a beard — and he smirks and growls in response. That was a little strange. What’s up with that? Hold the phone, because there is actually a reason this happened!
Apparently this was a line cut out from the original animated movie!
Paige O’Hara, who voiced Belle in the animated version, ad-libbed the line and it almost made it into the movie. This line brings to light that many of the fans were disappointed with how the prince looked in the original animated film, because they got attached to the Beast. Could this remade prince get away with some scruff on the face?
That growl though...that was still weird! Does he have other weird things changed from being a Beast for so long?