Why Belle’s New Backstory in the Live Action Beauty and the Beast Makes Sense
New information from the upcoming live action Beauty and the Beast movie has been released. The information released gives fans better insight to the movie’s leading lady, Belle (played by Emma Watson).
In the original animated movie, very little detail about Belle’s past was revealed. We knew she was extremely smart, a little stubborn, loved getting lost in a book and the daughter of an inventor. However, in the live action version, most of what we love about the character will be the same, except Belle does a little role swapping with her father. Ms. Watson has revealed to EW that her version of Belle will be the inventor in the family, not her father. Her father will instead make music boxes, which he uses to show Belle all the places he has visited over the years.
In the interview, Emma told EW that one of things Belle invents is a kind of washing machine that will do the laundry while she can sit and read. By adding this element to her backstory, it doesn’t change who she is or change the character’s trajectory it just adds a new interesting layer to her. It gives her an even more powerful background and it makes me love the character even more.
Now onto the fact that her father is no longer an inventor, but a constructor of music boxes. I think this could make for an interesting storyline. Apparently, the Maurice in the live action is extremely protective of Belle, especially after the death of her mother, and uses the music boxes to show Belle all the places he has traveled to. This new role swap plays right into Belle never fitting in and wanting to get out and see the world, which she sings about in the animated movie. During “Belle Reprise”, we hear Belle sing, “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell”, this is the moment where she expresses her desire to see the world and with an overprotective father that need will be more pronounced in the live action movie.
At first I was a little thrown off by this idea. She was not the inventor in the animated classic, her father was. That was the reason why she went looking for him in the first place so if he does not create the invention to show at the fair what will be the reasoning for why she comes upon the castle? But after reading Emma’s interview and the reasoning on why they made her an inventor it made more sense and I came around to the idea.
Also, I have a feeling the music box will either contain music from one of the new songs featured in the movie or the tune from “Beauty and the Beast”. I am leaning more towards a new song because, supposedly, Belle and Maurice have a duet in the movie, but that has not been confirmed.
What do you guys think of the role swap/new backstory?