Belle (Disney song)

"Belle" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991). Recorded by American actors Paige O'Hara and Richard White, "Belle" is a mid-tempo classical music-inspired song that borrows elements from Broadway and musical theatre. It was the first song Ashman and Menken wrote for Beauty and the Beast, which they feared Disney would reject due to its length and complexity; however, the film's producers ultimately accepted the idea of an opening song for the film. The film's first song and opening number, "Belle" appears during Beauty and the Beast as a bustling operetta-style musical number that introduces audiences to the film's heroine, Belle (O'Hara), and her arrogant suitor, Gaston (White).