Disney Animator's Collection (DAC) Belle Doll Review

One of the dolls I've been wanting to review for a while is Belle from the Disney Animator's Collection line at the Disney Store.  Another of my purchases from my recent trip, this doll is a total cutie and a great addition to my Beauty and the Beast collection.

Here she is in her box (I took her boxed pics in the hotel so I could open her on my trip!). ;)

Side view

Back of the box.

The boxes are so detailed and interesting!  I took a few extra pics so you could enjoy the box too. :)

Another side view.

The front label.

Here she is, free from her box. :)

Some of you may be surprised at how long it took me to purchase and review one of these dolls.  They were released around a year ago, so I'm a little late joining the bandwagon.  

Well, to be honest, like some of my other dolls, I didn't really care for this line at first.  I mean they were cute, but not really something I was interested in.  I didn't care for the stock photos, and some of the dolls I didn't like at all. (I'm still not a fan of DAC Aurora or Mulan, just because of the way they did their faces.  I don't think they look like themselves.)  But slowly, they started appealing to me, especially Belle.  This was largely due to the adorable photos taken by Holly of Holly's Dollys.  She has all of the DAC dolls and uploaded tons of adorable pics on Disney Doll Lovers.  So thanks, Holly, for making me realize just how cute these dolls really are! ;)

Speaking of which... ;)

Side view of Belle.

Back view.

And the other side.

A closer look at her cute blue village dress.

Her hair bow.

Lacy socks and black Mary Janes.

She comes with this adorable stuffed Chip.

Belle's head can move up and down and tilt from side to side, so this allows for a lot of expression in her photography:

Her body is all vinyl, and she is 16" tall.

Her arms move out as well as up and down.

She even has cute little dimples in her elbows, just like a toddler would.

When I undressed her, I did notice a bit of faint blue staining around her chest from her dress.  It was so light I couldn't capture it on camera.  I just wanted to mention it in case any of you get one of these for yourself.  I'll probably change her clothes from time to time to avoid worse stains.

Speaking of changing her clothes, one of my readers commented that she wished there were more outfits for the DAC dolls.  As it so happens, the fairly new clothing line released by Jakks Pacific for their Disney Princess toddler dolls also fits the DAC dolls.

I picked this outfit up at Target.  The pajamas were cute enough, but I LOVED the adorable little stuffed Beast that came with them. :) 

I love the way they package these.  When you remove the clothing, you have a cute little Princess "paper" doll to play with (although it's actually made of thin cardboard).

Here is Belle in her new jammies. :)

A closer look at the shirt...

...and pants.

The slippers are made of plastic and stay on really well, even though you can tell that the Jakks Pacific doll feet are a little differently shaped than the DAC dolls.

Here's a view of the back.  

And here's a closer look at the adorable little Beast. :)

There are outfits for almost all of the princesses (although I haven't seen any for Rapunzel yet), and there are dresses as well as pajamas. :)  They retail for around $10 each, if I remember correctly.

If you're looking for other clothing options, keep an eye out on eBay and at thrift stores for the older toddler dolls released from the Disney Store.  My girls and I have two different Belle dresses from these dolls.  I think the doll it came from was called "Little Belle".

This dress has a lot of sparkle!

And here's another version.  I actually prefer this dress because it has more yellow in it.

Less sparkle, but still a lot of detail. :)

The back is just a bit snug, but it works. :)

I thought I'd include some side-by-side pics of my new (to me) Disney Princess and Me Belle doll to see how compatible the lines are.  (And don't worry, I'll have a review of just this doll coming up soonish.) ;)

As you can see, DAC Belle's head is a lot wider and more stylized than DPandM Belle's head.  DPandM Belle also has glass-look eyes, while DAC Belle's are painted on.

Here's a height comparison.

I love how this picture turned out! ;)

I would definitely recommend this doll.  She's pretty affordable for a collectible, especially right now as all DAC dolls are on sale for $20 (and don't forget the free shipping with the purchase of any Disney Parks product that's currently being offered!).  These dolls have sweet, expressive faces and are super fun to pose and photograph. :)

Hope you enjoyed the review!  More to come. :)

UPDATE:  After a reader's question, I realized I didn't do a comparison shot of Belle next to an American Girl doll, which some of you might find helpful or interesting.  So, without further ado, here is a piccy of Belle next to Jenna (fka Rebecca Rubin):

Personally, I probably wouldn't use these as siblings just because they're so different.  Belle is a very stylized doll with an overly-large head, while Jenna's proportions are closer to accurate, and she has a more realistic quality to her.  I tend to be pretty picky about such things, though, so feel free to have a different opinion. ;)  

Hope these pics are helpful! :)