No one eats eggs like Gaston, but even he can't match Disney fans on Tumblr when it comes to finding Easter eggs.
A fan theory is making its way around the Internet claiming "Beauty and the Beast" may have a secret connection to "Aladdin," and it's even more convincing than Aladdin trying to pretend he's Prince Ali Ababwa.
The theory: When Belle discusses her favorite book in "Beauty and the Beast," she's talking about "Aladdin."
The possible Easter egg is getting traction off of a recent share from Tumblr user Disneymom, but it seems to have been around for years.
It all happens when Belle goes to the bookshop and picks up her favorite novel. Yeah, she's read it twice, but Belle explains why it's her fave, saying, "Far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise."
Sound familiar?
Wow. This is like a whole new world.
Yeah, Belle may be secretly describing the plot of "Aladdin" while at the bookshop. She later adds, "Here's where she meets prince charming, but she won't discover that it's him 'til Chapter 3." This, again, may be referring to how Aladdin disguises himself in the story.
You can see it all during the song, "Belle."
OK, not everything aligns perfectly. For instance, Aladdin is disguising himself as a prince. He's not necessarily a prince in disguise (unless you count him being the Prince of Thieves because of the twist in "Aladdin and the King of Thieves"). Plus, the artwork in the book doesn't really look too "Aladdin"-like:
Still, "Aladdin" came out about a year after "Beauty and the Beast," so teasing an upcoming film with an Easter egg doesn't seem that far-fetched. After all, Pixar does it all the time.
But could it be true? The Huffington Post reached out to Tom Sito, a former Disney animator and current Chair and Professor of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at USC to get his take. While at Disney, Sito worked on both films, but says, "Wow, I never heard that one before."
The animator wouldn't rule it out, however. He continues, "Although, Howard Ashman, who wrote the music lyrics for both films, may have had it in mind when he wrote 'Belle-Bonjour.' He was a very clever man and was working on 'Aladdin' at a pretty early stage."
Though Sito didn't confirm this particular connection, he did add that there is another "Beauty and the Beast" Easter egg in "Aladdin."
"When the Sultan is stacking up a bunch of toy figurines and Jafar causes him to tumble. One of the figurines is of Beast," says Sito.
So what do you think? Is Belle secretly talking about "Aladdin" in the bookshop? Like Mrs. Potts says, "There may be something there that wasn't there before."
Also on HuffPost:
Disney Easter Eggs
