7 Differences Between Disney Movies and Book
The Disney Versions Don't Favor Costumed Monkeys, Nightly Proposals or Belle's Condescending Confrontation with Her New Mother-in-Law. , a Tale as Old as Time...
The Disney versions don't favor costumed monkeys, nightly proposals or Belle's condescending confrontation with her new mother-in-law.
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A tale as old as time it may be, but the new live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast borrows from an 18th-century text that only slightly resembles the new and animated versions of the romance.
The story — written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and later slightly changed and released again by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont — has undergone several iterations. But as the 1991 animated classic, the live-action remake and the original fairytale largely stay on the theme of "learning to love," they do differ on a few big fairytale moments (sorry, Gaston fans).
See the 7 major differences below.
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The Spell
While the basic idea of a handsome prince being cursed is the same throughout both original story and movies, the specifics vary wildly. The movies see a selfish prince who must redeem himself through a spell, after turning his back on a kind old woman in need of help. But the book's version is largely innocent — a rare example of Disney actually making the movie darker than its inspiration — as it sees the prince as the victim. After refusing to marry the old, horrific-looking fairy who basically raised him, he is cursed to become a hideous Beast "to appear as stupid as thou art horrible." A kinder fairy took pity on him and covered the grounds in fog so no one would enter the castle, and also froze anyone in the vicinity so that they couldn't share his secret.
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The Rose
The rose is something that appears in both the movies and original story, but they serve very different purposes. In the animated movie, the flower counts the days until the Beast's demise, signaling the time Belle has left to help break the spell. But in the original text, the rose is what instigates the entire mess.
When Belle's father, a merchant, sets off on a business trip of sorts, he comes upon a castle. He partakes of its unexplained hospitality for awhile, and when he remembers his promise to his daughter that he will bring her back a single rose, he picks one from the palace's garden. This is when merchant and Beast meet, and the Beast demands that he must either stay as his prisoner or go home and send back one of his daughters to stay with him. "I will pardon thee, but upon condition that thou wilt give me one of thy daughters — I require some one to repair this fault." Belle, feeling guilty that it was her request of a rose that got her father into trouble to begin with, insists that she go, thus sealing her fate. The Beast's fury at the theft by Belle's father is something from the original book that's brought into the live-action movie.
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Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.
