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
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) Beast" parodies the idea of excessive masculinity, a trait shared by both Gaston and the Beast. Obsessed with his own virility, Gaston shares several opinions associated with "the hyper-masculine male", boasting many "traditionally heroic" qualities and beliefs. Representing "everything that can go wrong in the heterosexual male" according to "The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook" author Jerry Griswold, Gaston is essentially a caricature of hypermasculinity; he proudly hunts, drinks, fights, spits, bullies and lies in addition to being shallow and ignorant, exuding what are considered to be some of the worst masculine traits. Gaston intimidates and threatens