What year was the movie, "Beauty and the Beast" set in?

Question

I know what year it was made, im just curious about what year it was actually set in. I know nobody will know the exact year, but i mean, 1700's? 1600's?

Answer 1

Well, it depends on which "Beauty and the Beast" you're talking about.  The original fairytale was published in 1740, and since then there have been untold adaptations of it, including dozens of film adaptations of it done over the years.  I'm assuming you're talking about the Disney version, though.

To be honest, they never address what year it is.  It's set in an indefinite "look, it's vaguely medieval" time setting, but that doesn't pin it down too much because various Disney movies taking place in such settings could happen anywhere from the year 1000 or so all the way up to about 1900.

For instance, it has a lot of the same elements of "The Sword in the Stone".  The King Arthur legend originates from about 600 AD, and all the essential elements they used are over a thousand years old.  On the other hand, it also has elements in common with "Sleeping Beauty" and "Pinocchio" as far as the setting goes, and those movies take place in the 18th and 19th centuries, respectively.

So from that perspective, you can definitely pin it down to about a twelve hundred year period.  Beyond that, it's not really meant to be pinned down too much.  Considering how much inspiration Disney drew from the works of the Brothers Grimm, though, you can assume it's set in France sometime between 1700 and 1800 or so, just like the original fairytale.

The buildings of the time would have been similar, the castles would have been long built, and steam power was heard of but not in serious use (if I recall, Maurice's log chopper was steam powered, and people thought he was a bit nuts, so it had to be before steam power was an accepted technology).