BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017): EASTER EGGS, TRIVIA, AND THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
The coat of arms in the ballroom of the Beast’s castle consists of a lion, a boar, and the letters WD. The boar and lion are references to the Beast’s design, and the W.D. is of course, a reference to Walt Disney.
In the 2017 beauty and the Beast, the Beast has mentioned that he had an expensive education and read most of the books in the castle’s library, whereas in the original animation, the Beast never learned how to read, so Belle teaches him. Dan Stevens, who played the Beast, also famously portrayed the character Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, who also had a expensive education. Dan Stevens himself also studied English Literature at Cambridge University.
At the end of the new adaptation, Belle asks the Beast how he feels about growing a beard, and the producers have confirmed that that line was originally supposed to be included in the 1991 animation, but it was scrapped.
When the Beast shows Belle the magical book that allows her to teleport to anywhere in the world, she chooses Paris. The scenery of Paris shows, we see Notre Dame; Beast also suggests that they go visit it. Belle has a tiny cameo/was an easter egg herself in The Hunchback of Notre Dame!
Extra: Just like Belle in the movie, Emma Watson herself was also born in Paris!
During the opening song, Belle, she asks Monsieur Jean if he lost something again, to which he responds that he can’t remember what he forgot. While many fans considered this a nod to Neville’s scene with the remembrall from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, director Bill Condon said that it was a total coincidence and that the line was supposed to be a reference to the Enchantress’ spell on the palace and townspeople; Monsieur Jean forgot about his wife and son, Mrs. Potts and Chip.
The name of Belle’s town in this movie is Villeneuve, which is a reference to the author of the original Beauty and the Beast story, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.
When Maurice enters the castle for the first time, he travels the sound of music to the great hall, where Cadenza was playing a song, and that song was Be Our Guest! This is also a reference to the fact that in the original animation, Be Our Guest was initially meant to be performed for Maurice instead of Belle.
Director Bill Condon has said that the Be Our Guest musical number has at least 12 musical homages including Singing in the Rain, Chicago, Cabaret, and West Side Story.
In the original draft for Beauty and the Beast (1991), Chip was initially a very minor character with only 1 sentence of dialogue, and all his other scenes were supposed to be replaced by a music box that couldn’t talk, only playing music to show his emotions. The music box was replaced with Chip after the producers realized it would be better to have a viewpoint of a child shown in the film.
MRS. POTTS’ ORIGINAL NAME
When Belle enters the castle, Chip tells Mrs Potts that there’s a girl in the castle and also wonders what type of tea she likes to drink (Chamomile, Oolong, Earl Grey, etc). This is a nod to the fact that Mrs. Potts’ original name was supposed to be Mrs. Chamomile but it was changed to Mrs. Potts after the producers realized that Chamomile might be too hard for children to pronounce.
When we see Belle teaching a young girl to read in the village, the book reads “The blue bird that flies over the dark wood.” This is a reference to the opening scene in the original Beauty and the Beast animation, where we see blue birds flying over the dark first in front of the Beast’s castle.
At the tavern, Gaston asks LeFou “why no woman has snatched him up yet” to which LeFou responds that he has been told that he’s clingy, but he doesn’t see it. This could be a subtle reference to Olaf from Frozen (also voiced by Josh Gad), who is a very clingy character and is completely unaware of it.
Just outside the tavern there are 2 wooden carvings of boar heads, which is a reference to the design of the Beast in both the animation and live action movies. The production team used a wild boar as the main source of inspiration for the Beast’s head, with the tusks being a big resemblance (especially in the animation).
When creating the music for the movie, the director, producers, and music team came across some lyrics that were scrapped from the original film. Bill Condon confirmed that the lyrics were in Gaston, as well as the ending of Emma Thompson’s Beauty and the Beast in the finale.
The new Beauty and the Beast words are: “Winter turns to spring//Famine turns to feast//Nature points the way//Nothing left to say//Beauty and the Beast”
& the new Gaston lyrics are: “When I hunt, I sneak up with my quiver//And beasts of the field say a prayer//First, I carefully aim for the liver//Then I shoot from behind//Is that fair?//I don’t care”
The new lines from Gaston “First I carefully aim for the liver/ Then I shoot from behind / Is that fair? / I don’t care” can be seen as foreshadowing to Gaston shooting the Beast in his back after the Beast let him go.
During the song “How Does a Moment Last Forever”, Maurice is shown making a music box that resembles his life in Paris with his wife and an infant Belle. (His art studio is also full of sketches of Belle’s mother and baby Belle.) These reflect Maurice’s inability to move on from his tragic past and let his daughter find true happiness. At the end of the film, during Belle and the Prince’s party (and possible wedding), Maurice is shown painting a picture of the joyous event. This reveals that Maurice has finally continued on with his life.
Maurice played by Kevin Kline is possibly inspired by Gepetto from Pinocchio as both old men are single fathers and are creators by making music boxes and toys respectively and both get separated from Belle and Pinocchio respectively as well.
The book the Beast uses to transport Belle to Paris is similar to the book seen in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas during the song Stories, in which Belle flips through a book and is then incorporated into the scenes within the book.
The 2017 edition does not feature the song “Human Again” which was deleted from the 1991 animated edition but included with the home releases after 2002.
HOMAGES TO THE BROADWAY ADAPTATION
The concept of the household objects slowly losing their mobility comes from the stage musical. When Belle first enters in her bedroom, you can hear the instumental version of “Home”, the song which Belle sings in the musical in this moment of the story.
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