Belle's look helps bring her into the 21st century.
Emma Watson told Entertainment Weekly that one of the changes to Belle's ensemble would be switching out her flats to more durable, practical footwear.
While Belle's footsteps echoing inside the castle and down the stone steps to the basement are one of my favorite sounds in the film, the shoes just never made sense for horseback riding.
This won't be a straight-forward adaptation of the animated tale we know — and that's great.
So far, Disney's live-action adaptations of "Maleficent" and "The Jungle Book" have thrived in theaters. Both have deviated from following their animated predecessors by adding more context to the original stories to explore other characters and add more depth to the overall narrative.
"Beauty and the Beast" will definitely be making some changes and additions from the animated tale as well. One of them appears to be how Belle's father Maurice winds up with the Beast.
In the animated movie, Maurice lost his way while heading to an inventor's fair and wound up at the Beast's castle. It was always a little tough to believe that Belle's inventor father would head down a dark path instead of a brighter, sunnier road. Here, it looks like Belle's father just plucked a flower from the wrong garden — something more in line with the original tale — and wound up in the Beast's unfortunate care.
The Beast's castle looks much more welcoming and inviting than the dark, dreary one in the animated film (though slightly smaller).
It always bothered me that the castle instantaneously transformed from being a completely dark and bleak castle to a seemingly grand palace full of cheer. It wasn’t as if it was full of completely dreary characters.
And yes, I know a spell was cast upon Prince Adam and his servants, but did all of them always need to live in darkness?
Here's our first little peek at Cogsworth and Lumiere, who will undoubtedly start gossiping about "the girl in the castle."
I may still be undecided about Lumiere, but how can you resist a flustered clock voiced by Ian McKellen?
Okay, the Beast is actually looking pretty good.
He's growing on me. In the trailer, the Beast looks much better than was initially revealed. His features here look somewhat softer.
Luke Evans looks like he'll be a riot as Gaston, the man courting Belle who's out to "kill the beast."
How good does Gaston's bar song scene look?
We're even more excited for it because the live-action version will add in more lyrics that were originally written for the song from Disney Animation's Howard Ashman. Ashman, who was responsible for helping to shape much of "Beauty and the Beast," died from AIDS before the film was fully finished.
Belle won't simply be confined to the outfits from the original animated movie.
Who wants to just see Emma Watson in a plain blue peasant gown for most of the movie?
While, it looks like the red dress is inspired by her snow outfit from the animated movie, it also reminds us of a dress she wore in the series direct-to-video sequel "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas."
While it's tough to compete with the 1991 classic, the live-action film will give the ballroom more depth than a CGI room.
We can't get over this moment of Belle screaming out to the Beast in the film's climactic battle. Is he going up against Gaston?
Yes, he's going up against Gaston!
Gaston actually thinks he has a chance here? Hopefully this fight is great.
I love that it looks like Belle will be more present in the final battle.
In the animated movie, she's mostly watching from afar and doesn't make it to the fight until things are looking pretty grim for the beast. Her presence helps turn the tide and helps lift his spirits to ward off Gaston. Here, it looks like she may play more of a role than just someone who runs to a window and sticks out her hand lovingly for the Beast to grasp.
"Beauty and the Beast" will be in theaters in 2017.