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1!!No one cleans up "[[Administrivia/FirstPersonWriting This Troper]]" far better than Gaston!
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3[[foldercontrol]]
4----
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6[[folder: Gaston “wants to keep the spell alive”.....how?]]
7* In one trailer for the film, Gaston was described as “the one man who wants to keep the spell alive.” What does that mean? Was Gaston somehow involved in the cursing of the Beast? Did he give the Enchantress the idea to curse him within hopes to kill him in the future?
8** First off, that's just a trailer. A trailer isn't necessarily canon to the film. Secondly, no, Gaston had nothing to do with the curse. He didn't even believe the Beast existed for the majority of the movie, let alone know he was under a curse. By the "keep the spell alive" thing, he wants to have Belle be his wife, which would inadvertently "keep the spell alive."
9[[/folder]]
10
11[[folder: Just go along with it, Gaston]]
12* If Gaston was so desperate to get Belle's favor, why didn't he just roll along with Maurice's pleas, crazy sounding or not, instead of throwing him out of the inn and into the dead of winter? While he decided to use him to blackmail Belle, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to do something that probably would've made him look better in front of Belle, like taking advantage of Maurice's desperate situation by helping him rescue Belle? Callously throwing out the father of the girl he's after, especially since that girl has legitimately been captured, would ''not'' have done him any favors in getting Belle's hand in marriage, much less making her like him.
13** Because Gaston is a self-centered, arrogant jerk who doesn't think he should have to ''do'' anything to win Belle's favor, he thinks he simply deserves her because of who he is.
14** Plus the sequence in the inn starts with Gaston being angry at Belle for publically rejecting him. Screw winning her favor, nobody dares to humiliate Gaston!
15** In Gaston's eyes, he is naturally owed Belle, and Belle is insane for having the audacity to say no to him. Why should he change when Belle is supposedly the one with the problem?
16** In the remake, he DOES go along with Maurice’s plea, thinking that Belle would then marry him, but eventually he gets tired of it and leaves Maurice in the woods.
17** Gaston doesn't ''know'' that Belle has been captured. He thinks that Maurice is just a crazy person ranting about stuff that never happened, and in reality Belle is probably just on a trip someplace and she'll be back any day now. The way he sees it, humoring Maurice would just be a big waste of time. He'd go stomping off into the cold bleak woods in the middle of the night, looking for a Beast that doesn't exist in a castle that doesn't exist. He has no interest in doing that.
18[[/folder]]
19
20[[folder: Maurice being proven correct]]
21* Brhm. The whole reason everyone thinks Maurice is crazy is because he came to the inn, yelling about the Beast, which everyone makes fun of. Everybody thinks he's a little cracked anyway, of course, but, uh… in the climax when everybody finds out that [[CassandraTruth the Beast is real]], doesn't anyone reconsider that?
22** Well, maybe, but then Belle comes in trying to tell them all, "Oh, no, he's so gentle and caring and sweet...Really, he wouldn't hurt a fly." To be honest - hearing her saying that about a beast who so far is only seen roaring and barring his teeth through the mirror, perhaps she was a little nutso, too. And Maurice certainly wasn't about to turn on his daughter, either, so they locked them both in the cellar.
23** They've already gotten it into their heads that Maurice is crazy. In fact, the town thought he was crazy even ''before'' the whole Beast incident. Lefou calls him a "crazy old loon" at the start of the movie and the townspeople later say "Crazy old Maurice, he's always good for a laugh", implying that this was a common joke around the village.
24[[/folder]]
25
26[[folder: How do they support themselves?]]
27* Belle doesn't seem to work, and no one is buying Maurice's inventions. How do they have any money to afford their daily bread and other necessities?
28** They have a few farm animals around. Presumably Belle can sell eggs and milk to get necessities. Plus we can assume Maurice is doing some minor handyman repair jobs here and there.
29** They're both very clearly bourgeoisie, albeit probably very poor bourgeois. This is 18th-century (ish) France, meaning that reading is a skill becoming more common, but still bound to those with the money and leisure time to afford instruction, bound books are still a luxury even with printing, and yet a not-terribly-responsible girl is being trusted with them, and most importantly it's the tail-end of France's feudal area which lasted to nearly the 19th century. Belle and Maurice are higher up on the social ladder than the villagers, and social mobility was not a thing until after the French Revolution. Skilled craftsmen could have customers all over the area, maybe he makes clocks or music boxes and just invented in his spare time.
30** Whoever said that no one is buying Maurice's inventions? I think it's plausible that he has customers, especially if he sells to travelers who come through town and don't have the local prejudice against him. Belle seems convinced that he'll do well at the fair; maybe that's where he advertises his wares. Not to mention that he doesn't have to just sell inventions per se; he's probably the only guy in town who can fix mechanical stuff when it breaks.
31*** In the Original fairy tale, the Beauty's father was mentioned to be merchant, so, perhaps, this carries over?
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder: Bookseller staying in business]]
35* Here's another enigma along the same lines: who's keeping that bookseller in business? Belle is the only one we ever see visiting his shop, and the other villagers don't seem very literate or interested in learning how to read. Yet he somehow can afford to be generous enough to lend out books and let Belle keep her favorite...
36** Noble patronage. Maurice doesn't have to work due to tax income, is kind of eccentric, and most nobility historically enjoyed setting up services "for the common good" that only they could realistically take advantage of. This is probably most of why the villagers edge into 'openly hostile' territory regarding books, that's the money they had to give to the government being used on a service they can't access due to literacy rates under one percent.
37** Actually Belle doesn't appear to be a customer at all. She says she's returning a book she "borrowed", which suggests the bookseller lets her take one home occasionally out of kindness (she calls it a book shop and not a library). He just gave her the one she read twice already as a gift.
38** Just because nobody else walks through town with their nose in a book like Belle, doesn't mean she's the only one who reads. The others who could read were just too busy with their jobs or taking care of their kids to have time during the day when Belle was passing through and wanting to talk, and would read and visit the bookshop when their workdays ended, their children were taking a nap, or during whatever downtime they had.
39** And if you want to take historical context into account, reading for fun was seen as dangerous entertainment the way MoralGuardians look down on TV or video games. They thought it gave you BrainFever. So with that in mind, maybe the majority of stock are Bibles, textbooks or factual writings that people have more use of.
40*** That would explain why the bookseller doesn't have anything new; Belle's probably not too interested in reading the latest almanac.
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder: Why didn't she recognize him sooner?]]
44* Why did Belle have such a hard time recognizing the Beast in human form? She already saw what he looked like when she went into the forbidden room and fixed up that torn painting of his.
45** She didn't know that was him though, and even then she only saw the eyes, which is what made her realize it's him.
46*** Plus, she didn't have much time when she was in the West Wing. Just as she was about to flatten the torn piece down, she gets distracted by the glowing magic rose. And mere moments later, Beast comes in and starts screaming and throwing furniture at her. The picture didn't have a chance to make much of an impression on her.
47** Frankly, what more puzzling is that she saw the transformation happening. C'mon, who ''else'' could he possibly be? Perhaps she was just a bit shocked, it's not like she sees things like that every day.
48** Well at any point did she ever ''know'' that the Beast was actually a human transformed? In the live action remake she does, but in this one she doesn't. For all she knew, the ripped up painting could have been anyone. Even his voice was different when he transformed.
49** Simple; she was scared of hoping it was him. Belle has had a rough night: she found out her father was dying, the local boor was going to blackmail her into marrying him, and an angry mob was going to kill her only friend for the crime of being a Beast. Then he was ''stabbed'' in front of her, right when she was sure he was safe, and he died. Belle ''wants'' to believe it, but she wants to prove to herself that the Beast is this handsome young man. So she strokes him to make sure he's real and not a dream, and then looks into his eyes.
50[[/folder]]
51
52[[folder: Gaston using the mirror]]
53* During the "Mob Song", Gaston is exciting the villager's superstitious rage against the Beast. Alllllright. Then why did nobody question the fact that he was holding ''a bewitched mirror glowing green'' ? And it's not like he hid it, either; he was holding it high in the air for everyone to see !!
54** Why would anyone question it? Holding it for everyone to see is the point. It's lumped into the "magic is scary" category as "and this mirror belongs to the beast, so see, magic is real and it's scary."
55*** Alright, but then at best it's a PlotHole that they could have resolved, since never ''see'' Gaston telling the villagers that he got the mirror from the Beast. It would be a perfectly logical explanation, but it's only a very likely WildMassGuessing as long as no scene or even WordOfGod tells us that it is true.
56*** Again, there's really no reason for them to talk about the mirror at all. They're being faced with a giant monster they have to deal with. Nobody's going to care about the mirror whatsoever.
57** Gaston took it from Belle. Belle brings out the enchanted mirror to show them the Beast is real and save Maurice from being sent to an asylum, so the villagers likely think it was hers. Gaston takes it from her and uses it to rally the crowd. Any resentment towards a magic would be directed at Belle.
58** In the live-action remake, Gaston actually DOES convict both the magic mirror and the beast himself as in implication of witchcraft being involved (Which is actually true, since the whole castle is cursed) Gaston also thinks that since Belle speaks positively about the beast, she TOO is affected by the curse. It may not be addressed in this earlier version, but who says the crowd WASN'T in the same mindset?
59** A roaring beast is ''way'' scarier than a glowing mirror. And Gaston is known as a hunter, not to mention being super popular around town, so obviously he's their (unofficial) leader now and no one is going to question him. As for where he got the mirror, everyone sees him take it from Belle, and Belle presumably got it from the Beast (which would be an accurate assumption actually)
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder: Some adventurer Belle is...]]
63* So... Belle is basically tired of living the "same old life", but she has no problems reading the same old book?
64** There's a ''big'' difference between rereading your favorite story over and over again, and having a life of monotonous routine with no end in sight.
65** Yeah, it was a book about an adventure. Her regular life doesn't have any adventures.
66** Even excluding the adventures, keep in mind that Belle essentially admitted to not having any real life friends. That fictional prince is starting look pretty good, no?
67** Do you have a favorite movie that you've seen a million times before and still love it every time? Same case with Belle's thoughts on the book. It's THAT good!
68*** Which is pretty meta when you think about it. Since Disney animated films, especially ones from this time period, hold that distinction for so many people (myself included).
69** Not to mention it's made pretty obvious that books are expenses most people couldn't afford even if they wanted to, and it seems like only the bookseller's kindness lets Belle read at all (excepting maybe mechanical texts her father might own). Considering that not every book could be relevant to her interests and Maurice's 'profession' clearly limits their funds, it's not surprising that she's thrilled to have the book given to her; plus, "You've already read it twice!" isn't exactly "You've never read anything else!"
70*** Belle also asks the bookseller if he's got any new books, which can be taken to mean that she's read every book in the place, some of them twice.
71*** Also, reading the same book two or three times is not exactly unreasonable, especially something as short as a fairy tale or light fantasy book. If you love reading and there aren't new books around ("Not since yesterday", the bookseller says; Belle did ASK if he had any new stock), you might as well reread your favourites.
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder: Leave the guns behind!]]
75* When the mob attacks the Beast's castle, they don't appear to have any guns. Yet in the tavern during Gaston's song earlier, he shoots a gun. Plus, in the mob's song, they mentioned guns. So where did they go?
76-->'''Villagers:''' Bring your '''guns''', bring your knives, save your children and your wives...
77** Maybe no one but Gaston actually owns any guns, and their inclusion in the song lyrics was just poetic bravado on the part of the villagers. Gaston himself didn't bring any guns because he wanted to make his hunt of the Beast more challenging (and, probably, sadistic).
78** Mr. Cogsworth is shown gleefully brandishing a pistol during the raid, though he only actually uses the sharp scissors he was holding in his other hand to jab [=LeFou=]. There ''are'' a few guns in this movie, just not very sophisticated ones and not very many. (One would also have to wonder how effective they would be against animated furniture that doesn't have any obviously vital organs; even if the villagers had any pistols in their belts, they probably didn't bother drawing them once they realized how useless they would be against the castle's defenders.)
79** At the time, too, guns were really expensive and usually not effective as weapons unless you had a very large number of them (or used a blunderbuss like Gaston). Bullets took a while to make, as well, and gunpowder wouldn't fire if wet (they were in the snow and it was raining). Bows were more accurate, longer-ranged, and faster to fire. Although the animators probably weren't thinking of any of that and were merely considering what would make an interesting fight scene. The guns in Beauty and the Beast can fire at least three shots rapidly without loading, so it wouldn't be very fair to those in the castle who didn't have them. Either way, it makes more sense for the villagers to be using their tools like pitchforks and axes rather than guns. The song included them likely for recognition. If someone calls for guns, now people know that things are getting serious. "Brings your bows" might not have the same effect.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder: Why keep the curse a secret?]]
83* Why didn't the beast just tell Belle about the curse? It would have made things a whole lot easier.
84** That likely would have put a lot of pressure on Belle. As well as, the love had to be genuine. If she knew of the curse, it would be less "love for the sake of love", and more "love for the sake of saving everyone". Which wouldn't be "true love", and the entire plan/final chance would fall apart entirely.
85** Worth noting also is that the staff seem to have had some taboo against explaining anything about it to her. Right after the "Be Our Guest" number, Mr. Cogsworth even asks Belle [[ImplausibleDeniability who told her the castle was enchanted]] as an animated fork goes skittering past him! Probably, telling her about the curse would be the ''worst'' thing any of them could do for their chances of having the curse lifted, since (as noted above) you can't guilt-trip anyone into true love. (Depending on how flexible the enchantress' curse was, maybe true ''familial'' love might have been sufficient to break the spell as it was in ''Frozen'', but Beast didn't really have much prospect of giving or getting any of ''that'' either before Belle came along.)
86** In most versions of the fairy tale the Beast isn't allowed to tell the Beauty character about the nature of his condition. He may have been magically prevented from actively telling her what was going on, or perhaps didn't believe it would make any difference.
87** That alone wouldn't have done much. HE had to love HER too. It's best for both of them to try to warm up to each other fairly instead of being in the "This to break the curse" mindset. And while we can consider the Beast's motives to have some selfish qualities (he knew for 10 years to lift the curse through love), Belle's motives have to be "I love him because he's kind and gentle". Only truly mutual love could lift the curse.
88** It can be thought that he was too stubborn and proud to tell her, then he didn't want to guilt her into it.
89** Maybe he was too embarrassed to tell her that he was once a handsome prince who got cursed. Or since the curse has been in effect for ten years, maybe he doesn't see fit to mention his previous life. Or he's been cursed for so long, he believes it'll never be broken - and doesn't want to get Belle's hopes up that he'll become human again.
90** Belle does surmise that the castle is enchanted, and shortly after, she sees a portrait of a human in the West Wing, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that she might've thought that was the Beast before the enchantment. But as stated above, him telling her how or why the enchantment had happened would make it harder to fall in love with him genuinely.
91[[/folder]]
92
93[[folder: Hands off the rose!]]
94* Just WHY did Belle even try to touch the rose? It's pretty obvious that if it was in a glass container, you are not supposed to touch it? Why wouldn't Belle get that?
95** A glass dome placed over something doesn't entirely equate to it not being able to be touched, at least not any moreso than being told not to enter the Beast's private rooms in the west wing, which she was perfectly fine with doing anyway. And it's never said that the rose ''couldn't'' be touched, just that the Beast was extremely protective of it.
96** Belle was just told not to go in the West Wing. Not that she couldn't touch the rose. To recall, the rose was glowing so maybe she wanted to see if it was just a realistic looking light or an actual flower that glows.
97[[/folder]]
98
99[[folder: Selective translation]]
100* In Belle's town, why does the sign above the baker's say ''Boulangerie'' (as you would expect), but the sign above the bookstore says ''Bookstore''?
101** TranslationConvention for the viewers, maybe?
102** If they wanted to communicate that it was a bookstore, then a sign saying ''[[BilingualBonus Librairie]]'' may have been too confusing.
103** Maybe the owner also sells books in {{Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe}}?
104** A ''boulangerie'' is specifically (in modern parlance) a French-style bakery. A bookstore is a bookstore.
105** Or he could have just wanted an exotic sounding name.
106** It may have just been an oversight on the part of whoever was drawing the scenes.
107** If the bookstore really is a "bookstore", then why does Belle constantly go back to return her books and borrow new ones? Wouldn't she be technically going to a library instead (or a "bibliotheque")?
108*** It's a village out in the middle of nowhere back before libraries were anything but vast stockpiles of manuscripts meant for universities and palaces, not the common person. Bookstores ''were'' the equivalent of the modern local library because there was nothing else, unless a private citizen with a large book collection was affable enough to let their neighbors borrow them. Borrowing books from a bookshop wasn't a standard by any means - it depended on the owner. If he was motivated solely by profit, then he wouldn't. If he was interested in education, then he would allow children or the poor to borrow them.
109*** It's established pretty much immediately that she and the bookstore owner are good friends. He is also the stereotypical "friendly old man", quite happy to give away such a small thing as a book if it will brighten someone's day. He may also see her as the daughter he always wanted, a playful bookworm like him. No need to tarnish that friendship with business.
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder: Where are your parents, young man?]]
113* If the Beast was originally a selfish prince, where are his parents, the king and queen? Also, what is he ruling over?
114** It could also have been that his parents died when he was young and he inherited the throne (it's fairly certain that a prince doesn't necessarily become King when his father dies, but then laws of succession aren't her specialty). After the prince was cursed, either the people he ruled over got freaked out and or thought he died (when he stopped showing up) and left. Or, they left because he didn't do a good job ruling.
115** Maybe he's the ruling monarch of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality principality]] and there are no king and queen.
116*** Given that the setting is late 18th/early 19th century France, this is almost certain.
117** He probably killed them in Beast form. Or they came home after a business trip or a meeting with other rulers and they ran away after seeing what happened to their son and servants.
118** In 17th/18th century France a 'Prince' didn't have to be the son of the King and Queen. He only needed to be related very vaguely to royalty to be called a Prince. It often just meant "Somebody who could inherit the throne if enough people died". Grandchildren and nephews and relatives removed who didn't have a hope would often take the title. It's less common now (sticking with Lords and Ladies a great deal) but still happens.
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder: Where did they get all of that food from?]]
122* Where do the residents of the castle get all the food that they feed Belle during "Be Our Guest" and subsequent scenes? Assuming that magically enchanted furniture doesn't need to eat, the Beast is the only one there who would need real food since the curse, and he doesn't seem like the type to be requesting gourmet meals. They could have a small farm area worked by enchanted gardening equipment that we just never see, but that couldn't account for the sheer variety of food that we see, not to mention items like chocolate that simply don't grow in that climate. And it's doubtful they have the facilities for processing grain into the flour needed for all those pastries we see...
123** They're magic stoves and appliances. Perhaps they can somehow generate their own food. Or, perhaps the spell somehow preserved everything they had pre-transformation and it just stayed untouched.
124** The Castle obviously has greenhouses (as seen in ''Belle's Magical World'') and farmlands which the subject take care of (some of which may have been turned into farming tools). As for chocolate that was an offhand suggestion by Cogsworth who may or may not have been entirely serious. Meals are rarely prepared at the castle, as by the point Belle arrives the Beast has taken to a diet almost entirely of meat, which he procures for himself. This is why the Chef is so upset, someone woke his ass up, told him to make the best meal of his life and no one ate it. Belle stayed in her room while the Beast most likely went out hunting.
125*** A deleted scene pretty much confirms this, the Beast was so pissed off he went out and killed an animal, dragging it back to the castle to eat it.
126[[/folder]]
127
128[[folder: Sun and snow]]
129* Did anyone else notice that, during the scene in which "Gaston" takes place, the town is covered in a thick blanket of snow, where, just that afternoon (assumed by the film's progression), the weather was fine and sunny? Not to mention that that evening, just at sunset - where Belle sings about wanting "adventure in the Great Wide somewhere"- it was still sunny, meaning that there must have been one hell of a snow storm between scenes.
130** Gaston is the bad guy, therefore everything is cold, lifeless, heartless like he is. With Belle it's all sunshine. Of course, that doesn't explain why it's a snowstorm in the scenes where we don't see him.
131** It has been chalked up to the weird timeline. The best explanation she heard is that the "adventure in the Great Wide somewhere" thing happens in late fall, which is unusually warm and sunny, and that there were a number of days that passed between her staying at the castle and the "Gaston" scene (incidentally, it's also snowing when she is attacked by the wolves).
132*** But if that is the case, then why would Gaston be talking about her - "Who does that girl think she is?!" - days after. It's highly doubtful he'd wait a few days before bitching about her to his friends in the tavern, and he's too proud to be in a grump over her for that long. It's simply a dodgy timeline on Disney's part.
133*** Gaston was too proud ''not'' to grump over Belle for eternity. He publicly declared that he would have Belle as his wife. If he just moves on without marrying her, then he's a failure. He's too proud to allow that.
134** When Maurice sets out for the fair, it's a warm autumn. It would probably take him several days to get there, so there's about a fortnight between him leaving and Belle being proposed to by Gaston. Belle finds out he's gone and sets out to find him, which would also take a little while, which explains why he's sick when she finds him. When Maurice finally gets back to the village Gaston may have been grumping for a couple of days, and when Maurice is thrown out of the tavern, it seems it's only just starting to snow heavily. Without a horse Maurice could have been searching hopelessly in the woods for weeks. It's canon that Belle spends Christmas in the castle.
135*** While helping her father with his wood chopping invention, she says he'll win first prize at the fair "tomorrow," so the fair had to have been within a day's travel of their home.
136*** The farmer with his barrow of large pumpkins during the opening number is a hint. Back then, with only natural fertilizers and no pesticides, and without having had as much selective breeding, one would need to wait until frost is imminent to bring in the pumpkins instead of having several crops per year like nowadays. If they were in the southernmost forests of France, it's possible that it took only a few weeks between first frost and Christmas, and it's quite possible for first frost to have hit ''hard'' with a snowstorm if the days were simply more chilly than they looked, or they were having the last day of a warm snap.
137** For anyone who lives southern Alberta, Canada, and it is not uncommon AT ALL to have a nice sunny afternoon followed by an evening of heavy snowfall in, say, November. Maybe that's not normal in other parts of the world, but it never stood out as surprising.
138*** For anyone who lives in Sweden, Northern Europe, the shifting between heavy snowstorm and sunshine in late fall through winter is standard here too. It's not as rare as one thinks. However, some of the confusion is understandable in that Belle lives in France, which isn't as cold. The closest thoughts of that makes sense in this case is that she lives in the northern part of the country, as it equals colder in Europe. Not much in temperature differs, but that's a guess.
139** Pathetic fallacy, dear friends. That scene where Belle was running around and singing wouldn't have been so happy if she had been singing in a snowstorm.
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder: How long was she at the castle?]]
143* Related to this, since Belle and Beast were together for a couple months, there are a few things that'. '''1)''' Why did Maurice wait ''that'' long to go out and try and take Belle back? '''2)''' Didn't anyone notice that Belle wasn't walking around town anymore? Surely, ''someone'' must have wondered where that funny girl was, especially the librarian.
144** It's kind of assumed Belle didn't leave the house every day. Sometimes she wouldn't be seen for days on end because she'd be helping Maurice with his latest invention.
145*** Or reading, just as likely. She says she doesn't have any friends in town, so there doesn't seem like a reason for her to go there that often.
146** It's possible that Maurice was asking around, even trying outside the town, for help. When that didn't work he gathered his supplies (which would've likely taken time) then went after her. He also had to remember the way back to the castle and it was a longer trip without his horse.
147** There was probably some kind of time distortion connected to the curse, so Belle's weeks or months inside were only a few days outside.
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder: The Enchantress is unfair!]]
151* How exactly is giving a man an extra hundred pounds, a thick coat of fur, claws, teeth, and a tripled testosterone count supposed to make him become more compassionate? Not quite the prerequisites for an altruistic.
152** The idea was that he had no choice but to improve his personality if he wanted someone to love him and thus be turned back. Notice that he's not nearly as scary when he's kinder later in the movie. What was either missed or ignored by the Enchantress was that the Beast would be forced to spend quite a while locked up in the castle almost entirely alone and in a strange body, which undoubtedly would make him crazy and even less sociable than before. However it's quite likely that the Enchantress either just wasn't thinking that far ahead or simply didn't care. Incidentally, the injuring of Belle is sort of touched on in the musical.
153** Since the prince threw an old woman out for being ''ugly'', the Enchantress' logic seems to go like '[[KarmicTransformation When you learn how it feels to be judged by your appearance, maybe you'll be more sympathetic to homely people]]'.
154*** As someone mentioned below, the Enchantress is a fairy and, as we already know, the fae tended to be petty, though the Prince was kind of an a-hole before that, so there's that.
155[[/folder]]
156
157[[folder: What did the servants do wrong?]]
158* Why does the Enchantress turn the servants into talking furniture? What's the point? It's been thought it was ''the Prince'' she was angry at.
159** It's probably because the servants would have left him, being a monster and all. And the Beast will have a hard time getting by without them.
160** In the play, they discussed that very thing. They were partly responsible for making him the way he was, spoiled, selfish, and mean, by nature of giving him everything he wanted and never standing up to him.
161*** The following exchange between Lumiere and Cogsworth from the Broadway version pretty much more or less sums it up:
162-->'''Cogsworth''': But why did we have to get dragged into this whole spell business? It’s not like we threw that poor old beggar woman out on her ear.
163-->'''Lumiere''': No, but are we not responsible too? For helping to make him the way he is?
164-->'''Cogsworth''': I suppose so.
165** It's also been theorized that the Enchantress just used an unfair curse, because she was pissed and didn't really care about collateral damage. (And depending on how her magic words, perhaps she didn't have a Beast-specific spell up her sleeve.)
166** In those days one of the responsibilities of owning an estate with lots of servants (which was sadly often neglected or ignored) was that if you screwed up, they suffered for your failure. Be that ''literally'' gambling away the house or failing a virtue check with an enchantress. It's not entirely unlike being in command of a small military unit.
167*** Authority figures are LITERALLY seen as a personified representation of their respective domain. So hypothetically, if this enchantress were to cast a spell on the queen of England or the President of the United States, entire governments would get affected as well. From the enchantresses perspective, The queen of England IS England, the president of the United States IS the United States. This prince from an isolated luxurious castle in the middle of the woods, IS the castle. All the servants naturally got cursed even if the enchantress was singling their master out.
168** Given that this is France over 200 years ago, a lot of the upper-class in such a luxurious environment would have been rather snobbish and haughty. Sure the servants reformed better over the years, but a minor influence from each of them still played a significant part in shaping their master's higher level of arrogance.
169*** In fact this makes the servants even MORE at fault for the prince's ways, because not only was the prince only 11 years old and thus naïve enough to be misled by their influences. But they also could encourage him into behaving better. (As they actually do in the movie.) The Enchantress saw this as a character building predicament EVERYONE needed to contribute to, but only the master himself could make it work or fail.
170** Maybe the spell turns you into something resembling your characteristic.
171----> The Beast: The Prince was implied to have a beastly personality.
172----> Lumiere: Fiery Passion
173----> Cogsworth: He is all about managing schedules and keeping everything running smoothly and on time.
174----> Mrs. Potts: There is no way around the fact, that her main job before her transformation was serving tea.
175----> The clothes drawer: She was likely the one who dressed the Prince every morning and her whole life revolved around clothes.
176** Uh, the Enchantress is [[TheFairFolk a fairy]], they're not exactly known for their kindness or fairness. Many of them were tricksters of the highest degree simply because they were supernatural beings who enjoyed screwing with petty, insignificant humans. Why the hell else is she wandering around disguised as an old woman, carrying an enchanted rose in the middle of a bleeding snowstorm? Hell you could make the argument that ''she caused the snowstorm'' just as an excuse to approach the castle disguised as an "innocent" old woman with nothing but a rose on her person. It's possible she punished them all just for a laugh.
177*** This exactly. If anybody watches ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', think of Magic Man. The very first episode he's featured in, he changes Finn into a giant foot, and tells him he has to learn some lesson. The lesson, of course, is that Magic Man is a jerk. Similarily, if this fairy lady was actually a good person, she would have used her magic to show the then eleven-year-old child that he needs to shape up, or his people may rebel, or whatever. Turning him and his subjects into stuff until he learns a lesson was simply not necessary. She was a jerk, there's no question about that. Even if Beast learned a good lesson, she made it happen in a downright evil manner.
178** It's not just because she was a trickster - it was a SecretTestOfCharacter, along with a bit of ValuesDissonance. Hospitality was considered important back then, and the Enchantress may've wanted to see if the Prince would be so heartless as to leave an old woman to die in the cold, when presented with a chance to grant her lodging. As for the servants, the sequels show that they were responsible for some of how Adam turned out. Considering he may've only been 11 at the time the curse was placed, she probably didn't want them to try running off and leaving him to suffer because of something they contributed to.
179*** Guilty by association.
180*** As support to this, look how quick they are to welcome in Maurice and make him comfortable. They've learned to show hospitality.
181[[/folder]]
182
183[[folder: How old was Adam when the curse was cast?]]
184* At the beginning, it's stated that the rose will bloom until "his 21st year," and the Beast is clearly not yet twenty-one yet in the film as the rose is still blooming. In the song Be Our Guest, Lumiere says "ten years we've been rusting." Does this mean that the Beast was only ''eleven'' when he was cursed by the Enchantress? Beacuse that just sounds a little odd. Well, sure, he may have been a selfish, spoiled little brat, but a lot of eleven year olds are! He would have had a lot of growing up to do and it seems overly mean to put such a curse on such a small child.
185** WordOfGod states that though the Beast's official age is not mentioned in the movie, it is strongly indicated by the narrator's statement that the rose "would bloom until his 21st year." As the rose has already begun to wilt by the time Belle arrives at the castle, it is very likely that the Beast is 20 years (i.e. on their 21st year) of age by this point. This has been confirmed by the Beast's artist Glen Keane, and also in the filmmakers commentary for the extended edition, where it is specifically stated that the Beast's/Prince's 21st birthday would occur at some point ''after the enchanted rose has lost all of it's petals and the curse had either been broken, or else become permanent.''
186** Honestly, if he ''was'' eleven years old when he was cursed, it would explain a ''lot'' about the Beast. The nobility married and ruled at younger ages than that. Take a (presumably parentless) eleven-year-old boy, make him the ruler of a principality, and see how long he stays well-adjusted and humble. Then turn him into a hairy monster for ten years, and watch him throw tantrums, break furniture, almost completely forget his table manners and his lessons in reading and writing, and generally remain an emotional child until Belle shows up to give him a reason to straighten out and behave like a sensible twenty-one-year-old.
187** The whole concept of being more lenient to children because of their age didn't begin to appear until mid-XIX century. At the time the movie takes place, kids were treated, more or less, as 'dumb adults'. Enchantress didn't see punishing an 11 year old in such manner as being particularly more extreme than doing the same to a grown up man.
188** Age was somewhat irrelevant in this case. As long as he was the head of the household (people COULD inherit such power at such a young age) and refused to offer shelter to an old lady who could freeze to death, HE was still by default responsible for such harsh treatment of the less fortunate. Also this might be another reason the staff was cursed too. THEY were at fault for putting such influence on a naïve kid, and also could leave an influence to help break the spell.
189** Technically speaking, no one ever says the curse has been in effect for ten years; the servants only say it's been that long ''since they've had a guest.'' It could be that the prince has disallowed guests in his castle for some years ''before'' the Enchantress showed up and cursed him. (Which also explains ''why'' she tested him by posing as someone who needed to be taken in.)
190*** Well, if someone randomly showed up at my door asking for shelter (heavy snowstorm aside) only to curse my place when denied such, I wouldn't exactly consider them a GUEST either. Plus that also explains why the painting of him in the west wing depicts him looking much older than 11. (Either that, or the artist who made it was just THAT good at estimating how he would look in his prime.)
191** The simplest answer to this and any other question that arises from Lumiere's 'ten years' line is that he's exaggerating. He demonstrates a flair for the dramatic all throughout the movie, and with the rose already beginning to wilt he knows they're short on time, so of course he'd take the opportunity to tug at Belle's heartstrings a little bit.
192[[/folder]]
193
194[[folder: Parental hypocrisy]]
195* When Gaston makes his ThinkOfTheChildren argument, we see horrified mothers clutching their children. ''These people thought it was a good idea to bring their little kids along to see Maurice get lynched.''
196** Pretty sure hangings used to be family events, practically holidays. People would bring picnics. (Or at least, this being so is common in literature, which is excuse enough for it being true in other media.)
197*** This is not just exclusive to France, either. American rural families would bring their children to hangings as a "scared straight" tactic to try and keep them from joining the outlaw gangs that were all over the place until the West was truly tamed.
198** Absolutely. In those days families would bring their kids along to all these kinds of things in a "Look what'll happen to you" thing. Even corpses were on public display. Heck, children would often clamour to attend public hangings and witch-trials as a treat; they'd demand to visit the stocks to laugh at the village idiot. Taking them to an event like dragging some crazy old guy to the Asylum would be, for kids in that time period, totally awesome. It was practically a "Family Day Out".
199** Only one problem with the above, Maurice wasn't going to be ''lynched'' at all. Gaston was threatening to send him to the funnyfarm. As for the mothers and children, if you look closely you'll notice they weren't a part of Gaston's gang; certainly they were drawn to Belle's place by all the commotion Gaston was making.
200** Especially since this was not a ''lynching'' but rather an involuntary ''commitment'' to an insane asylum, parents bringing their children is quite realistic. This kind of voyeuristic crowd is hardly unheard-of in more recent times, either: note that there's a scene in ''Literature/PeytonPlace'' (written in the 1950s and set in the 1940s) in which a crowd of small-town gawkers of all ages, apparently having nothing better to do with their time, gather around to watch the police hauling a bunch of the town's drunks out of a cellar. About the only thing keeping such crowds from gathering these days is the new communications technology; such meddlesome spectators can often just watch a news report about it on television or look up somebody's cell phone video of it on Website/YouTube from the comfort of their homes.
201[[/folder]]
202
203[[folder: Belle returning to the castle]]
204* What else is surprising about that is that Belle doesn't even tell Beast that "I'll come back to visit" or something.
205** Maybe she thought it was implied? And remember that she was in a hurry; her father was dying in the wilderness somewhere.
206** Yes she thought it went without saying that she would return. After all she loved him.
207*** Reminding that the Beast had only days left on the rose - what did it matter if she came back in a few days, if he could never be human and all his servants would have turned into household objects forever? Even if she does come back it's still too late. Also at that point neither of them had confessed their feelings for each other, the Beast probably assumed that if it hadn't happened yet it ''never'' will. He had tried his best, he had given it everything he could and still failed.
208*** If she loves Beast despite the fact that he is not human, what does it signify that he has failed? She'd just return to the Beast she fell in love with in the first place...
209*** The whole point of the challenge in earning another's love is not only to improve himself as a person, but also be restored to humanity so that they can share that love together. There's a lot he can't do with Belle as a beast, and the longer he stays in that form the more animalistic he becomes. Belle helped slow down the devolution but WordOfGod confirms that it's still happening anyway. Even if she came back after the last petal fell because she loved him he's still slowly losing his mind and becoming an animal.
210*** Did she know that though? Did The Beast ever really explain to her what that magical rose signified? When she was on good terms with him, it makes sense if [[CannotSpitItOut she never asked the Beast about it]]. He reacted badly that one time she wandered into the West Wing out of curiousity.
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder: Why expect so much from a child?]]
214* Okay, okay, even if we don't take it that Beast was 11 when he was cursed, he was probably still pretty young when he was cursed. Why was he expected to let a strange creepy old woman? And on that note, if she's really a witch and not an old woman then why is she even trying to get into the house in the first place? It sounds like she's trying to scam royals.
215** [[SacredHospitality Hospitality was a literal matter of life or death in that time period]]. [[FridgeHorror The prince basically abandoned an old woman to freeze to death]].
216*** Exactly. No phones, not that many private vehicles, no police patrols, and it could be easily ten miles on foot to the next house. An old person in that situation would be totally helpless unless someone on a cart or horse just happens to come along the road, which would be a very slim chance.
217*** Don't forget the wolves.
218*** Most people are unaware of this facet of history, but in times like these, [[SacredHospitality hospitality]] was seen not just as a kindness, but as a sacred duty. In cultures all over the world from India to Ancient Greece to early Judaism to Celtic. If you had any extra room, from a stable to a couch to a bedroom, you were expected to put up anyone who came to your door.
219** Even if he WAS disgusted by her looks, it's a BIG castle! Surely he could have provided some room and still stayed out of her way most of the time.
220** Also, very often in myth and fairy tales, typically if you ''were'' [[SacredHospitality hospitable to such a person]], when she revealed herself as a powerful being, she'd reward you instead. It was a test: If the boy is hospitable and treats her well, he gets a reward--probably some service provided by her magic, or the rose. If the boy kicks her out, he's punished.
221*** Both of the above resulted in the curse: The Prince didn't display the care a 'proper' ruler should have for his subjects, even if it's just letting the servants let her in to sit by a fire in the kitchen; and he didn't display even the kindness one would expect to show a helpless old woman, especially someone with resources as considerable as a prince's.
222*** It's also worth pointing out that the old woman, dressed in rags and begging for shelter, pulls out a ''perfect, blooming rose'' in the ''middle of winter'' and either nobody puts two and two together and thinks "something weird/magical is up" or nobody cares about pissing off a fairy. Either way, asking for trouble.
223** It's not like the movie says she was justified in cursing him.
224** As to why she was there, isn't it obvious? She wasn't scamming, she was there specifically to test the prince's heart. Whether she'd been watching from afar, knew what he was like, and then swooped in to bring down judgment, or she just regularly goes around testing people, it seems either providing boons or meting out punishments to those she meets is just what she does.
225[[/folder]]
226
227[[folder: Name of the Beast]]
228* Does the Beast have a name? The servants all call him "Master", the townspeople and Belle all call him "Beast", and after he transforms at the end he simply says "It's me."
229** Presumably he has a name and they just didn't mention it. Maybe they thought it would be odd for the Beast to say "By the way, my name is Bob" or whatever.
230** Maybe ''his actual name is "Beast"'', or "Beeste" or something similar, and that's what inspired the Enchantress in the first place.
231*** According to the tie-in game, his name is Prince Adam.
232*** The "tie-in" game is a game licensed but not overseen by Disney, so information from it is suspect.
233*** It still has more merit than mere random speculation, to be fair.
234** WordOfGod aka Paige O'Hara confirmed the Beast's name as being Adam.
235[[/folder]]
236
237[[folder: Why is Lumiere the only one with an accent?]]
238* The whole story is set in France. So why does only Lumiere have a thick french accent?
239** [[WildMassGuessing Originally]], Lumiere had a thick ''American'' accent. When they translated everything from French to English, they switched Lumiere's accent from American to French.
240*** Why was there an American in 18th century France?
241*** [[WildMassGuessing He was sent to France to raise support for the American revolution. But he landed a plush job as a prince's servant and abandoned his original mission]].
242** Maybe the various accents mean that the characters are from various parts of France - for example, the accent of people from Belle's village and the Beast's province are "translated" into American one, but the accent of Parisians is turned into a stereotypical French one. It's not hard to imagine that Lumiere (and the feather duster, who has an even heavier accent) are hired from Paris by the Prince.
243** In the French dub of the movie, Lumiere is the only one with an accent- an Italian accent, to fit the Latin Lover stereotype. All others accents vanished, including the British ones.
244** There's a bit of AccentAdaptation going on. Cogsworth has a posh English accent to reflect how stuffy he is, Mrs Potts has a cockney voice to indicate she's lower class, and the chef seems to be French as well. Lumiere appears to have his accent to reflect the charming Frenchman stereotype.
245* Theory: The movie isn't actually set in France - it's set in Belgium (which is also a French speaking nation, hence greetings of "Bonjour!" and names like Maurice and LeFou). The Belgian characters are all [[TranslationConvention translated]] as speaking American-accented English, but Lumiere is actually ''from'' France, and so their English translation retains a French accent.
246[[/folder]]
247
248[[folder: No one knew about the castle?]]
249* When Maurice and Belle stumble upon the castle, it seems new and mysterious to them. The Beast isn't even that old, so how does an entire castle seem to drop off the face of the earth to the rest of society?
250** The film was set in France sometime around the late 18th and early 19th century, which would imply the Beast was cursed around the time of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, noted for political instability.
251** Also, as someone [[WildMassGuessing guessed]] above, it's always possible that, while he's a prince, he's not literally the next in line for the French throne. Thus, maybe it's possible that the castle he lives in isn't the actual king's palace, and if so that would make sense that people didn't recognize it very well.
252*** Unlikely that he was even related to the King in any way. In the French feudal system, "Prince" was a legitimate nobility title more of less equivalent to a Duke, while the current heir to the throne would have been referred to as "Dauphin".
253** The Castle is isolated in the middle of the woods, at last a few miles from any local town. And due to class status, most of the commoners in Belle's village wouldn't be invited to the castle anyway, let alone KNOW about it's existence. The only people who WOULD have known about the Castle and its residences are other nobles and government representatives, who could have lived much farther away. And as soon as word got out that the place was cursed by a sorceress, they very quickly forgot about the estate to avoid falling victim to witchcraft also.
254** And in that time period, people (especially "poor provincial" ones) didn't travel much outside their homes, if at all. (Thanks to feudalism, many of them ''couldn't''.) So they may never even have seen the castle or known it was there before Maurice discovered it. If it was a private estate, they wouldn't even have to have known of messengers or nobles traveling in and out.
255** Remember the only communication is by mail carried by a horse, tourists are few, heck most people never went much of anywhere. If the Beast's estate wasn't hideously overdue in taxes or the subject of some major legal dispute, it could very easily "get lost".
256** Also, at the climax of the film when the enchantment is broken, the castle undergoes a transformation and reverts to its true form. The people may not have recognized it. It went from being festooned with gargoyles made of black stone to angelic figures made of marble.
257** The live action remake answered this by saying that one of the effects of the curse was that outsiders forgot the castle and its inhabitants' existence.
258** Ironically this is an AdaptationInducedPlotHole because for centuries people left out the one detail De Villeneuve used that rendered this question dismissable, the fae. Beast's mother and Beauty's father and their respective kingdoms were openly connected to the fairies. They more than likely were intended to be smaller kingdoms that fell in league with the fae world more than the french world. The nearby local villagers likely either are raised not to mess with it or deliberately pretend "what castle over in the woods".
259** Well, it' ain't said how long castle was cursed, so the castle, Prince, and the servants could be from a kingdom in a long bygone era and so were forgotten.
260[[/folder]]
261
262[[folder: What kind of adventure is this story?]]
263* So, the reprise of Belle's song has her longing for ''"...adventure in the great wide somewhere"'', yet the story has her trapped in the same building for most of it, and the happy ending is living in the same palace, which is incidentally within a short ride of her home? Even the sequel is still in the palace. Some "great wide somewhere".
264** It's been taken to be somewhat ironic. Belle does end up "somewhere," just a place she least expected.
265** Who's to say she and her prince ''didn't'' travel and adventure to any great wide somewheres after the story?
266** Guess technically she ''is'' having an adventure of a sort and she ''is'' out of that poor provincial town...
267** How often in life do you get EXACTLY what you wish for? She did get AN adventure, which is entirely different from the same old routine from her village. And it IS somewhere, so two out of three isn't too bad, right?
268** Some versions of the stage musical (but not the Disney version) address this explicitly; about halfway through, Belle sings a song where she basically realizes that what she really wants is love, and adventure is just a secondary desire.
269** It's genuinely just assumed that Belle realises that adventure doesn't necessarily mean things like climbing mountains, fighting dragons or solving a thrilling mystery.
270** She wants adventure, not necessarily world-wide travel. That's why she said "somewhere". She didn't care what the location was, she cared that it was an adventure.
271** It's more vague than an "adventure" and more like an experience greater than herself and her humdrum existence.
272** Exploring an ''enchanted palace'' is much more exciting and adventurous than a small, normal village. A lot of people would even say that's more of an adventure than travelling "the great wide somewhere". Plus Belle's dreams weren't just about travelling to new places, she also felt lonely and alienated in the town and wanted connections with like-minded people. ("And for once it might be grand, to have someone understand, I want so much more than they've got planned"). The Beast's castle was filled with more interesting, open-minded, entertaining people than the small-minded villagers. And she probably had more luck finding stimulating, intellectual conversation/fellow bookworms among the higher-ranking palace staff than rural peasants. Although she didn't go far in the film itself, once she married the Beast there's a whole world open to her: Who's to say they didn't travel afterwards? Or what kind of people she might have met?
273[[/folder]]
274
275[[folder: Such strange names]]
276* Why do human servants have names like [[ADogNamedDog Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts]]? And they [[ContrivedCoincidence just happened]] to turn into ''[[VisualPun a candelabra, a mantel clock, and a teapot]]?''
277** Lumiere and Mrs. Potts aren't terribly strange names. As for their transformed states, the Enchantress had a rather dark sense of humor...
278** Do we actually know what their jobs ''were''? Cogsworth was probably the head butler, also majordomo, before getting turned into a mantel clock doesn't really parallel that, does it? Having a name with "cog" in it does though. It's uncertain on what Lumiere's job would be that would match getting turned into a candelabra. Mrs Potts was either the housekeeper or the prince's nanny. Of course she could have had a completely different job but getting turned into a teapot kind of narrows down the possible work you can do.
279*** It's assumed Lumiere was honestly just in charge of lighting the castle, since it's lit by candles. Cogsworth was possibly like his personal assistant (whatever the archaic term was. Chaperone?), which would explain why time is his shtick- he's supposed to be punctual. Cogsworth spends a lot of time insisting they get from point A to point B in a timely and orderly fashion, so it's doubtful he's just the head of the kitchen and dining room.
280*** It would be imagined Cogsworth is the butler - the position (usually held by a male) is in charge of the entire male staff (likewise, the usually female housekeeper is in charge of the female staff, though if the house lacked one, the female staff would likewise follow the butler's direction.) As majordomo and head butler, Cogsworth would be the most senior member of the staff, explaining why he's commonly attempting to direct the other servants. And he wouldn't just be in charge of the dining room! The wine cellar and pantry would also fall under him, as could the entire first floor.
281** A mantel clock is a perfectly sensible form for a butler to be transformed into. Who do you think is responsible for making sure that all the other servants' work is completed precisely on time?
282** Also, while not necessarily canon, VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII has character profiles when you visit Beast's Castle stating that Cogsworth is the head butler and majordomo, Lumiere is the maitre d', Mrs. Potts is the head nanny, and the wardrobe, Madame de la Grand Bouche, is the castle's lady's maid.
283** [[https://youtu.be/Y9SAisRqUW0?t=1080 It has actually been directly confirmed by Will Finn (supervising animator for Cogsworth) that the objects the servants transformed into was based on their personality.]] Cogsworth has been turned into a mantel clock because he loves monotony.
284[[/folder]]
285
286[[folder: Chip's siblings]]
287* There's one scene where Mrs. Potts tells Chip to go to bed with his brothers and sisters in the cupboard, and you can see at least 10 or 20 other teacups. You also see 6 teacups when Gaston is in Beast's mansion. However, when everybody turns back into humans, Chip is the only child there. Where's everyone else?
288** Correction: There are only six other cups in the cupboard with Chip. And that number doesn't fluctuate; those six cups are seen dancing with Mrs. Potts in Be Our Guest. Chip just has six siblings (or three, and the other three are in-laws that his siblings married).
289** Further in that time, it wouldn't be uncommon for various children of the servants to be tended to and fostered by one person, to be educated in various things. So perhaps all the children were turned into cups and so they are Chip's siblings, he is just the only blood child of Mrs. Potts.
290** Also, just because we only see Chip change back doesn't mean the others weren't in the background somewhere in the ballroom. Or they were off playing/eating/doing chores while the adults and royals danced.
291** There were six other cups in the same ''compartment'' of the cupboard as Chip, and a dozen or so more in the other compartments. Guessing those six (who also helped Mrs. Potts pour hot tea on the villagers during their raid on the castle while Chip was off springing Belle and Maurice from the cellar where Gaston had imprisoned them) are all Chip's blood siblings, while the others are just children of the other kitchen staff. After all, it's highly unlikely Mrs. Potts was the ''only'' mother on staff at that estate.
292[[/folder]]
293
294[[folder: Was the castle not good enough for Maurice?]]
295* Why did Belle take her father back to their house instead of the Beast's castle after she saw him freezing in the mirror? She finally trusted the Beast, who had a full staff to take care of Maurice (and probably a personal physician, at that), whereas it was just her at their house in the village. She probably didn't have any medical training and it looked like she didn't seek out help from anyone in the village.
296** Maybe the village was just closer.
297** Yeah, ''Belle'' knew the Beast [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold wasn't such a bad guy]], but ''Maurice'' didn't know that. He ''was'' willing to go wandering around in the woods in winter to go get her back from the Beast's castle, but Belle probably figured that Maurice would be more comfortable waking up at home rather than in the castle of the guy who'd locked him up earlier.
298*** Have Maurice wake up in a more luxurious room (A part of the castle he hasn't seen yet). Have the Beast stay out of the way until Belle explains things to him. Problem solved.
299** They do explain that Maurice is still fearful of the Beast after being revived in his house, although very briefly, because it's before the townsfolk come to commit him to the asylum.
300** Or perhaps Belle simply didn't think of it at the time. She saw that her father was freezing to death in the woods - and her first instinct is to get him home and care for him. She probably may not have realised that she could have brought him back to the castle as well. Or more cynically, she was glad to be out of the place. While the Beast had become nicer to her, she still likely thought of the place as a prison. She didn't realise how much she truly loved him until she thought he was about to die.
301*** Well, even if the castle was big and was filled with kind servants and a master who grew on her, cabin fever could still have its effects if she was there for weeks or months. So she may have gone home for sentimental reasons. Some do that to places they haven't been in a while when they miss them.
302[[/folder]]
303
304[[folder: Knights during the battle]]
305* While Cogsworth is giving Belle a tour of the castle, they walk down a corridor filled with suits of armor that all turn to look at Belle as they walk by. So, where were these during the battle scene? Pretty sure they'd be much better "suited" for scaring off the villagers than assorted furniture, RuleOfFunny notwithstanding.
306** Perhaps the battle was actually bigger than it looked, and the armor suits ''were'' fighting off at least a few of the villagers and we just didn't get to see it.
307*** It could be due to the implications; the suits of armor have axes, so using them would've made the film too dark and gory for Disney (they changed Gaston's death from surviving the fall and being eaten by wolves to just falling for this reason).
308** The fight between the objects and mob wasn't just about effectively "fighting back", it was also about SCARING the villagers off! If animate suits of armor attacked, you'd think they're knights. (Even though knights were obsolete by this chapter of history) If animate furniture attacked, THAT would look freaky!!
309[[/folder]]
310
311[[folder: Gaston, there are plenty of fish in the sea.]]
312* Why did Gaston waste so much time, and energy (and ultimately his life) chasing Belle? Fine, she's pretty, but why chase after a woman who is ''clearly'' a bad match for you (not to mention doesn't like you), when you've got [[EveryoneLovesBlondes hot blonde]] [[TwinThreesomeFantasy TRIPLETS]] fawning over you?
313** Because Gaston is an entitled, arrogant bastard who believes he is automatically owed the best of the best. It doesn't matter that the Bimbettes are all pretty. They're not ''as pretty'' as Belle, which therefore makes them worse in Gaston's eyes, and Gaston just can't stand having the inferior version of something.
314** Perhaps initially, he wanted her because she was the only one he considered to be attractive enough to be worth him, but then she rejected him. That rejection was a huge blow to his massive ego and his ego is basically his entire identity. He needed to avenge himself to back up his own self image and the way other people looked at him. Plus there's always that 'you want what you can't have' thing.
315*** He says Belle's attractive in the film (''"In town there's only she, who's as beautiful as me..."'')
316** Besides of what above troper says, just pointing out that Gaston, if you remember, is a hunter. Maybe he sees Belle as some hard to get prey.
317** Plus, being Gaston, he was probably getting some action from all the women in town on the side anyway.
318*** The stage musical pretty much implies that that's true. Marrying Belle wouldn't have kept him from pursuing other women.
319** Exactly, she resisted him instead of immediately falling in his arms like the Bimbettes, which made her more of a challenge. "No girl alive stands a chance against you..."
320** In Gaston's own words, after asserting that Belle is indeed the most beautiful girl in town, "That makes her the ''best''; and don't I ''deserve'' the best?" Even if he weren't already rationalizing her rejections as PlayingHardToGet, his EntitledToHaveYou mentality is fully intact throughout the story.
321** Gaston doesn't think him and Belle would be a bad match. He's the most beautiful guy in town and she's the most beautiful girl; that makes them the perfect match! At least that's what Gaston thinks.
322[[/folder]]
323
324[[folder: What was Belle's plan?]]
325* What exactly did Belle think was going to happen with the Beast? Seriously the best she could have hoped for was being locked in her Father's cell and being an attractive young woman rather than a old man she should have been expecting a much worse fate. She couldn't possibly have known she'd be some combination of outright neglected and courted unless she's already read the story!
326** Belle wasn't really thinking about herself there; she was just trying to save her dad. Even if it did occur to her that the Beast might have something more... sinister... in mind, she probably didn't care as long as he let Maurice go.
327** Belle was clearly prepared to stay in the cell - given her surprise that she was to have her own room. But since when the Beast yelled at her for going into the West Wing, if he ''did'' make those kinds of advances on her, she might be prepared to defend herself and flee for her life.
328[[/folder]]
329
330[[folder: Cruel townspeople]]
331* Just how blind, sadistic and stupid are the townsfolk anyway? Despite Gaston being the town hero, good looking, strong, courageous till the climax and charismatic, surely the '''really''' obviously evil actions must have been [[EvenEvilHasStandards where they would have drawn the line]]. They're all aware that sending Maurice to a mental asylum was just a ploy by Gaston to blackmail Belle into marriage, they immediately ignore Belle's attempts to convince them the Beast is truly kind hearted after [[ManipulativeBastard Gaston's attempt to threaten her into wedlock]] despite how after all this time the Beast has been transformed, not one child has gone missing ([[FridgeLogic that we know of]]) and how even though Maurice was considered an oddball, no one found it peculiar how around the time he was begging for a rescue attempt, Belle was missing. These people just borderline between [[IdiotBall really]] [[TooDumbToLive stupid]] and [[MagnificentBastard really]] [[ShootTheDog sick]].
332** Remember the events that just happened before Gaston rallied them. They've never seen the Beast before until Belle showed them him roaring his lungs out in the mirror. Now they're scared out of their wits and won't believe Belle when she tells them that this roaring monstrosity is actually a decent, gentle creature. Gaston then comes in and plays on their fear and suspicion by setting up a scenario where Beast comes in to take their kids. He may have not done it before now, but who's to say he won't start? Then he starts acting brave and saying "Now let's kill this thing before it kills us!" You're a town person, and this town hero hunter guy you don't realize is actually a total dirtbag at heart, is telling you how you can protect yourself and your kids from a beast you've never seen before from killing you and your kids. These people are not entirely stupid, just fearful and easily misled.
333*** That explains their immediate decision to kill Beast, but that still leaves the original question unanswered why they didn't call Gaston out for all the cruel and selfish actions he did, setting Belle's father up to be locked away in a mental institute unless she agreed to marry him being the main one.
334** It was established that nobody likes Maurice and Belle very much. People think they are "odd" and "different" and for the town's people that's not much of a stretch to assume they are a little wrong in the head, and that sending Maurice to the asylum is therefore justified. As for "blackmailing Belle into marriage," well, every man envies Gaston and every woman swoons over him. That Belle and her father don't just adds to their oddness. Besides, for them it's not blackmailing, because a) a "good" boy does it to a "bad" girl; and b) there's nothing wrong with proving your manliness by showing a little force to stick it to a naughty woman who dares to reject ''Gaston''. That was pretty much a common DoubleStandard back then, really, especially in the countryside among the simple folk.
335** No one knows Belle or Maurice all that well, let alone liking them -- aside from the bookseller, who is strangely absent from mob scenes -- so for all the townsfolk knew, Belle really ''was'' PlayingHardToGet with Gaston.
336*** It's possible that, due to his kindness, when the bookseller got wind of the plan to imprison Maurice and blackmail Belle he wanted no part in it, hence his absence from the mob.
337** It's not that nobody ''likes'' Belle and Maurice, it's that everyone thinks Maurice is crazy and that Belle is not just odd, but ''ungrateful'' for rejecting their town hero's advances. It's likely that people are scared of Maurice, even if the asylum owner isn't, because you do see explosions come from their house, and nobody knows what he's inventing. Belle and Maurice disturb their boring, ordinary little lives they're content with having. They're not cruel, they're just very narrow-minded and simple, but not stupid. Everyone there likes their quiet lives, something they can't have with Belle and her father disturbing the status quo. None of them are doing it to be cruel and they're not doing it out of stupidity. If the town hero, who everyone trusts, says something's dangerous, and the only defense it gets is from a weird woman who reads fantasy novels when no other woman reads, you're probably going to side with the town hero. Simply put, nobody sees Gaston as selfish or cruel. They think he deserves Belle if he wants her.
338** Gaston rallied the crowd using something that, sadly in this case, does exist in real-life; Mob Mentality.
339** Who ever said that the townsfolk were aware of the blackmail ploy? Gaston discusses it with the asylum guy privately, not publicly. Then when they arrive at the house Gaston says that Maurice is crazy and needs to be locked up. He doesn't say "I'm running a blackmail ploy" or anything similar. He tells ''Belle'' that it's a ploy, but that's a quiet conversation and the townspeople aren't close enough to overhear it. The best they can get is the end of the conversation, where Belle shouts "Never!" and Gaston says "Have it your way" and it's not at all clear what they're referring to if you hadn't heard the earlier part.
340*** During the brief second portion of [[VillainSong ''Gaston'']], Gaston and [=LeFou=] are singing openly about doing something to Maurice (which we find out what later), and the villagers ''answer'' their lines to finish the song with "...So his marriage we soon will celebrating!..." so they know from the start that Gaston is planning ''something'' bad about Maurice that actually isn't justified beyond "I want Belle, and I don't like Maurice, so I'll use Maurice in some way to get Belle", and they just cheer him on. The Fridge page for this movie even has an entry about it. The above still answers it clearly on why they don't have a problem though, Maurice and Belle are the weirdos of the village, and Maurice has done something that probably makes them think he's cracked even further than they think he already had, and Gaston is their village's pride and joy, so what could possibly be objectionable to them about Gaston making some scheme to get what he rightly deserves and taking care of a town nuisance all in one fell swoop?
341*** Okay, the crowd at the bar knows that he's up to something. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the entire village is in on it.
342[[/folder]]
343
344[[folder: Why hide the fact that Belle is a prisoner?]]
345* This is rather minor, but the entire premise of the best-known musical number of the show is completely off-base. Why on earth would Lumiere insist that Belle's not their prisoner when that's clearly EXACTLY what she is?
346** Sugarcoating?
347** The above response may have been meant as a joke, but honestly, the commenter was on to something. Lumiere has already expressed a firm belief that Belle "has come to break the spell!". But she can't do that if the Beast keeps treating her like a prisoner. "She's our guest! We must make her feel welcome here!" is his way of trying to salvage a bad situation and make Belle feel at home.
348** Well yes she is technically the prisoner in the castle but it's not like she's forced to stay in a cell. She has the run of the castle and is allowed to do whatever she likes. The Beast also said his servants would attend to her, so she's to be treated like a guest even if she is really a prisoner. Hell, that's FridgeBrilliance to the title of the song: the servants are trying to convince Belle to think of herself as a guest in the castle and enjoy herself, especially if she's to stay there forever.
349** In addition to making Belle feel welcome and less fearful, a large portion of the song hints that the servants are doing it precisely ''because'' it gives them something to do, someone to wait on, and just a chance to do their jobs as servants. As Lumiere says, most days they just laze around the castle not doing anything; there's even a line in the remake that goes something like: "It's been ''years'' since we've had anybody here, and we're ''obsessed!''"
350** Worth noting is, “Be Our Guest” was originally going to be performed by the servants for Maurice when he was at the castle. In that scenario, the term “guest” would be more appropriate, but they realized it would be better if the song was sung for Belle rather than her father.
351[[/folder]]
352
353[[folder: What were those angels doing?]]
354* Could somebody explain the whole angel scene while Belle and the Beast are dancing? The camera pans upward to the ceiling where some angels are painted on. You watch as some shift out of the clouds, then we go back to the pair dancing. Are the angels supposed to be watching Belle and the Beast dancing too? Or is there some hidden meaning?
355** It's always assumed they were more transformed children of the castle staff.
356** It can also be seen as time-lapse, showing how much time was passing during the dance, with the moving angels signifying a different angle/point-of-view from Belle and Beast as they changed positions below.
357** The angels are cherubs--it's a [[DanceOfRomance Dance of Romance]].
358** The cherubs were presented to compliment the lyric "as the sun will rise", since [[LightisGood]]the sun is associated with God/Heaven/Goodness and cherubs are thought of as heavenly beings. The accompanying rise in the music serves to emphasize this as well.
359[[/folder]]
360
361[[folder: What if the townspeople come back?]]
362* So the curse is lifted at the end, the Beast is back to being a prince, his servants are back to being human...but what (besides Gaston being dead, plain old fear and being freaked out by the magical light show) is stopping the villagers from coming back and trying a second time to kill the Beast, or anyone they can find?
363** Well, Gaston led them there in the first place, and he had a Magic Mirror. Him being dead is what stops them mostly - but also the prince isn't a beast any more. Nothing to be afraid of there.
364** And if they did go back, they would then find the restored prince with all his servants and soldiers. Even if they didn't immediately change their tune and bow down, they'd have had far too large a force to face in order to do anything, so they'd have to give up.
365** The villagers are a bunch of simplistic, superstitious bumpkins. The last time they came back they got attacked by self-animated housewares and their leader dropped off a balcony by a genuine monster. Unless they've got the army or at least the local militia at their back (fat chance; who'd believe them?), they aren't going anywhere near that castle again.
366** Let's not forget that the mob invaded the home of a prince in what seems to be 18th-19th century France with hostile intent and actions. The village might be filled with superstitious bumpkins, but it's doubtful even a superstitious bumpkin would risk provoking the wrath of a prince in the time period the movie is set in after what happened when the mob invaded the castle. Going from French law in the assumed time period, the prince would be within his rights to have the villagers who took part in Gaston's invasion executed or at least the ringleaders who survived the invasion of the castle. It would be better to avoid provoking the prince's wrath if not try to be friendly to with him.
367** The villagers don't know that the Beast and the Prince are the same person. If a new mob got together and decided to kill the Beast, they wouldn't know where to find him. The Prince could just say "Oh, you're looking for the Beast? Perhaps he ran off into the woods after he killed Gaston..."
368** There's also the fact that if they return the creepy haunted castle with the Beast and living furniture they left will be replaced with a different castle full of people and headed by a Prince. They'd have no proof to go on, and the prince could simply tell them they were crazy and there's obviously no magic silverware or Beast here, and some of them might even believe they actually were crazy and all of that was a hallucination. And as mentioned, he's a nobleman and his entourage and they're a bunch of village peasants. His word trumps theirs by far, and he could basically have them all executed if it tickled his fancy, so they'd have to believe what he told them to if they valued their skins.
369** And how would they find their way back to the castle without the mirror? Gaston used it to find the place - which was also at night so it's unlikely they would be able to remember. Besides if you got attacked by a bunch of enchanted objects, would ''you'' want to go back?
370** Pretty sure if they were just told that the castle was cursed and Belle broke the curse, it wouldn't have been that difficult to explain for the Prince, or to believe for the mob. After all, ANIMATE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS fought them back.
371*** That also gives them a nice out too, they can tell themselves they only tried to attack the Beast's castle/listened to Gaston because of the mirror/a curse, so now of course they won't try anything again and will be happy to leave the heroic curse-breaking Belle in peace with the restored prince!
372** There's the issue with the "or anyone they can find" part. The villagers supported Maurice being thrown into the loony bin because they genuinely thought he belonged there, and they got behind killing the Beast because they thought he was as savage and dangerous as his appearance implied. That doesn't point to them being cold-blooded murderers who would try to kill an entire castle filled with ordinary ''human'' people.
373[[/folder]]
374
375[[folder: How many servants were at the castle?]]
376* The sheer number of animated dishes/furniture in "Be Our Guest" is pretty amazing. Did the Beast's household really have that many servants? Seems like a lot of people to wait on one guy.
377** Some European castles, especially ones the size of the Beast's, had staffs that numbered in the hundreds. Comparatively speaking, Beast's staff is pretty average.
378** Plus, it's a big castle. You need a lot of servants/workers to take care of it.
379** This is pre-industrial revolution; everything has to be done by hand. You'd need a small army just to keep the place looking nice, never mind anything else. An estate with a staff of ''hundreds'' wouldn't even be close to 'large' in that era.
380** The prince might not have had that many servants and the enchantress's spell simply brought some of the inanimate objects to life as well. One theory is that only things that have recognisable faces and personalities were originally servants. Things like forks, tankards, glasses etc were just brought to life by the enchantment.
381*** ^ If that's the case, then why were the nameless household appliances so eager to convince Belle to "be their guest?" If she falls in love with the Beast, that means they lose their sentience and sense of self.
382*** Most of them probably ''weren't'' sentient, but more like trained animals or pre-programmed machines.
383** Some of them may have been transformed animals, not just humans. Remember the dog-footstool? An estate that large would have its own livestock as well as kennels and vermin-control cats.
384[[/folder]]
385
386[[folder: Surprise wedding for Belle]]
387* ''How'' did Belle not notice the ''massive wedding ceremony'' being set up ''right next'' to her house?
388** She's a deep sleeper. Maybe she was reading that book till the early hours of the morning and slept in.
389** She's a reader. There are plenty of stories of readers who miss rather loud and obvious events because they are lost in a book, especially if they are reading their favorite book.
390*** It can be confirmed on failing a spot check as badly as Belle by book-distraction.
391** Maybe she ''did'' notice the wedding, but wasn't interested in the details-- especially since at this point she had no idea that the wedding was going to be for her.
392** Also, Gaston was making it a point for the wedding to be a ''surprise'' for Belle - her not noticing them setting it up was kind of the idea.
393[[/folder]]
394
395[[folder: But it does have pictures, Gaston!]]
396* Why did Gaston claim their were no pictures in Belle's book when we saw a picture during the scene where she shows it to the sheep?
397** There could be two answers to this: One, that we were seeing the book through Belle's eyes during "Belle" ("Well, some people use their imaginations.") and she saw the pictures in place of the text because of it being her favorite story. Or two, that Gaston's casual, disinterested flipping through just didn't land on any pictures and he dismissed it before Belle could show him differently.
398** And its to show that he's likely an unintelligent brute who values manly hunting and banging hot women over reading and knowledge. He's also likely illiterate, as pictures were a great way to tell a story to illiterate people back in those days.
399** Gaston may have looking for a certain ''kind'' of picture, nudge-nudge-wink-wink, so anything else didn't count.
400*** Considering how he holds the book, that was what the animators were probably implying, but it's likely he just missed what few pictures there are in what seems to be a retelling of ''Sleeping Beauty'' (since the original tale could not make for an inch-thick book).
401[[/folder]]
402
403[[folder: Fate of [=LeFou=]]]
404* So what the hell happened to [=LeFou=]? Is he dead?
405** He probably survived with the rest of the mob, but he was too unimportant to Disney to be followed up on. Like, really, who cares about a little French man with a big fleshy nose?
406[[/folder]]
407
408[[folder: Fate of the magic mirror]]
409* Does anyone know what happened to the Magic Mirror?
410** The last time we saw it, Gaston had it. He probably tucked it away, and when he fell off the roof into the chasm it went with him.
411** And with the curse being broken, the Beast wouldn't need it anymore. Maybe it disappeared when everyone turned back.
412[[/folder]]
413
414[[folder: How old is Mrs. Potts]]
415* So is Mrs. Potts younger than she looks, or is Chip adopted? Guess it's not impossible that a woman as old as she APPEARS to be could have had a child only years before, but she certainly looks well past child-bearing age, and Chip is just a small child, so he can't have been born more than a few years before the transformation/age-freezing.
416** Adopted may make sense, as Mrs. Potts seems to be the Castle Nanny. Maybe his teacup mother shattered at one point and she took it upon herself to look after him.
417** This being an age when a lot of people were shaving their heads and wearing powdered wigs to cut down on time spent taking care of their hair (Mr. Henry Cogsworth for one: watch his head near the end when Lumiere slaps him with a glove during their little squabble), Perhaps Mrs. Potts is wearing one of those powdered wigs when she's transformed back, and is actually no older than her mid-forties. Chip was probably her very last child out of seven, and she probably ''is'' well past menopause now, but other than her hair, she shows no signs of being particularly elderly (no wrinkles or arthritis).
418** Or more simply she went grey at a young age. It happens.
419** See AbsurdlyElderlyMother in some cases.
420[[/folder]]
421
422[[folder: Why didn't Belle try making a run for it?]]
423* Obviously, Belle was scared of the Beast in the beginning, but she was still confident enough to talk back to him and wander round the castle. Even in places where she was specifically told not to. It seems odd that she didn't try leaving before, like she does when he yells at her. There's nothing stopping her.
424** She gave her word.
425** Because she promised him in order to save her father. Breaking a promise right away wouldn't really look good for her character, and even if she ''did'' try to escape, the Beast would immediately come after her anyways. She didn't have much of a choice.
426** And the Beast didn't seem that bad. Well if you get past the fur and fangs, he's just more like a grumpy child who likes to yell. And despite all his yelling when Belle won't come down to dinner, she could probably see it was all just bluster. After all he ''didn't'' break the door down like he threatened to. She only fled when the Beast got properly violent in the West Wing. So essentially she didn't think her life was in danger and when she did, that's when she got out of there.
427** Belle seems like the type of girl who would try to make the best out of a bad situation, so maybe at first she was waiting to see what life in the castle would be like. She ''is'' a lover of fairy tales so perhaps on some level deep down she did find the experience a little exciting. After she's been cheered up with "Be Our Guest", she seems really keen to explore the castle and find out more. As said multiple times, once she thought her life was actually in danger, that's when she escaped.
428** And take into account the events that unfolded - Belle is trapped in the castle, her father sent away without a goodbye and her not knowing what's really going on. As the Beast leads her to her room, she's still numb or in shock from what's just happened (in the space of one evening, she's gone from trying to find her father to suddenly being an eternal prisoner to a monster in an enchanted castle). Then after she's had a good cry, along comes Mrs Potts and the other magical servants to cheer her up. Belle's curiosity is immediately overriding everything else; she wants to find out more about the castle and these strange people, which is why she doesn't escape immediately.
429** Plus, she has no reason to think that the Beast wouldn't have tried to stop her, and there isn't a lot she can do against someone of his size and strength. He was probably going out to bring her back when he ended up saving her from the wolves.
430[[/folder]]
431
432[[folder: How'd they fill in the gaps?]]
433* The magic mirror only shows the Beast's face, and everyone was entirely unaware of him until then. This page also establishes that everyone has either forgotten about the castle or don't know it's there, so how did Gaston know that "at the drawbridge of a castle/and there's something truly terrible inside" was where the Beast was?
434** Because Maurice told everyone earlier at the tavern.
435** Also, remember that Gaston ''keeps'' the magic mirror and carries it around with him. The mirror shows you whatever you want, right? So he could say things like "Show me where the Beast lives" and "Show me how to get there". He may have even done this off-screen during the early part of the "Kill the Beast" song, when the villagers were singing among themselves.
436*** The live action version shows him using the mirror, during the mob song, to see where the castle is.
437** It's worth noting that the castle doesn't actually ''have'' a drawbridge. It's just a regular bridge. Gaston is perfectly willing to make things up on the fly.
438[[/folder]]
439
440[[folder: Chip freeing Belle and Maurice?]]
441* How did Chip know how to work the wood-chopper?
442** He was eight, he probably had some sort of instinct for technology.
443** There's a time gap between the mob going after the Beast (they're seen chopping down a tree to make a battering ram, and that takes time) and Chip steering the machine into the door. During that time it's likely Chip tried different things and figured it out.
444** In addition, it's a wood-chopper made in...whatever century in which this movie is set. Regardless of how many parts it has, it can't be ''that'' complicated for someone to actually use.
445[[/folder]]
446
447[[folder: How does Belle know how to dance?]]
448* This may be a minor detail...but how is it that, during "Tale as old as Time", Belle apparently knew how to dance? It's assumed the Beast would have...He's a prince, after all, so assuming he would've learned how to at some point in his life...but instead, ''he's'' the one who looks nervous when the scene begins. But where, when, and how would Belle have learned how to dance so well if she was shown from the beginning to be a bookworm with no romantic interest in boys?
449** She may have read a book about it. As for the dance itself, she was the woman, all she had to do was follow.
450** She could have danced with her father too. It's not unreasonable to suggest there were occasional village celebrations Belle may have attended too.
451** Why wouldn't Belle know how to dance? She was more intelligent and curious than a typical village girl yes, but she wasn't a tomboy or anything that had dislike for girly things. She wore dresses, enjoyed the romance in her stories, is implied to be the one who does the cooking and cleaning at home, and probably enjoyed dancing as a girl. Just because she wanted nothing to do with the local meathead didn't mean she had zero interest in any form of romantic things.
452** Maybe she danced with Maurice at home. Father and daughter are very close, so why wouldn't they dance together occasionally?
453** "Every morning just the same since the morning that we came to this poor provincial town..." That and the fact that nobody ever mentions Belle's mother strongly suggests that Belle and Maurice haven't lived there all their lives, and that in fact Belle remembers living in a place that wasn't a poor provincial town. She may have learned to dance at the place where they used to live when her mother was alive, and it was probably neither poor nor provincial.
454[[/folder]]
455
456[[folder: Does Adam have a tailor among his servants?]]
457* So...when the Enchantress cursed the Beast, did she also magically increase the size of all of his clothing? Adam seems like a pretty big guy even when we see him as a human in the ending, but when you look at that waistcoat he's wearing during his dinner with Belle...Or did he just have one of his servants make him new clothes during the ten years he spent alone?
458** Well back in those days a prince's clothes ''were'' usually made for him, or possibly imported. He already has a seamstress on staff. And in the movie he only really starts wearing clothes after the relationship with Belle starts to blossom. So it's possible he didn't have any clothes made until then. Again it's the Wardrobe's job to make them; she doesn't just produce the clothes out of thin air.
459** He may have worn clothing in the early stages of his curse, and it's obvious that at least ''some'' clothes were made to fit his beastly frame as once he turns back into a human his Beast-proportioned clothes no longer fit him properly, even walking directly out of his cape because it can no longer hang around his shoulders.
460** Human or Beast, he's still a ''prince'', hence has authority over the other people in the castle. He probably just commandeered a set of clothes belonging to some tall, muscular servant and had them altered to fit his new body. The fact that the servant in question was probably a hatstand or something, hence doesn't need his clothes anymore, makes it even more likely.
461** Also, we do see one of said hatstands involved in grooming him when he's preparing for the dinner/dance night. While this more falls under the duties of a barber, it certainly implies other such bedroom furniture could be involved in tailoring the suit we later see him wearing.
462[[/folder]]
463
464[[folder: Why not tell her why it's forbidden?]]
465* When attempting to talk Belle out of entering the west wing, why didn't Lumiere and Cogsworth simply explain the reason why the room was forbidden by the Beast? While the Beast was a bit more justified (his curse was obviously nothing he wanted to brag about), It's incomprehensible why Cogsworth and Lumiere would have a problem explaining the whole enchanted rose scenario. They were clearly desperate to prevent Belle from entering, and their efforts weren't really helping ("The master is hiding nothing"), so why didn't they just tell her everything?
466** If Adam doesn't want anyone to know about his curse, it's unlikely he would be happy if his servants went about telling people. Plus, it's not entirely true that he was really ''hiding'' anything in the west wing, aside from maybe the fact that it was all torn up, which to Belle didn't come as very surprising anyway...It's just his private chambers.
467** It's stated that the Beast's mind is becoming more animalistic. He goes to the West Wing to act out his bestial behaviors. In the commentary, it's stated that part of his anger over Belle being there is that he was ashamed that Belle saw what he'd done.
468** Plus, the servants might not know precisely why Adam doesn't want anyone going into the West Wing. He'd already told Belle it was forbidden, so they weren't really able to give her anything more than that.
469[[/folder]]
470
471[[folder: Everyone Calls Him "Beast"]]
472* Why doesn't the Beast ever tell Belle his real name during the film? They'd likely get tired of calling him "Beast", and it serves as a problem to the audience as well, since we never find out (in the film, at least) what his real name is supposed to be?
473** Worth noting is that if you ask Belle at Disneyland what the Beast's real name is, she'll say it's been so long that he's forgotten what it was.
474*** [[TooLongDidntDub A-d-a- er, what were the following over nine thousand letters again?]]
475** Beast is ashamed of his transformation. Perhaps the very memory that he used to be human is painful for him, because it reminds him of how far he's fallen. That's why he tore up his own portrait in the West Wing. Likewise, the name "Adam" reminds him of his past, so he prefers to call himself "Beast" in the meantime and he doesn't tell Belle his original name. (Presumably he tells her after the spell is broken.)
476[[/folder]]
477
478[[folder: Why did the Enchantress curse an innocent child?]]
479* So, the enchantress transformed Adam's servants because they were supposedly responsible for making him a selfish prince, but did she have to transform ''Chip''? Whether they age with the spell in effect or not, he had to still be a little kid when it was originally cast - what could he have done to Adam that caused him to become more of a royal pain?
480** From someone who's not a fan of the "servants are partly responsible" hypothesis, no, she was a fairy, and she was a trickster, and assuming she did anything due to being a nice entity is coming at it from the wrong angle. She was screwing with people as a way to entertain herself.
481** Whether you think that or not is up to you, but both the stage adaptation and one of the sequels confirm that the servants were responsible because they went along with everything Adam said, gave him everything he wanted, without objecting to any of it. What you have written here is a theory, and it's not a very likely one, either - the Enchantress was testing Adam's character by requesting shelter in return for a rose. Whether she was a trickster or not, she still proved that he was heartless, selfish, and cruel before his curse. She cast the spell as a means of convincing him to change; if she'd done it just to mess with him for entertainment, why would she have given him a way to reverse it?
482** As to why Chip was transformed: because the Enchantress wasn't ''completely'' heartless. Think of what would have happened to him if his mother (adopted or otherwise) was no longer able to care for him because she was a teapot? He'd be a little boy all on his own, unable to take care of himself, in an isolated castle with a selfish prince who had just been transformed into a beast. What do you think would have happened then? If he had somehow managed to escape the castle, there's no way he could have made it to civilization at his age, and if he had, in those days lost children were usually not taken in but left to wander on their own as street urchins. And even if none of this happened, and the objects could take care of him the way they did Beast, he would have kept aging while his mother did not. So he was transformed to keep him safe and of the same age as his family. A similar argument probably applies to why the dog was transformed.
483[[/folder]]
484
485[[folder: Cursing the dog]]
486* Similar to the Enchantress turning everyone to furniture, but why did she ''turn the dog into a footstool?'' That's makes just as less sense as the servants. It didn't seem to have any role in the prince's selfishness and even if it did, it doesn't have any fault for it--because it's well, a dog. What's the point of turning a dog into a footstool?
487** It's a guess that the Enchantress just put a curse on the entire castle and every living thing inside it, without discrimination. The point of it was to teach Adam a lesson, meaning she clearly believed that he ''could'' be changed, so perhaps she didn't want him to have to give up his dog due to an inability to take care of it...or something.
488** Part of the Beast's curse is that he succumbs to bestial impulses when he loses his temper. It's entirely possible that the Enchantress transformed the estate's livestock and pets to protect them from the Beast's own animal side. Alternately, she may have figured that the dog would no longer recognize the young prince as a Beast, and transformed it so ''it'' could no longer bite ''him''.
489[[/folder]]
490
491[[folder: Phillipe must double as a GPS system!]]
492* Phillipe abandons Maurice sometime before Maurice finds the castle. He later arrives back with Belle to lead her to the castle where her father is held. This makes no sense, how did Phillipe know where the castle was, let alone Maurice?
493** That's...a good point. The only answer to come up with is Philippe was very smart for a horse, so he was able to bring Belle back to where he abandoned Maurice. And since there was only one road through the forest in that direction, other than the dead end at the cliff, there was nowhere else he could have gone. So she followed the road until she found the gate, and then saw his hat.
494** Another possibility is Phillipe came across the castle after Maurice had already gone inside, deduced that it's the only logical place his rider could've been, and went back to fetch Belle and bring her there to help. Though, to admit, this does seem a bit ''too'' smart for a horse like Phillipe to have mustered.
495** A careful viewing makes this a mere nitpick: take a look at the scene in which Phillipe abandons Maurice, and you'll notice it was no more than a (very) short run from there to the front gate of Beast's estate. (The wolves were already menacing them when Phillipe fled, and Maurice managed to make a narrow escape even when they were obviously closing in on him a lot faster than he could run.) While the geography is a bit difficult to track, the place where Phillipe abandoned him was at the top of a cliff, and the estate's gate is apparently somewhere down near the bottom of that same cliff. While Phillipe wouldn't have known the way to the estate itself, he could surely have taken Belle to the top of the cliff, and (it being somewhat lighter and less foggy out there when she arrived) she wouldn't have had that much trouble finding the gate from there. At the gate was her father's hat, so she immediately knew she was at the right place.
496** Philippe might also have the same scent tracking skills as Maximus from Tangled.
497[[/folder]]
498
499[[folder: What if he had died?]]
500* So what would happen if the Beast died before the curse was lifted?
501** Every servant would've probably remained an animated object forever since the curse can never be broken.
502** Notice how when the Beast ''does'' nearly die, we see the servants sadly hanging their heads as the last petal falls. Perhaps it was pretty obvious they knew (or at least figured) that they'd be stuck as enchanted household appliances without their master alive to break the spell.
503** At least, they'd be stuck that way until the Enchantress came back to check whether Prince Adam had learned his lesson or not. But the servants would have no way of knowing if she ever intended to return or if something might've happened to her in the meantime.
504[[/folder]]
505
506[[folder: How to proclaim one's love?]]
507* Did the love between Belle and the Beast require a verbal proclamation in order to break the spell, or did Belle just not love him until that exact moment at the end? The prologue just says that he had to give his love to someone else and have her love him, in return, but it doesn't say anything about actually ''saying'' they loved him. Would the spell simply be unbreakable if, say, Belle happened to be mute?
508** Probably not. The only reason she has to say it is the RuleOfPerception: she has to ''show'' us she loves him. If she were mute, she could maybe use some kind of sign language (a personal one between her and him, since there was no standardized sign language in France at the time), or just kiss him full on his big hairy lips. How she communicates she loves him isn't important, only that she ''means'' it.
509** And maybe the love has to be acknowledged by her.
510[[/folder]]
511
512[[folder: Lumiere's lucky guess]]
513* How did Lumiere know that the Beast giving Belle the library would make her so happy? She showed a little interest when he mentioned the castle having its own library (which she promptly used as an excuse to sneak off to the West Wing) but he had no way of knowing about her love of books.
514** The library was the first thing that Belle genuinely seemed to find interesting at the castle, enough so that it almost pulled her attention away from visiting the west wing. Lumiere must've figured it was a pretty safe bet.
515** Or maybe Maurice mentioned his daughter's love of reading while he was locked up. Presumably Beast didn't intend to feed his captive or empty the guy's chamber pot himself, so the servants would've had access to Maurice's cell and could've heard him moaning to himself about how poor Belle will have only her books for company without him.
516** And maybe they didn't know she would react that way. Maybe Lumiere was like "she seemed excited to hear we have a library" and the Beast tried that - and it was his good luck that Belle really loved it.
517** The way they conclude that the library will work is when Lumière says they need something special as a gift for her — “something that sparks her interest.” She didn’t just seem slightly interested in the library; it was the only thing that could draw her interest away from the west wing when she had otherwise resisted all attempts to distract her. It doesn’t take a genius to surmise that of the things they already know about her and what the castle has to offer, the library was their best shot.
518[[/folder]]
519
520[[folder: Why not tell Adam about Maurice first?]]
521* Lumiere is supposed to be hospitable and everything, but why did he think it safe to go so far towards making Maurice feel welcome when he arrived at the castle? Leaving him to freeze to death outside is one thing, of course, and they are all under a curse due to being so ''un''hospitable in the first place, but when you know that your master's got a bit of a temper, wouldn't it be a good idea to at least consider letting him know about Maurice before rolling out the welcome wagon?
522** Lumiere seems to be TheMcCoy to Cogsworth's [[TheSpock Spock]] on Beast's staff. Where Cogsworth always seems to prefer a practical solution that won't tick off his boss, Lumiere [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight shows little regard for any of his master's ultimatums]] when they get in the way of being friendly and hospitable. Had the matter been left to Cogsworth, he would most likely have just told the staff to put Maurice in the kitchen with a crust of bread and have the stove chef warm him up; then he'd wait until Beast was in a relatively peaceable mood before casually letting slip that he's put up the first visitor the castle has had in a decade in the kitchen, just a harmless old beggar, really... ("Besides, you remember what happened the last time we turned away a seemingly harmless old beggar, master?") Passionate and hot-blooded fellow that he is, Lumiere doesn't have the time or inclination to bother with such trivial matters; also, since he knows from experience the Beast's bark has usually been worse than his bite for the last decade, he probably subscribes to the philosophy that it's easier to get forgiveness than permission from the boss.
523** Maybe he was thinking about doing that, but wanted Maurice to get settled in first, and Beast showed up before Lumiere could tell him himself.
524** Maurice is being ministered to by a ''talking candelabra and mantel clock''. He's barely managing not to FreakOut, faint, and/or run screaming as it is: expecting him to meekly comply if they ask him to ''follow them'' - to the kitchen or anyplace else - would be asking too much of the poor guy's nerves.
525** Maurice mentioned he only needed to stay for the night - perhaps Lumiere thought he could get away with letting Maurice bunk in the parlor without his master being any wiser and then hurry him out once dawn breaks.
526[[/folder]]
527
528[[folder: Aren't the wolves still around?]]
529* When Belle rushes to save Maurice, neither she nor the Beast think about the wolf pack wandering in the woods. Yeah, heat of a moment and all, but it just is a headscratcher that at no point anyone goes 'Hey, last time Belle left, she got attacked by wolves. What if that happens again?'
530** Considering the fact that Maurice was in great danger of freezing to death at that point, guess they figured getting him to safety was more important than worrying about the wolves attacking, which seems to be a 50/50 chance anyway, since they didn't seem to attack Belle when she first arrived to the castle. Even if they did happen to attack Belle again, pretty sure the Beast would've been keeping watch to make sure to scare them off again. Also, since the wolves got curb-stomped by the Beast the first time they attacked, they may have been hoping that the pack's instincts would tell them not to go after Belle again.
531** Perhaps the wolves would have recognised Belle's scent, and known not to go near her in case the Beast came after them.
532[[/folder]]
533
534[[folder: Where did the magic mirror come from?]]
535* Did the Enchantress give it to the Beast? Why?
536** Possibly she had ''two'' such mirrors, and left him one of them to imply that she'll ''always'' be watching, and judging, him. It's a way to ensure he'll keep the need to reform himself in mind. Likewise, the portrait depicting what he'd look like if he ''hadn't'' been cursed was probably her way of taunting/reminding him as well, because any mundane painting made before she'd cursed him would show an eleven-year-old boy.
537** Pretty sure this was explained in the movie - the Enchantress gave him the mirror to serve as his window to the outside world.
538*** Expanding on that, perhaps she gave him the mirror so he might see some examples of people being nice to each other (since he obviously couldn't just stroll into town in his Beast form), and that in turn might teach him how to be a better person.
539** It may actually have belonged to Adam - it's not hard to imagine that he was quite vain about his appearance and [[{{Narcissist}} often admired his own reflection with that mirror.]] The Enchantress enchanting it as well would be another bit of cruel irony she would impose on the prince, forced to always look at his horrid transformation before showing the world that he can no longer be a part of because of his new appearance.
540*** The live action version supports this theory as the magic mirror is the same mirror he was using in the prologue.
541[[/folder]]
542
543[[folder: Belle really screwed up.]]
544* What exactly was going through Belle's mind when she entered the West Wing? Not only did she know full well that she wasn't supposed to enter it, but considering her horrified reaction when the Beast spotted her, she also knew she would be in ''big'' trouble if she got caught. For that matter, why didn't Lumiere and Cogsworth simply tell her that the Beast could very likely be hanging out in that room instead of just trying to divert her attention away from it?
545** Curiosity. As for Lumiere and Cogsworth not telling her that, they were panicking and not thinking very straight. Plus, in the back of their minds they probably didn't want to imply to Belle that going where the Beast is can be dangerous.
546** It's also established that Belle is a lover of fairy tales and fantasy. Maybe she thought that the West Wing might have the cause of the enchantment. And remember at this point, Belle is on a bit of a roll defying the Beast. He ordered her to come down to dinner. She didn't and snuck out later to have some - and nothing bad happened. So if the Beast didn't do anything in retaliation for her sneaking out, maybe she thought she could test the water by going into the West Wing.
547** They also want to set Belle up with the Beast, so it's possible they're downplaying some of his worse qualities. They've already gotten off on the wrong foot so telling her he's likely to throw a tantrum if she goes in the West Wing isn't going to scream romance in Belle's mind.
548[[/folder]]
549
550[[folder: Gaston's death]]
551* After watching the film in HD, there's a bit where Gaston seems to [[DisneyVillainDeath plummet into a river]] under the bridge (beforehand, it just looked like a misty ravine). This now makes one wonder why we don't actually see Gaston make a splash when falling into the river. He just disappears into nothingness.
552** SpecialEffectFailure?
553** Considering the height he fell from, maybe he didn't really make one. A surface of water is a little like concrete after a fall like that.
554[[/folder]]
555
556[[folder: No one shoots like Gaston!]]
557* During "Gaston", how was Gaston able to fire his gun three times without reloading?
558** Maybe he has a few shells in one bullet?
559*** [[Memes/BeautyAndTheBeast No one fires his gun three times without reloading like Gaston!]]
560[[/folder]]
561
562[[folder: Discrepancy in the sequel]]
563* If Lumiere said that "ten years we've been rusting" and that the Beast must love someone before his 21st birthday, it would mean that the prince was around 11 when he was cursed. But in the flashback scene in ''The Enchanted Christmas'', the prince looks the same as he did when he changed back. What's up?
564** Did we watch the same film? He did look younger in the flashback, though probably older than 11.
565** Here's a theory: it has to do with the way time is told in the castle. Aside from the fact that the castle as a whole is apparently wiped from the reality or at least the minds of the villagers, and that seasons don't seem to sync up between the worlds (snow at Belle's house while the castle shows springtime conditions), the windows are totally covered when Maurice appears. Sunlight does not venture in and there are no calendars. The servants in the castle have no means to tell the passing of the days, or even the passage of minutes--except, of course, for Cogsworth, who hardly ever moves the hands of his face and is often seen being overwound or losing gears. By all accounts, it appears that Cogsworth is attempting to judge the passage of time by his own 'heart'beats, and that is subject to any number of variations in tempo and his own attention. If the castle is always as quiet and boring as it is when Maurice enters, scarce wonder that, even if the times around the castle and in the town are synced up, the servants think that a much more significant amount of time has passed than they realize.
566** Perhaps once the curse hit, they were ageless. The appliances/servants obviously can't age anymore, and since their fate is linked with that of their master's it would make sense that he didn't age either. It also can mean that the Enchantress was at least a little kind and didn't take physical years away from them.
567** Or even easier, Lumiere was speaking in metaphors, and the curse hasn't lasted a decade but a couple years.
568** Technically speaking, no one ever says the curse has been in effect for ten years; the servants only say it's been that long ''since they've had a guest.'' It could be that the prince had disallowed guests in his castle for some years ''before'' the Enchantress showed up and cursed him. (Which also explains ''why'' she tested him by posing as someone who needed to be taken in.)
569** The simplest answer to this and any other question that arises from Lumiere's 'ten years' line is that he's exaggerating. He demonstrates a flair for the dramatic all throughout the movie, and with the rose already beginning to wilt he knows they're short on time, so of course he'd take the opportunity to tug at Belle's heartstrings a little bit.
570[[/folder]]
571
572[[folder: What happens to all of those appliances once the curse is broken?]]
573* Given that a significant amount of the castle's furnishings are enchanted servants, do they have to replace all the items that get turned back into living beings?
574** They were turned into what they were using or love; they probably just merged with the already-standing appliances and when the curse was broken everything turned back to normal and the tools were restored. Think about how the outside of the castle also changed to show everything was truly back to the way it was before.
575[[/folder]]
576
577[[folder: Adam's recovery]]
578* What happened to Beast's stab wound when he reverted back into a human?
579** You answered your own question. The curse breaking resulted in a ResetButton where the castle and everyone in it reverted to the way they'd been before. The Beast physically dies and the spell restores him to life, presumably healing the stab wound too.
580** The remake explicitly shows the Enchantress undoing the curse herself, despite that Belle only confessed her love after the rose wilted in that version. She probably healed his wounds and restored him to life in the process as an acknowledgement of how he’s repented for his past actions, and to show that she’s not completely heartless or unreasonable. She cast the curse in the first place to teach him a lesson, but she certainly didn’t plan on him being killed in the process.
581[[/folder]]
582
583[[folder: A waste of resources]]
584* In the Mob Song, why does Gaston throw a torch at a haystack and set it on fire? Isn't that a waste of resources?
585** Maybe it's just a way of showing how ignorant he and the townspeople are. Although it's doubtful that hay is that precious or limited a resource for it to matter that much.
586** It could have been straw, which is less valuable because it's a byproduct of harvesting wheat and can't be eaten by humans or animals.
587** It could also be that Gaston figured the hay belonged to Belle and Maurice and destroying it was another act of revenge against Belle for refusing him, falling in love with someone else, and having the gall to prove him wrong about the Beast's existence.
588[[/folder]]
589
590[[folder: They couldn't give her a little time?]]
591* Rewatching the movie, why were Adam and the servants so insistent that Belle join him for dinner the same day she came to the castle? It's like the rose is close to wilting, so they're all concerned about that, and Adam is supposed to be spoiled and foul-tempered, but why didn't any of the servants advise him to give her more time to adjust to her situation? (It was Lumiere's suggestion that he invite her to dinner, after all.) Mrs. Potts even points out that what they're hoping for will take time to develop, so she should've known to say something if no one else did.
592** Really, the whole debacle wasn't about the dinner itself. Lumiere suggested it rather haphazardly and Beast had no hope the dinner would do anything to help the curse. Everyone was so appalled because, for the first time in his life, someone was refusing the Beast's orders.
593** Beast was already insistent on the dinner by the time Mrs. Potts would have heard about it. Like all the servants, she was too scared to stand up to him.
594*** Plus, just because Mrs. Potts logically knows the curse can't be broken in a single night doesn't mean she's immune from trying to slightly rush up the process.
595** Lumiere thought two people could fall in love in a few hours. Wouldn't ask for his opinion on time measurements.
596[[/folder]]
597
598[[folder: Does Gaston have a house, or does he just live at the tavern?]]
599* Gaston treats the tavern like his home. It's where he keeps all his hunting trophies, and it's where he calls the asylum keeper to.
600** Some taverns and inns are family operated. The father is the official owner and bar keeper, the mother is the cook, and the kids wait tables, tend visiting horses, and handle things like room service and making sure guests have access to towels, soap, and the bathing chamber if there's one that all the guests use rather than having each guest having their own. This kind of setup makes sense in a small town, and Gaston growing up in such a household could easily explain why he was always hanging out there, had some say in the decorations, and used it for his own business.
601** Also, there's nothing to say Gaston, or his family, might not actually own the tavern. All we know of him is that he's a hunter; that says nothing about what else he does with his time or what his family may have done for a living in town.
602** Perhaps Gaston donates some of his trophies to the tavern as decoration and in gratitude the tavern keeper has the whole fireplace area (where most of his trophies and a full portrait of the hunter are displayed) dedicated to him as well as letting Gaston lodge around as often he wished.
603** In the beginning of the film, Gaston all but admits that his standard of beauty is himself a.k.a black hair and blue eyes. In the tavern scene, there is a black haired girl behind the bar, a place that only employees would be. If Gaston himself owned the tavern, or if the owner and staff weren't related to him, then she, not Belle, would be the closest to his standard of beauty, and she would be the one receiving his attentions. Even the fact that there was another man flirting with her (the man who had his belt stolen) would not have stopped Gaston, considering how he reacted when Belle made it clear there was someone else in the place in her heart that he wanted.
604[[/folder]]
605
606[[folder: Beast's wounds on arm?]]
607* When Beast saves Belle from the wolves he has bite or claw marks on his right arm except the wolves were never shown biting or clawing him there, they were only shown biting him on the back/shoulder and neck area.
608** There are snippets of the fight where the camera cuts away briefly. Presumably, that was when one of the wolves got him on the arm.
609[[/folder]]
610
611[[folder: Belle's unimpressive reading material]]
612* Belle is supposed to be a very bright girl in her late teens or so. But the book she takes out from the shop sounds like a children's fairy tale - appropriate for the children in the movie's audience, probably, but a bit behind grade level for Belle. Shouldn't she be reading Montaigne or Voltaire or Molière or Fénelon or something?
613[[/folder]]
614
615[[folder: Why didn't townspeople know about the prince?]]
616* The Beast is a prince of something, and the castle is close enough to town that the townspeople should propably know that it's there and that it's the prince's castle. How don't the villagers know that something suddenly happened to the castle and the prince, and that there's something living in there?
617[[/folder]]
618
619[[folder: Why is everything normal and peaceful despite the prince having dissappeared?]]
620* Shouldn't the prince suddenly vanishing result in some kind of instability, succession crisis, neighbors taking the opportunity to invade? Why is everything normal and okay? Given that there's no mention of his parents they were propably already dead, which should mean things were going wrong even before the only prince dissappeared.
621[[/folder]]

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