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 – here’s what it is and if it’s official or not. Although Walt Disney Pictures has produced all types of movies for decades, its 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 since then, the studio has produced a total of 12 Disney princess movies, not counting the made-for-television sequels and both Frozen movies.
One of the most beloved and popular Disney princess movies is Beauty and the Beast, released in 1991 and directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. The story is based on the 1756 French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont but with a couple of changes to turn it into a musical and make it kid-friendly. Beauty and the Beast follows Belle, a book-loving, independent-minded girl who is imprisoned by a Beast in his castle. The Beast is actually a prince who was cursed many years ago (as well as his servants) for his arrogance, and the only way he could break the curse was by learning to love. Belle and the Beast fall in love and the Beast manages to break the curse and go back to his human form.
The movie never mentions the real name of the Beast and is even credited as such, but it’s believed by many that his name is Adam, and is 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. 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.
Even so, the Beast doesn’t have a real name, with Trousdale and Wise commenting in the Beauty and the Beast DVD and Blu-ray that he never had an actual name, and 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 (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 of naming him Adam. 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.
No matter what all the licensed products say, truth is that the Beast doesn’t have an official name, so it’s up to every Disney fan to decide if his name is Adam or something else. Luckily, it’s not a detail that changes or affects the character nor the story of Beauty and the Beast, but some people (understandably) like knowing the basic details about the main characters of their favorite movies.