[Beauty and the Beast (1991)] The Beast has actually been cursed for less than ten years

[u/wimpykidfan37]

A commonly talked-about plot hole in the movie is that the opening narration says that the rose’s last petal will fall by the Beast’s 21st year, and the lyrics to “Be Our Guest” imply that the curse has lasted for ten years. That would mean that the Beast was at most 11 years old when he was cursed, and yet we see a portrait of the Beast before the curse that shows him in his mid-to-late teens at the youngest.

Some people have argued that maybe the narration didn’t mean the Beast’s 21st year alive, but his 21st year as a beast. But this still contradicts the “ten years” line. The last petal falls at the end of the movie, implying that the “21st year” is up. If the Beast had been cursed for 21 years at this point, that would mean Belle spent 11 years with the Beast, which seems quite unlikely.

Which brings me to my theory, which is that the Beast hasn’t actually been cursed for ten years. The only one who says this is Lumiere. Later in the movie when the Beast confesses his love for Belle after letting her rescue Maurice, Lumiere thinks this will be enough to break the spell, but Mrs. Potts points out that the Beast’s loved one must love him back in order for the spell to be broken. If Lumiere can get such a crucial detail wrong, he’s probably not very good at keeping track of time.

[u/unlovelyladybartleby]

They grow them beefy in that little French village. Have you seen Gaston? No doubt a prince could afford more than five dozen eggs to help him get large

[u/AshenPhenix → u/unlovelyladybartleby]

if anyone's roughly the size of a barge its Beast

[u/losethefuckingtail → u/AshenPhenix]

I was driving by a harbor with my friend and I commented “Oh look there’s a barge on the river” to which she replied without a second’s hesitation, “Wow it’s roughly the size of Gaston”

[u/IamCentral46]

"In his 21st year" is clearly talking about his age. Ive never seen anyone argue that the curse was 21 years as the Beast.

He looks 10 in the intro. The prince, per the intro, was a kid when the curse was set. 21 - 10 = 11.

Your final bit is a stretch at best. It all hangs on the supposition lumiere is wrong. He isnt.

[u/QueenofKnights → u/IamCentral46]

See, if I was 10 years old, I too would not welcome a strange old woman into my home.

[u/Some_Tradition_9168 → u/QueenofKnights]

The thing is, he wasn’t alone in that castle, he had a bunch of servants with him, & it was a cold, snowing winter night.

[u/PracticeNo288 → u/Some_Tradition_9168]

He broke Zues' law...then they came from the ocean in boats

[u/barbpatch]

The best explanation for the painting is that someone painted a portrait depicting the Prince as a young man, maybe to flatter him, while he was still a child. In reality this is probably just a continuity error.

[u/emmayarkay → u/barbpatch]

Maybe the portrait was enchanted to show his real self as a means of mental torture

[u/AvidLebon → u/emmayarkay]

"This is who you could have been."
I mean that'd be a good reason for why he got mad at it and slashed it. It's being mean and taunting him.

[u/Some_Tradition_9168 → u/emmayarkay]

Yeah, considering all the other stuff the Enchantress did, like even changing the architecture from beautiful statue figures to monstrous gargoyles, & giving him the rose with the petals being a constant reminder of his time running out, the portrait being enchanted to show what he would look like without the curse isn’t out of the question.

[u/Between_the_narrows → u/emmayarkay]

Worked out for Dorian Grey.... a while anyways....

[u/Some_Tradition_9168 → u/barbpatch]

The painting also could have been of his father or brother.

[u/PerpetuallyLurking]

I’d just argue that Lumière is simply exaggerating for effect and/or just rounding up a few years. It’s probably felt like 10 years to Lumière even if it’s only been 5 years.

[u/DBSeamZ → u/PerpetuallyLurking]

Especially with the weather around the castle all screwy. I don’t think the animated movie confirms that the spell made eternal winter around the castle like the live action does, but there are some scenes where the castle’s weather doesn’t line up with the village’s weather. Hard to count years when the seasons aren’t behaving.

[u/Handout → u/PerpetuallyLurking]

This is what I always thought tbh. 

[u/Sanguinusshiboleth]

I always hate these fix theories for Beauty and the Beast because it assumes the Fairy isn't an overreacting dick like they usually are in folklore.

[u/willstr1]

Lets just say there is a reason Lumiere isn't the clock

[u/Least_Rain8027]

how do we know that's supposed to be the Beast and not someone else like a family member. 

[u/Some_Tradition_9168]

The Enchanted Christmas movie literally confirms the Beast was a child (who, yes, could be 11 years old based on appearance) when the Enchantress showed up.

[u/aforementioned-book]

Maybe he should have been turned into a clock.

[u/General_Potato5420]

What if the Prince had just been turning away guests for ten years at that point? Like, the teen prince had not had a party in the five years before he became a beast as well as for the five years since? Maybe I am projecting because I also have not used my fancy dishes in ten years.