Personality
Belle is a young woman living in the French countryside with her father, an inventor. She's a lovely free-thinker who likes to read and go on adventures within her own imagination. She is not shy and is not afraid to speak her mind, especially in tight situations. She is very compassionate and takes care of those in need. Belle can also be stubborn, but she tries to protect people she truly loves and is very patient towards others.
Belle is a shrewd nonconformist for her time in many ways. The most pronounced is her love of books, adventure and knowledge, which the townspeople find odd for a woman. Gaston says to her at one point, "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas and...thinking...". Belle also does not care about appearances, whether they pertain to herself or anyone else. This is highly ironic, considering she is seen as the most beautiful woman in her village. In the song Belle, a woman sings, "It's no wonder than her name means beauty. Her looks have got no parallel."
[edit]Wardrobe
Belle's most common outfit is a blue and white peasant dress with a white apron which she wears throughout most of the movie. She wears a blue bow in her hair and brown shoes. Many fans[who?] believe that this outfit is based upon Dorothy Gale's dress in The Wizard of Oz. Sometimes she is featured with her hair down such as when she is attacked by the wolves and at the end of the film.
When she is outdoors, she wears a dark blue cloak. During her time in the castle, she wears a pink dress and a green dress. She also wears a golden ball gown during the ballroom scene in the film. In the Kingdom Hearts games she alternates between her ball gown and her blue peasant outfit.
[edit]Development

Disney hired actress Sherri Stoner 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.[1]
When Beast's key animator Glen Keane 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, and Keane was at the animation studio in Glendale, California. To keep the scenes harmonized, the animators had to exchange drawings daily by courier.[1]
[edit]Appearances

[edit]Beauty and the Beast
Main article: Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Belle is a young woman living in a small French town. Her father, Maurice, on his way to a fair, goes missing while she was reading books and not wanting Gaston to marry her. 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 falls into the ravine when he loses balance. 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.
[edit]Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Main article: 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 brings the whole castle down with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 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 Belle is presented with a gift from the Beast: a rose.
[edit]Belle's Magical World
Main article: 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.
[edit]Disney Princess Enchanted Tales
Main article: 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.
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.[1]
[edit]Kingdom Hearts Series
Main article: Kingdom Hearts
Belle (ベル Beru?) 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 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, 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, 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. However, in Kingdom Hearts II, Xaldin, a member of Organization XIII, 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.
[edit]Other appearances
Belle appears in the Kilala Princess manga. She is also seen in Disney theme parks as a meet-and-greet character.
[edit]Actresses