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In Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Prince Adam was an orphan by age 11 (when he was cursed by a sorceress into his bestial form). However, no reason is stated for his parents' deaths.

Were there ever any reasons given outside the film (or perhaps hints within that I might have missed) as to why Prince Adam's parents are dead by the time he is 11?

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    They were murdered in a dark alley on the way back from the theater house
    – DCOPTimDowd
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 16:00
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    This story is far older than the Disney versions. It is almost a cliche in fairy tales that one or both parents are dead. Snow White and Cinderella com to mind.
    – Verdan
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 17:56
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    @SonOfSam Beauty and the Batman?
    – Machavity
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 20:32
  • @Verdan - FAIL! You forgot to make an example of Frozen, one of the most over hyped additions to the latter Disney mediocrities. Parents die in that one too and basically spew forth some 12 years of WTF on these children (seriously, no LIGHT?). Couple with the regurgitated concept of "true love" and the trend to show true love is not just a kiss... you have one heaping pile of feces every parent dreads to hear again.
    – Kai Qing
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 21:25
  • @Kai Qing you are correct, sir! Indeed, it was another valid example. However, in this case we actually see the deaths of the parents in the story which is unusual.
    – Verdan
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 23:29

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There are several different versions of this fairy tale out there. The only one I can find that mentions anything about Beast's parents was here

Villeneuve's original tale includes several elements that Beaumont's omits. Chiefly, the back-story of both Beauty and the Beast is given. The Beast was a prince who lost his father at a young age, and whose mother had to wage war to defend his kingdom. The queen left him in care of an evil fairy, who tried to seduce him when he became an adult; when he refused, she transformed him into a beast.

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  • So the "deflowering" became an actual flower
    – DCOPTimDowd
    Commented Mar 30, 2017 at 21:17
  • This honestly makes a lot more sense than the "an 11 year old was rude to me. I will punish him for a decade!" fairy/sorceress version.
    – user40790
    Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 15:47
  • @Terriblefan Well, trying to make sense of some Disney plots hurts your head anyways. Sleeping Beauty features a prince who is going to abdicate his throne to marry a peasant girl he just met that day. Ask Edward VIII how well that went for him...
    – Machavity
    Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 16:15
  • @Machavity Aurora is a princess in her own right. So Sleeping Beauty's plot is more like a sugar coat of typical royal marriages. Now Snow White / Cinderella... that's spot on for those. Except he wouldn't have to abdicate, because marrying commoners is commonplace in Disney's universe (for whatever reason).
    – user40790
    Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 17:17

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