The Bimbettes

The Bimbettes (individual names Claudette, Laurette, and Paulette) are blonde identical triplets who fawn over Gaston in Disney's 1991 animated feature film Beauty and the Beast. They wear red, amber, and green dresses respectively, and possess differing hairstyles that vary constantly throughout their appearances in the movie.
==Background==
The Bimbettes, whose individual names are Claudette (with the red dress), Laurette (with the amber dress), and Paulette (with the green dress), are identical triplet sisters working as waitresses at a local tavern in the unnamed French village which was the home of Belle. Like most of the young women of the village (according to the 1994 Marvel comics as well as implied in the original film), they are infatuated with Gaston, showing neither awareness or concern over his truly boorish and chauvinistic nature, but he has no interest in marrying any of them because he only wants the most beautiful girl in town as his wife.
===Personality===
Collectively, the Bimbettes are lovestruck maidens who swoon for Gaston, primarily due to his handsome physique. Like Gaston, they primarily like someone largely because of how they look, although it is unclear if they are obsessed with their own looks like Gaston is. They think Belle is crazy for not admiring Gaston as much as they do, though they seemed to be oblivious to Gaston's aggressive and sexist demeanor. They also get upset very easily too. Unlike Belle, they have some desire to get married and be a man's wife. The Winter Wonderland issue for Marvel Comics implied that their love for Gaston occurred as early as childhood. They do not seem to have any respect for Gaston's partner LeFou, at least in the Marvel Comics. They were also shown to be very forgiving in spite of whatever happened, as evidenced by their giving comfort to Gaston despite the latter's attempt to marry Belle beforehand, and their devastation when they found out he was the groom at the failed wedding, as well as their attending the Prince and Belle's wedding despite Gaston's death. In Marvel Comics, they are shown to be somewhat jealous of Belle and are constantly coming up with plans to make Gaston fall in love with them and stop obsessing with Belle.
Although they are not book-smart, they have had moments of cleverness, at least in the Marvel Comics, a notable instance being the third issue when one of the Bimbettes (Laurette) disguised herself as Belle, anticipating that Gaston would want to choose Belle at a wife auction, not letting up the disguise until after she won Gaston during the auction, and even then, only because her sisters interfered.http://coa.inducks.org/hr.php?image=http://outducks.org/renamed/us/btb/0003/us_btb_003a_001.jpg&normalsize=1 Another instance of their cleverness was demonstrated in the fourth issue when Claudette, Laurette, and Paulette managed to successfully trick a bear into temporarily breaking out of hibernation by starting a fire to supply warmth, a leafy branch to indicate blossoming plants, and Laurette tweeting like a bird to indicate birds had come out for spring. The same issue also implied they were good at mathematics or at the very least counting, as their first appearance in the issue had them counting up to 783 when watching Gaston use books as barbells. In the first issue, they were also shown to be good at setting hunting traps, as they had a net trap set up that would activate if stepped on (which they intended to use on Gaston, although because Gaston knocked LeFou away, the latter accidentally set the trap instead).
It was implied in the film, the Wedding Wishes coloring book, and Disney Princess: Royal Weddings, that despite their differences, especially their differing views of Gaston, the Bimbettes viewed Belle as a friend, as they were seen attending both the failed wedding between Gaston and Belle and the wedding between Belle and the Prince. The former instance also showed them personally helping in setting up the wedding. While there was little interaction between them and Belle, Wedding Wishes and, to a lesser extent, Royal Weddings, Belle at least considered them friends during her wedding with the Prince. In the prequel book Belle's Discovery, however, as children, the Bimbettes had a cruel and antagonistic relationship towards Belle due to her parents' situation. Despite their initial negative views about Belle however, they eventually grew to respect her late in the book, as demonstrated by their willingly volunteering to help Belle prepare the bookstore for its grand reopening by making decorations for it. The same book also indicated they, or at least Claudette, had some interest in historical dresses and to a lesser extent the fantasy genre, as the means where Belle convinced them to go to the book store entailed her describing a magic doll, and also subtly drew attention to a book about dresses from the 17th century, causing the triplets to scramble to it.
Although they were in love with Gaston, their actual relationship with Gaston varied: in the original film as well as the comics, it is strongly implied that Gaston completely ignored them (outside of general acknowledgment that they love him in the case of the comics) in favor of Belle since childhood, with the latter source having Gaston ending up outraged when he discovered one of them posing as Belle; while in the musical, they were mentioned to have some sort of romantic relationship before Gaston pursuing Belle. On a related note, their reactions to Gaston's arrival in the failed wedding proposal in the original film implied that they had been kept in the dark about Gaston being the groom for Belle's wedding, while in the musical version of the event, it was made clear that Gaston informed them of his intention of marrying Belle. In one of the comics, they were shown trying to attract Gaston's attention while sledding. Similarly, how they reacted to Belle being Gaston's chosen bride also varied: In the film, it was implied that they had ultimately accepted that Gaston wanted to marry Belle over themselves, while in the musical, they were devastated to the point of crying, while in the Marvel Comics, they were shown to be spiteful and wanting Gaston to focus on and marry [one of] them rather than Belle.
===Physical appearance===
The Bimbettes are three identical triplets, with long, neatly groomed blonde hair ending just below the waist in a ponytail and green eyes. They possess curvy bodies with a massive amount of cleavage (though this was toned down slightly in the Marvel Comics series, presumably for the slightly younger reader base; this is toned down slightly in the parks as well). Aside from varying hairstyles that switch at random, the only discernible differences between them are the color of their dresses and hair bows: red for Claudette, amber for Laurette, and green for Paulette. They also wear bloomers and matching black strap Mary Jane shoes (although the latter was depicted as slippers in the comics). Their dresses are slightly similar to Belle's ball gown, only slightly less elaborate, serving as tavern dresses. In addition, their dresses, or at least Claudette's, possessed a ribbon on the posterior. Their physical beauty was high enough for LeFou to briefly react with some infatuation for them before their accidentally squirting LeFou with water. In Beauty and the Beast's issues during the winter, they are seen wearing shawls over their dresses, colored similarly to their dresses.
When they appeared as children in one of the comics, they had long winter dresses with a ribbon tied at the back. Although they still had ponytails, they seemed to be strapped with a regular cord instead of a hair bow. In addition, they also wore slippers. Because of the blue coloring of their appearance, it is difficult to discern the colors of the dresses, although Claudette's may have been red due to it having a darker shade than her sisters. In Belle's Discovery, they are depicted as wearing sundresses that are colored the same as their older selves.
When the Prince and Lumiere were getting supplies for the Prince and Belle's wedding in Disney Princess: Royal Weddings, Paulette was seen wearing a dress with sleeves covering her shoulders as well as a hat, all colored green, while Claudette was seen wearing a red dress similar to her regular dress, only with a red sash covering her cleavage.
In the live-action remake, the Bimbettes, or rather, the Village Lasses, were given a significant redesign. Aside from being depicted as having curly dark hair instead of straight blonde hair, they also wore largely similar dresses, which are depicted as more conservatively designed and very fancy, as well as being primarily pink in color (presumably to better contrast with Belle's blue dress) with some floral patterns on the sleeves and corset as well as white pinnies, as well as wearing fancy pink hats, and were shown to wear a significant amount of makeup, which showcased their obsession with outer beauty. Despite their hair color change, there was one brief nod to their original hair color in the beginning song where one of them was seen trying out a blonde-colored wig. They were also seen wearing stringy hair bows at one point, when Gaston, in reference to dating them, stated that "a hunter does not waste time hunting rabbits." Elise is depicted as having a beauty spot on the right side of her face near her mouth as well as red flowers and gold oak leaf patterns on her dress; Eloise is depicted as having red flowers and bucket patterns on her sleeves as well as a white polka-dot pattern on her otherwise pink corset, and Eliana is depicted as having her beauty spot just underneath her right eye, a slight mantle on her dress, and elaborate red patterns on the dress.
==Appearances==
===Beauty and the Beast===
They first appear in the introduction song of the film, where they are remarking on how Gaston's dreamy, cute and a strong brute, eventually fainting. They are so busy singing about how much they love Gaston that they accidentally squirt water on LeFou. Afterward, Claudette and Laurette, while witnessing Belle rejecting Gaston's advances, a state in shock and anger how Belle is crazy because of the way she deals with Gaston, while Paulette (followed by her sisters shortly thereafter) begin swooning Gaston again.
They are later seen during the preparations of what would have been Gaston and Belle's wedding until they see Gaston arrive, which, after reacting with some shock (implying they were unaware of who Belle was marrying until that point), begin crying and sobbing vigorously shortly after that when he announces that he will propose to Belle as well as thanking everyone for the attendance to the wedding. They later comforted him at the Tavern after his plan to marry her backfired with him falling into a mud swamp, although they briefly hesitated in actually giving comfort for a few seconds until LeFou finished singing, "and it's not very hard to see why."
During "Gaston", the three Bimbettes are sitting on a bench singing how Gaston was the burliest and brawniest of all, and Gaston picks the Bench with them up and shows off his muscles to the Bimbettes and then throws their bench back down onto LeFou. At the ending of the song, Paulette is seen with a silver platter moving towards the other side of the room while Claudette and Laurette were absent. They later return in the reprise immediately after Gaston whispered his plan into LeFou's ear. It is unclear if they were aware of or supported Gaston's plot, as they appear to support Gaston during the reprise, but they are not seen anymore in the film.
===House of Mouse===
Despite the fact that they only appear a few times in the movie, the Bimbettes appear several times in the show as cameo characters. In the episode "Big Bad Wolf Daddy", Gaston seems to be annoyed with them singing a song with Zeke Wolf. They also acted as groupies for Donald Duck in the episode "The Three Caballeros", when the duck became The Duck Formerly Known as Donald, and even got autograph pads from the stand. They, alongside Tilda from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, later storm the stage for José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles as all three of them performed.
Just like in the movie, the girls retain their habit of hairdo-switching.
==Live-action appearances==
===Beauty and the Beast (2017)===
The Bimbettes, who are known as the Village Lasses in this film, appears in live-action form in this remake of the 1991 animated musical. Here they are brunettes instead of blondes, but they still obsess over Gaston while obsessing over superficial beauty through expensive dresses and makeup. They are also seamstresses in this version instead of waitresses, and strongly dislike Belle, which according to director Bill Condon and Rafaelle Cohen, was due to their mother doting on Belle all the time over them. Gaston also implies at one point that the reason he doesn't ask for their hand in marriage instead of Belle was that he ultimately considered them to be of inferior quality compared to her, or as he put it to LeFou, stating that a great hunter does not waste time on rabbits.
During the opening song, they appear during the segment at the wig shop, and alongside their mother sing the verses that were originally intended for the wig shop owner and the wig shop patron, respectively. They are sprayed with mud by Gaston's horse, and LeFou coldly tells them that none of them will marry Gaston because he spurns their infatuation and treats them like dirt and because Gaston is more interested in Belle. They are much more malicious in this film than in the original, actually having a strong dislike towards Belle, even smirking when she gets locked away along with her father under Gaston's orders. They are also seen during "Gaston", like in the original and during "The Mob Song", being a part of the mob this time, along with other female townsfolks.
A deleted scene had them being attacked by Cuisiner, who also proceeded to mock them by saying "You look amazing!" and "You've never looked better!", in reference to some food it sprayed on them earlier, as well as threaten them in a similar manner to Chef Bouche in the original animated film causing them to flee in terror. They are last seen fleeing away in defeat with the villagers after being scared off by Lumière. Despite all the villagers returning to the castle after the spell is broken, only one of the Village Lasses are seen dancing.
The actresses who portray the Village Lasses in this film gave their roles the names Elise (Rafaëlle Cohen), Eliana (Sophie Reid), and Eloise (Carla Nella). However, it is unclear if these names are officially approved, as the filmmakers have not confirmed this.
==Printed media==
The Bimbettes have appeared in several print adaptations around the film. Their roles in the official comic adaptation were largely the same as in the movie, although with more minor roles due to several of the songs being excised. In addition, their reactions to Belle's refusal of Gaston are cut.
Although not a separate novelization per-se, they also appeared in two pages of a French book adaptation of the Disney film. The first was when Gaston was introduced, swooning him, and the second was their attendance at Gaston and Belle's failed wedding. Similarly, the same novelization also gave them a slightly different facial design, with raised eyebrows, narrow eyes, and grinning small mouths. The English version altered the looks to resemble their film design, although two different books from the same English translation gave them brown or green eyes.
===Beauty and the Beast Marvel Comics===
The Bimbettes have relatively larger roles in the comic released between 1994 and 1995, three to four years after the first film. In these, the Bimbettes generally tried to find a way to get Gaston to focus on them in the Village subplots. They appeared in Issues 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 directly and in Issues 5 and 8 in flashback form. It should be noted that they are depicted in the comics with a slightly different personality from the film: Notably, they took measures to circumvent Gaston's plans regarding impressing Belle, while in the film, the only thing they did when they discovered Gaston was going to marry Belle was crying up a storm, as well as being depicted as more explicitly jealous of Belle being the center of Gaston's attention over themselves than in the film.
In the first issue, the Bimbettes came up with an idea to use a "love potion" (implied to be perfume) that was powerful enough for even Gaston to fall for them instead of for Belle. It worked temporarily, but a skunk ended up forcing them to separate and flee. Later, they tried a different approach: placing a net trap to ensnare Gaston while he was on a hunting trip outside the village, but LeFou ended up setting off the trap instead after Gaston knocked him away in irritation at missing.
In the second issue, the Bimbettes ended up reacting to Gaston's display of his features while the latter came up with a plot to announce a wife auction. In it, while he was mentioning his features, the Bimbettes reacted in a similar manner to the opening song, eventually fainting and being knocked out as he left. While out, they dreamed Gaston proposed to them [depicted as Paulette]. It should be noted that this was the only issue where they don't plot to either have Gaston forget about Belle or otherwise land him for themselves.
In the third issue, Laurette managed to realistically disguise herself as Belle to get to Gaston during the ensuing wife auction (Gaston naturally wanting Belle). The disguise was Belle's white and blue village outfit and a wig that resembled Belle's hair color and style. To complete her disguise, she grabs a book but hides it from Gaston because he hates the idea of women reading. It works for a few moments, but the other two Bimbettes, desperate to get at Gaston, accidentally ripped her disguise away (apparently believing she was Belle), causing Gaston to become angry at the deception, and retaliate at LeFou for mistaking her for Belle. Afterward, they are seen sitting on a bench in the tavern, once again swooning over Gaston.
In the fourth issue, they are swooning over Gaston balancing books, although he makes no secret that Belle is his object in a conversation with LeFou, causing them to become determined that Gaston be theirs or no one else's. They then followed him to a snowy hill and attempted to stop him, apparently because it would have otherwise guaranteed that Belle would fall for Gaston. However, the snow forced them to lose their grip and fall on LeFou, causing him to mention that it was "snowing girls." They later found Gaston with a sleeping bear (who had tied it up) and decided to wake it in an attempt to stop Gaston. Following a plan created by Laurette, Claudette proceeded to start a fire in the cave, and Paulette proceeded to brush its nose with a branch while Laurette herself started mimicking a bird in an attempt to imply that it was springtime. They then fled as the bear woke up, with Gaston being forced out of the cave while attempting to take on the bear by himself.
The Bimbettes themselves do not physically appear in the fifth issue itself, although they do appear in a flashback Belle experienced, referencing the opening of the movie, where they were swooning Gaston. Their reaction to Gaston focusing on Belle is slightly different, wondering why Belle should be the object of Gaston's attention when he could go with one of them, especially when she does not even go to dances, instead of in the film where they were shocked and angered that she refused Gaston's advances.
They reappear in Issue 7, where they hope Gaston marries one of them when LeFou advised Gaston to give it up as he tried everything. However, Gaston decided to use the bookkeeper instead to lure Belle, causing Laurette to scream after Claudette mentioned Belle, admitting they are getting tired of their jealousy of Belle, deciding to give Gaston a "taste of his own medicine" by making him jealous of LeFou. They managed to get Gaston angry enough to attack LeFou at the bookstore by fawning over him and kissing him (much to LeFou's pleasure), although not in the way they hoped, as he was more incensed than LeFou had shirked off his duty regarding being on the lookout for Belle than the fact that he was interacting with the Bimbettes, causing them to run out of the bookstore screaming. This is their last appearance in the serial in person.
Like in the fifth issue, they do not actually appear in the eighth issue, although they do appear in Belle's flashback to an instance regarding a past event where Belle went to the fair with her father. Although initially relieved that Belle was leaving the village, they realized that it meant she would come back like before, so they resolved to switch the sign leading to the fair to the other direction to ensure they cannot come back. Ultimately, their plan was undone, with Belle returning.
===Disney Comic Hits!===
In Issue 5 of the series, the Bimbettes, alongside Gaston and Belle, were depicted as children on a snowy day. They proceeded to watch Gaston and get him to look at them (who likewise was trying to impress Belle) while teasing Belle for using a box as a sled, only for them and Gaston to hit a tree while Belle goes by. This suggests that Belle and her family have lived in the village for a very long time.
===Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Royal Wedding===
Set after the first film, the Bimbettes were seen at the flower shop swooned over the Prince while he was getting some roses for Belle. It is also implied that they accepted Belle's invitation alongside the other villagers to show the Prince that he was loved. Likewise, it is also implied they let go of Gaston.
===Disney Princess Beginnings===
The Bimbettes (as Claudette, Laurette, and Paulette) appear in the prequel chapter book Belle's Discovery. Notably, it is also the first story to refer to them by their first names and not by their collective name. Like Belle, the triplets were depicted as children in this and went to the same school as Belle. Due to their age, they aren't swooning over Gaston in the story. In the beginning, when a boy named Thomas tattled on Belle, Claudette proceeded to giggle at her expense. Later, when Belle was interacting with their friend Sylvia, the triplets proceeded to make barbed remarks behind Belle's back, particularly stating that Belle was "as batty as her dad" and implying that this was because her mother was absent in her life, hurting Belle. Sylvia claimed they were headed home, though they, in reality, were just nearby at a bench. Belle later tried to get them to go to a bookstore that was nearby in an attempt to save it from being closed down, although they initially refused due to its reputation for being a haunted bookstore. They eventually were convinced when Belle had Morton, an aspiring theater actor, play out a half-finished story to convince the children to attend the bookstore, with Belle proceeding to knock a book down that contained stuff about royal dresses from a century prior, piquing their interest. They later aided in helping Belle and the bookshop's owner, Adele Hugo, set up for a grand reopening by making decorations alongside Sylvie. At the end of the story, they are seen reading to their dolls.
===Princess Adventure Stories===
Although they don't play a major role in any of the stories, they were seen in one of the illustrations for Belle and the Mysterious Monster admiring Gaston as he boasts to the other villagers that he'll try to find and get rid of the monster.
==Musical==
In the Musical, their roles are the same; although they are given more dialogue, Gaston pays more attention to them, and their role is expanded slightly. They are referred to as the Silly Girls in the musical, and there can be more than three of them if a director chooses to cast more girls. In addition, at least in some showings, they are given more garish and unkempt appearances, presumably to better contrast them from Belle in terms of physical appearances.
Like in the movie, their first scene is in Belle, fawning over Gaston, although their scene is also expanded to having them socializing with other villagers and gossiping about Belle's "odd" nature. Their "oh, he's so cute" verse is delivered much louder than in the movie too, and their lyrics can precede and be accompanied by "fangirl screams" in some productions as well. However, here they are not present when Gaston stops Belle, although a director can choose to have them there to more follow the plot of the scene. They make their second appearance outside Belle's cottage, accompanying Gaston. They are crying over the fact that he is going to propose to Belle and not any of them. They lighten up a bit when he promises to keep up with their little rendezvouses, but exit sobbing as he once again expresses his wish of proposing to Belle and sends them off. They appear after Gaston's unsuccessful proposal, having hidden after being sent away, asking how it went. Each gets new hopes of getting him for herself, and they squabble over it while they exit.
They make their third and final appearance in the song Gaston, comforting Gaston by stroking his ego and flirting. In the Broadway production, they sit in his lap and feel his biceps, also partaking into an intricate choreography with mugs. Unlike the movie, they are present as Maurice storms in, alerting about the Beast who has made Belle a prisoner. However, they are not present as the hunter and LeFou schemes in the reprise of "Gaston". Instead, they walk away with the other patrons, laughing after Maurice leaves.
They do not appear in Act II. However, in non-Broadway productions, they can appear during "The Mob Song" if a director chooses so. They may also not be triplets, having different hair colors (wearing different wigs) and races.
==Disney On Ice==
The Bimbettes also appear in the Disney on Ice: Find Your Hero (Disney on Ice: Beauty and the Beast, Rockin' Ever After, Magical Ice Festival, and Reach For The Stars formerly). Their role is a bit bigger than in the movie. They appear during the songs "Belle", "Gaston", and "The Mob Song".
==Disney Live!==
The Bimbettes appeared formerly in the Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales show during "Belle" and "Gaston" from 2008 to 2016.
==Disney Parks==
The Bimbettes make an appearance at the parks (with identical hairstyles rather than different ones), as well as appearing in Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage (during the opening scenes and "The Mob Song" only). Besides the obvious green, amber, and red dresses, they also sometimes wore lavender, pink, and blue dresses, with their aprons similarly being variable. The girls were meetable at Disneyland Paris from 2002 to 2007. In addition, the Bimbettes autographed the 1996 series of Disney Dollars.
Their role in Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage is the same as in the movie, but with a difference—at one point, during the Gaston number, they faint on the floor with a thud, something they only did in Belle. They also appear during "The Mob Song".
They also formerly appeared in the Disneyland and Disneyland Paris versions of said show. In the Disneyland Paris version their role is the same as in Walt Disney World, but in the Disneyland version they appear during the song "Belle" (also when they are gossiping about Belle) and during "The Mob Song". Also, in this version they say one sentence about Gaston.
They made a special meet-and-greet appearance near Gaston's Tavern in Fantasyland, for a private event held at the Magic Kingdom in June of 2015. It has not been announced when they will begin to appear regularly within the parks yet, and it is also not currently announced when their physical appearances will be altered (matching their look in the film) for these regular appearances.
They also appeared on a poster at Ghiradelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop at Disneyland during October, promoting a special sundae sale (although Paulette's name was misspelled as "Pualette", and they were given the order of Laurette, Paulette, and Claudette). In this appearance, they were each holding a one-scoop chocolate/vanilla ice cream cone.http://theentertainmentnut.tumblr.com/post/131584103486/odd-didnt-know-they-had-names-i-remember-them
==Personnel==
*Claudette – backing vocals
*Laurette – backing vocals
*Paulette – backing vocals, tin whistle
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*The map mentions "the other girls in the village are not as pretty as Belle" and that these three village girls "cannot get Gaston to notice them".
*At one point in the movie, Claudette has Jasmine's hairstyle, Laurette has Belle's (although, due to its length, it technically resembles Vanessa's) and Paulette has Ariel's. However, at the end of the reprise to Gaston, all three girls have Jasmine's hairstyle, likely as the result of an animation error that could not be fixed in time for the movie's release. During the song and pretty much the whole time they're shown in the movie, their hairstyles continually switch around. They basically all wear the hairstyle of three of the Disney Princesses.
**Coincidentally, the dress colors each of the Bimbettes were wearing were later worn by Belle later in the film. Specifically, Belle wore a green-colored dress in the scenes featuring her being supplied with a library by Beast like Paulette; Belle wore a red/pink colored dress with a matching cloak during "Something There" (and technically "Human Again") similar to Claudette; and Belle wore her trademark ballroom gown during the ballroom scene and the ending, which was colored yellow, similar to Laurette's amber dress.
***Ironically, despite the color blue specifically being chosen for Belle and to a lesser degree Beast to highlight their status as outcasts, Laurette occasionally is shown wearing a blue colored dress in live meet and greet appearances in Disney World and the Live Show of Beauty and the Beast.
*While Claudette and Laurette were voiced by the late Mary Kay Bergman, Paulette's voice actress, Kath Soucie, coincidentally voiced the Enchantress in The Enchanted Christmas, who bears some resemblance to her.
*The Bimbettes can be seen in web advertisements for Walt Disney World, and can now be met officially in the Belle's Village area of New Fantasyland, albeit with (for now) their look from the stage show in the neighboring Disney's Hollywood Studios.
**Though not major characters, they are three of the most popular characters in the Beauty and the Beast film series.
*In the final version of the film, due to the character of Aunt Marguerite being cut from Katzenberg's demand of a rewrite to the film, the Bimbettes were the closest counterparts to Belle's spoiled sisters from the original fairy tale as well as the 1988 draft for the film, though not as malicious. In the 2017 live-action remake, however, they were depicted as being a lot closer in characterization to Belle's spoiled sisters, especially in terms of maliciousness.
*The name "Bimbette" more than likely comes from the American word, "bimbo", which means 'a physically attractive woman who lacks intelligence, and also uses her body to get what she wants'.
**The American word itself is derived from an Italian word that meant "boy". The feminine equivalent would have been "bimbette".
**Despite their name, Fifi matches the bimbo archetype more than they do.
*Even though the girls are called the "Bimbettes" in the film and "Silly Girls" in the musical, they're unofficially known by many other monikers, such as the "The Tavern Girls", "The Village Girls", "The Babettes", "Triplets", and even "Barmaids", "Gaston's Entourage", and "Tavern Wenches". Even their actual given names were never revealed until the Platinum and Diamond Edition DVDs were released. They are known as the Village Lasses in the live-action film.
**"Babettes", one of the sisters' collective names by fans, is pronounced "babe-ettes"; while the name "Babette" is pronounced "bab-et".
*Not counting song lyrics, sighing dreamily, and crying (wailing like infants in most adaptations in the musical), in the movie they only have one line of dialogue each: Specifically, their expressing shock that Belle would not like Gaston while swooning him. They are given more dialogue in the Broadway musical, however, and their role in the story is expanded a bit.
**Ironically, the scene relating to their sole dialogue in the film frequently ended up cut in most adaptations or other mediums featuring the triplets (the latter via flashbacks).
**Although not an actual phrase used by them in the film, the production photo for them signed by Mary Kay Bergman as well as their autographed Disney Dollar has them using the phrase "Ooh-la-la!".
*Ironically, despite Belle being considered by the village to be the most beautiful woman in the village, Laurette disguised herself as Belle flawlessly enough to fool Gaston initially, which conflicted with the claim that Belle's looks had no parallel.
*The end of "Gaston" confirms that the girls are indeed waitresses as Paulette (with Jasmine's hairstyle) is seen holding a silver tray while Gaston's buddies are cheering for him.http://i2.wp.com/screencaps.us/199/1-beauty-and-the-beast/full/beauty-and-the-beast-disneyscreencaps.com-3239.jpg However, they are not yet presently doing this job at Walt Disney World's New Fantasyland equivalent.
*In the Belle's Village area of New Fantasyland, in the ordering area of Gaston's Tavern, there is a beer barrel on the wall that says "Trois Blondes Biere" (French for "Three Blondes Beer") on it. Trois Blondes is the girls' collective name in French.
*The WDCC figurine and the comics reveal that the Bimbettes have blue eyes, but they have green eyes in the movie as well as in Belle's Discovery. In addition, their appearance in Disney Princess: Royal Weddings depicts them with brown eyes.
**On a related note, this technically made them the first Disney characters to possess green eyes without being villains.
*While singing their verses in the Gaston song, Paulette's hand while motioning (immediately prior to Gaston lifting their bench) is using the hand sign that means "A-Okay" in the heavy metal subculture.
*A similar trio of girls were seen in the "Bothered" story section for the first issue of Disney Comics' New Adventures of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, watching a trio of boys playing pirates who eventually abduct Belle and attempt to chase them due to wanting to be taken prisoner. However, it is unclear if they are intended to be the same as the Bimbettes due to one of their dresses being purple instead of green, as well as their being redheads with freckles instead of blondes with no freckles, and being implied to be much shorter than Belle whereas the Bimbettes were roughly her height.
*Similar groups of characters in Aladdin and The Princess and the Frog were seen sharing the Bimbettes' designs. However, the latter group, unlike the Bimbettes and/or the Harem Girls, were not triplets, or at the very least are not identical triplets, due to their having different hair colors and, to a certain extent, eye colors and eye shapes.
**They can be compared to Ladies from the Stand of the second segment, Casey at the Bat, in the 1946 Disney animated film Make Mine Music, since they are flirtatious, quite silly. However, a main difference between them is that it is not known that the Bimbettes have been obsessed or snubbed with anyone in the film (except Belle to a small extent), while the Ladies from the Stand acted trapped with Casey.
*During the flashback to the original film in issue 5 of the Marvel Comics series, one of the triplets says in regards to Belle "Why, she doesn't even go to dances!" while enviously wondering why Gaston's going for her when he could have them. This was a subtle reference to the original fairy tale, as Belle frequently stayed away from social gatherings and preferred to stay at home and read good books, to which her elder sisters frequently mocked her for this.
*In the first draft of the Woolverton version of the film made in 1990, they had far less of a role, only being present for the opening song and the failed wedding. In addition, in the former, Gaston was seen giving a handsome pose toward them as they sang their lines, while in the final release of the film, he does not pay any attention to them at all. In addition, the Gaston song in that draft indicated that the verse "For there's no one as burly and brawny" was originally intended to be sung by LeFou instead of the Bimbettes.https://web.archive.org/web/20160401033253/http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Beauty_and_the_Beast.pdf
*In the cancelled LeapPad game adaptation of the film, Kath Soucie would have reprised the role of Laurette (referred to as Bimbette II), while Claudette and Paulette (referred to as Bimbette I and Bimbette III) would have been voiced by Dee-Dee Green and Hynden Walch, respectively.
==See also==
*Bimbettes' Costumes Through the Years
== Variants ==
* Bimbette (Beauty and the Beast 2017)
==References==
Category:Characters
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