Not to say that Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was by any stretch of the imagination emblematic of the troubles of that time, but if they didn’t want the comparison, maybe they shouldn’t have set it in the 1750’s. The young Prince at the beginning of the story certainly fits the profile though, by being a mean little brat and refusing to give an old beggar woman shelter from the cold. But surprise! The beggar was actually a powerful enchantress, who cursed the prince and transformed him into a hideous beast, and all of his servants into anthropomorphic versions of the household items they were using at the time.
Walt Disney Pictures
The villagers had no idea what happened at the palace. All they knew was some freaky stuff was going on there, the place was now shrouded in darkness and surrounded by wolves, and no one wanted to investigate the matter any further because that might remind the Prince to start collecting taxes and enforcing laws again. The villagers had just stumbled ass-backwards into a libertarian wet dream.
Fast forward ten years, and Gaston rallies the villagers to join him in killing the beast that roams the palace, and save the girl he wants to marry in the process. That night, the villagers find themselves fighting a bunch of possessed furniture while Gaston squares off with the Beast on the roof. By the end of the night, they watch as the furniture transforms back into people, and they find out Gaston is dead, there is no beast, that dick of a prince is back, and he just caught them trying to destroy his house. Awkward!
Walt Disney Pictures
That’s one hell of a way to greet the man who rules over their kingdom. It also doesn’t help that the Prince has chosen a new bride, and it’s the brainy girl with the crazy dad who the villagers have been making fun of in song form every day. But maybe the Prince, Belle and the villagers are able to put all of the weirdness aside and have a happy ending... just as long as you ignore what happens in France after 1789. It's almost like this is a recurring problem in Disney movies!