"Belle" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991). Recorded by American actors Paige O'Hara and Richard White, "Belle" is a mid-tempo classical music-inspired song that borrows elements from Broadway and musical theatre. It was the first song Ashman and Menken wrote for Beauty and the Beast, which they feared Disney would reject due to its length and complexity; however, the film's producers ultimately accepted the idea of an opening song for the film.
The film's first song and opening number, "Belle" appears during Beauty and the Beast as a bustling operetta-style musical number that introduces audiences to the film's heroine, Belle (O'Hara), and her arrogant suitor, Gaston (White). In addition to describing Belle's goals and aspirations, the song uses lyrics interspersed with spoken dialogue to reveal how the townsfolk feel about her and Gaston, positioning the former as an outcast due to her beauty and love of reading, and the latter as a hero despite his arrogance. Belle reprises the song later in the film after rejecting a marriage proposal from Gaston, declaring her deep longing for adventure.
"Belle" has received widespread acclaim from film and music critics, who praised its effectiveness as an opening number and likened it to songs from the musical films West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965). "Belle" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992, but lost to the film's title song. "Belle" was similarly featured in the stage adaptation of the film, originally performed by actress Susan Egan on Broadway. Actors Emma Watson and Luke Evans performed the song in the 2017 live-action remake of the film.
Background and writing In an effort to replicate the unprecedented success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Disney decided to adapt the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" into a feature-length animated film. Although originally developed as an animated film without songs under the direction of Richard Purdum, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg was unsatisfied with the dark, somber direction of the film at the time, and ultimately ordered that it be re-written into a "Broadway-style musical with a strong heroine", similar to The Little Mermaid. Disney then hired The Little Mermaid's songwriters, lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken, to write original songs for the revised film. The songwriting duo wrote "Belle". According to Menken, songs such as "Belle" developed naturally due to the fact that Beauty and the Beast was written in the style of a traditional Broadway musical. Actress and singer Paige O'Hara, who voices Belle, said the songwriters wanted to eschew the pop songs of The Little Mermaid in favor of a more Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired score for Beauty and the Beast, which was heavily inspired by French, classical, and traditional Broadway music. Additionally, Menken described "Belle" and the other Beauty and the Beast songs as "tangents from 18th-century France", and Ashman suggested that the film's opening be "a full-fledged operetta".
"Belle" was the first song they wrote for the film, which Menken described as far more ambitious than anything Disney had asked them for. Hoping to craft a song that would portray Belle in a safe, protected environment, Ashman and Menken drew inspiration from operetta storytelling, using the opening song to establish the tone of the rest of the film. Written in a style Menken described as "very distant from contemporary pop", the songwriters were influenced by classical music, Mozart, and the stage musical She Loves Me (1963). Writing "Belle" much like how they would have written any song for the stage, Menken said the song occupies several roles in the film – simultaneously serving as an opening song, entertaining production number, and showing audiences the character they should be rooting for – and emphasized the importance of it happening early in the film to establish that Beauty and the Beast is a musical. Ashman's partner, Bill Lauch, recalled that he and Menken worked particularly hard on "Belle", explaining that story-wise it ultimately serves multiple purposes, including providing information about characters, offering a tour of the town, and aside from the Beast "pretty much introduces all the central characters that you're going to follow through the film".
Ashman and Menken were initially skeptical about "Belle"'s success upon completing the song, fearing it would end their Disney careers should the studio not like their creation. Estimating the completed song to be seven minutes long, the songwriters doubted the filmmakers would appreciate their very theatrical approach to animation. Actor Richard White agreed that, at the time, "No show of any kind starts with a seven-minute opening number that's all exposition". Ashman was particularly wary, avoiding submitting the song to Disney for several days. Menken claims Ashman's AIDS diagnosis contributed to the lyricist's emotional vulnerability during this time. The cassette tape the songwriters eventually sent to the producers also contained the demo for the reprise and "Be Our Guest". Much to their surprise, "Belle" was ultimately very well received by the creative team, becoming one of the film's few songs to remain largely unchanged during production. Ashman determined where characters would speak or sing during the song, similar to a choreographer choreographing a dance routine. Story supervisor Roger Allers requested more back-and-forth among the townspeople towards the end of the song, prompting Ashman and Menken to suggest several phrases and actions the characters could sing about. Menken played an electric piano while Ashman wrote dialogue. Their demo recording of "Belle" was included on the compilation album The Legacy Collection: Beauty and the Beast (2018). O'Hara called the song one of her favorites from the film because it establishes who Belle is as a character.
Use in Beauty and the Beast "Belle" is the first song in Beauty and the Beast. Described by the film's producer Don Hahn as Gilbert and Sullivan operetta-style, "Belle" reveals a significant amount of information within a relatively short period of time. According to Gizmodo's Germain Lussier, "Belle" serves as more than simply a song by establishing the film's setting, explaining its main character, foreshadowing the movie, and setting up one of the film's central conflicts, "all in mere minutes". Taking place shortly after the prologue, "Belle" helps progress the film to the present-day, with its title character walking through to return a book to the bookshop. According to Menken, the song relays "the story of Belle going to the town and everyone's reaction to her and getting to see Gaston and knowing he is infatuated with her – but more infatuated with himself". As Beauty and the Beasts opening number, "Belle" is a "pivotal moment...in the narrative", playing a significant role by introducing both the film's heroine and villain, Belle and Gaston, as well as where both characters are in their lives, establishing Belle as an outsider. The song also introduces the same townsfolk who would eventually hunt the Beast later in the film due to fearing the unknown.
Belle has grown frustrated with her predictable village life and longs for an adventure similar to the ones she reads about in her books, while Gaston is a narcissistic hunter determined to marry her because he believes they are the two best-looking residents. The sequence begins with Belle returning a library book about "a beanstalk and an ogre", in exchange for one she has already read several times. During the scene, Belle attempts to share the plot of her most recent novel with some villagers such as the Baker, only to be brushed off. In roughly five minutes, the song explains both Belle and Gaston's roles in Beauty and the Beast to the audience, offering insight into Belle's desire for "something more". Belle has grown bored of the feeling that every day seems to be the same to her. Ironically, Belle is unaware of the adventure she is about to embark on, or how her dreams would manifest. The song also voices the opinions of the townsfolk and "sets up the overall theme and foreshadows what makes the town so oppressive to [Belle]". While the villagers praise Belle for her beauty, they view her as "odd" because of her love of books, with their opinions of her ranging from open attraction to critical bewilderment. They remain fascinated by her despite their wariness of her. However, they idolize Gaston's looks and masculinity. Commonly referred to as the film's "I Want" song, "Belle" offers its protagonist an opportunity to convey her yearnings, specifically wanting more than the provincial life she has been living. Josh Spiegel of The A.V. Club observed that, like many other Beauty and the Beast songs, "Belle" spotlights the film's supporting cast. Commentators have offered theories suggesting that the book Belle is reading in the opening scenes is either Sleeping Beauty or foreshadowing her own story that eventually unfolds in Beauty and the Beast.
Belle reprises the song in a more defiant manner later in the film after rejecting Gaston's marriage proposal, which according to Dirk Libbey of CinemaBlend "captures all of Belle's dreams" in a manner the original version does not. The character explicitly wishes for "adventure in the great, wide somewhere", expressing her boredom with her current circumstances. O'Hara described it as the moment her character "wants to break loose out of this little town and explore the world—not looking for a man—just explore the world". Critics compared the scene to The Sound of Music (1965), which O'Hara confirmed they borrowed inspiration from. Nate Millado of Backstage cited inspiration from the musical Oklahoma! (1943) in the way the song " propels the plot and peeks into characters".
Music and lyrics Ashman wrote the song's lyrics while Menken composed its music. According to its official sheet music from Walt Disney Music Publishing, "Belle" is a Broadway and musical theatre-inspired song, performed at a "pastorally" tempo of 80 beats per minute in the key of D major. Vocally, the arrangement includes several high notes. Combined, O'Hara and White's vocal ranges span approximately two octaves, from A3 to G5. Additionally, actors Jesse Corti, Alec Murphy, Mary Kay Bergman, and Kath Soucie's voices are also featured on the track. In total, "Belle" lasts five minutes and nine seconds in duration. The song's verse, chorus, and musical break structure allows for the interjection of monologue and dialogue. According to Irving Tan of Sputnikmusic, the track is an "idyllic, orchestra-driven" operetta. Menken described it as "19th-century operetta style", and Filmtracks.com called it "snare-tapping".