Belle (Beauty and the Beast) Belle (Beauty and the Beast) Belle is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 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 inventor who 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. Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg commissioned "Beauty and the Beast" as an animated
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) Beast" was the most successful animated Disney film release, and the first animated film to reach $100 million in the United States and Canada in its initial run.<ref name="http://www.thetech.org/about-us/media-room/disneys-animated-beauty-and-beast-celebrates-10th-anniversary-worldwide-large"></ref> In its IMAX re-release, it earned $25.5 million in North America and $5.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $31 million. It also earned $9.8 million from its 3D re-release overseas. During the opening weekend of its North American 3D re-release in 2012, "Beauty and the Beast" grossed $17.8 million, coming in at the No. 2 spot, behind "Contraband", and achieved the highest opening weekend for an animated