Friday, October 7, 2016

22 "Beauty and the Beast" Questions: What do you think?

Here are some questions about Beauty and the Beast. Some of them I had for a long time, some of them recently since I started practicing singing Disney songs and paid more attention to the lyrics.

1. Where is Belle's mother?

2. In the opening song, Belle sings "Little town, it's a quiet village, everyday like the one before. Little town with the little people waking up to say..." Sometimes when we say "little" we mean it in a "oh how cute" kind of way. But other times we mean it in a "oh, how little! itty bitty hahaha!" kind of condescending way. Which is it?

3. If Belle really grew up in that little town, why does everyone look at her like she is weird? Surely they would've gotten used to her by now. Why is Gaston thinking he would marry her? He knows she's weird and she is sort of an outcast so why should he care? And why now? Why not before? If she truly grew up there, why didn't he make a move on her before?

4. Could it be that Belle is actually from a different town? Because everyone STILL thinks she is weird after ALL THESE YEARS.

5. "Every morning just the same. This is the morning that we came, to this poor provincial town..." This sentence in the opening song, doesn't this show that she is actually from elsewhere???

6. Also she says "There must be more than this provincial life!" This can mean two things: She wants different because she reads books unlike other girls. OR She came from elsewhere so she knows there is more and wants it. She even says it again after Gaston makes a move on her. She's singing again and she says "I want much more than this provincial life!" On top of that, she wants to meet someone out in the wide open somewhere who understands her desire for more.

7. If Belle's father is so excited about the fair,
why does it seem like no one else in town knows about it?

8. Why does Philly, the horse, get scared of the dark scary road they go down if Belle and her father have lived in the little town for years and possibly gone to the fair many times? Why is it that the father gets lost? He's been to the fair, right? And that's why he knows about it.

9. It is obvious that the little town has not heard of the beast before. According to the "Be Our Guest" song, the spell was cast 10 years ago. Surely the little town would know about it, right? It doesn't seem too far away.

10. So the Beast imprisons Belle's father. What has he done to other people when he captures them? Surely it's not the first time someone has come to the castle because the Beast puts Belle's father into captivity the moment he discovers him. What is his motive? It appears that Belle was the first girl to venture inside. Were there other men that ventured in?

11. How can Chip be Mrs Potts' son? He calls her Mama. He looks like her grandson.

12. Lumiere can control his candlestick friends. But those friends were not servants, were they? Why didn't all the furniture come to life under the spell?

13. How did Lumiere learn he could blow on his hands and make fire?

14. Do the servants eat even though they have been turned into things?

15. It wouldn't be too unusual for the Magic Carpet from Aladdin to appear in Beauty and the Beast. Did it make a cameo or not? That would depend on which movie came first, I suppose.

16. When Belle doesn't get to say goodbye to her father released from captivity and starts crying, why does the Beast look sad and/or a bit regretful? What does this mean? He has a soft spot for women?

17. What is the Beast's real name and what happened to his parents?

18. In the beginning we learn that the enchanted rose will bloom until his 21st birthday. Lumiere sings that they have been rusting for ten years. THAT MEANS, the young prince was only 11 years old. Isn't it a bit cruel to punish an eleven year old for being a selfish kid and put such a terrible spell on him? And where da heck are his parents???

19. Belle shows the Beast to Gaston and his buddies using the Magic Mirror. No one questions the Magic Mirror. Did Belle really think Gaston would not go after the Beast to kill him after showing his terrifying face in the mirror? How naive is Belle about Gaston? Gaston has the biggest ego and he wants to be number one in the "poor provincial town".

20. It's weird how Gaston and everyone knows how to get to the castle, too. It's also weird that they think they'll need some kind of giant log to break down the castle door when in the beginning both Belle's father and Belle get in by just opening it. It's like Gaston KNOWS the furniture or something might be expecting them. They only need the log because Lumiere or whatever were holding the door.

21. The things that are alive in the castle, all the servants, seem to know exactly what to do when Gaston arrives. Could it be that they have had attacks before? And why did Mrs. Potts say "the castle is under attack!" I mean, they HAVE been there like that for ten years, it could be that they had to fight off unwanted guests before and they also might know what some of them usually look like. Mrs.Potts immediately goes to tell the Beast. But the Beast doesn't do anything. What did he do before that? Terrify the heck out them? Scare them away? Let them go away alive to tell the story? But if they told the story, certainly the townspeople would know about it, right? THEY LIVE RIGHT THERE! They are practically neighbors!

22. Finally, the question that has been bugging me probably from the moment I first watched Beauty and the Beast: Does Belle eat at all at the castle?

So, if you have answers or speculations for any of the questions feel free to comment and I will get to answering them myself soon :)

See ya later, alligators :D

No comments:

Post a Comment