Actress and model Sherri Stoner served as the performance model for Belle, providing live-action reference for the animators as they drew the character. Belle's tendency to constantly brush her hair away from her face was also inspired by both Stoner and O'Hara. "I was constantly doing that and little quirky things that they would catch," O'Hara told "The Guardian". The animators also incorporated O'Hara's eyes, cheekbones and the way in which she raises her eyebrow into Belle's face. O'Hara felt that Belle originally looked "too perfect," likening the character's appearance to actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Angelina Jolie. Writing for the "Los Angeles Times", Charles Solomon observed inconsistencies in Belle's appearance, writing, "The prettiest and liveliest Belle waltzes with Beast in his marble ballroom and weeps over his body before he's transformed into the Prince" while "The Belle who receives the library from Beast has wider-set eyes and a more prominent mouth than the noticeably slimmer Belle who sings 'Something There'".