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", "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",
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". avoiding submitting the song to Disney for several days. 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. 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. 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 ==