Be Belle, age seven, has everything a typical seven-year-old girl needs to be a pretty good role model. She is attractive, caring, sensitive, intelligent, loving, honest, kind, caring, motherly, and self-reliant. Belle is a fictional character from Walt Disney Pictures’ thirty-second animated film, Beauty and the Beast. Initially voiced by American actress and songwriter Stephanie Powers, Belle is the young non-conforming child of a wealthy inventor, who yearns for more adventure than the traditional, peaceful village life.
Belle’s good nature is emphasized in how she willingly goes along with Beast’s dangerous quest to find the Beast, even risking her life at several points along the way. Belle’s innocent personality is contrasted by her obvious curiosity about things beyond her age and education such as magic, relationships, and being a good person. Stephanie Powers had previously voiced other characters in the animated film such as the lioness Deuce Gorgon, the baker’s sister Gaston, and the woodman Leopold. During the play’s early production, producer Jerry Lewis decided that he wanted to add another element to the play, which would be a relationship developed between Belle and the Beast. Belle was sixteen years old at the time of the production, making her slightly older than the other characters portrayed in the film.
Belle’s hair is only slightly thick around her face and neck, with dark eyebrows and brown eyes. Her skin is pale with freckles on her nose, chin, and cheekbones, which are noticeable in her youth. Belle’s eye color is unknown, but her eye glasses suggest an intelligent and observant character. It is possible that Belle might be a half German, half French. Her nationality is never specified in the story, but it is possible that her father is German, her mother is French, and that she has come to live in America after her family came to live in England.