Belle melodiously hoped “there must be more than this provincial life” in the 1991 animated version of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”, and it seems the animators agreed – it’s California.
With the new live action version of the classic out in theaters next week, Disney fans might enjoy taking a look back at a hidden gem in the original that nods to our neck of the woods (so to speak).
A concealed Easter egg near the beginning of the movie reveals several road signs pointing to towns in different directions, and although the movie takes place in ambiguous 18th or 19th-century France, all of the towns are places in Southern California.
Among the ‘provincial’ town signs are two in San Diego County. Borrego and Ramona likely refer to Borrego Springs in the county’s extreme east desert area and Ramona, in north San Diego.
The sign post, which is visible when Maurice, Belle’s father, gets lost on his way to the invention fair, is hard to read in the film, but the names were revealed in one of the anniversary edition’s DVD extras. Other names include Valencia and Anaheim, which is of course home to Disneyland, among others.
While the California sign post did not make it into Emma Watson’s movie, it might be worth checking through the film to see what other SoCal secrets might be hiding in plain sight.
Easter eggs are not uncommon in Disney movies. Mickey, Donald and Goofy were all in attendance when King Triton first enters in “The Little Mermaid”, Lady and the Tramp make a cameo in “101 Dalmatians” and the Beast himself is one of the sultan’s miniature toys in “Aladdin”. Belle is also visible in a street scene from the “Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
Local
“Beauty and the Beast” hits theaters on Friday, but those who frequent Disneyland can catch an eight-minute sneak peek of the film at Disney’s California Adventure and eat a la Belle at the Red Rose Taverne in Fantasyland in Disneyland Park.
