Beauty And The Beast / Tropes A to D

Beauty and the Beast Trope Examples
A - D | E - J | K - P | R - Z

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• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects:
  • During "Belle", there's a wagon that's very obvious CGI.
  • The ballroom was a huge step forward in animation techniques. The scene still impresses with the way the traditionally-animated characters maintain a precise perspective with the CG background.
  • The dancing forks during "Be Our Guest" are clearly CGI.
  • The animation in the inserted number "Human Again" is also different from the traditional ink and paint of the rest of the film. along with the rubbery movement of the rose table it stands out as not quite fitting with the rest of the film.

A

• Abomination Accusation Attack: Gaston doesn't believe that the Beast even exists. When Belle proves him wrong, he changes his position to accusing him of eating children - never mind that the Beast has been around for a long time and the only person who had been missing was Belle herself!
• Act of True Love:
  • When every other attempt to request Maurice's release from the Beast's dungeon fails, Belle solemnly decides to offer herself up as a prisoner instead, even when the Beast specifies that she'll never see her home again. The Beast even takes notice of Belle's sacrifice, and seems rather surprised that she would do such a thing.
    Belle: Take me instead.
    Beast: [huffs] You? [Beat] [contemplating] You would... take his place?
  • When the Beast allows Belle to leave the castle to rescue her father—even if it means she might not return and the spell won't be broken—it means he truly loves her.
• Actor Allusion:
  • Cogsworth is a lot like David Ogden Stiers' M*A*S*H character, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III; in fact, much like Charles, Stiers gave Cogsworth an accent to emphasize what an uptight snob he can be.
  • In the fantasy computer game King's Quest VI which said series references and spoofs all kinds of fantasy, fairy tales and mythology. Robbie Benson plays the protagonist, Prince Alexander, who at one point meets the game's own interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. One Non-Standard Game Over has Alexander turning into a beast himself.
• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • When Belle hits him with a snowball, the Beast has an amused smirk as he prepares to return the favor with a bigger snowball. The film implies this is the first time he's had fun in a while.
  • In the end, after everyone is human again, Chip is curled up in his mother's arms while watching the wedding. He then innocently asks if he still has to sleep in the cupboard. Maurice starts chuckling, and even Chip and Mrs. Potts burst into giggles on realizing how ridiculous that sounds.
• Actually Quite Catchy: The members of the castle's staff sing "Be Our Guest" to Belle, while Cogsworth tries to stop them because it's against the Beast's orders. Towards the end of the song, Cogsworth starts dancing and joining in the fun.
• Adaptational Jerkass: In the original book, the Beast is a perfectly nice young man who did nothing to deserve getting cursed. In this version, he brings the curse on himself through his selfishness and cruelty, and is very mean to just about everyone (at least before he comes out of his shell and learns how to be a better person).
• Adaptation Name Change: Downplayed; in previous English translations of the original French story, the heroine's name was always translated as "Beauty" (which is "Belle" in French). Since that would sound a bit weird bordering on pretentious in a modern movie, Disney simply left her name in French and called her Belle.
• Adapted Out:
  • Belle's vain and selfish sisters from the original story since they were there mainly to demonstrate an antiquated moral lesson.
  • The reason the father was imprisoned was because he was trespassing on the castle grounds to pick a rose from the garden because Belle asked for one as a gift. Here, it's used as the magical countdown clock but the fact that it's a rose, has no narrative significance.
• Advertised Extra: Many covers feature the Featherduster, a character with three and a half minutes of screen time, next to the main characters.
• Advertising by Association: The original trailer announced, "Featuring six new songs from the Academy Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Little Mermaid."
• Aesop Collateral Damage: The castle staff, tranformed into objects until their prince learns his lesson and if he fails, it dooms them as well. The Broadway version alters the back-story to show that the staff was also cursed because they had a role in letting prince become a spoiled brat in the first place, however it still doesn't justify turning a seven year old into a teacup. Considering the original fairytale was written in 1740, this isn't as strange as it seems to a modern audience: the King or Prince effectively is the kingdom and the royal staff are bound to him. The sovereignty of the citizen is a very republican idea.
• After-Action Patch-Up: After Beast saves Belle from the wolves, she tends to him and they have a much needed talk.
• Against the Grain: Most of the village expects Belle to focus on domestic matters, to marry Gaston and spend the rest of her life cleaning their house, cooking for him and spawning his children. She prefers taking refuge in the books and her daydreams, and is adamant about Gaston being wrong for her, later choosing instead the Beast. She also dresses differently from the local women, with a shorter dress and being one of only a few who doesn't cover her head with a scarf or hat. She is the only person in town to wear blue colour.
• The Ageless: Implied to be the case with Beast and his staff, as the Beast's adult human form is shown in the prologue as a portrait and Chip couldn't have been conceived after that point.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: The three blonde girls are desperately attracted to Gaston who is such a tall, dark strong and handsome brute. Inverted with Belle, who doesn't like Gaston and also hates the Beast when he's in his "bad" phase; it's only when he starts to be kinder and gentler that she falls in love with him.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Both Belle and Maurice are seen as outliers by the rest of the villagers; her father because he's an absent-minded tinkerer, Belle because she's intelligent, a voracious reader and not at all suited to provincial life.
• Ambiguous Syntax: "Belle, it's time you get your head out of those books and focus on more important things. Like me." Knowing Gaston, he meant that he was one of the important things Belle should focus on, but if not familiar with Gaston the way this is phrased makes it sound like he wants her to focus on more important things like he does.
• Ambiguously Gay:
  • Cogsworth is involved in several questionable incidents, including a rather awkward moment with Maurice. Ever since David Ogden Stiers, who voiced Cogsworth, came out of the closet, the effect has only amplified.
  • LeFou is a little too into Gaston, though considering how he was drooling over the Bimbettes, he could also be bisexual.
    • LeFou has what can be considered Disney's first Gay Love Song in the number 'Gaston': "Ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley, and they'll tell you which team they'd prefer to be on..." and that's not the only lyric that deserves a mention.
• Amusing Injuries: This is LeFou's life. Interestingly, the moment when Gaston only threatens to hit LeFou (when talking to Monsieur D'Arque, the asylum keeper) is much more alarming than the rest of Gaston's abuse.
• An Aesop: Lampshaded by the Enchantress via the Narrator. Do not be deceived by appearances for beauty is found within.
• Anachronism Stew:
  • The flatware form an Eiffel Tower during the "Be Our Guest" music number. The movie takes place in the latter half of the 18th century, but the Eiffel Tower wasn't built until towards the end of the 19th.
  • The use of Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" (composed in 1850) in Gaston's failed marriage attempt.
  • The featherdusters dancing a Can Can during "Be Our Guest". That style of dance did not appear until 1830.
  • Most of the male villagers and Lefou are shown to be wearing trousers and suspenders which these fashion did not exist until the 1800’s.
  • Human Fifi has a short bobcut hairstyle which didn’t become popular until the 1920’s.
• And That's Terrible: Monsieur D'Arque's response to Gaston's plan to force Belle to marry him:
  "Oh, that is despicable... I love it!"
• Angel Face, Demon Face:
  • The Beast's design changes considerably throughout the film. When we first see him storm in on Maurice, he's a monster; he walks on all fours, his fur bristles near-constantly, and he barely wears clothes, but by the end of the movie his face is softer and more human, he's fully dressed and walks upright. His voice also changes from a low snarl to a much more gentle, softer tone. The only thing in his design that doesn't change are his eyes, which not only remain a specific shade of blue but also keep the same basic shape when in both forms.
  • Gaston starts off as the strapping and handsome village hunter but becomes progressively less upright, his hair wilder, and his overall demeanor increasingly animalistic. In the final fight between him and the Beast, it's the latter who moves in a more human way.
  • The castle itself gets this treatment quite literally. When the Beast transforms back to his human form, the gargoyles on the castle roof turn into white statues of angels.
• Angry Animalistic Growl: Beast, due to years of the curse, has resorted to growling to show his displeasure.
• Angry Chef: The Stove is one of the castle’s most formidable enchanted objects and drives out the attackers with flames and an Evil Laugh. He is actually quite nice to Belle, though, having missed a guest to serve food to.
• Angry Mob Song: The villagers grab their torches and pitchforks to storm Beast's castle. It's even called "The Mob Song".
• Animal Reaction Shot: Phillipe was less than pleased with the choice of paths Maurice takes while in the forest.
• Animate Inanimate Object: The Beast's many servants are humans transformed into objects, who generally don't move or speak when strangers drop by.
• Animation Bump:
  • The Beast has incredibly fluid and expressive facial animation, perhaps more so than any other character.
  • After Beast saves Belle from being attacked by wolves, she turns to get on Philippe and escape but pauses. Her facial expressions become extremely fluid for a few moments as she clearly processes how she can't just leave the man who rescued her to die.
• Answer Cut:
  • The last line of the prologue is "...for who could ever learn to love a Beast?" The next scene shows Belle approaching the village.
  • Lumière tells the Beast that he “doesn’t have time to be timid” with Belle. While he says this, the shot expands so the Rose is in focus.
• Anti-Intellectualism: Nobody considers thinking to be an untrustworthy action like Gaston!
  Gaston: LeFou, I'm afraid I've been thinking...
  LeFou: A dangerous pastime-
  Gaston: -I know!
• Anti-Villain: The Beast starts off as this. He acts malicious for the first part of the film, but he's not acting out of evil intentions as much as he's consumed by anger and despair at being trapped in the body of a beast while his chance to regain his humanity is slowly ticking away. The scene where he saves Belle from the wolves is the part that makes it clear to the audience that he's not a villain. Glen Keane, the lead animator of Beast, is quoted on this in The Disney Villain;
  "He probably wouldn't have minded killing Maurice. That was the extent where someone like the Beast, who had the potential to be good, could become a villain. The Beast was pitying himself, frustrated, so he felt justified in treating the father that way, and when he comes back, Belle is crying — his actions do cause people pain — and he starts to get a glimmer that he's not entirely comfortable with the role of a villain... He had incredible limitations — it's kind of like taking the villain and the hero and wrapping them up into one body."
• Artistic License: In the DVD commentary, the creators admit that all the dancing items in "Be Our Guest" throws the logic of the movie through a loop, but it was worth it for that number.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: No one fails gun safety like Gaston! Gaston, supposedly the best hunter in town, declares his intent to marry Belle by pointing his gun at her. Not a good idea. It is true that his blunderbuss had recently been discharged and should have been empty, but later in the film he demonstrates that the blunderbuss is fully automatic, which presents another problem entirely. This is in addition to his first scene showing him birding in the middle of town, where any missed shot could end up hitting someone down the street.
• Artistic License - eggs: Gaston again. When he claims that as a kid he ate 48 eggs to make sure he grew up big and strong. The average adult human stomach can only hold 16 eggs at a time, and a child's can hold less. While it's true that Gaston could have increased his stomach's capacity so he could eat 60 eggs for breakfast as an adult, there is no way a kid would have been able to do that from an early age. He would have had to get his stomach capacity to max by six years old, and then add eggs gradually as he got bigger until he reached 60. At this rate, he would have reached four dozen eggs by the time he was about ten, which technically is still "a lad," but just barely.
• Ascended Extra: In the stage musical, the feather duster and the wardrobe are given bigger roles and more developed personalities. They are also named Babette and Madame de la Grande Bouche, respectively. This conflicts with the direct-to-video sequel where the feather duster is named Fifi.
• Ascended Fangirl: Belle reads romantic adventure stories about far-off places and magic spells, while wishing for adventure in the great wide somewhere. She gets her wish, however unexpectedly.
• Ascended Meme: Walt Disney World guests can "try the grey stuff" for themselves; it is as delicious as Lumiere claims.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!:
  • During the song "Human Again", the cushion dog chases a cat-rug into the ballroom where a bunch of brooms are sweeping. The brooms promptly chase the dog out of the ballroom for tracking in muddy paw prints.
  • During the invasion of the castle, LeFou and a small group of villagers chase the cushion dog into the kitchen. One look at the knives and hot stove poised to attack and the villagers scramble out of the kitchen.
• Audience Surrogate: Both Belle and the Beast serve as this. Belle's dreams of "Adventure in the great, wide, somewhere" are easy for viewers to relate to, as are her loneliness and sense of not fitting in with her fellow villagers. But the Beast turns out to be surprisingly relatable too. It's been confirmed by the filmmakers that he was written to react to his curse the same way most people would: with anger and depression.
• Award-Bait Song: Named after the movie, "Beauty and the Beast" ties with "A Whole New World" and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" for these song types for the early 90s of Disney that draw in accolades.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Cogsworth and Lumiere are at odds, and Mrs. Potts doesn't approve of Cogsworth being a stick in the mud, but they have each other's backs. The clock and candlestick independently come up with plans to protect the castle, and Cogsworth stabs LeFou when the latter tries to melt Lumiere. Lumiere thanks him with a Smooch of Victory, with Cogsworth's disgust being Think Nothing of It. When it seems their master has died and the curse remains unbroken, Cogsworth takes a moment to comfort Mrs. Potts.

B

• Back from the Dead: Gaston's knife wound actually did mortally wound Beast at the end, but luckily reversing the spell revived him as well as making him human again. Or maybe it's Only Mostly Dead, with The Power of Love simply resolving the balance.
• Backstab Backfire: Gaston (although original production materials did indicate that this may not have been a backfire). Beast decides to spare his life during their climactic rooftop battle and tells him to Get Out!. Gaston proceeds to stab him In the Back, but in doing so, Gaston loses his footing and falls to his death.
• Badass Adorable: All of the enchanted servants of Beast's castle. They may be living inanimate objects, but they are far from helpless. The mob of villagers learn this the hard way after getting painfully ejected from the castle.
• Badass Cape:
  • Beast wears a purple cape at the height of his beastliness, and only a cape. Once he regains his humanity (thanks to Belle's influence), he switches to Sharp-Dressed Man.
  • Gaston also wears one during the final confrontation with the Beast, because these are things to wear when traveling.
• Bad Boss: Gaston is a warped variation. Even though he is shown to be a Grade A jerk in the village, and makes no effort to hide it in his villain song, the villagers genuinely love him and don't follow him out of fear.
  LeFou: "Ev'ry guy here'd love to be you, Gaston. Even when taking your lumps."
• Bait-and-Switch Compassion: Monsieur D'Arque initially seems to dislike Gaston's plan to have Belle's father Maurice locked up unless she agrees to marry him, but then laughs evilly and says he loves it.
• Bandage Wince: After the Beast fights off a pack of wolves he howls when Belle tries to clean and bandage his wounds.
• Bannister Slide: Cogsworth does this with a pair of scissors to save Lumiere from LeFou burning him with a torch.
• Bar Brawl: There's one in the tavern during "Gaston," but it breaks back up amiably after doing its part to show off how awesome Gaston is.
• Barefoot Cartoon Animal: The Beast; due to the size and shape of his legs and feet, he cannot wear shoes.
• Bat Scare: Maurice's horse runs off in fear when the two of them startle a flock of bats into flight.
• Battle in the Rain: Beast and Gaston's climactic duel takes place in a raging thunderstorm.
• Beast and Beauty: Since it's a retelling of the tale, we have the beautiful Belle and her beastly love interest, who struggles with not acting like a beast.
• Beast Man: The prince was transformed into a horned beast creature.
• Beautiful All Along: The prince transforms back into his handsome human guise. Atypically, Belle was dismayed at the change until she looked into his eyes and saw that he was the same person she fell in love with.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Beauty comes across as more of a neutral force here. Belle is a good person, the Beast became what he is as karmic punishment for selfishness, and the corrupt asylum director Monsieur D'Arque is very sickly looking. The "beautiful enchantress", on the other hand, is morally dubious, and Gaston is handsome but wicked. In fact, Gaston takes advantage of this trope when he convinces the villagers to kill the "ugly, monstrous" Beast.
• Beauty to Beast: The Prince is a handsome human transformed into a beast to reflect his inner selfishness.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • As the Beast tells Maurice when catching him in his castle early on: "I'll give you a place to stay!"
  • Belle found her life in the village terribly unfulfilling and wished for some grand adventure and found herself in a life-and-death struggle.
  • In the Broadway production song "Home", Belle sings "and to think I complained of that dull provincial town".
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Despite his rugged, handsome appearance Gaston is not as nice as he seems to be.
  • The Beast isn't as bad as he appears.
• Benevolent Monsters: The Beast starts out more or less as a monster in every measure but under Belle's influence he begins to show such qualities as kindness, thoughtfulness, selflessness and table manners over time.
• Beta Couple: Lumiere and Babette, especially in the stage musical, are an affectionate and teasing couple without the lead pair's drama.
• Betrayal by Inaction: The Bookseller is the closest thing to a friend Belle has in the entire villagge, but he's not there when an angry mob of villagers demandes her father to be locked up in an asylum of loons unless she marries Gaston.
• Better Off with the Bad Guys: Belle is treated as nothing more than eye candy by most of the townsfolk and scorned for her interest in books. After agreeing to live with the Beast in exchange for her father's freedom, she is delighted to discover that the Beast owns a massive library. All of the Beast's servants treat her respectfully and are happy to have her around. She only goes back to the village when she sees that her father is risking his health searching for her. In the end, she moves into the castle permanently as the Prince's wife.
• Better Partner Assertion: In the climax, Gaston tauntingly asks the Beast if he really thought Belle would want to be with him "when she had someone like me?" — which is Blatant Lies given Belle has already soundly rejected Gaston — and declares that "Belle is mine!" This ends up enraging the Beast enough that he nearly throws Gaston off the castle roof, only to end up sparing him when he pleads for his life.
• Beware the Cute Ones: Even the cushion dog gets to participate in the castle fight. It steals LeFou's shoe, leading him and a crowd of angry villagers into the kitchen. That gives the Stove a perfect position to show off a cutlery arsenal and intense flames.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • There are things in the Beast's Castle you should never piss off if you value your life. Mrs Potts is one such thing. Lumiere is another. Cogsworth is a third - especially when armed with giant scissors.
  • The kind and generous Wardrobe has a visible body count during the battle. She crushes a man onscreen, and he doesn't move.
• Big Damn Heroes: The Beast when he shows up in the nick of time to rescue Belle from the wolves.
• The Big Damn Kiss: A truly EPIC one just after the Beast's transformation; there's a light show and magic sparks and the castle transforms!
• Big Eater: No one puts away five dozen eggs at breakfast like Gaston!
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • The Beast when Cogsworth nervously states Belle's not coming to dinner when the Beast demanded her to.
  • Cogsworth when the Beast tells him he let Belle go, then Lumiere and Mrs. Potts when Cogsworth informs them.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • "LeFou" can either mean "the jester" or "the madman" in French. "Lumiere" means "light".
  • In the stage adaptation, "Madame de la Grande Bouche" roughly translates into "Madame of the Big Mouth".
  • The Latin motto on the stained-glass window at the beginning translates to "He conquers, who conquers himself." It foreshadows Beast's character development.
  • Preliminary storyboards for the movie established that Gaston's last name is Legume, which means "vegetable".
  • "Belle," as noted in the movie, means "beauty" in French.
  • In the Brazilian Portuguese version, Cogsworth is called Horloge, which means "clock" in French.
• Bilingual Rhyme: Belle starts with this rhyme in English and French:
  Little town, it's a quiet village
  Every day like the one before
  Little town, full of little people
  Waking up to say...
  Bonjour! Bonjour!
• Bizarre Beverage Use: Chip and his siblings pour hot tea on the Beast's attempted murderers as an attack.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Gaston is a loud and proud hunter who is great fun at parties.
• Book Dumb: Gaston won't read books without pictures and is bad at chess, but he proves very manipulative.
• Book Ends: The stained glass windows of the castle tell the backstory and then the epilogue.
• Bookworm: Belle's love of books marks her out as peculiar.
• Both Sides Have a Point: While Belle is treating Beast's wound from fighting the wolves, he comments it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't run away, to which Belle says that she only did it cause he frightened her. The Beast counters by saying she shouldn't have been in the west wing, to which Belle says that he should still learn to control his temper.
• Bottomless Magazines: No one fires three-round bursts from a single-shot blunderbuss like Gaston!
• Brainless Beauty: The Bimbettes, the blonde triplets who fawn over Gaston, certainly qualify as such; hence their name.
• Brainy Brunette: Belle; the only female character with brown hair is the bookworm.
• Breakout Character: Chip's voice actor, Bradley Pierce, was so popular with the filmmakers that his tiny role was greatly expanded; he replaced another character, a music box, for the most part (the music box was only relegated to a cameo in the final version, specifically right before the battle).
• Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Beast lashes out at Belle when she enters the West Wing. She flees the castle but is attacked by wolves in the forest, until Beast (who feels remorseful for yelling at her) comes to save her life. She has the opportunity to claim her freedom and leave him for dead, but instead she brings the Beast back to the castle and cares for him. This is a turning point in their relationship.
• Brick Joke: After Maurice leaves to save Belle, Gaston tells LeFou to not leave the spot by their house until they come back. When they do eventually arrive, we see LeFou, blue from frostbite, finally leaves his spot.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Beast is in a depression and given to moping around in his dark bedroom. Belle is a Nice Girl whose silky personality conceals the inner steel needed to deal with such a person.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: The Beast is a strong, seven foot tall creature who takes on a wolf pack single-handed but as Belle works to draw out his humanity again, we can see he does have a decent soul within.
• Bullying a Dragon: Gaston fighting the Beast atop the castle, toying with him rather than bringing out the shotgun. Because of his ego, Gaston has some reason to think he's as much of a dragon as his victim is. But the fight is over in mere seconds once Beast starts fighting back for real.
• Bungling Inventor: Belle's father's first scene is a ruckus in his workshop.
• Burp of Finality: A huge treasure chest swallows an intruder whole, licks its lips and burps.
• Busby Berkeley Number: "Be Our Guest" involves synchronized silverware constructing an Eiffel Tower, among other things.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • Cogsworth regularly suffers comic incidents. This is especially evident in the Updated Re-release, where his entire role in the added musical number seems to consist of nothing but him being picked on.
  • LeFou, Gaston's loyal sidekick is used as his personal punching bag every so often.
  • Maurice. His inventions misfire, he gets lost in the woods, he gets captured by a beast, his daughter takes his place, when he tries to get Gaston and the villagers to help him, they throw him out in the snow and later they even try to lock him up in the nuthouse. This guy gets a raw deal.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Inverted as near every female minor character in the movie is clearly bustier than Belle, yet she is seen as more desirable by generally everyone.
  ''Now it's no wonder that her name means 'beauty'; her looks have got no parallel'.

C

• Call-Back: After being transformed, the Beast slashes a portrait of his human self with his claws. Forty-two minutes of the movie’s runtime later, Belle comes across the damaged painting. The prologue feels so different from the rest of the film that seeing such a direct reference to it is quite unexpected.
• Cannot Spit It Out: The climax of the film only happens because neither the Beast or Belle can confess their feelings for one another until it's almost too late.
• Captain Obvious: Lumiere, upon being asked by Belle if the castle truly had a library.
  Belle: You have a library?
  Lumiere: Of course! With books!
• Carpet of Virility: Gaston.
  "And every last inch of me's covered with hair!"
• Cassandra Truth: When Maurice first told everyone about the Beast and how Belle was in his castle, they all laughed him off and thought he was being crazy, with Gaston deciding to take advantage of it to blackmail Belle into marrying him. It's not until the climax that the villagers learn that Maurice was telling the truth when Belle uses the Magic Mirror to prove the Beast's existence...and the terrified villagers promptly form an Angry Mob to kill the Beast.
• Changing Yourself for Love: Beast learns to control his temper and becomes a better, kinder person for the sake of earning Belle's affections.
• Character Development:
  • The Beast is all about character development; in fact you can tell which mid-quel takes place when based off how much of a jerk the Beast is at the time.
  • Gaston goes through a darker version; he starts out as an oafish buffoon, becomes kind of an ass, and then finally turns into an all-out, terrifying villain.
• Character Tics:
  • Belle tucks back a lock of hair that's always falling in her face◊ several times. Came from the animators watching Paige O'Hara during her recording sessions.
  • The Beast will rub the back of his neck when he's ashamed or frustrated and Face Palms when depressed or exasperated.
• Chekhov's Army: The majority of the townsfolk shown during the opening number later rally up with Gaston to lay siege on the castle.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Maurice's automatic wood-chopping machine (which Chip uses to free Belle and Maurice from the cellar).
  • The Magic Mirror. The first two times it’s mentioned in the film, it doesn’t have any importance to the plot. However, the third time, it serves as the reason Beast lets Belle go. It also later proves that the Beast does indeed exist to Gaston, which starts the climax of the film.
  • Lumiere witnessing Belle's excitement over the library. This causes him to suggest the Beast give it to her, which is a major turning point in their relationship.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Two minor examples: the cook (the enchanted oven) is briefly introduced with only one speaking line, but it is he who finally routs the castle invaders later on and scares them and LeFou out of the castle just in time for Gaston to reach The Beast's room. Then there’s the Featherduster, also introduced with one line, later ends up distracting Lumiere and allowing Belle to escape her room.
  • Chip. Out of the named servants, he’s the one with the least focus and impact on the plot...that is until the climax, where he gets Belle and Maurice out of their cells. If that hadn’t happened, the Beast would have died to Gaston before Belle could have broken the curse.
• Chest Monster: A literal version of the trope appears in the castle ambushing the unwelcome village mob scene, where a carpet rolls up a man and bounces him into a live chest, which then shuts and licks its lips. And burps.
• Chirping Crickets: In the deleted scene featuring "Human Again," Cogsworth makes a lame "man or beast" joke with a small cricket chirp as the only response.
• Climbing Climax: The final fight between the Beast and Gaston is on the castle's roofs because Beast is trying to get away from the aggressive home-invader. It also sets up the Disney Villain Death.
• Closed Door Rapport: Belle and the Beast have an angry discussion through her door when she refuses to come to dinner.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • There are only two characters who prominently wear blue: Belle, which symbolizes how different she is from the town, and the Beast after his Character Development, which symbolizes how he’s turned himself into someone Belle could fall in love with.
  • When we first see the Beast, he’s wearing a dark red cape which highlights his "darker" moods and tendencies. Later on he switches to royal blue, which highlights his eyes. As a result, while this is the same character, we can see just how much he's changed.
  • Gaston is a hunter who wears red and black, the colors of blood and death.
• Combat Pragmatist: During the castle battle, Mrs. Potts has the sense to not endanger her china teacup children. After all, they are fragile. Instead, she stations them and herself high above the battle, at a great vantage point to pour boiling tea on the invaders. Her smirking Death Glare seals the deal.
• Come to Gawk: The Beast thought Maurice had. At that point in the film he was still acting like a jerk.
• Comically Missing the Point: Belle does this, seemingly on purpose as a means of messing with Gaston.
  Gaston: Here, picture this: A rustic hunting lodge, my latest kill roasting on the fire, and my little wife massaging my feet, while the little ones play on the floor with the dogs. We'll have six or seven.
  Belle: Dogs?
  Gaston: No, Belle! Strapping boys, like me!
• Cool Horse: Phillipe. He's no battle charger, but he comes to get Belle when her father is captured by the Beast and serves as her loyal helper when she needs to escape — and when the Beast is badly injured when she needs to get back.
  • Also Gaston's unnamed black horse seen during "The Mob Song" sequence. It has no characterization whatsoever but it's definetly cool-looking.
• Costume Porn: Belle's magnificent yellow ball gown for her Dance of Romance with the Beast, among other slightly less fancy dresses. Then there is Beast's formal blue suit, which makes him look a lot more like a prince.
• Covered in Mud: After Belle rejects Gaston's marriage proposal, Gaston falls over and lands in the pigs' mud hole, and in front of the whole town too.
• Covers Always Lie: This poster◊ shows Belle in a pink and purple version of her blue and white peasant dress, the castle has blue shingles instead of red, and features rose bushes, where the only roses seen in the film is the single enchanted one.
• Cracks in the Icy Façade: Beast is unmoved by Belle's pleas to release her father, until she offers to take his place. Despite his momentary surprise, he hurriedly drags Maurice away from Belle, not even giving them a chance to say their goodbyes. However, when he sees her crying, he looks ashamed for having hurt her feelings.
• Creative Closing Credits: In the 3D re-release, the credits are accompanied with design sketches of various characters and scenes in the film.
• Crowd Song: "Belle", "Gaston" and its reprise, "Be Our Guest" and "The Mob Song" all have many people involved. "Belle" is so crowded toward the end (right after the three blondes Squee over Gaston) that it manages to be in two keys almost at once. It's also so crowded that Gaston can't reach Belle before she leaves town ("Please let me through!")
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Obviously the audience knows Maurice is telling the truth about the beast holding his daughter hostage, but the villagers don’t. When Belle proves the Beast’s existence, the villagers horrified gasps can be heard and Gaston is clearly astounded Maurice wasn’t hallucinating.
• Cue the Sun: The curse being lifted transforms the gloomy night into a glorious day.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Beast is willing to let Gaston beat him to death because he feels he will never break the curse. Then he sees that Belle has returned, giving him something to live for. He immediately shows Gaston just how stupid it is to pick a fight with a massive beast.
  • The servants vs. the villagers. The servants win effortlessly, with some handy use of implements.
• Curse Escape Clause: The Beast will return to human form if he truly loves someone who loves him as a beast before his magic rose runs out of petals.
• Curtain Camouflage: Lumiere meets Babette, the feather duster, for some romance behind a curtain.

D

• Dance of Romance: The iconic ballroom dance between Beast (in his royal blue suit) and Belle (in her yellow ball gown). By the end of it, they're truly in love, but they don't say it yet.
• Dances and Balls: The private dance between Beast and Belle was considered a technical achievement at the time and still looks great today.
• Dark Reprise: While "Gaston" is a Villain Song, it certainly isn't dark. It's a lighthearted, fun song that establishes Gaston's relationship with the town. The reprise, however, has ominous lyrics about Belle's father.
• Dark World: The Beast's Castle under the enchantment is dark, gloomy, and the statues are demonic. The West Wing takes it further; the filmmakers described it as "a descent into his own personal hell." This is inverted after the enchantment breaks.
• Darker and Edgier: In a rare aversion of Disneyfication, the Disney version is actually darker than the original fairy tale. For instance, the Beast had already turned back to human by the time he met Belle.
• Death's Hourglass: The glassed rose represents how much time Beast has to break the curse. It overlaps with The Tragic Rose.
• Deconstruction:
  • Gaston is a deconstruction of the type of hero that appears in Grimm's fairy tales: handsome and adventurous hunter/woodsman, loved son in both his world and his own mind out to court his fair maiden, who, as far as he thinks, should be owed him and fall into his arms. He encounters monsters and never bothers to think they're anything but evil, since the original stories weren't inclined to have that belief either. Even his jerkassness is a characteristic of Grimm's heroes, who were often known to do sadistic things to defeat their enemies. However, the movie shows the inherent wickedness these qualities brought together in the wrong way could create.
  • The Beast is a deconstruction of the character from the original tale who was kind and gentlemanly despite his monstrous appearance. Here the loss of his humanity as well as the impossible nature of his task only serve to drive him deep into depression and seclusion. He gives up hope of ever breaking the spell and begins to abandon standard human behavior and act more like the animal he appears to be: he has mostly ceased to wear clothes, hunts for his food, and has become fiercely territorial. If Belle hadn't come along exactly when she did, he would have never broken the spell and become an animal completely.
• Defrosting Ice King: The Beast's Character Development is from 'aloof and hostile beast' into 'gentle and loving prince'.
• Denied Food as Punishment: When Belle rejects Beast's offer to dine with him, he commands "If she doesn't eat with me, then she doesn't eat at all!" However, the servants put very little effort into enforcing that proclamation as the next scene is "Be Our Guest".
• Department of Redundancy Department:
  LeFou: In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston.
  Gaston: I'm especially good at expectorating!
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • The narration in the beginning explains that the Beast crossed it years ago when he gave up all hope of ever becoming human again.
  • After The Beast lets Belle go, he howls in anguish and frustration, not expecting that she'll ever come back, thus crossing it again. He's perfectly willing to let Gaston kill him until Belle comes back, but then he starts hoping again.
• Diagnosis: Knowing Too Much: Belle's father, Maurice, is assumed to be insane and experiencing delusions when he tries to drum up assistance to save Belle from the Beast.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: Gaston implements this perfectly when facing off against Beast, sneering and mocking him:
  Gaston: Were you in love with her, Beast?! Did you honestly think she'd want you when she could have someone like me?!
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • When preparing for dinner, the Beast is so caught up in his anxiety that he didn’t realize Belle probably won’t want to dine with her captor.
  • Gaston's plan had Belle having to choose between marrying him or allowing her father to be taken to the asylum for believing in the beast. He never expected Belle to be able to prove the Beast indeed exists.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • To save her father from the asylum, Belle used the Magic Mirror to show the villagers the Beast. Unfortunately, she didn't consider the possibility that they'd form an Angry Mob and storm the castle upon learning he was Real After All, especially with her Stalker with a Crush fanning the flames. Granted, she didn't have many options.
  • Gaston in the meantime gets it in his mind to kill the Beast, whom Belle calls a "friend", and locks her and her father up when they protest. Far from winning Belle over, it makes her more determined to save the Beast and she rides out with her father to warn him. To a lesser extent, Gaston thinks that toying with a great monster rather than using his shotgun is a good idea. He's not prepared when the Beast sees Belle returned and regains his spirit to fight.
• Digital Destruction:
  • The 2010/2016 Blu-ray and DVD releases of the film has an unusual glitch altering the ending of the "Something There" number. Originally, it ended with the objects watching Belle and the Beast read by the fireplace. Since the extended version follows this song with a scene of the objects cleaning the castle and the song "Human Again," it now closed with the objects in the hallway, closing the doors to give Belle and the Beast some alone time. Selecting the "Original Theatrical Version" on the 2010/2016 Blu-Ray and DVD changes the ending of the song to the objects about to close the doors, but abruptly cuts to a different scene before they shut.
  • The Platinum Edition DVD and the Diamond Edition 2D Blu-ray and DVD all have different color schemes than the Walt Disney Classics VHS and laserdisc before them, making fans fear that Disney tampered with the picture.
  • The restoration for the Platinum Edition removed a credit before the prologue for Silver Screen Partners IV, and some stuttering from the scene where Beast asks Belle, "You wan-you wanna stay in the tower?" The restoration for the Diamond Edition put both of these back in.
  • Thankfully averted with the 3D version, which fixes the glitch and the soundtrack, and also has coloring closest to what was seen in the original theatrical and Classics releases. However, it does update the opening and ending credits with references to the 3D conversion.
• Dirty Coward: No one resorts to dirty fighting like Gaston! We have Gaston mocking Beast while he was too depressed to defend himself, then pleading for his life when he finds himself at Beast's mercy. Beast finally lets him go... only for Gaston to stab him In the Back (because no one takes cheap shots like Gaston!). Unfortunately for Gaston, he pays for it by losing his balance and falls to his death.
• Disney Death: The Beast after Gaston stabs him in the back. It's justified because he was under a magical spell and Belle reversed it.
• Disney Villain Death: No one falls from the roof of a castle after stabbing Beast in the back like Gaston!
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Discussed by the filmmakers in the commentary as to whether or not the Beast's punishment fit his crime. They never come to a conclusion. (At the very least, one can make the case that his servants didn't deserve to be punished for his dickishness. Cogsworth brings this up in the stage musical, complaining that they're not the ones who refused to help the old beggar woman, but Lumiere soberly points out that they were at least partly responsible for the Prince's behaviour and what he grew up to be).
  • It should also be remembered that, according to the timeline, ten years have passed between him being cursed and Belle coming to the castle, meaning that the Enchantress cursed him when he was only eleven (something the midquel confirms during a flashback sequence to the night of the enchantment the Beast has).
  • Meanwhile, no one in-universe does this better than Gaston! To elaborate: basically, Gaston gets rejected by a cute girl (Belle). So his response is to sulk in a bar, then start a riot, try to get her father committed to an asylum, and then rile the villagers into joining him to murder the Beast.
  • A small one, played for laughs - Belle hits the Beast with a snowball. So he scoops up enough snow that the snowball he ends up with looks like it could be used to take down a small aircraft! Fortunately, he never actually throws it, ending up dropping it on his own head when she nails him with another and given his smirking expression while making the snowball, he only meant to playfully threaten her with it, not actually throw it with everything he had.
• Distant Prologue: According to Lumiere, the events discussed in the film’s stained glass prologue take place a decade before the official start of the movie.
• Distant Reaction Shot: When the Beast is told Belle isn't coming down to dinner:
  Cogsworth: "...She's not coming."
  (cut to outside the room)
  Beast: "WHAT!?"
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When the castle is invaded by the mob, one of the townsfolk grabs Babette and starts ripping out her feathers as she shrieks and struggles. Lumiere saves her in an angry boyfriend fashion.
• Dope Slap:
  • Gaston bops LeFou on the head for insulting Maurice in front of Belle, after he laughed at what LeFou said a few seconds prior.
  • Cogsworth gives a few to Lumiere after the latter kisses the former.
• Downer Beginning: The start of the film shows how the Prince got transformed into a monster, and how he begged for forgiveness but received none. Being so ashamed of his new form, he concealed himself inside his castle and lost all hope in the Curse Escape Clause. All of this happens with that beautiful yet melancholy music in the background.
  Narrator: For who could ever learn to love a beast?
• Drowning My Sorrows: Gaston tries to do this after being thrown out of Belle's house. He eventually refuses more alcohol, telling LeFou "Nothing helps."
• Dumbass Has a Point: While saying Belle is "crazy" for turning down Gaston, the Bimbettes are the only characters in the whole village that note she's definitely not interested in him. Everyone else goes along with his schemes to force Belle to marry him.
• Dumb Blonde: Three of them! They're all foils to Belle from the village. In the script and end credits, they're all named Bimbettes. In the Broadway show, they're called "Silly Girls."

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