Belle

### Likes

Reading books, adventure, romance, fairy tales, the Beast, roses, respect, stating opinions, Christmas, her father's inventions, snowball fights, animals, horse riding, waltzing, people with both inner and outer beauty

### Dislikes

Selfishness, rudeness, wolves, manipulation, disrespect, confinement, the provincial life, arrogance, ignorance, the Beast's castle (briefly), her loved ones in danger, forced marriages, Gaston, being considered odd, the Beast's stubbornness, the Beast losing his temper

## Family information

### Parents

Maurice (father)
Unnamed mother †

### Pets

Philippe (horse)
Sultan (dog)

 ―Belle

***Belle*** is the female protagonist of Disney's 1991 animated feature film, *Beauty and the Beast*. She is is the only daughter of Maurice, an inventor with whom she resides in a small village located in France. The people in town called Belle an outcast because of her free spirit. She is also a proud bibliophile, as her favourite book genres are fantasy and adventure. Belle's passion for fantastical stories, coupled with her outcast status, left her yearning for something more, a life of adventure outside of her village. She then unexpectedly gets what she wished for when she becomes the Beast's prisoner in order to save her father's life.

Belle is the fifth official member of the Disney Princess franchise. Though not being born into royalty, she married Adam, who was a prince.

## Background

### Development

When production first started on *Beauty and the Beast*, Belle's characterization was at first slightly closer to that of the original tale, being slightly timid yet caring. In the first draft, she also had to contend with two elder sisters who, similar to the original story, utterly hated Belle as she received more attention than them, especially regarding suitors. In the second draft, she largely retained the traits from the first draft, although she had a sister; Clarice (who cared for Belle) and a snobbish aunt; Marguerite (who would be equivalent to Belle's older sisters in the first draft). However, after the 1989 storyboard reel was presented, then-Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered it to be rewritten from scratch, both due to viewing it as too dark and dramatic, and because he envisioned a Broadway-like film with a "feminist twist" to the original tale. To accomplish this, he hired Linda Woolverton, who at the time had just started film screenwriting and her only other experience with Disney was writing some episodes of their various Saturday Morning cartoons. Woolverton based Belle on Katharine Hepburn's role of Jo March from the film adaptation of the book, "*Little Women*", and avoided using the Jean Cocteau film as a template for Belle and the film, even going as far as to avoid seeing the film. She also gave Belle a love of literature to show her open-mindedness. She also made sure to make Belle a feminist in order to have her stand apart from Ariel in *The Little Mermaid*, as she didn't want "another insipid princess", taking notes from the women's movement to create her character. Paige O'Hara requested that Belle, similar to Jerry Orbach's handling of Lumiere in the same film, possess a French accent, although unlike Orbach, Disney refused the request.

### Personality

Belle, unlike most of the other women in her town, has gained a significant amount of intelligence over the years due to her love of reading, which provided her an extended vocabulary, an active imagination, and an open mind. She is quite confident and outspoken in her opinions and seldom likes being told what to do. Despite all of this, she does not have as many friends. Her smarts and free-thinking attitude make her stand out from the rest, who regard her a little odd behind her beauty.

Belle is also known throughout her village for her beauty, with one villager saying that it has no parallel, but she is not vain or concerned about how she looks, although she knows it. She is only too aware that her fellow townsfolk think she is odd.

Belle appears less concerned about her or others' appearance and is able to look past appearance and into their personality. In addition, Belle pays very little attention in concern with her appearance, unlike the very rude Gaston. With this trait, she was able to fall in love with the Beast and bring laughter to the castle.

She is also somewhat of a free woman for her time and resists being mistreated, undermined, humiliated, demeaned, or controlled by anyone, especially and specifically by Gaston. She appeared disgusted with Gaston's description of marriage together, such as having six to seven sons or rubbing his feet. Even when agreeing to live under the Beast's control, she acts independently.

Belle willingly listens to, takes advice from, and admires her father Maurice since, throughout most of her life, he's the only person who has believed in her unconditionally. She also considers the opinions and directions of the Beast, because, like Maurice, he is able to treat her as an equal (the Beast eventually learned how throughout the course of the film). Belle also seemed to have a good relationship with the bookseller, presumably because of his encouraging her to pursue her love of literature.

Belle's compassionate heart and warm nature also embeds in an impressively brave woman that neither listens nor cares about what the other townspeople say about her. She refuses Gaston's wedding proposal and remains the only girl to resist his "charms" due to his rude, sexist demeanor instead of mindlessly lavishing over him based purely on the physical. Her most triumphant moments in the film are when she willingly trades her freedom for her father's without much hesitation, and manage to stand up against the Beast at certain points. However, like any human, Belle does fear things, such as wolves, Beast's Castle, family disappearance, etc. The Beast also, at first, manages to make the situation of her predicament as a prisoner, never to see her father or dreams again, come crushing down in tears. Especially when her captor himself is 10 feet, easily angered monster which commands her entire life. Nevertheless, the unconditional love Belle places to those close to her, including the Beast eventually, make her strong enough to risk her life for theirs.

Belle is quite stubborn when it comes to stating and upholding her opinions and maintaining her ideas. Even though she says that she dreams of adventure, she also states that she wishes for a friend who accepts her for who she is. This is because everyone in town criticizes her for doing her own thing and can't understand her, making her feel like she can't fit in. However, even when people give her a hard time, she never changes but comes to a better understanding of herself. This makes the biggest difference when she breaks the spell and charms the Beast just by being herself.

The Disney comic *New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast*, set a few years before the first film's events, implies that Belle was a scientific skeptic despite her love of fairy tales. This is evidenced while she explores a part of the Black Forest before encountering an owl and thinks that there aren't any mythical creatures in there. This is also supported in the film, where she yells "this is impossible" in shock after accidentally bumping into the Wardrobe in shock upon discovery that Mrs. Potts and her fellow servants were living objects.

Belle is quite witty and uses this trait to her advantage to outsmart people. When in an argument with the Beast, Belle held her ground and challenged each of the Beast's points with a cunning comeback, such as "If you hadn't frightened me I wouldn't have run away" or "You should learn to control your temper". Each of these statements left the Beast stunned and at a loss for words. Belle managed to think of these comebacks without much thought or hesitation. When Lumiere and Cogsworth attempted to lead Belle's curiosity away from the West Wing, she challenged them by saying the West Wing wouldn't be forbidden if the Beast wasn't hiding something in it, also briefly stunning them. Belle's logic may also have helped her save Maurice by realizing that something was going on in the castle that she wanted to find out. Soon, in the West Wing, she almost discovers the Beast's true identity, though she briefly forgets it in the end.

Belle has a strong sense of character and uses this trait in a variety of ways, often to her own advantage. On Belle's first night in the castle, following the "Be Our Guest" sequence, she develops an urge to explore the castle and asks for a guide. Observing Cogsworth's "authoritative" personality, she immediately knows that Cogsworth would be the best candidate. At first, Cogsworth is quite reluctant to the idea, but when Belle says she is sure he knows everything about the castle, he agrees. Similarly, she also has a strong sense of deductive reasoning, as she deduced from the animate objects' interactions that the castle in which she was imprisoned was enchanted without anyone telling her beforehand.

She is also implied to have deduced Gaston's true role in locking Maurice up. This, however, was contradicted when she exposed the Beast's existence to a congregated mob despite the high likelihood that they would turn and kill the Beast due to their current emotional state, as well as being shocked by Gaston and the villagers doing exactly that. This makes Belle feel so guilty that she resolves to stop Gaston and save the Beast, her true love.

Belle's personality transforms throughout the film. At first, she frequently dreams about a life of adventure and romance, not realizing that sometimes adventures might take a turn for the worse. As Belle begins to spend more time with the Beast and their relationship blossoms into a strong friendship, she begins to fall in love with him without realizing it.

### Physical Appearance

Just as her name suggests, Belle is known in her village for her radiant beauty, mainly due to her outer features, and is viewed as the most beautiful girl in town by Gaston. Belle has long, brown hair, mostly tied back in a low ponytail by a ribbon and possesses amazing hazel eyes, full pink lips, rosy cheeks, a heart shaped face, and a sculpted figure. One of her most distinct features is the strands of hair that are constantly slipping loose from her ponytail and falling in front of her face - she is often seen brushing them back into place when nervous or trying to be polite.

Throughout the film, Belle wears various outfits depending on the occasion:

Her primary outfit is a medium-length cerulean blue sleeveless dress with a white long puffy-sleeved shirt underneath, a white apron on her waist, a white petticoat, and dark brown ballet flats on her feet. Her hair is tied in a low ponytail adorned with a medium blue ribbon. When she goes to the Beast's Castle, she wears a dark blue cloak with a yellow button. Belle's hair is loose twice in the film, the first time when the ribbon on her ponytail is torn off by one of the wolves when she was knocked away by her horse Philippe, and the second when she removes the ribbon before finding the Beast during his fight with Gaston.

The day that Belle was gifted the castle's library, she wore a light green dress (similar to the color scheme of Ariel from *The Little Mermaid*) with Juliet sleeves and a darker bodice, a matching hair ribbon, a white petticoat underneath the dress and black ballet flats, and outside when she was tending to Philippe and Sultan she added her traditional dark blue cloak.

When she was reading to the Beast, Belle wore a pink dress with a rose bodice (similar to Aurora's from *Sleeping Beauty*), a matching hair ribbon, a white petticoat, and red ballet flats and when she was outside teaching the Beast to feed the birds she added a red cloak with white fur trim.

Her most elaborate and iconic outfit is a golden ball gown with a simply designed bodice, wrapped off-the-shoulder sleeves, a wide-hemmed floor-length skirt made of eight triangular panels and small round yellow ornaments, long yellow opera gloves, round yellow earrings, a multiple-layered white petticoat with scalloped edging on the hemline, and yellow high-heeled shoes. This is the outfit she wears while sharing her first dance with the Beast in the "Beauty and the Beast" sequence, and their second dance after the curse is broken. With this outfit, she wears some of her hair in a neat bun by a golden hair band, but the majority of it trails down her neck in a beautiful, flowing motion resembling a ponytail.

In *Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas*, Belle wears a long deep red winter coat with a white fur collar, belt, and folded sleeves while wearing her primary outfit with short brown gloves and brown boots with white fur cuffs. At the end of the film, set after the curse was broken, Belle wears a deep red rose dress which resembles the color of a red rose with light yellow bell-bottoms at the sleeves and deep red roses-like decorations with green leaves, a matching hair ribbon, a pearl necklace, a light yellow lining connected to her bodice and the end of her dress skirt, a deep red bow on the waist back of her dress, a white petticoat, and deep red high-heeled shoes.

Overall, when she first enters the Beast's Castle, her outfit wasn't adapted to the castle, but as the film moves on, her outfit started progressively shifting to more formal and elegant dresses, signifying her growing more attached to the castle and its inhabitants as the Beast reforms into a well-behaved gentleman.

### Abilities

* **Peak-Human Agility:** Belle displays a few notable athletic abilities despite having spent her life in the village. She can ride her horse, Philippe, at quite stunning speeds with ease and skill, such as in the Black Forest when she managed to outrun the wolves for a time and even causing one wolf to veer into a tree. During the opening song, while reading her new book, she also managed to effortlessly sweep aside a water downpour from gutters that was about to hit her, deflecting it onto a nearby signpost, all without even looking up from her book, implying that she was keenly aware of her surroundings.
* **Peak-Human Strength:** Despite her slim figure, Belle seems to have considerable strength. She may have lifted the Beast, as evidenced by the Beast being placed onto Philippe's back, although this was never shown on-screen. Later on, she was able to pull the Beast up onto a balcony. In addition, she also was revealed to have rescued her father from the elements and presumably place him onto Philippe while he was still unconscious. Both the Beast and Maurice are each presumed to weigh considerably more than Belle, making her rescue of them quite a feat.
* **Peak-Human Stamina:** Belle also appears to have tireless reserves of stamina and considerable resilience to cold, likely due to her young age, able to survive fording icy water for a short period of time (in *Enchanted Christmas*, she proved to be a capable swimmer when she rescued Chip), and she can walk back to the castle having given her cloak and Philippe over to the injured Beast after the wolves were driven off. In the *Marvel Comics* serial, she even managed to withstand the cold long enough to tell Chip about how she and her father went to the fair and won the first prize before passing out, just as Beast ultimately managed to trace her location via holly bushels hitting him when she let go of them.

## Appearance

### Beauty and the Beast

At the beginning of the film, *Beauty and the Beast*, Belle is a beautiful young woman living in a small unnamed village in the country, France. She first appears as she emerges out of the cottage she and her father lived in and heads to a bookstore in the village, seemingly aware of the others noticing her and how she does not fit in due to her love of books and reading. At the bookstore, Belle gives back the book she has finished reading and takes one she calls her favourite. While heading back home, she is courted by a handsome but narcissistic hunter called Gaston, who eventually stands in her way. Gaston takes the book and drops it into a muddy puddle, and tells Belle to stop reading and pay attention to the more important things like himself. Just then an explosion comes from her cottage, prompting Belle to go back home.

She descends into the basement, coughing on the way in, Belle sees her father, Maurice, who is about to give up on his latest invention. Belle tells her father how she faithfully believes he will get the machine to work and that he will win first prize at the fair, and become a world-famous inventor. Inspired by his daughter's beliefs, Maurice re-works on the machine, and once he thinks he has done fixing it, he gives it a test run. To both Belle and her father's surprise, the test run goes successfully. Belle waves goodbye to her father and wishes him luck as Maurice, riding on their horse Philippe, goes off to the fair with the invention.

The following day, Belle is happily reading when she hears a knock on a door. She uses the periscope, only to find that Gaston is on the porch, much to her dismay, but nevertheless lets him in. Gaston then dirties Belle's book for the second time and reveals that he wants to make her his little wife and the mother of six or seven handsome little boys; Belle is disgusted by this idea and slips away from Gaston who continues to approach her. As Gaston has Belle cornered at the door and is about to plant a kiss on her, Belle opens the door as she swings around, causing Gaston to fall forward into a large mud pond outside. Belle then throws Gaston's boots out in front of her door before closing it and waits for him to leave. After the furious and humiliated Gaston storms off, Belle goes outside to feed the chickens, shocked in disbelief at how Gaston has asked her to marry him. Not wanting to be the wife of that boorish, brainless man, she runs off into an open field, where Philippe finds her, still hitched to the trailer carrying Maurice's invention, but without Maurice. Seeing Philippe without her father, Belle pleads for Philippe to take her to where her father is after unhitching Philippe from the trailer.

Belle rides Philippe through a dark forest to a mysterious castle in the possibility of finding her father. She finds her father locked away in a dungeon and begs the master of the castle to free him due to his poor health, offering her own freedom in exchange for her father's, over the latter's protests. When the master agrees on the condition that she has to stay with him forever, she asks the master to step into the light, revealing himself to be a hideous Beast. Although Belle is terrified by the Beast's visage, and Maurice pleads for her to reconsider, not wanting to lose her in becoming the Beast's prisoner in his place, she promises to remain as the castle's prisoner and the Beast fulfills *his* end of the bargain by immediately releasing and sending Maurice back to the village in an enchanted palanquin. The Beast is deeply moved by her beauty and affection towards her father, and can't help but feel touched by her boldness and bravery, as well as feeling some remorse for not allowing Belle to say her goodbyes to her father whom she may not see again. The Beast then shows Belle to her room where she is initially terrified by the décor and gargoyles. He allows her to go about the castle but warns her not to go into his lair, the West Wing, which he cryptically labels as forbidden. When the Beast brings Belle to her room, he orders her to join him for dinner before slamming the door shut and storming off. Belle throws herself onto her bed and breaks down in tears over being separated from her father forever and trapped in the scary castle by the Beast.

Later, Belle is visited by Mrs. Potts and Chip; she is shocked and surprised that a teapot and a teacup are alive (the Enchantress who turned the prince into a beast also transformed his servants into household objects) that she backs into a Wardrobe, who is also alive. She accepts tea from Mrs. Potts, and after the teapot and the teacup leave, the Wardrobe decides upon a dress for Belle to wear for her upcoming dinner with the Beast, but Belle declines just as Cogsworth - the head servant who was turned into a mantle clock - arrives to inform her that dinner is ready.

The Beast is enraged upon learning from Cogsworth that Belle isn't joining him for dinner, storms over to Belle's room and bangs on the door, ordering her to come out to dinner. The two then have a heated shouting match which results in the Beast finally granting her wish to be left alone *again*. Back in his lair, the Beast is shocked to find that Belle still grudges him for his mistreatment of her and Maurice, causing him to doubt if he will ever break the spell. Meanwhile, a little later, Belle, feeling hungry, emerges out of her room and makes her way to the castle's kitchen, where she meets Cogsworth, his assistant Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts, who all agree to feed Belle (despite their master's protests) and entertain her with a marvelous musical number.

After the dinner show, Belle applauds the entertainers and servers for putting on a spectacular performance. Having figured out that the castle is enchanted and wanting to see more of the castle, Belle asks Cogsworth to show her around. Belle comes across a staircase leading to the West Wing during the tour, but Cogsworth and Lumiere stop her and coerce her from going into the room she is forbidden to step into by showing their library; however, her curiosity of the West Wing gets the better of her. Taking advantage of a brief distraction from the two servants, Belle enters the room and discovers it's beaten down, ransacked and sickly. There she sees a torn picture of a young man and a glowing rose. She takes the glass off the rose and tries to touch it. Just then, however, the Beast arrives and is furious at Belle for disobeying him. Belle tries apologizing, but the Beast screams at her to get out while destroying some of his own furniture in the process. Terrified as well as having had enough of the Beast's ferocious temper and the castle itself, Belle escapes the castle (rushing past Cogsworth and Lumiere) and runs away. When the Beast calms down, he realizes his mistake too late and hangs his head in guilt and shame.

In the woods, she and Philippe encounter a pack of frightening and savage wolves, who chase after her and the horse. The wolves quickly catch up and knock Belle off Philippe, while Philippe gets his reigns wrapped around a tree branch, trapping him. Belle takes a tree branch to use as a weapon to defend herself and protect Philippe, but the wolves bite it in half when she attempts to hit them, rendering her helpless and defenseless in no time. Just as she is about to meet her apparent demise, the Beast intervenes and attacks the wolves, rescuing Belle and forcing the animals into retreat after flinging one of them, possibly the alpha, into a tree hard enough to knock it out, if not kill it by breaking its spine on the trunk, terrifying the other wolves into fleeing in fear. However, a wolf managed to injure him in the process before they flee in terror of his wrath. Coming to realize that the Beast has saved her life, Belle chooses to help the Beast - who has collapsed from exhaustion and his wounds - back to the castle over running away and leaving him in the woods to suffer. While she tends to the Beast's wounds, the two then get into another heated argument about who was at fault (including Belle ignoring the Beast's orders of not going to the West Wing), with Belle winning the argument by ordering him to control his temper, overcoming her fears and conquering his ferocious temper. She then thanks to the Beast for saving her life, to which the Beast, realizing the good deed he has done while noticing her kindness, starts feeling good inside himself.

As a token of his appreciation, the Beast, at Lumiere's suggestion, shows Belle the castle's enormous library, which strikes her interest so much that he gives it to her as a gift. In return, Belle helps him act more like a gentleman, and the two eventually form a healthy friendship, bonding over suppers, reading, and playful outings in the snow. Over time, the Beast falls deeply in love with her, but fears that she will never love him in return. On a special night, however, an evening date is conceived, and the two eventually fall in love, though neither express their feelings verbally. After a waltz in the grand ballroom, Belle expresses the longing for her father and wishes for a way to see him once more. The Beast tells her that there is a way and shows Belle the magic mirror he had used previously, which is capable of showing anything the user wishes to see. Belle asks the mirror to show her father, and it reveals Maurice to be lost and sick in the woods trying to find his way back to the Beast's castle, apparently dying, a sight that shocks and worries her. With no choice, the Beast grants Belle freedom for the safety of her father. As a way to remember him, he hands her the mirror, which she accepts before thanking him for his kind gesture and departing in haste, changing back into her civilian clothes from her ballgown and riding away on Philippe as the Beast lets out a mournful howl as he watches her depart.

After returning to the village with her rescued father and nursing him back to good health, Monsieur D'Arque, the head of a mental asylum, arrives to apprehend Maurice because of his claims about the Beast. It's soon revealed that Gaston was behind the asylum's arrival, in hopes of forcing Belle to marry him in exchange for her father's freedom. Belle refuses, and Gaston goes ahead with taking Maurice to the asylum. Thinking fast, Belle fetches the mirror and begs for it to show her the Beast, then turns the mirror to the villagers to reveal his existence, proving Maurice's sanity. Unfortunately, as she assures the intimidated crowd that the Beast isn't dangerous, Gaston senses Belle's romantic feelings for the creature and mocks her for being in love with a monster, to which Belle angrily retorts by labeling Gaston as the real monster, making him snap in a furious rage. Out of spite and jealousy, Gaston snatches the mirror from Belle, declaring that she is just as crazy as her father and convinces the villagers that the Beast is a threat, rallying a mob to kill him. Shocked, Belle tries to stop Gaston from going through with his plans, but he perceives that she is against him and has her and Maurice locked in their cellar to prevent them from warning the Beast. Just then, after the mob's departure, Chip (who stowed away in Belle's satchel) uses Maurice's wood-cutting invention to free them, allowing them to rush to the castle on Philippe.

Belle arrives at the castle while Gaston takes on the Beast and attempts to stop the former from hurting the latter. The Beast, seeing Belle return, summons up the strength to fight back while Belle rushes into the castle and up the stairs. Arriving at the balcony, she calls to the Beast and reaches out for him to take her hand. Just as the Beast takes hold of Belle's hand, and they embrace each other, a jealous Gaston fatally stabs the Beast in the back, causing the Beast to jerk backward in pain, which then causes Gaston to lose his balance and fall to his death and Belle saves the Beast from the same fate and pulls him up onto the balcony. The Beast smiles at seeing Belle, who ensures all will be well with their reunion at hand. Unfortunately, the weak Beast with his last breath can only express gratitude over seeing Belle one last time before he dies in her arms. Belle begs him not to leave her and, sobbing over the dying Beast, admits her love for him mere seconds before the last petal falls from the enchanted rose.

As Belle still continues to sob over the death of her lover, shimmering beams of light fall onto the Beast. His body then begins to float in the air and enshrouded in a fog. The amazed Belle witnesses the Beast's features respectively transform back into hands, feet, and head of a Prince, now healed from his fatal wound. The Prince then turns to Belle, who initially looks at him sceptically, but then recognizes him from the torn portrait's blue eyes. The Prince and Belle share their first kiss, a kiss of true love, which subsequently breaks the additional spell placed on the castle and its inhabitants: the dark, gloomy castle is restored into its original, shining state, all the Prince's servants are transformed back into humans, and the Black Forest surrounding the castle is transformed back into the beautiful forest it was before. The film ends with Belle and the Prince dancing in the ballroom with her father and his servants watching happily. A stained glass window of her and the prince is also depicted on the castle.

### Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

A midquel taking place during the winter segment of *Beauty and the Beast*; this is the story of Belle's attempt to bring back to the castle the one ceremony the Beast hates most: Christmas. At the point the movie is supposed to take place, Belle still considered herself a prisoner in the castle, and wasn't truly friends with the Beast at that point, though she had begun to accept him. This takes place not too long after she was saved from the wolves and after the Beast gave her the library as a gift. She had started to warm up to the Beast a little and was more willing to reach out.

Belle is first seen walking through the castle in a pleasant enough mood when she runs into Chip, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts. Belle asks Chip about today, and he doesn't know. She informs him and the others that it's the day before Christmas, to which Lumiere quickly cuts off before encouraging her to go out on the castle grounds.

At Chip's suggestion, Belle decides to go ice skating. After grabbing a pair of ice skates and a coat from the rack, she heads outside, where she finds the Beast just walking around. She bids him a good morning which causes him to lose balance on the ice and fall. Belle goes to check on him, and the two get into an awkward conversation about him slipping.

After putting on her skates, Belle begins skating, inviting the Beast to join her. Beast is reluctant at first, but Belle shows him the basic steps of skating, and eventually, he starts trying.

Belle watches as the Beast gets better at skating, much to her amusement. With his improvement, the two started skating together. Things seem to go well until interference from Fife causes them to slide into the snow after he grabs the Beast's cape. Belle and Beast emerge from the snow, and Belle cheerfully makes a Christmas angel. She shows it to the Beast, but he sees his own monstrous shape in the snow, gets enraged by it, and storms off in a fury. As he goes, Belle doubts if she should keep trying to reach him as it seems he is now worse than he was before, though Mrs. Potts tells her not to lose heart.

Later, Belle walks with Chip through the halls and asks him about the Beast's grumpy disposition. She is surprised when Chip tells her that the Beast is always that way, even at Christmas. She's even more surprised when Chip asks her about Christmas, telling her about the great traditions that occur on the holiday. One tradition she mentions; presents; gets Chip excited, and she tells him that everyone receives a present on Christmas, including the Beast. Chip asks Belle what she plans to give the Beast, and she doesn't really know him well enough to know what he would want. At Chip's suggestion, Belle decides to give the Beast a handmade storybook. As she makes it, she hopes that her story will help the Beast overcome his sorrows and pains and, hopefully, they will understand each other better. After she completes the story, she picks up Chip, confident that the Beast will like his gift, and assures him that they will have Christmas in the castle.

Later, Belle is washing dishes with the enchanted objects in the kitchen, where Cogsworth immediately rejects the notion of having Christmas due to the Beast forbidding it. Belle responds, saying Christmas can't be forbidden by anyone. Cogsworth tells her that Christmas is a painful reminder of the Beast's past and that bringing it back would only torture him even more, but Belle believes that it would actually do him some good. Cogsworth continues to reject, but Belle, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Chip bring up the Christmas feast, with Belle mentioning cranberry sauce. Eventually, Cogsworth agrees, and Belle suggests decorating the castle. Lumiere tells her that he knows someone who can help.

With Lumiere and Chip in hand, Belle travels up one of the castle towers to the attic. There, she and the two are greeted by a series of enchanted Christmas decorations lead by a Christmas angel named Angelique. After some flirting, Lumiere introduces her to Belle as the castle decorator. He then tells about their plans for a Christmas celebration, but Angelique refuses, not wanting to get disappointed again. Belle pleads with her help then, for they need her help to decorate the castle before Christmas, but Angelique still refuses, saying that nothing will change, but Belle believes it will.

After several attempts to get the Beast to agree, the Beast finally approves of the idea and allows Belle to prepare for Christmas, though he still bears a grudge, for Christmas is the day the Enchantress cast the spell on him and the castle residents.

Belle goes out into the woods with advice from Forte to get a suitable tree for Christmas, but she falls into thin ice and almost drowns. Fortunately, she is rescued by Beast, who is enraged at her because Forte told him earlier that she was trying to escape from him again.

Belle is then thrown into the dungeon to rot by an angry Beast who accuses her for her betrayal. Cold and demotivated, Belle was almost about to break down into sadness, until the Beast's servants, including Angelique, visit her in the dungeon to comfort her, while they sing a song to cheer her up. The Beast then finds the book that Belle had written for him earlier in the West Wing and decides to set Belle free, and they both continue to prepare for Christmas. But Forte doesn't give up there, even going as far as to attempt to bring the whole castle down with *Beethoven's Symphony No. 5* in order to prevent the spell from breaking, as it can't if everyone is dead. Fortunately, the Beast stops him in time by crashing his keyboard to pieces, causing a furious Forte to tear himself from the wall he was anchored to and crash to the floor, dead. Sadly, the Beast mourns the loss of his old friend, and Belle comforts him.

Later, Belle, Beast, and the castle servants proceed with the Christmas celebrations just as planned, much to the former's happiness.

The viewers are soon taken back to the actual Christmas taking place, and Belle is presented with a gift from her husband: a rose.

### Belle's Magical World

In this movie, Belle is the only human character. She meets three new enchanted object friends, named Webster, Crane, and Le Plume, and is about to solve problems in all four segments. The film serves as a sequel to *The Enchanted Christmas*, taking place before Gaston's death. Because the segments of the movie were originally intended to be used for a TV series, Belle had a slightly darker complexion than usual. Only this time, she is shown to be very different from she was later in the chronological story. She is more naïve, stricter, and still defiant of the Beast's rules, while being easily be brought down by the things that go wrong in the castle.

In the first segment, "The Perfect Word", a falling out between Belle and Beast leads to the banishment of the aforementioned servants, Webster, Crane, and LePlume, forcing Belle to rush out and rescue them.

In the next segment, "Fifi's Folly", it's Lumiere's anniversary with Fifi, yet he doesn't know the proper way to confess how he truly feels. Belle assists him by taking the role of Fifi and practicing what he's going to do for their date. Fifi sees the two and believes Lumiere is leaving her for Belle. Eventually, all is straightened out.

In "Mrs. Potts' Party", Belle strives to cheer up a depressed Mrs. Potts, whom she has notably come to look as a motherly figure, though the rivalry between Lumiere and Cogsworth causes trouble. This segment was also included in *Belle's Tales of Friendship*.

In the fourth and final segment, "A Broken Wing", Belle finds a wounded bird and takes it in. She spends most of her time hiding it from Beast originally until he grows to like. After a while, another problem brews as the bird is healthy once more, but Beast wants to keep it for its singing. Belle convinces him to let it free. In the end, they become closer, and their intense romance buds anew.

### House of Mouse

Belle made cameo appearances in many episodes of the *House of Mouse* television series, usually seen wearing her peasant outfit (though she did wear her gold dress in *Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse* and "Dining Goofy").

In "The Stolen Cartoons", Donald Duck accidentally served Lumiere as Belle's evening meal, much to the latter's confusion.

In "Mickey and the Culture Clash", Belle attempted to read a book that Mickey was balancing on his head, but her hand was slapped away by Mortimer Mouse. She then asked what the commotion was about, and was informed by Clarabelle that Minnie was looking for someone more sophisticated than Mickey. It was the only time she spoke in the show.

In "Ask Von Drake", Belle was seen sitting with Beast during Disney character head count.

In "Jiminy Cricket", when Jiminy mentions the possibility some characters may not have children, the camera pans to Belle and Beast. Belle can also be seen in recycled crowd shots, cheering alongside Mrs. Potts and Chip.

Belle also appeared aside Beast in *Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse*, and in some crowd shots in *Mickey's House of Villains*.

In the series, Ariel's voice actress, Jodi Benson took over as the voice of Belle, although Paige O'Hara did reprise her role as Belle in *Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse*.

### Sofia the First

Belle made a guest appearance in the episode, "The Amulet and the Anthem".

Belle teaches Sofia that actions always speak louder than words when apologizing about her bragging as it did not break her croaking curse by singing a duet, "Make It Right".

In the episode, "Forever Royal", when Sofia is battling Vor inside her amulet, Belle appears to Sofia in spirit form, and so do the other princesses who were summoned in Sofia's time of need.

### Ralph Breaks the Internet

In *Ralph Breaks the Internet*, Belle appears alongside the other Disney Princesses as netizens in Oh My Disney. Working as a cast member, Belle and the princesses meet-and-greet with net users. On one particular day, the backstage room of the princesses is infiltrated by a glitch named Vanellope von Schweetz; Belle is seen reading a book when Vanellope arrives (promotional material shows it is titled "The Provincial Life", a shout-out to her first song from the original film). Belle jumps into action in defense, believing Vanellope to be a threat, and arms herself with her book. Belle lays down her defense when Vanellope claims to be a princess as well. When Pocahontas asks Vanellope what kind of princess she is, Belle and Rapunzel ask her if she has ever been kidnapped or enslaved. Though she has not, Belle (along with other princesses) relates when Vanellope reveals that she does not have a mother.

Shortly after, the princess becomes enamored with Vanellope's "gown", and switch into more comfortable modern attire to match. Belle dons a yellow tank top with a black silhouette of the Beast's head that reads "BFF" (meaning "Beast Friends Forever"), golden pants, and brown ballet flats. While lounging, Belle continues reading her book. Ariel, meanwhile, expresses her excitement over wearing a shirt (and briefly asks Belle what the clothing is called). She starts to break into song, but Vanellope's confusion cuts her off. As Vanellope has never had a song, Rapunzel advises her to sing about what she desires most. Vanellope's song about a steering wheel is less than stellar, but Belle tries to avoid any criticism and asks if the steering wheel that Vanellope mentioned is a metaphor. Vanellope explains that she's being literal. As the princesses prepare to get back to work, Merida tries to send some advice in an unintelligible Scottish accent; in during which means, Belle makes an awkward face.

During the climax, Belle and the princesses leave Oh My Disney after the Internet is taken over by a virus. After the virus has been neutralized, the princesses spot Wreck-It Ralph plummeting from the air. Belle, Ariel, Tiana, and Cinderella use their gowns as parachutes to safely descend Ralph to the ground, where the princesses are able to formally meet and befriend him.

### Other appearances

In 1992, Belle made an animated/live-action appearance at the 64th Academy Awards ceremony where she, along with Beast and Chip, awarded Daniel Greaves the Oscar for Short Film (Animated) for *Manipulation*.

Belle makes a cameo appearance in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*. During the song "Out There", Belle is seen walking through the streets reading her book.

In a special trailer for *Lilo & Stitch*, Belle and Beast were seen engaging in the famous ballroom dance when Stitch is seen on the chandelier, causing it to tear loose from the ceiling and come crashing down, thus tarnishing Belle and Beast's dance, though Beast is able to get Belle out of harm's way. Their romantic moment ruined thanks to Stitch, Belle then storms off to her room in a huff telling Stitch to get his own movie, which apparently hits a nerve with Stitch as he remorsefully replies in acceptance.

Belle made a cameo appearance as a silhouette with Beast, Mrs. Potts, and Chip at the end of *The Lion King 1½*.

Belle makes a cameo appearance along with Beast in the *Mickey Mouse* episode "The Adorable Couple". Belle appears in the *Elena of Avalor* episodes *First Day of Rule*, *Model Sister* and *Coronation Day*.

Originally, when the first installment of *Disney Princess Enchanted Tales* was to be released, it was to feature a new Belle story and a brand new Fa Mulan story. The first chapter was entitled "The Kingdom Of Kindness". The plot of Belle's story featured Chip getting in trouble with the Beast after breaking some of his things. Terrified, Chip runs away. Belle finds him and convinces him to come back to the castle, and teaches Beast what it means to be kind. She also teaches Chip that even when people are mad at him, it still means they love him. Only one known song has been written for Belle, this song is called "You'll Never Lose This Love" and is available to watch on the Enchanted Tales Website.

An emoticon version of Belle appears in the *Beauty and the Beast* entry of the *As Told by Emoji* short series.

In the series finale of *At Home With Olaf*, a short clip of *Beauty and the Beast* featuring Belle and the Beast appears during a montage of heartwarming moments from Disney films playing in Olaf's song "I Am with You".

In *The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder* episode, "The End of Innocence", Trudy Proud dresses up like Belle, wearing her signature ball gown.

## Live-action appearances

### *Sing Me a Story with Belle*

From 1995 through 1999 on both Disney Channel and in syndication, a series titled *"Sing Me a Story with Belle"* aired from the Disney-MGM Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Actress Lynsey McLeod portrayed Belle, who was the owner of a book and music shop in France in her commoner costume.

### *Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas*

Belle and the Beast make a brief appearance in the Christmas themed video Disney Sing Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas, specifically during the final song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". They can be seen dancing with each other amongst other Disney characters and Christmas carolers.

### *Beauty and the Beast: A Concert on Ice*

In 1996, CBS premiered a television special of the animated movie and its Broadway musical performed on ice by two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Ekaterina Gordeeva as Belle and Olympic Gold Medalist Victor Petrenko as the Beast. Their singing voices were provided by Susan Egan and James Barbour. The songs included were "Gaston", "If I Can't Love Her", "Be Our Guest", and "Beauty and the Beast".

## Live Action Appearances

### Descendants

Belle appears in the Disney Channel Original Movie *Descendants*. She is played by Keegan Connor Tracy.

She and the Adam (now King Adam) serve as the parents of the major character, Prince Ben. Sometime after breaking the curse on Adam, her prince, she and Adam became the King and Queen of the idyllic kingdom of The United States of Auradon, one large kingdom uniting all the famous kingdoms, set in the present day, and inhabited by various iconic Disney characters and their children. When Ben, who is soon to be King, states he wants to grant the children of the Isle of the Lost a second chance as his first proclamation, she is understandably worried, but she remains supportive of her son's endeavours and pushes her husband to do so as well.

### Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Belle appears in the 2017 live-action adaptation, played by Emma Watson. In this version, Belle isn't only a bookworm, but also an inventor - she uses her inventions for everyday chores such as laundry, which in turn provides her with time to catch up on her reading. Her backstory with Maurice is also expanded upon, as this version of the story confirms that the death of Belle's mother was the result of the black plague, forcing Maurice to take Belle (who was still an infant at the time) and flee Paris for safer havens towards the town of Villeneuve in the French countryside. As a result of his wife's passing, Maurice is somewhat overprotective of Belle and has reservations over her dreams of experiencing adventure within the outside world. As such, he created music boxes that represent different countries to allow her to "see the world" without actually having to leave their provincial town of Villeneuve. The fate of her mother (with her father's vague response on the former), left Belle puzzled and led her to seek out for answers; something that she would not discover for many years later, upon her time with the Beast, which he later showed her through a book given by the Enchantress as a means of traveling anywhere it desires, which she used it to transport them toward her childhood home in Paris and found out her mother's tragic fate, causing the Beast to realize his misjudgment of Maurice and made an apology to Belle for his earlier mistreatment to her father. The discovery of her mother's tragedy would be crucial for having Maurice and Belle making amends with each other, with Belle's widen understanding of why Maurice was so overly protective of her.

Belle is introduced in the opening of the film, singing the musical number named after her. While exploring the surrounding landscape, the people all seem to show interest in her. Encountering Gaston, he requests her to go on a date with him, to which Belle decides not to. Belle walks into her father Maurice in his workshop just as Maurice explains to Belle that the village is small, which is safer than larger villages and after a conversation between Belle and her father, Belle asks him for a rose like the one in his painting just as Maurice storms off to the marketplace to find a rose for her. As Maurice leaves, Belle returns to the village around her, teaching a nearby girl how to read, to which she then approaches Gaston again who tells her to give advice to the villagers, explaining to her that she would never marry him even though the village around Belle's world is small. After the conversation, Belle sings a reprise of the song named after her, longing for a great adventure in the world around her.

When Philippe arrives towards Belle, the horse is worried that he recently discovered something mysterious her father Maurice encountered, causing Belle to ride on him to get to the Beast's Castle. Arriving there, Belle encounters Lumiere and Cogsworth, who are commenting about Belle's plan to break the curse. Belle uses Lumiere as a torch to protect herself in order to find her father. Encountering Maurice, he warns her to escape before the Beast finds her. Belle then asks the Beast to find her father, to which the Beast denies her father's actions. Approaching the Beast, Belle spends a minute alone with the Beast, requesting him to see her father just as Belle notices the Beast taking her father away. Afterward, Lumiere escorts Belle to her room, who later introduces himself to Belle, just as Cogsworth approaches his conversation with Belle.

While exploring outside, Lumiere tells Belle that she can explore any part of the castle except for the west wing just as Belle is taken to her new room in the castle, to which it is known that the castle is now her new home just as Belle encounters Plumette, Madame De Garderobe, and Froufrou inside her new room as she encounters them in awe.

The Beast then requests Belle for a dinner invitation in the dining area, but she rejects his offer for locking her in the tower. She later gets an invitation from Mrs. Potts to go to the dining area, explaining that she would feel better after dinner just as Belle is told to go to dinner to which Belle is taken to the dining area where Lumiere and the other objects perform the musical number "Be Our Guest" in front of Belle, satisfying her.

After the musical number "Be Our Guest", Mrs. Potts talks to Belle, telling her that the Beast is willing to be set free by finding someone to fall in love with. After talking to Mrs. Potts, she tells her son to go to bed. Belle then looks at the damaged picture of the royal family's castle and arrives at the spot where the Enchanted Rose is at, only for the Beast to confront her as he angrily roars at her to get out of the castle. Belle then plans to leave, but Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Froufrou try to stop Belle from leaving, but Belle leaves. Escaping, Belle rides on Philippe while a pack of wolves prepares to attack. The Beast then arrives and fights against the pack of wolves, shooing away the wolves. Belle comforts over the injured Beast as he is taken to the castle, where he is told to help her only if he controls his temper. While taking care of the Beast, Mrs. Potts tells Belle the Beast about his tragic loss of his mother and having to be raised by his abusive father just as the Beast calms himself while resting. Later after singing the musical number "Days in the Sun", Lumiere explains to Belle that if the last petal falls, the Prince will remain a Beast forever and the castle residents become inanimate objects.

With the Beast healed, he takes Belle to the library as she looks at the library around her in excitement. Later, Belle and the Beast walk outside together just as the couple looks at the frozen lake around them. Belle then teaches the Beast how to be gentle to Philippe and later sings the musical number "Something There" just as she and the Beast start a relationship with them. Later, Belle thanks the Beast for saving her from the wolves just as Belle talks to him about the villagers thinking Belle is funny. Back at the library, the Beast shows Belle a book from the Enchantress related to the curse she cast on her. Belle later takes the Beast into Paris, where she sings to him that her childhood in Paris is gone just as she remembers her tragic flashback about her mother who died from the plague just as the Beast apologizes to her for calling her a thief.

Belle wears a ball gown at the Beast's castle while the Beast wears a formal suit just as she and the Beast dance together during the musical number "Beauty and the Beast" as Mrs. Potts sings in front of the dancing couple.

Belle tells the Beast that her father taught her how to dance as the couple arrives at the balcony. Showing empathy to Belle, the Beast gives her the Enchanted Mirror to Belle help her find her father. Upon seeing Maurice being attacked by an angry mob, Belle is tasked to find her father and rescue her.

As Belle leaves the castle to find her father, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Plumette are worried about Belle planning to find her father just as they all leave sadly, as the Beast sings the musical number "Evermore". Belle walks across Gaston in front of Maurice who is being threatened just as Belle shows proof about the Beast to the townspeople. During this moment, Belle finds out that Gaston betrayed her about the Beast being a hideous monster as Gaston is aggressively planning to kill the Beast as Belle is locked into the carriage. Afterwards, Gaston sends an angry mob to kill the Beast. Belle and Maurice plan to escape the carriage in an attempt to warn the Beast that Gaston has sent in the mob to kill him. Belle then rides on Philippe to return to the castle.

Arriving back at the Castle, Belle notices Gaston hurting the Beast just as Gaston tries to finish his plan to kill the Beast. After the Beast reunites with Belle, she comforts him after being injured. Gaston, however, falls to his death while Belle tries to protect the Beast. Belle ends up crying over the Beast's motionless body as the last petal falls.

As the last petal falls, Agathe arrives at the spot where Belle cries over the Beast's dead body as Agathe uses her magic to restore the Enchanted Rose as the Beast is transformed back into his normal form, the Prince, whom Belle manages to recognize as her beloved by looking into his eyes before sharing a kiss with him. With the spell broken and the castle fixed, the Prince and Belle dance in the ballroom with the other castle residents.

## Video Games

### Kingdom Hearts

Belle is a character in the series and plays a pivotal role as one of the Princesses of Heart.

In the first *Kingdom Hearts* game, Belle was captured by Maleficent's forces while she was living with the Beast, and was placed into an enchanted sleep alongside the other Princesses at Maleficent's stronghold in Hollow Bastion while her world was consumed in darkness by the Heartless. Her heart was used to open the Final Keyhole, which would open the door to darkness itself, and briefly stolen as well by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness to craft his own dark Keyblade. This caused Beast, who survived the destruction of his world and followed Belle through sheer willpower, to have a vision of Belle being turned into a Pureblood Shadow Heartless, infuriating him and causing him to attack the Heartless, separating him from Sora as he faced Riku. However, Belle's heart is later restored when Sora pierces himself with Ansem's Keyblade to release Kairi's heart from his body, destroying Ansem's Keyblade and releasing the Princesses' hearts, and she is able to awaken (at which point she can be found not conversing with the other Princesses in the Castle Chapel, but rather in Maleficent's library), and finally, reunites with the Beast. As thanks for helping her and the Beast, Belle grants Sora the Divine Rose Keychain for his Keyblade to use in his battles. After Sora seals Kingdom Hearts, Belle and the Beast are able to return home.

An illusion of Belle also appeared in *Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories*, who acts cold towards the Beast in order to prevent Maleficent from stealing her heart. After the villain's defeat, she apologizes for deceiving the Beast, which the Beast forgives.

The real Belle appears in *358/2 Days* alongside Beast in Beast's Castle, where their peace was threatened by Xaldin, who intended to take the Beast's heart.

Her role is greatly expanded in the sequel *Kingdom Hearts II*. Xaldin of Organization XIII had continued to play on the Beast's anger to plunge his heart into the darkness to create a powerful Heartless and Nobody to use for the Organization's plans, resulting in him sealing his servants in the dungeon while Belle holed up in her room in the East Wing. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive and reunite with her, they are able to calm the Beast with support from Cogsworth. Belle tries to confront Xaldin on her own, but is met with a Heartless attack in the form of the Pureblood Shadow Stalker/Dark Thorn Heartless, which chases her into the ballroom before she escapes to safety on the outside balcony, leaving the Heartless to face Sora and the Beast, corrupting the ballroom with darkness to give it an advantage against them by turning the ballroom's own elements, such as the columns and chandelier, into weapons it could use against the Keyblade wielder and the Beast. After the creature was defeated, and Xaldin taunts the heroes briefly before retreating, the Beast apologizes to Belle, who accepts it, but scolds him for not trusting her. She later goes on a date with the Beast and prepares to dance with him in the ballroom until Xaldin interrupts the dance, much to Belle's annoyance at having her date ruined by Xaldin as he summons his personal Dragoon Nobodies to fight Sora and the Beast while Belle takes cover on the outside balcony with the servants. After Xaldin leaves, the Beast realizes that his enchanted rose is in danger, and arrives in the West Wing to find Xaldin had stolen it. He finds himself in despair after this discovery, and asks Belle to leave out of shame for his actions when he takes his frustration out on her before Sora intervenes and reprimands him for blaming her for what happened. Returning to her room in the East Wing and changing from her ballgown back to her regular clothes, Belle finds the rose on her balcony later on, but it's revealed to be a trap by Xaldin, who kidnaps her and forces the Beast to choose between her and the rose to leave behind. Beast chooses Belle, but Belle suddenly fights back against the Organization member and takes back the rose, forcing Xaldin to have to fight Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast instead after losing both of his bargaining chips thanks to Belle. After Xaldin is defeated, Belle returns the rose to the Beast, who then asks her to stay with him in his castle, to which she happily accepts. The credits reveal that the Beast has transformed back into his human form of the Prince, apparently ending the Beauty and the Beast story arc in the series.

### *Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey*

Unlike the other Princesses are featured in the game, Belle and her world play a minor role and acts as a mere mini-game. Belle and Lumiere are featured in the world and ask the player to eliminate the game's enemies (Bogs) before Beast finds out about their presence.

### *Disney Heroes: Battle Mode*

Belle appears in the mobile fighting video game as a new and unlockable character with ten tokens, despite not having a basic attack, her ability to read gives her energy, in addition to doing a little jump to provide a shield does not It was present in the film but the stick that she used to protect herself from wolves is present as well as Maurice's invention.

See also:

***Disney Prince Wiki*** has an individual article based on ***Belle***.
### *Kinect: Disneyland Adventures*

Belle appears as a meet-and-greet character in Fantasyland. She also takes part in the *Mickey's Soundsational Parade* and *Princess Fantasy Faire* mini-games. She is normally found outside the *Princess Fantasy Faire*, across from where Ariel stands by *It's a Small World*, and her first request upon speaking with her involves recovering several of the Beast's books that blew away in a thunderstorm. After they are found and returned to her, she then asks the player to see if they can find more, as ten more books are scattered around the park in the various lands that can be returned to her when they are all recovered. Her final request is to replace some of the Beast's pictures that he wrecked when he lost his temper one day. Completing her tasks unlocks her at the *Princess Fantasy Faire* as one of the Princesses the player can dance with.

### *Disney Dreamlight Valley*

Belle is set to appear in this game, as shown in trailers and cover art. Belle was added into the game, along with her realm in the Dream Castle, and the Beast joining her, with the September 13th, 2023 update, following the addition of Vanellope von Schweetz in the DreamSnaps update before Belle's and after the June 2023 "The Remembering" update that added Cinderella's Fairy Godmother to the game as part of the completion of the main quest regarding The Forgetting. Gaston will be joining Belle and Beast in the upcoming expansion "Rift In Time" as one of the new characters found in the new biomes alongside EVE and Rapunzel while dealing with the actions of Jafar in those biomes.

Like with most characters from the realms in the Dream Castle, Belle and Beast will each need a quest in their realm done first before they are able to come to Dreamlight Valley. Accessing their door requires 12,500 Dreamlight to remove the Night Thorns blocking it, and to build their home based on Beast's castle through Scrooge McDuck's Construction Company, a cost of 20,000 Star Coins is needed to fund the project.

Upon entering the realm and finding Belle in the castle library, she needs help calming down the enchanted books that are flying about. Once done, she asks the player to sneak into the Beast's room in the West Wing due to her having an argument with him earlier and see what's wrong. After the player disguises themselves as Lumiere and sneaks into the West Wing, they learn from the Beast why the argument took place: He was upset at Belle for trying to fix his old portrait. The player agrees to help Belle and Beast with making a new one using Dreamlight Magic. Once that is done, and the player also helps Beast with his quest, then they can place Beast's castle in Dreamlight Valley, have Scrooge build it, and Belle will come to the Valley first, followed by Beast once delivered the letter from Belle assuring him the Valley is safe for him to come back.

### *Disney Speedstorm*

Belle appears in the game as one of the playable racers. She's part of the 'Speedster' category and is one of the characters available since it's initial launch. Belle's unique skill is called "Enchanted Mirror" and allows Belle to either summon birds to help speed her up or summon obstacles to deter her foes.

## Musical

A Broadway musical adaptation of the film premiered on Broadway on April 18, 1994, at the Palace Theatre with Susan Egan as the original Belle. Since then, many actresses including Deborah Gibson, Toni Braxton, Andrea McArdle, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Christy Carlson Romano, and Ashley Brown have played the role on Broadway. The show closed on July 29, 2007, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater with Anneliese van der Pol as the show's final Belle.

Overall, Belle's role was the same as in the film, although some differences included Belle politely refusing Gaston's hand in marriage instead of tricking him into falling into a mud pool, joining Lumiere and dancing along with the dishes and silverware during the *Be Our Guest* musical number instead of just sitting at the dining table and merely observing the spectacle, and her being injured by the Beast when she entered the West Wing before fleeing instead of merely being scared off. Additionally, her role is expanded in the musical with songs "No Matter What" (cut in touring productions), "Home" and "A Change in Me".

Belle is also without Philippe in the stage version, instead of knitting a "lucky" scarf for Maurice to wear during his trip to the fair. Maurice is attacked by wolves before becoming a prisoner within the Beast's castle. His scarf is lost in the woods, and eventually found by LeFou. When LeFou is spotted in town with the scarf, he reveals to Belle the whereabouts in which he found it, prompting her to search for her potentially endangered father.

When given the library, Belle also reveals "King Arthur" to be amongst her favorite stories.

## Differences from the source material

* "Beauty" or "Little Beauty" was just a nickname, not her actual name. Her actual name was never mentioned.
* Beauty's characterization in the original tale is depicted as kind, pure-hearted, but slightly timid. Belle on the other hand, while kind and pure-hearted like in the original tale, is also quirky, intelligent, open-minded and rebellious.
* Beauty had (besides three brothers) two older sisters in the original story. According to screenwriter Linda Woolverton, she had removed Belle's sisters to keep the focus on Belle's strained relationship with Gaston, as well as to avoid confusion with Drizella and Anastasia Tremaine from *Cinderella*.
* She at one point lived in a mansion, her father being a wealthy merchant before he lost all his fortune at sea. Then the family had to move and live in a small farmhouse. Early development in the film had originally intended to use this backstory, but it ended up cut.
* In the original tale, Belle didn't mind that she lived a boring life as a peasant after moving to the country (while her sisters constantly complained about it), while in the Disney film, it's the exact opposite, as she expressed boredom towards the provincial life in the opening song.
* The Beast received Beauty graciously and informed her that she was a mistress of the castle and that he was her servant. They would hold lengthy conversations, and he would give her lavish clothing and every night ask her to marry him, but she would always decline.
* In the original story, her father sold her off to the Beast, due to her sisters refusing the Beast, as well as Beauty ultimately accepting it due to blaming herself since it was her simple request for a rose that put her in that situation in the first place. In the movie, Belle volunteered to be taken prisoner for Maurice's freedom, with Maurice being unwilling to let Belle make that sacrifice.
* While looking upon a mirror soon after her arrival, Beauty sees a vision of her father returning home.
* While in the castle, Beauty would dream of a handsome prince asking her to marry him. Belle became convinced that the Beast was holding the prince captive somewhere in the castle. She looked but never found him.
* Beauty asks to see her family again and promises to return in 8 days' time instead of being permanently released from imprisonment by the Beast with no fixed deadline to return back to the Beast's castle.
* Beauty returns to the castle because she finds out that the Beast is dying from a broken heart in her much longer absence which was achieved by the Beast's instructions to place her ring on a table when she wanted to return.
* At the end of the story, she and the Beast get married and the sisters are punished by a fairy in Beauty's dreams to become statues for the malice in their hearts but are to return to their present shape after they recognize their faults. Something similar occurs in the 1988 draft, although her sisters are instead turned into animals, alongside Belle's suitors.

## Trivia

* Belle is the only Princess who has a name with one syllable.
* Belle's name means "beautiful" in French (not "beauty" which is said "beauté" in French). Her complete given name in the tale is "La belle enfant" ("The Beautiful Child").
* Her hair always falling down resembles her strangeness to the other villagers.
* Belle's movements maintain an air of elegance. This was at the request of the story writers and producers of *Beauty and the Beast*, where they studied the movements of ballerinas during the course of Belle's development. Like ballerinas, Belle walks diligently and swiftly on her toes no matter what types of shoes she is wearing or where she is located. She can subconsciously navigate her way through a crowded street while reading, without colliding with any other people or objects (although having several near-misses), at one point even deflecting water that was about to pour on top of her while she was reading without once looking up.
* Belle's eyes were originally going to be gray, but in the final cut, they were hazel.
* Belle is currently the only official Disney Princess to have hazel eyes.
* In the New Fantasyland, Belle's cottage shows a picture of her reading with her mother―a beautiful woman with wavy, light brown hair, blue eyes, and wearing a pink dress. One wall in the cottage also has height marks up until her 18th birthday, suggesting she maybe 18 years old during the films. Based on this painting, her mother, when she was still alive, probably looked exactly like Belle but with lighter hair and blue eyes.
	+ The New Fantasyland attraction also implied with the height wall that Belle may have been born in the village, which contradicted a theory stemmed from a brief lyric in the opening song, that implied that Belle and her father had moved to the village sometime prior to the events of the original film.
	+ The book Belle viewed as her favorite was also shown in the attraction to be "le Songe d'une femme" (lit. "the dream of a woman"), as a possible nod to *Sleeping Beauty*. It also revealed that, at least by the events of the movie, she had at least two copies of *Sleeping Beauty*: The one her mom read to her when she was a child (thus explaining why it was her favorite, as well as why she loved reading), and the other being the book she got from the bookstore during the opening song.
	+ In addition, James Baxter, Belle's supervising animator, mentioned that Belle was "a few years older than Ariel," implying that Belle was at least 18 years old as Ariel is stated to be 16 in her own movie.
* Before Paige O'Hara got the role of Belle, the producers first considered Jodi Benson, who was best known as the voice of Ariel, to voice Belle. Benson, however, did voice Belle in Disney's *House of Mouse*.
* Belle is the only Disney Princess with a singing voice to not sing her film's main theme song during the film itself (Mrs. Potts, a supporting character, sings the song instead). Although, Paige O'Hara individually recorded her own version of *Beauty and the Beast* and performed it several times live, outside the film itself.
* In the beginning of the original 1989 storyline, found on the Diamond Edition DVD, Belle's birthday is celebrated, and the cake reads "Happy 17th Birthday Belle", providing evidence that she is 17 in the movie, or at least that she was originally planned to be 17.
* Belle was nominated for AFI's 100 Year...100 Hero and Villain list, one of the three animated heroes and one of three Disney animated heroes, along with Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and Buzz Lightyear. Unfortunately, none of them made the cut.
* A costume of Belle, as well as the rest of the Disney Princesses (excluding Mulan, Pocahontas, Merida, and Moana), has been released on the video game *Little Big Planet 2* as downloadable content from the PlayStation Store.
* In the comic adaptation of the film, Belle wears her pinny more often and her ponytail like Gaston's stays intact even though it's raining.
* One poster for the film for some reason showed Belle in a pink-and-purple dress resembling Rapunzel's.
* In the *Gargoyles* episode "Eye of the Beholder", Elisa Maza dresses up as Belle for Halloween and shares a relationship with Goliath, similar to Belle's relationship with the Beast. However, Goliath is a beast turned into a human, unlike the Beast, whose circumstance is the polar opposite.
* In the climax of *The Haunted Mansion*, Elizabeth Henshaw's ghost appears in a golden dress with opera gloves similar to that of Belle's iconic ensemble. Her love interest Master Gracey is dressed in a blue jacket with gold trim similar to that of the Beast's outfit.
* Paige O'Hara, the first voice actor for Belle, does a fan artwork of Belle on her official website and sells the artwork.
* The books Belle has read are *Jack and the Beanstalk*, *Sleeping Beauty*, and *Romeo and Juliet* (the last of which is only in "Human Again" on the Special Edition). She was also shown to have read the *Cinderella* fairy tale during the first segment from *Belle's Magical World*. In the musical (and in the storyboard), she has also read *King Arthur*.
* In *The Enchanted Christmas*, the book that Belle wrote and wrapped together was the original tale for *Beauty and the Beast*.
* Contrary to popular belief, it's not made clear whether Belle was actually born a peasant, as she implies that she wasn't born in her home village in the opening song, but rather moved there. In addition, her owning books at her cottage implied that she is, or at least was, considerably wealthy (as back in the time period of the film, books were considerably expensive).
	+ In the musical, specifically the song "No Matter What" one of the lyrics had Maurice stating "*You are your mother's daughter; therefore you are class ... crème de la crème*", implying that Belle was part of the social upper class. This was also supported by Belle having a portrait of her and her mom in the Enchanted Tales of Belle attraction.
	+ Similarly, it was never stated where Belle had moved from other than it presumably being another location in France. The book "Belle's Discovery" as well as the live-action remake would later state that she had originally lived in Paris.
* Belle being carried by the Prince near the end of the film is a reference to the poster of *It's a Wonderful Life* where George Bailey holds his wife.
* Belle's blue peasant outfit closely resembles the one worn by an extra during the third act of *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* (1966), though this is almost certainly coincidence.
* In the activity book *Wedding Wishes*, Belle ended up tossing the bouquet to the Bimbettes.
* Belle is the only character in her village who wears blue. The animators wanted to accentuate how out of place she seems, so they paid extra close attention to her wardrobe, making sure that Belle would be the only member of the town to wear blue, whilst the other townsfolk sported more rustic and earthy colors such as red, green, orange, gray, and brown.
* The green and rose dresses Belle wears can be briefly seen stored on the left side of the Wardrobe and displayed to Belle during her first night of captivity when she was asked to join the Beast for dinner.
* In the fifth issue of Marvel Comics, when Belle rejects Gaston in the flashback and the triplets enviously note Gaston's obsession with Belle, they state that she doesn't even go to dances at the village. This was a subtle reference to the original tale, where Beauty preferred to stay at home reading good books, which often got her mocked by her sisters, who by contrast liked to go to balls, public walks, and plays.
* Although Belle is explicitly stated in the film to have no parallel regarding her looks, it seems that her appearance can be replicated, as Laurette (one of the Bimbettes) managed to disguise herself as Belle well enough to completely fool Gaston in the third issue of Marvel Comics.
* Belle is mentioned in the Disney Channel original movie *Smart House*.
* In the Super Sentai series Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger, the yellow ranger by the name of Himeno Ran has slight appearance to Belle.

## Video Games

### Disney Heroes: Battle Mode

***Disney Prince Wiki*** has an individual article based on ***Belle***.
## Relationships

***Disney Prince Wiki*** has an article focusing on the relationships of ***Belle***.
## Gallery

***Disney Prince Wiki*** has a collection of images and media related to ***Belle***.