What The Beast’s Real Name Is

Beauty and the Beast doesn’t reveal the Beast’s real name, but there’s one that is widely believed to be his official name. Beauty and the Beast, released in 1991 and directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, is based on the 1756 French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The movie follows Belle, a book-loving, independent-minded girl imprisoned by a Beast in his castle. The Beast is actually a prince who was cursed (as well as his servants) for his arrogance, and the only way he could break the curse was by learning to love.

Although Walt Disney Pictures has produced all types of movies for decades, it is best known for its princess movies, which have brought a very peculiar type of magic to the big screen. It all began back in 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and her Prince Charming. Prince Charming wasn’t that Prince’s real name, but the term stuck, and many of the Disney princes have been dubbed with that nickname ever since. The Beast’s prince, however, does have an unofficial name.

The Movie Never Reveals The Beast’s Name

The movie never mentions the real name of the Beast. The character is even credited as the Beast instead of the Prince. Trousdale and Wise confirmed in the Beauty and the Beast DVD and Blu-ray commentary that he never had an actual name. While that might seem odd to modern movie audiences, there are often characters simply credited as “shopkeeper” or “townsperson” in animated movies. The only reason it’s so unusual here is that the Beast is a main character.

Some writers have even said that they were so busy working on the movie that they simply forgot to give him a name. It was also believed that the animators and other crew members referred to the Beast as “Adam” during production, as shared by Paige O’Hara (the voice of Belle), but this has been denied a couple of times.

However, in the diamond edition of the Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray, supervising animator Glen Keane said he kept a quote from the Bible with him while animating the Beast’s transformation, which would have influenced the decision to name him Adam, as that is the Bible’s first man. Of course, this might have been a recent addition to the debate, as he had previously said that they didn’t give a name to the character.

Why So Many Believe The Beast’s Name Is Adam

It is believed by many Disney fans that the Beat’s name is Adam despite the name not appearing in the credits. He is even listed as such on many sites dedicated to all things Disney. This is because he has appeared as “Adam” in a number of licensed products by Disney, as well as in the 1998 video game The D Show, which was actually licensed out to a company named Cyberflix, and wasn’t developed by Disney at all.

Still, the Mouse House has taken advantage of that, and there’s even a plaque in Walt Disney World’s Port Orleans Riverside Royal Rooms that states his name is Adam. It isn’t uncommon for Disney to have characters named once their licensed images are used in other merchandise. Prince Charming of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for example, is called Prince Florian thanks to merchandise for the movie as well. In certain countries, however, he’s also called Fernando instead.

No matter what all the licensed products say, the truth is that the Beast doesn’t have an official name. Luckily, it’s not a detail that changes or affects the character or the story of Beauty and the Beast, but some people (understandably) like knowing the basic details about the main characters of their favorite movies.

Do Other Beauty & The Beast Versions Give The Character A Name?

There have been many adaptations of Beauty and the Beast beyond the Disney version. While some of the classic movie adaptations of the original tale don’t give the Beast a name beyond the revelation that he’s a prince, modern adaptations do.

The 1987 television series Beauty and the Beast starred Linda Hamilton as a woman named Catherine, not Belle, who ended up crossing paths with Ron Perlman as the titular Beast. There, the Beast has lion-like attributes and lives in subway tunnels under the city with other outcasts. His name is Vincent. That version of the story, however, is also closer to the original story than the Disney version is. Vincent never has to learn to be less self-centered because he already is. The 2012 CW series adapted this version for a new take.

2011’s Beastly starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens is inspired by the young adult novel of the same name, which in turn, is inspired by the fairy tale. There, the Beast is a high school student cursed by a teenage classmate who happens to be a witch. Hudgens is the young woman who ends up living with him during his isolation. There, the Beast is named Kyle.

In most of the cases of the adaptations, the names are simply common or popular names, reflective of the time in which the adaptation is made. There are some cases, however, where the name given to the Beast changes the adaptation slightly.

ABC’s television series Once Upon A Time adapted Disney’s version of several fairy tales into intertwined stories for the small screen, but the show also drew on various folklore and literature, making for an interesting mix of stories. In the case of Beauty and the Beast, the story was combined with the fairytale of Rumplestiltskin, making that character and the Beast one and the same. His name in the non-fairy-tale-world is Mr. Gold, more reflective of Rumplestiltskin than the Beast. His behavior, however, remains beastly.

There are also more creative adaptations of Beauty and the Beast that eliminate the prince and his beastly form altogether. That might sound impossible, but it works.

Little Miss Perfect is a 2016 movie that very loosely adapts the idea of Beauty and the Beast for the modern day. Main character Belle is a high school student with a need for perfection and high achievement in her life. Her perfect world begins to fracture as she is swept up in the eating disorder subculture online. While Belle is still the Beauty of the story, the Beast is how she sees herself under the influence of her eating disorder.

In the end, the Beast can go by many different names and backgrounds, as long as the heart of Beauty and the Beast adaptations remain intact.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Director

Gary Trousdale , Kirk Wise

Release Date

November 21, 1991

Cast

Paige O’Hara , Robby Benson , Angela Lansbury , Jerry Orbach , David Ogden Stiers , Bradley Pierce , Jesse Corti , Richard White

Runtime

84 Minutes