Belle (Disney)
| Belle | |
|---|---|
| Beauty and the Beast character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | Beauty and the Beast (1991) |
| Created by | Linda Woolverton |
| Voiced by |
Paige O'Hara (1991–2011) Julie Nathanson (2011–present) |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Family | Maurice (father) |
| Spouse(s) | Adam |
| Nationality | French |
Belle is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 30th animated feature film Beauty and the Beast (1991). Originally voiced by American actress and singer Paige O'Hara, Belle is the non-conforming daughter of an eccentric inventor. Belle yearns to abandon her predictable village life in return for adventure. When her father Maurice is imprisoned by a cold-hearted beast, Belle offers him her own freedom in exchange for her father's, and eventually learns to love the Beast despite his unsightly outward appearance.
Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg commissioned Beauty and the Beast as an animated musical with a strong heroine and hired first-time screenwriter Linda Woolverton to write it. Basing her on the heroine of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast", Woolverton adapted Belle into a stronger and less passive character for the film. Inspired by the women's rights movement, Woolverton wanted Belle to be a unique Disney heroine different from The Little Mermaid's popular Ariel, and thus deliberately conceived the character as a feminist in an effort to avoid the criticism Disney had long been receiving due to the studio's reputation of depicting its female characters as victims.
Belle's strength and love of reading was inspired by American actress Katharine Hepburn's performance as Jo March in the film Little Women (1933), while the writers instilled the adventure-seeking heroine with goals and aspirations beyond romance. However, the story artists and animators often disagreed with Woolverton's liberated vision for the character. Animated by James Baxter and Mark Henn, the former of whom based the character's graceful gait on those of impressionist Edgar Degas' ballerinas, Belle's European facial features were inspired by those of British actresses Vivien Leigh and Audrey Hepburn. Several additional Hollywood actresses inspired Belle's appearance, including Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, and Grace Kelly.
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