The Beast's actual name is never revealed in Disney's 1991 animated classic film Beauty and the Beast. However, in the original French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont upon which the film is based, the Beast is referred to simply as le Bete (meaning the Beast). It is possible that this was his name before he was transformed into a beast, but it is also possible that le Bete was just a nickname given to him by others.