paige o'hara was the voice of belle in beauty and the beast.
paige o'hara was the voice of belle in beauty and the beast.
who is voice of belle in beauty and the beast?
paige o'hara
disney had originally considered casting actress jodi benson, who famously voiced ariel in "the little mermaid", as belle, but ultimately felt that she sounded "too american" and young, opting for a "more classical ... womanly" voice instead. describing the character as "a woman that was ahead of her time," the filmmakers wanted belle to sound "more like a woman than a girl." however, benson voiced belle in a few episodes of disney's "house of mouse". director kirk wise was particularly interested in casting an actress capable of "creat[ing] a character completely with her voice", envisioning a voice similar to that of american entertainer judy garland. american actress and singer paige o'hara was performing on broadway when she first read about disney's then-upcoming animated project "beauty and the beast" in an article in "the new york times". upon discovering that the studio was holding auditions for the lead role of belle and, at the behest of lyricist howard ashman and composer alan menken, specifically recruiting broadway performers, o'hara immediately insisted that her agent get her an audition. familiar with o'hara's broadway stint as ellie may chipley in the musical "show boat"; ashman had already been eyeing o'hara for the part. o'hara auditioned for the role five times, competing against approximately 500 other actresses. first auditioning solely for casting director albert taveres, o'hara's next two auditions simply required the actress to mail audio recordings of her voice to the studio in los angeles. required to perform a song of her choice, o'hara sang "heaven help my heart" from the musical "chess". at her first legitimate audition, o'hara spoke and sang in a higher register than her own in an effort to mimic snow white from "snow white and the seven dwarfs", but the filmmakers insisted that she use her own voice instead. in addition to ashman and menken, o'hara's last few auditions were attended by directors wise and gary trousdale, and producers katzenberg and don hahn. o'hara recalled that the songwriters would first close their eyes and listen to her before finally watching her perform. an hour after her fifth and final audition, o'hara received a telephone call from disney on her birthday informing her that she had been cast. the actress was fairly confident that the role was hers before she was officially cast, and credits the fact that ashman enjoyed her performance on the cast recording of the musical "show boat". o'hara admitted, "i'm not usually confident about auditions ... but i just understood (belle) so much."
belle (beauty and the beast)
belle has garnered widespread acclaim from film critics, several of whom voiced their preference for the character over her predecessor, ariel from "the little mermaid". hal hinson of "the washington post" described belle as a "compelling" character who is "more mature, more womanly and less blandly asexual" than ariel, as well as "a more worldly girl", describing her as "a bookworm, with gumption and a mind of her own." similarly comparing belle to ariel, john hartl of "the seattle times" wrote that, in "beauty and the beast", "there's rarely a sense of deja vu, perhaps because the heroine is so different from 'mermaid's' dependent ariel, and her dilemma is more poignant," while "boxoffice "scribed, "undoubtedly in response to criticism that the cute little 'mermaid' ariel was nothing more than a precocious sexpot, the idea-people behind this beauty—aptly named belle ... chose to make her an icon of self-reliance and a voracious reader with a curiosity and love for everything around her." jennie punter of "the globe and mail "extolled belle as a "smart, courageous ... 'take-charge kind of gal'," while crowning her the "main attraction of "beauty and the beast"." emma cochrane of "empire" hailed belle as "a feminist heroine who [is] more rounded than previous disney characters", while "paste's" annlee ellingson similarly enjoyed the character's "feminist kick." stephen hunter of "the baltimore sun "wrote that "belle ... is no passive fairy tale princess, but a real live girl, with a spunky personality and her own private agenda." "tv guide "wrote that "the familiar narrative is strengthened by the independent, self-assured character of belle," concluding, "unlike disney heroines from snow white through ariel, belle is smart, knows what she wants, and doesn't spend her time pining away for the love of a handsome prince." marc bernardin of "entertainment weekly "praised belle's heroism, dubbing her "the hero" of "beauty and the beast", while "entertainment weekly's" christian blauvelt opined, "unlike previous disney heroines who needed to be rescued by a prince themselves, belle not only saves the beast's life, she saves his soul." tlc's vicki arkoff received belle as a "smart" and "sharp-tongued" heroine, crediting the character for "break[ing] disney's passive-princess mold." about.com's david nusair described belle as an "admirable" heroine. allmovie's don kaye and perry seibert echoed each other's reviews of the character, with kaye describing both belle and the beast as "three-dimensional ... complex individuals who defy stereotyping and change over the course of the story," and seibert calling belle a "strong female character" who "sidesteps most of the clichés surrounding disney heroines." common sense media hailed belle as "one of disney's smartest, most independent heroines."
belle (beauty and the beast)