I present to you the latest in my Disney custom action figure collection, Belle from Beauty and the Beast. With my own spin on her golden ballgown and her story.

In a meadow valley beside a meandering river, the small provincial town of Beau Vale got on quietly with life. It was quaint, idyllic and peaceful which was why Maurice chose to move there with his daughter Belle. Belle however was unhappy in such a small and quiet town and always felt like an outsider. As a child she grew up in the bustling Kingdom City of Maritime on the coast. Her father was once a wealthy merchant by trade and sailed to distant lands. Belle and her mother Colette would wave him off from the docks and then go and play on the beach, rock pooling or chat to the sailors who would tell her stories of mermaids and sea monsters, and at night, before bed, her mother would tell more stories from the far off places her Papa was visiting, reading from her large books of stories from other lands. When Maurice returned there was always such joy and he always brought gifts, warm fur winter coats from Arendelle, a ruby ring for Colette from Agrabah, a paper lantern from Corona for Belle, but the best gift was always his safe return. When Belle’s mother died in a sudden and tragic accident, Maurice sold their grand seafront home, moved inland and into a large rambling cottage where he focused his attentions on inventing strange contraptions and became something of an eccentric.

Belle grew into a beautiful young woman and the townsfolk admired Belle for her beauty. In fact she was relentlessly pursued by the town’s local hero and bully, Gaston, a handsome but arrogant and chauvinistic man. But Belle spurned his attempts at wooing her, she didn’t want to be his little wife staying at home and darning his socks. Belle longed for an adventure of her own in the great wide somewhere, but that wasn’t an attitude shared with many in the town and this among other things meant she just didn’t fit in with the local way of living. She read too much, she spoke too much, she thought too much and she dreamt too much and her father was worse with his crazy ideas. Then there were the funny noises and bangs coming from their cottage disturbing their peace. They were never rude to Maurice or Belle but kept their distance and gossiped behind closed doors. So Belle and her father lived a quiet and detached life.

One autumn day Maurice loaded his cart with his latest and greatest contraption and told Belle he was headed for a fair in the hope of patenting and selling his invention and would be away for a few days and he asked if there was anything she would like brought for her upon his return. Belle kissed her Papa on the check and told him he need not bring her anything but a single red rose. Wishing him luck she watched as the little horse and cart vanished into the Black Forest which grew on the outskirts of the town.

It was two days later that Maurice’s horse arrived back at the cottage without him, whinnying and in a panic. Worried for her Papa’s safety Belle threw on a cloak, shoved some provisions in a satchel and leapt on the horse hoping it would lead her to her missing father. The horse knew what to do and set off at a gallop into the woods, it soon left the worn travelled track and into the undergrowth leaping over fallen logs and across ditches and streams, Belle clung onto the reins and kept her body low to avoid low hanging branches. Deeper and deeper the horse went in the forest until the landscape began getting rocky and mountainous. It was getting dark as the horse rounded a large cluster of boulders and it was then that Belle laid eyes on an enormous castle. It was on the edge of a deep ravine and in a state of ruin, with crumbling walls and tiles missing from the turrets. Eerie gargoyles loomed from the ramparts and tattered flags fluttered in the wind. The castles gates were open and the drawbridge was down. Belle tied the horse to the branch of a tree and bravely walked up to the castle doors. She pushed, and with a loud creak the heavy door slowly opened.
“Hello? Papa are you there?” she called out, her voice echoed in the vast entrance hall. She walked in further, the castle was clearly once very grand and beautiful, but like the outside it had fallen into a state of neglect.
A huge shadowy shape moved in the darkness on the first floor gallery, Belle froze as a ferocious voice growled “What are you doing here?!”
Gathering her courage Belle replied “I have come for my Father, Maurice…have you seen him?”
“Ah, the trespasser, I have him in my dungeons"
“There must be some misunderstanding, he got lost in the forest, please let me see him” Belle pleaded approaching the stairs that lead up to the gallery. The shadowy figure shifted back further into the darkness, “No, he tried to steal from Me.” the voice snarled.
“He would never steal. Please, he is an old man just let him go, he means no harm. Please I will do anything” Belle set foot on the bottom step
“Stop! No, he is my prisoner. There is nothing you can do. Leave, now!” The shadow turned to go
“There must be some way I can…wait! Take me instead!” Belle said desperately
“You, you would take his place?” The shadow stopped and looked back, sounding surprised
“If I did, would you let him go?”
“Yes, but you must promise to stay here, forever.” The shadow eyes were briefly illuminated by a moon beam shining through a ragged curtain, before it stepped back into the darkness. They were a piercing blue. Curious, Belle wanted to see her Fathers captor. “Step into the light” she said. The shadow gave a deep sigh and slowly stepped out into the pool of moonlight on the stairs. Belle gasped, towering above her, standing in the moonlight was a large, ferocious looking, furry, horned BEAST!

Recipe:
Head and Body: Lilah, Jonah Hex
Hair: Plaster of Paris, The Spirit.
Dress. 4 X Lilah Skirts, glued together over sculpted petticoats with apoxie sculpt.
Rose: Flower of Lilah dress attached to tooth pick, with greenstuff leaf, painted.