~CartoonJessie

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young Prince lived in a shining castle... Although he had everything his heart desired, the Prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind... And kind of nameless too!



It is April First today, a day to be fooled and to question all you hear. What I am about to write is not something I want people to take lightly though... I am quite serious about this. This is no joke.

I am talking about Disney's Beast here. The same prince that got changed into a beast by the Enchantress, and later on was able to break the curse by winning the love of Belle. And that was when he magically transformed into the nameless prince that people say is actually called "Adam".

But here is where I question what I hear... I have questioned that name ever since I heard it, which must be many, many years ago. I have tried to look for the solid proof, the evidence... I have asked people if they could scan the page in the book where it said the name was so, but most of the time, I would just hear: "Oh, prince Adam? Well I didn't *read* about it in the actual book, I just picked it up online, someone said it was in a book!"



On Bittersweet and Strange, a Beauty and the Beast forum, the Beauty and the Beast fans have discussed his name for years. And we're still discussing. The fans can't find the evidence. Can you?



Even the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) used to mention Beast was named Adam at some point. It was submitted by someone saying it said so in the official Disney Encyclopedia by Dave Smith.
This lead to fellow-Beauty and the Beast-lover TrudiRose to buy "The Official Disney Encyclopedia A to Z" by Dave Smith. She read every page of it, only to find there was nothing about a "prince Adam" mentioned there.
She notified IMDB of this false news and they deleted the mention of this name by the end of 2007. But by then, even more people had picked up this name and assumed it to be official. But is it, really?

Others have said it is mentioned in a book by Don Hahn, but so far, I have heard no true confirmation on that...



All this fuzz about the name Adam has led me to wonder: is this an Urban Legend? Did someone, once, make up the name, get questionned by someone, and replied: "No, prince Adam *is* the official name! It says so in a book!" or something similar? Did that story get changed so much over the course of time that people started believing "Adam" was the name given to Beast by its animator, or the director, or the producer, etc?

Don't we all just assume this knowledge to be so because so many people call him "Adam"? I know that when people ask me: "What's the Beast's name?" I usually reply: "Adam. They call him Adam."

But WHO calls him Adam?
The fans? Or is there genuinely somebody working at Disney who called him like that? Is it official or totally the opposite?



This is where I need your help! I want to investigate this Urban Legend, but I want you to tell me where you heard the name "Adam" first! Did you actually READ it in a book somewhere? Good! Scan it! Send me the evidence! I've been wondering for years and if there is real evidence out there, I'm hoping to track it down this way!

DeviantArt is a great place to find other artists with a fascination for characters such as Beast. I'm hoping that, together, we can, once and for all, settle if "Adam" is a fan-given name or has true roots in Disney.
Thank you for reading!