Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991, and with it came the first Mattel Beauty and the Beast dolls (Mattel Classic below). This face mold was used until the mid 2000s, when Mattel Style 2 finally replaced it. Shortly before Mattel lost the license in 2016, it came out with Mattel Style 3 (and produced a pretty good amount of Style 3 dolls in a rather small amount of time). In 2023, Mattel got the license again and created Style 4.
The Disney Store 1 dolls are the Disney brand’s first dip into their own line of Disney dolls. Many of these dolls were released primarily in the Disney Parks. Disney Store Style 2 dolls were released in the early 2000’s and featured new head molds and a variety of dress styles, but they were discontinued after a few years, and then Disney Store Style 3, the current line of dolls, replaced them.
Simba had the license to release dolls in Europe, and release dolls they did, throughout the 2000’s and 2010’s. They seem to have lost the license very shortly after Tangled was released. Simba dolls are the ones I know the least about, as they weren’t released in the United States and I have no personal memories of seeing them on shelves or in original packaging. I only know of what I can find record of online, or what European friends locate for me secondhand. Or what I randomly find at flea markets, because flea markets sometimes have really strange things.
“Other Belle Dolls” features the Disney on Ice dolls, which were released by a different license holder, and another (possibly Disney Store exclusive, possibly European exclusive, definitely not widespread) style of Belle doll.
In 2017, Disney released a live action version of the original Beauty and the Beast cartoon movie. Hasbro released dolls to accompany the movie (more realistic/less stylized dolls than their core Disney line). The Disney Store also released a line of dolls for the movie (and attracted a lot of unfortunate attention for how unattractive they made Emma Watson/Belle look in doll form). The live action Belle dolls, since they are based on source material other than the cartoon, are grouped together.
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