Characters
I'm working on individual character pages, so this is still under construction.
Belle is a very intelligent character, always reading and dreaming of adventure and romance, just like what she reads in her books. Belle lives in a small cottage in France with her father, Maurice. The villagers think she is a strange girl because she reads so much. One of the villagers, Gaston, wants to marry Belle, but he thinks she needs to set aside her "foolish" reading and settle down and have kids with him. Belle does not like Gaston at all. When she first meets the Beast, he frightens her. But she realizes that he is kind, and a great person. She falls in love with the Beast and they are married in the end.
The Beast was once a very spoiled Prince. He lives in a castle near Belle's village, but his heart was cold and bitter. He turned away an enchantress disguised as an old woman, and in exchange for that the enchantress put a spell on him and on the people in the castle. The spell is this: if he can find love and in return be loved before his 21st birthday, when all the petals on the rose will fall, the spell will be broken and he will return to his normal form. If he cannot, he will remain a Beast forever. The Beast is angry and impatient with Maurice, Belle's father, and at first with Belle herself. He does like her from the start, but he believes she will never see him as anything other than a Beast. He and Belle become friends and he is amazed with what a wonderful person she is, and he has very strong feelings for her, which is why he lets her go to her father. When the villagers come to destroy him, he lets them come. When Gaston is fighting him, he lets Gaston fight him. But then he hears Belle, and he has new hope because she came back. He is wounded in the back by Gaston, but Belle reveals that she loves him as the last petal falls. The Beast is turned back to his regular form and he and Belle marry.
Note: the Prince is sometimes called Prince Ruskin d'Auvergnon, Prince Adam, or Prince Vincent.
Maurice is Belle's father. He is an inventor and is attending a fair to market his invention, but he gets lost and comes upon the castle. Seeing no one there, he is greeted by Lumiere and Cogsworth, and has a meal, but then is found by the Beast. Belle comes to find him, and trades herself for her father. Maurice tells the villager of the Beast, but no one believes him. Gaston gets the idea to put Maurice in a hospital unless Belle agrees to marry him. Maurice tries to save Belle himself, but becomes ill. Belle sees him through the magic mirror and the Beast allows her to go to him. When she is tending to him, Gaston comes to take her father away, but Belle shows him the magic mirror and shows the Beast. Gaston has Belle and Maurice locked up in their cellar, but they get out with the help of Chip and go to the Beast's castle. Maurice is a very kind father and person.
Lumiere is the candle in the movie, and he is a very funny character with a strong French accent. He is kind to the guests, Maurice and Belle, as opposed to Cogsworth, who is uptight about following rules. Lumiere is an extremely essential character in the movie, with his humour and wit breaking tensions between characters such as Beast and Belle. He is truly a wonderful character!
Cogsworth is the clock, and is more strict about the rules. When Maurice first enters the castle, it is Cogsworth who does not want to speak to him and does not want Lumiere to speak to him. He is also very funny, and perhaps he is so strict because he is a clock, and it parallels with something such as always having to be on time...
Mrs. Potts is the teapot, and she is the voice of consolation and kindness in the movie, perhaps because she is a mother. She manages to be of great help to Belle many times, and sings the song "Beauty and the Beast" in the Ballroom Scene. Mrs. Potts is the mother of several teacups, including Chip.
Chip is the son of Mrs. Potts, and is a very sweet little boy. He is very important to the movie, because when Belle leaves, he stows away in her dress pocket and comes out when she is at home. When Gaston arrives and learns of the Beast and locks Belle and Maurice in the cellar, Chip is the one who operates Maurice's invention and manages to release them. Without him, Belle might not have gotten to the castle in time, and the Beast may have been killed. Thank goodness for Chip!
The Featherduster (Babette) is another of the enchanted objects. She is a French maid, and apparently has a relationship with Lumiere. She is a necessary character and very lively and funny. In the scene where the Villagers get to the castle, one man is plucking the feathers out of the duster and Lumiere gets angered and burns him in the behind with his flames.
The Armoire (or Wardrobe) is introduced to us when Belle goes to her room upon promising to stay with the Beast forever. The Armoire, along with the other characters, consoles Belle and proves to be very kind and indispensible. When the Villagers attack the castle, the Armoire again proves to be very indispensible by attacking the Villagers with mighty force. Being an Armoire, she is very capable of doing that.
The pooch, a playful red foot stool, is a fun addition to the cast. The puppy is very kind and amiable towards Belle, and it is another great character. In the scene where Belle is walking with Philippe in the snow, the Pooch runs up to her and she carries it. Then Beast is shown with Lumiere and Cogsworth in the Balcony and says, "I've never felt this way about anyone before." Maybe the kindness Belle shows with animals (Philippe and Sultan, the Pooch) makes Beast love her more. In the end, the puppy, along with everyone else, gets transformed back to its original state.
Philippe is the horse that belongs to Belle and her father. Philippe is taking Maurice to the fair, but gets frightened and leaves Maurice. Philippe returns to Belle, and Belle, very worried, asks Philippe to take her to her father. Philippe takes her to the castle, and Belle stays with the Beast in exchange for her father. Philippe plays large roles. When the Beast gets angry and tells her to leave because she has seen the rose and been in the Forbidden wing,Belle flees on Philippe and they are attacked by wolves, but luckily the Beast saves them. Philippe helps carry the wounded Beast back to the castle. Philippe takes Belle to Maurice when the Beast lets her go because she has seen him ill and struggling in the magic mirror. Philippe also takes Belle and Maurice (and Chip) back to the Beast's castle when the Villagers are attacking and Gaston is trying to kill the Beast.
Gaston is the villain in this story, and a very good villain at that. Gaston is a very rude and conceited bully who wants to have Belle as his wife no matter what the cost. At the beginning of the movie, Gaston seems harmless, but as the movie progresses and Gaston grows more and more jealous of Beast, he grows more and more dangerous.
Gaston is the huntsman of the town, and absolutely everyone (especially three blonde triplets), admires him. Everyone, that is, except Belle. Gaston does not understand why she doesn't go swooning for him like the other girls, and he especially doesn't understand why she would rather read than spend time with him. Actually, he doesn't understand why she likes to read at all. Gaston tries to tell Belle that reading is not for women, although Gaston isn't exactly extremely intelligent himself. However, his obsession with Belle is fascinating in the sense that it is not exactly clear why Gaston is so enamoured with Belle. He states that he wants her because she is the best, and he deserves the best. Belle certainly is beautiful, and perhaps that is one of the major reasons why Gaston feels he deserves her (or, in his mind, she deserves him for being so beautiful).
When Gaston learns of Beast and gets wind that Belle has feelings for him, he becomes filled with rage. He will not let anyone have Belle, because she is his (in his mind). During his fight with Beast on the roof of the castle, Gaston speaks to Beast about Belle -
Were you in love with her, Beast?
Did you honestly think she'd want you, when she had someone like me?
Gaston is very mad and jealous at the same time, and he will stop at nothing to get Belle. However, his weakness is shown when Belle returns and Beast regains his strength. He asks Beast to let him go, and Beast does. Here is where Gaston's true villainous side comes out, because he stabs Beast even when Beast has shown him kindness. Gaston meets his end by falling off the castle rooftop over the cliff.
Gaston is a true villain, and one of my favorites for several reasons. He is very real, and that makes him a better villain. He doesn't have magical powers, or anything of that nature, but he is unkind and mean. He will stop at nothing to get Belle.
Gaston is actually a very funny character, especially with his song, GASTON. He adds to the movie, and he is a very real and very well voiced character along with all of the characters. His mind is more complex than it seems. He doesn't seem very bright, but he is very complex, especially in his feelings towards Belle.
LeFou is Gaston's friend..probably his Best Friend. In the beginning LeFou seems to think that Belle is odd, maybe because she reads, but he supports Gaston in his efforts to win her heart. LeFou is not really a bad person, he is usually bullied around by Gaston, but he seems to admire him very much (judging from the song he sings: "Gaston") so he probably does not have a problem with being ordered around by Gaston. LeFou is more of a funny sidekick, and I do not think he is as mean as Gaston.
The Enchantress is shown at the beginning (Prologue) of the story. She is disguised as an old beggar woman and offers the Prince a rose in exchange for shelter from the bitter cold. He turns her away, and she tells him "not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within." He turns her away a second time, and she transforms back into a beautiful enchantress. The Prince tries to apologize, but it is too late. She has seen that there is no love in his heart, and as punishment turns him into a beast. She places an enchantment on the castle, and leaves the rose, which is truly an enchanted rose, with Beast along with an enchanted mirror. If he cannot love someone and earn their love in return by the time that the last petal falls from the enchanted rose, he will be doomed to remain a beast forever. The Enchantress is very significant and important in the story. Without her, he may not have learned what a selfish person he was and may have remained so. In doing so, Belle would not have fallen in love with him, and we may not have had a happily ever after.
The Bimbettes are three girls (sisters, probably triplets) that are blond and quite pretty. They are totally and definitely crazy about Gaston and think Belle is very odd for not wanting him. They don't seem very smart, and they believe Gaston in the most gorgeous person to ever grace the earth. They wear different colors : red, a type of gold, and green but their faces are quite similar. Their hairstyles are what can tell them apart. The girl with the red dress has Belle's hairstyle, the girl with the gold dress has Jasmine's hairstyle, and the girl with the green dress has Ariel's hairstyle. Their hairstyles are similar to those of three Disney Princesses (mentioned above). The Bimbettes are crying in the wedding scene, where Gaston is going to propose to Belle, and they seem to have an admirer in LeFou (as shown in the "Belle" song where they are putting water in a pail).
The Baker is shown very briefly during the song "Belle". He is walking with a tray of bread and greets Belle in a very friendly manner. When Belle begins to tell him of her latest book, he ignores her and begins to talk to another person (Marie) and go on about his work. He is also shown in the scene where Gaston is getting ready to go into Belle's house and propose to her. The Baker is by a table holding a cake, and I am assuming that he was hired or appointed by Gaston to cater the wedding. He is a good and interesting character in the movie, but is not shown for very long. He seems like a kind man and baker, however he is also shown during the "Mob Song" scene and is one of the people wanting to put Maurice in the asylum, so I believe he must be easily influenced.
Monsieur D'Arque (I imagine) is head of the local insane asylum. He is introduced in the movie when Gaston hires him to lock Maurice up in the asylum. Gaston offers Monsieur D'Arque much in gold to lock up Maurice. Gaston's intentions are to have Maurice locked up because of how much Belle cares for him. He feels that Belle will do anything for her father and thinks that she will marry him if he is the only one that can save her father from the asylum. Monsieur D'Arque tells Gaston that Maurice is harmless, but still agrees to have him locked up because of the money Gaston offers. Monsieur D'Arque seems like a mean and evil man, especially because of this quote: "So you want me to throw her father in the asylum unless she agrees to marry you? Oh, that is despicable. I love it!" And, well, his name is D'Arque!
The Bookseller is shown at the beginning of the movie, when Belle travels into town to the Bookshop to turn in the book she has finished reading. He is an elderly man that seems very kind. He seems to enjoy Belle and her company, and he gives her a book that she likes very much.