The Beast is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991), as well as in the film's two direct-to-video followups Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Belle's Magical World. Based on the character from the French fairy tale, the Beast was created by screenwriter Linda Woolverton and animated by Glen Keane.
A pampered but dangerously grouchy prince transformed into a hideous beast as punishment for his cold-hearted and selfish ways, the Beast must, in order to return to his former self, earn the love of a beautiful young woman named Belle whom he imprisons in his castle. All this must be done before the last petal falls from the enchanted rose on his twenty-first birthday. In all animated film appearances, the Beast is voiced by American actor Robby Benson. The 1991 animated film was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1994, with the role being originated by American actor Terrence Mann. English actor Dan Stevens portrays a live-action version of the character in the 2017 adaptation of the 1991 film.
Development Determining a suitable appearance for the Beast proved challenging. Although entirely fictional, supervising animator Glen Keane felt it essential for the Beast to resemble a creature that could possibly be found on Earth as opposed to an alien. The initial designs had the Beast as humanoid but with an animal head attached as per the original fairy tale, but soon shifted towards more unconventional forms. The earlier sketches of the Beast's character design are seen as gargoyles and sculptures in the Beast's castle.
Inspired by a buffalo head that he purchased from a taxidermist, Keane decided to base the Beast's appearance on a variety of wild animals, drawing inspiration from the mane of a lion, head of a buffalo, brow of a gorilla, tusks of a wild boar, legs and tail of a wolf, and body of a bear. However, he felt it important that the Beast's eyes remain human. In fear that Glen Keane would design the Beast to resemble voice actor Robby Benson, Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg did not allow Keane to see Benson during production of the film.
Characteristics The Beast is not of any one species of animal, but a chimera (a mixture of several animals), who would probably be classified as a carnivore overall. He has the head structure and horns of a buffalo, the arms and body of a bear, the eyebrows of a gorilla, the jaws, teeth, and mane of a lion, the tusks of a wild boar, and the legs and tail of a wolf. He also bears resemblance to mythical monsters like the Minotaur or a werewolf. He also has blue eyes, the one physical feature that does not change whether he is a beast or a human.
As opposed to his original counterpart, Disney gave him a more primal nature to his personality and mannerisms, which truly exploited his character as an untamed animal (i.e. alternating between walking and crawling, animal growls). Producer Don Hahn envisioned that the Beast's psychological state has become increasingly feral the longer he was under the curse, such that he would eventually lose his last vestiges of humanity and become completely wild if the spell could not be broken. Hahn's idea doesn't manifest prominently in the finished 1991 animated film, since the Beast is only seen in a brief scene some time after his transformation while much of the narrative starts during the later period of the curse.
In the original tale, the Beast is seen to be kind-hearted for the most part, and gentleman-like, with only an occasional tendency to be hot-tempered. Disney's interpretation of the Beast made him more constantly angry and depressed, due to the shame from his unkind actions which led to his transformation, and particularly his struggle of reconciling his hideous appearance with his inner humanity which made him feel hopeless about breaking the curse. Supervising animator Glen Keane describes The Beast as "a twenty-one-year-old guy who's insecure, wants to be loved, wants to love, but has this ugly exterior and has to overcome this."Thomas, Bob: "Academy Recognition: Beauty and the Beast", pages 127-131. Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules, 1997 Upon his reform under his love interest Belle, his personality changes to refined and more even-tempered, while naive about the world at the same time.
To reflect his early personality, the Beast is seen shirtless, with ragged, dark gray breeches, and a ragged reddish-colored cape with a golden colored circular-shaped clasp. Despite the actual color of his cape being a dark reddish color, the Beast's cape is more often referenced to be purple (and in most of the Beast's subsequent appearances after the film, such as The Enchanted Christmas, House of Mouse, or the Kingdom Hearts games, his cape is colored purple). The reason for this change in color is unknown, although the most likely reason is that the color purple is often associated with royalty. After the Beast saves Belle from a pack of wolves, his dress style changes to become more formal and disciplined, reflecting a more refined personality as he attempts to win Belle's friendship and love. His most referenced form of dress is his ballroom outfit, which consisted of a golden vest over a white dress shirt with a white kerchief, black dress pants trimmed with gold, and a royal blue ballroom tail coat trimmed with gold, worn during the film's ballroom dance sequence.
The blue tailcoat outfit is retained after he was restored back to human, which is meant to be a stark contrast to the royal regalia and armor he was depicted in before his curse. His human form is that of a tall and slender young man with auburn hair and soft cream-colored skin while also retaining his bright blue eyes. As a human he is simply known as the "Prince", as supervising animator Glen Keane stated that everyone on the production was too busy to give him an alternative name. However, some licensed works, such as the trivia video game The D Show (1998) have named him "Prince Adam". Disney has come to embrace the name, as seen in multiple pieces of merchandise, as well as a plaque hung up in 2012 (and still hanging there as of 2017) in Walt Disney World's Port Orleans Riverside Royal Rooms that clearly states his name as "Prince Adam." Nevertheless, Disney archivist Dave Smith rejected "Adam" as the Beast's official name.
Appearances
Beauty and the Beast
A handsome young prince lives in a luxurious castle in France. He has everything he ever wanted, and as a result, he is spoiled, selfish, and unkind. One night, his heart is put to the test when a beggar woman comes to the castle and asks for shelter from the freezing cold, with a single rose as payment. When he shuns the beggar for her repulsive appearance, she then reveals her true form as a beautiful enchantress. Seeing her beauty and realizing her power, the Prince tries to apologize but she transforms him into a terrifying beast-like creature for his arrogance as punishment. She also casts a spell on the entire castle, transforming it into a dark, foreboding place, its lush green grounds into dangerous immortal wolf-infested woods, and the good-natured servants into anthropomorphic household objects to reflect their different personalities. Ashamed of his new appearance, the Beast conceals himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world, and an enchanted rose that would act as the curse's timer which would bloom until he turns 21. If the Beast could learn to love another and earn her love in return before the final petal fell off the rose, the curse would be broken, but if not he would remain a beast forever. The Beast turns to despair as the years pass by, with little hope of achieving this.
As the enchanted rose reaches late bloom and slowly wilts, the first outsider is an old man named Maurice who accidentally stumbles upon the castle, being allowed inside by the servants for shelter. However, the Beast detains Maurice in the tower as a prisoner for trespassing. Maurice's horse returns to the village, and then takes Maurice's daughter Belle back to the castle. In the tower Belle confronts Beast and pleads with him to let her father go, offering herself as a prisoner instead, to which the Beast agrees in return for her promise never to leave. Being prodded by his servants into believing that she is the key to breaking the spell, the Beast shows flashes of compassion for the first time despite his overall gruff manner. For instance, he feels some remorse for ejecting her father without a proper farewell, and as an atonement he lets her stay in a furnished room rather than the tower dungeon and places the servants at her disposal. When she enters the castle's forbidden west wing and nearly touches the rose, he frightens her into fleeing the castle via the woods, which he regrets upon realizing that he lost his temper, then he saves her from being killed by wild wolves. The Beast and Belle come to appreciate each other when she brings him back to the castle and tends to his wounds. He strikes up a friendship with her, by giving her the castle library and learns kindness and manners from her. Eventually, the Beast falls in love with Belle, and placing her happiness before his own, he releases her to tend to her sick father, a decision that disheartens him upon realizing that she had not yet returned his love which means that the curse remains unbroken.
A mob from the village comes to storm the castle and kill the Beast, led by a jealous rival suitor named Gaston. Beast is too miserable from Belle's departure to respond to a challenge from Gaston, although his servants manage to beat back the villagers. Upon seeing Belle's return to the castle, the Beast's mood is roused and he duels Gaston upon the castle rooftops. The Beast uses guile to make up for his lack of weaponry, and remains unfazed by frequent taunts from Gaston, who proclaims that handsome appearance is the entitlement to Belle. The Beast eventually overpowers Gaston and intends to drop him until the hunter begs him not to. Not wanting to sink to Gaston's level of behavior, the Beast decides to show mercy and spare Gaston on the condition that he immediately leave the castle. Belle then shows up on the balcony and the Beast climbs up to meet her; however Gaston refuses to accept defeat and stabs the Beast from behind. Gaston loses his balance and falls from the castle roof to his death, but Belle manages to grab the Beast and pull him up. The Beast, knowing he is mortally wounded, expresses his appreciation to Belle for returning and being able to see her one last time, before falling unconscious and apparently succumbing to his injuries. Belle is able to tell the Beast that she loves him before the final petal falls. Then, Belle's declaration of love for the Beast breaks the spell and transforms him back into the prince. The castle and the servants also return to normal. Later they have a ball to celebrate with the Prince and Belle living happily ever after.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
In this film, which takes place not long after the Beast rescued Belle from the wolves, much to Beast's frustration, Belle wants to celebrate Christmas and throw a real Christmas party. Beast hates the idea of Christmas, for it was the very day almost ten years ago when the Enchantress cast the spell on him and the entire castle. (In contrast to the 1991 animated film where the Prince is depicted in stained-glass windows wearing royal regalia and armor before being cursed, the Prince in Enchanted Christmas is dressed simply in a white shirt and black breeches prior to his transformation.) While Beast sits most of the preparations out, a treacherous servant plots to have Belle thrown out of the castle: Forte the Pipe Organ, since he is far more appreciated by the Beast while under the spell.