Belle redesign in parks

[Seeker615]

Not a fan of the hair. It looks awful.

I wish they would stop messing with what works.

 

[Sydnerella]

I am not a fan of the idea of "inspired by" or "modern" looks taking over the classics when it comes to the characters.

This looks like, design and styling "inspired by" Beauty and the Beast.
It does not look like the character Belle.

Not being a seamstress, perhaps I overreach my knowledge when I assume that one can indeed update the puffy tubular portions of the gown and still make it the correct yellow color???

And while her new hairstyle might be pretty and more updated/less animated -it does not look like Belle's hair. she IS animated afterall, widows peak and all.

Cinderella's update was much closer to her film appearance than this.

Sydnerella's Mama

Ooh, just noticed the grandmother's curtains lace on the sleeves... eeek!

 

[zhazhazsu]

I was never a fan of the old dress, the color seemed off
and I agree with pp on the " tubing". The new hair doesn't look right to me. It's pretty but not " Belle"

 

[katt789]

I personally really like it. I think the hair looks a little more natural, with still being princess perfect, the bun's no longer on the very top of her head. I do wish they'd kept the curls a little more relaxed though!

In terms of the dress, I like it, it took some getting used to, and looking at a lot of different pictures from different angles to really start liking it. Same with Cindy, I didn't like it at first. However I think the dress looks more "golden" rather than "crayon yellow" and it looks like it flows more. I've always thought Belle's dress was too stiff in the parks, it doesn't move or flow like it does in the movie. I've seen pics of other princesses in overseas parks with just lots of crinoline under their skirts to make them big poofy but also move well, an I wish they'd do that instead of the big hoops, but aside from that, I really like it!

I briefly saw some people asking about other redesigns, and from what I've heard, Aurora, Ariel and Snow are getting make overs in the parks, while the others aren't. I haven't even seen anything with Merida in it on the merchandise, and personally, if they made her sparkaly, that's just not right. I also don't think they need to redo Ariel in the parks, I love that dress

 

[cgattis]

Agree with many PP--she looks like Scarlett, and if I saw the pic out of context, I'd have had no idea it was Belle. I always thought her character was the best of all the walk-around princesses. I thought the old Cindy hair was weird, and really don't like the new much, either.

BUT, I think you're all missing the point here...."Why change what works??" Ahem, $$$$$. How long have they been selling the same dress-up gowns and costumes? Kids grow fast, way before they wear these things out. Too many out there on the secondary market. Need to change something so you need the NEW one instead. Why else is Jack Sparrow wearing a different costume in every movie, and yet wears the same thing for the duration of each movie (spanning weeks or months of time)???

Cynical, maybe. But I truly think there's more than a little reality mixed in there.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Sorry it just doesn't look like Belle. To me the dress, I might *get*. But I would never think that was Belle by the hairdo.

 

[RachaelA]

Wow this is terrible especially the hair.

And I'm sad DD's Belle dress isn't going to match the real Belle. Luckily, DD will be 18 months old and have no idea

 

[princessallegra]

I love the new dress. I think it could have been more yellow and the hair should have stayed the same. However, it is much better than the atrocity that came before.

My thoughts EXACTLY! The original hair, as kooky as it is, is unmistakably Belle. The new dress is way better but the color is off.

 

[VACamm]

The old version looks much more like the movie Belle... IMO

 

[ttintagel]

Personally, I liked it best in the old days at Disneyland when the princesses didn't wear wigs at all, and you only got cast as someone if you had something close to the right hair.

Well, I wasn't there personally, but I love the old pictures. They look more like real people than the girls in big, obviously fake wigs.

 

[mom2rtk]

Interesting that the latest Disney Store Belle costume is in the lighter shade of yellow.

 

[bytheblood]

I like the newer dress because the older one looks like it is made of rolled up material and starch. I do prefer the original hair.

 

[MissStitch626]

Ok, so I'm trying to look at this impartially rather than as the huge Beauty and the Beast fan that I am, but even so I don't get this. IMHO this looks more like someone dressed up as Belle (I mean a regular park guest as opposed to a CM ) The dress looks like an imitation of a Disney princes gown and felt the old one, though a strange colour, was more recognizably Belle. To me this feels a bit like change for the sake of change.

 

[mom2rtk]

To me this feels a bit like change for the sake of change.

I agree with you on that.

And I'm glad I got to experience ETWB before the change. She looked gorgeous in that gown in the library. I'm afraid that new one will look too washed out.


IMG_8573 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[ktlm]

Like others have said, she looks nothing like Belle. I don't like it at all. I would like to see Disney do a test with a 100 say 4 year olds and ask them who she is and I bet alot of them would have no idea, unlike the old look, which I bet most would get.

I would have no idea who she was if you just showed me a picture. I think you are right that a lot of kids won't even recognize her. I think DD(6) would walk into Enchanted Tales with Belle, see her and say "Where's Belle? That's not her". The dress is totally the wrong color and the hairstyle looks wrong too. I can't tell from the front photos, but does she at least have the yellow ribbon in her hair like Belle wears with the dress? I agree with those that say she has gone from Belle from Beauty and the Beast, to unrecognizable random bad Southern Belle. I was also unaware that Belle wore giant hoop earrings--- hmmm maybe she has been in Jasmine's jewelry box?

We liked the updated park version of Cinderella when we saw her in person. The only problem we saw is that her new make-up can look really weird in some photos and sometimes it doesn't seem like the new hair fits well and it looks a little crooked(we have photos from CRT, Akershus, 1900 Park Fare and MVMCP as DD is a huge Cinderella fan).

The "new" Cinderella merchandise with her new look is an entirely different matter. Last week, DD finally realized that the new look is here to stay and she is pretty upset about it . She wanted Cinderella plates and napkins for her birthday party, but was unhappy that none of them for sale look like Cinderella. When we reminded her that was how all the Cinderella merchandise looks now, she got pretty upset and said "Does that mean we can't ever buy anything that actually looks like the real Cinderella from the movie again? I thought that was just a temporary thing that the Disney store was doing this season." Needless to say, we aren't having Cinderella plates and napkins for the party.

 

[mom2rtk]

More Belle photos in this Flickr photostream.

You can get a much better view of her hair there too. I actually am loving the hair, although it would have been nice to keep the hair band she wears in the movie in some form.

This looks to me more like one of the highly stylized gowns they have done over time for parades and such. I just hate to see it replace the more authentic looking regular park Belle.

 

[Lorelei528]

I haven't seen the new Cinderella yet...does anyone have any pics they can post please? Thanks!

 

[Pinkgirly]

I really don't mind the changes with cinderella, but I don't like this dress. DD (3) just said who is that? Belle? I really wish it was yellow like the old dress. I think I am more upset that DD thinks she looks different.

 

[dadddio]

Like others have said, she looks nothing like Belle. I don't like it at all. I would like to see Disney do a test with a 100 say 4 year olds and ask them who she is and I bet alot of them would have no idea, unlike the old look, which I bet most would get.

I can't help you with 4 year olds, but I ran that new Belle pic and the Cinderella pic and group drawing from the other thread passed my 3 year old. She accurately identified everyone.

I suspect that the average child doesn't care about this issue as much as mmany adults in this thread do.

 

[mom2rtk]

I haven't seen the new Cinderella yet...does anyone have any pics they can post please? Thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourdisneydays/8443309151/in/photostream/