Belle (Beauty and the Beast)
Encyclopedia
Belle is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...

 Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...

 and is one of the main protagonists of the Disney animated film, Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...

and its two direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 sequels, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Beauty and The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a 1997 animated holiday special produced by The Walt Disney Company. It is a midquel that takes place within the timeline of the original Beauty and the Beast...

and its several spin-offs, including Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World
Belle's Magical World
Belle's Magical World is a 1998 direct-to-video Disney midquel film and the third installment in the Beauty and the Beast trilogy. It was originally released on February 17, 1998, and features the voices of Paige O'Hara as Belle, Robby Benson as The Beast, Jerry Orbach as Lumiere, David Ogden...

. She is also an official Disney Princess.

She also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the segment of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds, and manages the company's theme parks and holiday resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises...

 as a meetable character and in various shows and parades. She also makes a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 in Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspired by Victor Hugo's novel of...

.

Belle also appears in many episodes of the Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse is an American animated television series, produced by Walt Disney Television, that originally aired from 2001 to 2003-Premise:...

television series and in the direct-to-video releases Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse is the first direct-to-video movie spin off from the Disney Channel animated television series Disney's House of Mouse.-Plot:...

and Mickey's House of Villains
Mickey's House of Villains
Mickey's House of Villains is a direct-to-video film produced by The Walt Disney Company. It is a film adaptation of the Disney Channel animated television series Disney's House of Mouse, starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Daisy Duck and Disney Villains that have appeared in...

. She also appears in the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...

series of video games as one of the most important Disney characters.

Development

Disney hired actress Sherri Stoner
Sherri Stoner
Sherri Stoner is an American actress and writer. She was born July 16, 1965, in Santa Monica, California.She has worked extensively in animation. She was a writer and producer for such 1990s animated shows as Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. She is probably best known for Animaniacs, for which...

 to portray the role of Belle during development. They filmed Stoner acting out various actions and mannerisms, and used the footage as inspiration for Belle's performance.

When Beast's key animator Glen Keane
Glen Keane
Glen Keane is an American animator, author, illustrator and director. Keane is best known for his character animation at Walt Disney Studios for feature films including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, and Tangled...

 and one of Belle's animators, Mark Henn, were drawing their respective characters in the same scene, they had to coordinate their work across the country. Henn was at the Disney-MGM Studio in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, and Keane was at the animation studio in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

. To keep the scenes harmonized, the animators had to exchange drawings daily by courier.

Beauty and the Beast

Belle is a young book-loving woman living in a small French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 town. Her father, Maurice, is on his way to a fair, and goes missing. When their horse Phillipe comes back without him, Belle rides to a mysterious castle in possibility of finding him. She finds her father locked away in a dungeon, and begs the dungeon master to free him, offering her own freedom in exchange for her father's. On the condition that she stay with him forever, the dungeon master, a hideous beast, frees Maurice from the dungeon. However he is deeply moved by her beauty and affection towards her father, and can't help but feel attracted to her boldness and bravery. Belle is originally hesitant to interact with the Beast, but after he develops a more civil manner, aided by enchanted furnishings, a bond is formed. The Beast falls deeply in love with her, but is in denial that she will ever love him in return. Belle is soon granted right to leave on behalf of her sickly father, who tries to rescue her. But after denying Gaston (a conceited hunter) her hand in marriage for a third time, a mob of villagers, led by Gaston, plots against the Beast. After a grueling tussle between Gaston and Beast, the Beast is stabbed. Gaston laughs but slips and falls from the castle roof to his death. Belle is able to lay the Beast on a balcony, and he dies in her arms. Belle confesses her love for the beast just as the last petal falls from the enchanted rose. Belle's love for the Beast revives him and releases him from the curse, and he, along with his furnishings, return to human beings.

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 ritual Beast hates most: Christmas, because it is the very day that the Enchantress cast a spell on him.

Unfortunately, a pipe organ called Forte is determined to do anything necessary to keep the spell from breaking, because he thinks that if the curse is broken then the Beast won't be nice to him anymore. Thus, he proves to be an obstacle in Belle's plans. After several attempts to get Beast to agree, Beast finally approves of the idea of Christmas and allows Belle to prepare festivities, though he still harbors resentment for the day.

With advice from Forte, Belle goes out into the woods to get a suitable tree for Christmas, but she falls into thin ice and almost drowns. Fortunately, she is rescued by Beast, but he is angry at her because of a lie that Forte told him: that she was trying to desert him. Belle is thrown into the dungeon as punishment, but Beast then finds a book in the West Wing that Belle had written for him earlier, and decides to set her free. They both continue to prepare for Christmas.

Persistent Forte attempts to bring the whole castle down with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...

in order to prevent the spell from ending, trying to end everyone's lives. Fortunately, Beast stops him in time by crashing his keyboard to pieces. Christmas finally comes, and the story goes back to the actual party, which is one year after these events. Belle is presented with a gift from the Prince: a rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

.

Belle's Magical World

In this movie, Belle is the only human. She meets her new three enchanted object friends Webster, Crane, and LePlume and is set out to solve problems in all four segments.

Belle's Tales of Friendship

In Belle's narration, Belle owns and works at her music and bookstore in France. A group of children walk into the store eager to hear Belle's stories, as she is noted to be a great storyteller. Belle agrees to tell a story, but the gang also play games and learn some simple lessons about life. Belle narrates two classic Disney cartoons, The Three Little Pigs and Babes in the Woods, while the children help Belle clean the bookstore. She also reads The Wise Little Hen and Morris the Midget Moose, but Shawn and Harmony will not help make chili for the group. Along the way, Belle adds music and interacts with the children.

Paige O'Hara
Paige O'Hara
Donna Paige O'Hara is an American Broadway singer, actress, and Disney Legend best known for her voicework as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.-Personal life:...

 reprises her voice cast as Belle, while Lyndsey McLeod portrays the character in the live-action sequences.

Sing Me a Story with Belle

In the live-action television series, Belle (portrayed by Lyndsey McLeod) lives in the country of France and owns her own music and bookshop. Helping her at the bookstore are Lewis and Carol, two magical bookworms. Also at the bookstore is Harmony the Cat. The bookstore is visited by local children to whom Belle will tell (and sing) stories, usually with a moral that fit a situation happening in the shop or with the children.

Theme parks

Belle makes regular appearances in the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the segment of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds, and manages the company's theme parks and holiday resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises...

. Belle had her own meet and greet attraction at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...

 called Storytime with Belle, which ran from 1999-2010, where Belle and the park's guests would act out a popular story. She will soon have a new special location at the Magic Kingdom called The Beast's Castle
The Beast's Castle
Be Our Guest Restaurant is a quick service and table service restaurant coming soon to Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort. The restaurant has the theme and appearance of the Beast's Castle from Disney's 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast...

, which will include the castle from the film as well as her cottage and Gaston's Tavern.

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales

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 Aurora story. The First chapter was entitled "A 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 with you, it still means they love you. All of the original Beauty and the Beast cast returned for "A Kingdom Of Kindness", with the exception to Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach
Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...

.

Kingdom Hearts Series

appears as an important Disney character in the renowned Kingdom Hearts series. Belle is portrayed as one of the seven Princesses of Heart, maidens who contain no darkness in their hearts. These Princesses hold the power to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds and a reservoir of untold wisdom. In the hopes of taking control of Kingdom Hearts to rule all worlds, Maleficent
Maleficent
Maleficent is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Walt Disney's 1959 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. She is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to the baby's christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a...

 kidnaps her and has her world destroyed by the Heartless. Belle is then taken to Hollow Bastion where she is held hostage alongside the other Princesses. However, Belle is rescued by the Beast, who escaped their homeworld's destruction, and the adventurers Sora
Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Square Enix's best-selling Kingdom Hearts series. Introduced in the series' first game in 2002, Sora is a cheerful teenager who originates from Destiny Islands and has been best friends with Riku and Kairi since early childhood. When they plan to...

, Donald Duck, and Goofy. By speaking to Belle after rescuing her, she gives Sora a new weapon, the Divine Rose Keyblade. Belle returns to her homeworld with the Beast when it is restored at the end of the first game.

Belle appears again in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Japanese studio Jupiter and published by Square Enix in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. The game serves as an intermediary between the two larger-scale PlayStation 2 games in the Kingdom Hearts series. It was one of the first GBA games to...

, this time as a figment of Sora's memories of Hollow Bastion. In this scenario, she is once again captured by Maleficent, who hopes to steal her pure heart and use it to perfect her own dark powers. The Beast arrives to save her, but Belle, hoping to keep her heart out of Maleficent’s reach and to keep the Beast safe, coldly rejects her help. However, she is unable to hide her true feelings for long and sacrifices her heart to Maleficent when the witch tries to steal the Beast’s heart. After Sora defeats Maleficent, Belle is restored and reunites with the Beast.

Back in their world, Belle continues to live with the Beast in his castle, the Beast avidly protecting her and his home from Heartless attacks, as depicted in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
is an action roleplaying game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS with assistance from h.a.n.d. It is the fifth installment in the best-selling Kingdom Hearts series, and serves as an interquel beginning near the end of the first game, Kingdom Hearts, and covering the period...

. However, in Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts II
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...

, Xaldin, a member of Organization XIII
Organization XIII
is a fictional group of characters featured in Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios' Kingdom Hearts video game series. The group comprises thirteen beings without hearts called NobodiesIn the video game series' setting, beings comprise a body, heart and soul, known as a 'Whole'. When a heart...

, sows seeds of distrust and rage in the Beast in an attempt to transform him into a powerful Heartless and Nobody for the Organization to control. While being manipulated by Xaldin, the Beast locks Belle in her room and his servants in the dungeons. Fortunately, Sora and his friends arrive and bring the Beast back to his senses. Later, Xaldin returns and holds Belle hostage with the Beast's enchanted rose. Xaldin forces the Beast to choose between the two, but Belle elbows him in the stomach and makes her escape with the rose, allowing Sora, the Beast and co. to defeat Xaldin. By the end of the game, Belle is shown to be with the Beast, who has transformed back into a prince.

Kilala Princess

Belle appears in the Kilala Princess
Kilala Princess
is a shōjo fantasy, romance, and adventure manga series written by Rika Tanaka and illustrated by Nao Kodaka. The first 15 episodes were serialized by Kōdansha in the monthly manga magazine Nakayoshi, while the last 8 episodes were serialized in the quarterly Nakayoshi Lovely. It was later...

 manga as one of the group of Disney princesses.

Once Upon A Time

Actress Emilie De Raven will play Belle in the 2011 ABC series Once Upon a Time.

Musical Theater actresses

  • Susan Egan
    Susan Egan
    Susan Egan is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage.-Early life and career:Egan was born in Seal Beach, California. She attended Orange County High School of the Arts and UCLA. In the meantime she started her career touring with the performance group The Young...

     (Original Broadway Cast)
  • Kerry Butler
    Kerry Butler
    Kerry Marie Butler is an American actress known primarily for her work in theatre.-Early life and career:...

  • Debbie Gibson
  • Toni Braxton
    Toni Braxton
    Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 60 million records worldwide...

     (The first African American woman to play Belle on broadway)
  • Andrea McArdle
    Andrea McArdle
    Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for playing Annie in the Broadway musical Annie, as well as for her alto range and strong vocal belt.-Career:She was born in Philadelphia...

  • Jamie-Lynn Sigler
    Jamie-Lynn Sigler
    Jamie-Lynn Sigler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO television series The Sopranos.-Early life:...

  • Megan McGinnis
    Megan McGinnis
    Megan McGinnis is an American Broadway Actress, who recently performed in the role of Éponine, in the revival of Les Misérables .- Broadway career :...

  • Christy Carlson Romano
    Christy Carlson Romano
    Christy Carlson Romano is an American stage and film actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the sitcom Even Stevens and the animated series Kim Possible, in which she is the voice of the title character, as well as the voice of Yuffie Kisaragi in Kingdom Hearts and Final...

  • Ashley Brown
    Ashley Brown
    Ashley Brown is an actress who is best known for playing the title character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of Mary Poppins.-Career:...

  • Sarah Litzsinger
    Sarah Litzsinger
    Sarah Elizabeth Litzsinger is an American actress and singer, best known for her career in musical theatre.Litzsinger's family is from Carmel, Indiana. She made her Broadway debut in 1983 at age eleven, as the understudy for Young Norma Jean in the short-lived Marilyn: An American Fable...

     (Holds the record for playing the role of Belle longest on Broadway)
  • Sarah Uriarte Berry
    Sarah Uriarte Berry
    Sarah Uriarte Berry is an American actress and singer.A native of California and a graduate of UCLA, Berry made her Broadway debut as Eponine in Les Misérables in 1993. She then went on to star as Belle in Beauty and the Beast in 1995. She replaced former college room-mate Susan Egan and left the...

  • Anneliese van der Pol
    Anneliese van der Pol
    Anneliese Louise van der Pol is a Dutch-American actress and singer. After an early career in musical theatre, she was cast as Chelsea Daniels in the Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven, a role that gained her renown among young audiences. Van der Pol also has a career as a singer and...

    (Final actress to play Belle on Broadway)
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