Beauty And The Beast: 20 Fiendishly Clever Easter Eggs You Probably Missed

As with all character progression, Beast went through a number of designs before the animators settled on the hulking Lion/Hyena look.

Initially, Beast was to be far more wolf-like, but it was presumably realised that having a legitimately scary hero would have made it incredibly hard to actually fall in love with him. So he went through a far more human filter - taking inspiration from voice actor Robby Benson in part - and the wolf characteristics were softened.

But the early designs for the character still made their way into the film: most of the sculptures seen in the West Wing and around the castle - as well as the gargoyles and monsters on the courtyard fountain - are based on concept art for Beast.