Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
The video game series "Kingdom Hearts" features a world based on the film, named "Beast's Castle", along with several of the film's characters. In the first game, the world has been destroyed and Belle kidnapped by the Heartless, led by Maleficent, but the Beast travels to Maleficent's stronghold and works with Sora to defeat Maleficent and rescue Belle and the other captured princesses. In "Kingdom Hearts II", the world has since been restored following Ansem's defeat, but Beast and Belle are having difficulties due to the enigmatic Xaldin of Organization XIII attempting to bring out the Beast's darker side in order to turn him into a Heartless and a Nobody, but the Beast eventually comes to his senses and works with Sora once again to defeat Xaldin once and for all. In the game's ending credits, the Beast turns back into the Prince. In "", the world is featured as a playable level but the story is not essential to the main plot. In "Kingdom Hearts χ", the world is featured again, this time as a hallucination that follows the plot of the movie more closely. The characters featured in the series are Beast, Belle, Lumiere, Gaston, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Maurice, and the Wardrobe. After Gaston is defeated, the Beast transforms back into the Prince. Gaston does not appear in "Kingdom Hearts II", the world's primary antagonist being Xaldin, an original character created for the series, but who shares several traits with Forte, the main antagonist of "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas".
Belle (Beauty and the Beast)
Deemed an "iconoclast" by "Boxoffice", Belle continues to garner strong recognition for her role in "Beauty and the Beast". Established as a cultural icon, the character holds the distinction of being Disney's first feminist princess. Commentators believe that the character's role in "Beauty and the Beast" as one of Disney's first strong female characters is responsible for changing the way in which women would be depicted in subsequent animated films. According to Kevin Fallon of "The Daily Beast", before Belle "being a Disney princess meant singing songs about how much you love combing your hair with a fork and giving away your voice if it meant you got to marry the guy with that dreamy chiseled jaw". The "Los Angeles Times"' Charles Solomon considers Belle to be among four Disney Princesses responsible for breaking "the bonds of convention." About.com's David Nusair agreed that Belle successfully "updated the princess formula for an entirely new generation." "The Atlantic"'s Lindsay Lowe echoed Nusair's sentiment, citing Belle as the character responsible for ending Disney's "history of ... docile heroines." The "Daily Campus"' Cathy Schmidt recognized Belle and Ariel as "the beginnings of the more modern Disney princesses." Writing for Virgin Media, Limara Salt believes that the character "proved that audiences could fall in love with a brown-haired intellectual." A survey conducted by Disney after the film's release determined that Belle's love of books inspired young women to read. Justin Humphreys of "The Hook" expressed, "Belle remains a most successful princess because people can relate" to her. Elina Bolokhova of "Parenting "believes that Belle's "bravery and independence helped redefine the meaning of a Disney princess." According to Justine McGrath of "Teen Vogue", Belle has "become one of the most popular classic Disney princesses of all time." Commending her intelligence and lack of vanity, the character was placed at number one on E!'s ranking of the Disney Princesses, while "Cosmopolitan "ranked her fourth. In the magazine's "Definitive Ranking Of Disney Princesses", "Seventeen "ranked Belle fifth. Similarly, BuzzFeed also ranked the character fifth, praising her love of reading. A reader poll conducted by BuzzFeed also determined that Belle is the most popular Disney Princess, having garnered 18% of votes. Belle is the fifth most successful Disney Princess in terms of box office revenue, with "Beauty and the Beast" having grossed over $350 million. However, Belle was the lowest-selling Disney Princess on eBay in 2013, with sales of less than $7,000 despite the fact that she is often cited as a customer favorite.
Belle is considered to be among Disney's most beloved animated heroines, and has been called one of Disney's most beloved princesses. According to Scott Huver of "People", the character's "popularity remains a force to be reckoned with" even 25 years after the film's release. Belle was the only animated heroine nominated for the American Film Institute's greatest heroes in film ranking; only eight women were included on the final list. CNN ranked Belle among "Merida and other animated heroines", a list recognizing some of Disney's greatest heroines. According to the "Daily Mirror", Belle is Disney's second most iconic character, behind only Mickey and Minnie Mouse, describing her as a "portrait of bravery, teaching us to look beyond appearances and stand up for what we believe in." Meanwhile, "PopMatters" ranked Belle Disney's second best hero. Considered to be both a sex symbol and fashion icon, Belle has garnered accolades for both her appearance and costumes. The character was ranked 64th on UGO's list of the most attractive female cartoon characters, while being ranked 14th on "Complex"'s "25 Hottest Cartoon Women of All Time". E! ranked Belle the second best-dressed Disney Princess, crowning her "the most couture of all the Disney princesses." Author Emily Popp went on to praise the character's ballgown for being "off the Oscar de la Renta runway," while "Vogue" included it among the "Most Famous Dresses", with author Sarah Karmali dubbing it "One of the most instantly recognizable dresses in Disney history." Revered as iconic, the dress is currently among the most famous in film history 25 years after its debut. Belle appeared on BuzzFeed's "Definitive Ranking Of 72 Disney Princess Outfits" four times, ranking the character's green, blue, pink and yellow dresses 51st, 37th, 31st and 15th, respectively. Similarly, Belle's blue, pink, yellow and green costumes were ranked 18th, 10th, ninth and fourth by Official Disney Blogs, whose author believes that the character's ballgown "went down in the history books." Belle appeared on "Stylist"'s list of the "Best beauty looks in Disney" twice, both for the character's hairstyles. "Entertainment Weekly "ranked Belle's hair fifth in the magazine's "Disney Princesses: Ranking Their Hairdos – and Don'ts!"