After almost 100 years and 63 productions, Walt Disney Animation Studios has created some of the most beloved movies of all time. It can be debated which is the best Disney Animation Studios film, of course, but I’d wager most everybody would put Beauty and the Beast near the top of the list. It’s a high point of the Disney Renaissance and a movie that almost everybody loves, but appreciation isn’t the only opinion that people share.
Beauty and the Beast has become one of those movies that people like to discuss and debate. People question how the magic that transformed all the servants into furniture really worked, or if the Prince was a literal child when he transformed into the Beast. It’s a film with all sorts of fan nitpicks associated with it. However, one internet user recently took to X to point out that one seemingly widely-held fan feeling was actually shared by Belle: that the Beast was better looking as a creature than a man.
belle’s face will forever take me out here like she was NOT gagged LMFAOOO😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Uv7RDvGSBfJanuary 27, 2025
This certainly isn’t the first time that somebody has pointed out on social media that Beast, as a beast, is actually hotter than he is a person. However, until now I hadn’t necessarily noticed how much it appears Belle might actually agree with that sentiment. The look on her face as she examines the newly-human Beast does not indicate she’s particularly impressed.
Looks aren’t everything, sure, but it’s not an uncommon comment among fans that “Adam,” as he is usually called (though he’s never technically given a “real” name in the film) just isn’t that much of a looker. Considering that animators could have made him look any way they wanted, one would expect a conventionally handsome guy would be under all that hair, but not so much.
If there was any way that the Beauty and the Beast live-action remake changes actually did exceed its predecessor, it might be in this way. Dan Stevens is a pretty good-looking guy, and the slightly-wonky Beast CGI work meant that he wasn’t as much of a heartthrob before his transformation back to human.
It’s unclear if there was a particular attempt to make the human version of Beast better looking. In a lot of ways, the live-action Beauty and the Beast seemed to be designed to address fan nitpicks of the animated original, so it wouldn’t be all that shocking to learn this was the case.
Of course, if we’re being honest, the whole message of Beauty and the Beast is supposed to be that true beauty comes from inside, so maybe the fact that the transformed Beast isn’t super sexy is done on purpose to reinforce this point. However, that doesn’t change the fact Belle still has to come to terms with her boyfriend’s new look, and now I’ll never be able to unsee her reaction.