Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont was an 18th-century French author whose literary work, particularly her version of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, has served as the foundational source material for numerous modern anime, manga, and animated adaptations.

Born in Rouen, France, on April 6, 1711, Leprince de Beaumont worked as an educator and governess, a profession that heavily influenced her writing. After a period teaching in France, she moved to London in 1748, where she remained for about fifteen years. It was during her time in England that she published much of her work, focusing on educational texts designed to instruct and entertain young readers. Her most famous work, La Belle et la Bête, was published in 1756 as part of her educational collection titled Magasin des enfants, ou dialogues entre une sage gouvernante et plusieurs de ses élèves. While she did not invent the story of Beauty and the Beast, her version was an abridged and moralized adaptation of a longer tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, and it became the definitive version that shaped most subsequent adaptations. Leprince de Beaumont passed away in 1780, leaving behind a substantial body of work comprising approximately 70 volumes of educational writings and fairy tales.

In the realm of modern manga, Leprince de Beaumont is credited as the original creator of the source material for the series Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost. This manga was written and illustrated by Kaori Yuki, a renowned creator in the gothic manga genre known for series such as Angel Sanctuary and Alice in Murderland. The series was serialized in Kodansha and Pixiv’s manga app Palcy from October 2019 to November 2021 and was compiled into five tankōbon volumes. The English-language version was published by Kodansha USA, with volumes released from August 2021 to December 2022. The manga is explicitly described as a dark fairy-tale adventure that presents a unique and sinister interpretation of the classic story originally authored by Leprince de Beaumont.

Beyond this specific manga, Leprince de Beaumont’s influence on anime and animation is extensive, as her 1756 version of Beauty and the Beast is the credited original story for a wide range of productions. Most prominently, she is recognized as the original author for the 1991 Walt Disney Pictures animated film Beauty and the Beast, as well as its subsequent direct-to-video sequels and spin-offs. Her name also appears in the credits for the 1946 live-action film adaptation directed by Jean Cocteau, the 2017 Disney live-action film, and numerous other animated adaptations from various studios around the world. The continued adaptation of her work across different media, including contemporary manga, underscores her lasting significance as an original creator whose 18th-century text remains a vital source of inspiration for storytellers in the anime and manga industries.