She has a kinder screen presence than the cartoon Belle. The original cartoon Belle is rather judgemental and prickly.

I like the Once Upon A Time version, but I feel like she lets Rumple walk over her WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH! I do love the cartoon version, though she's not someone I'm crazy about.

^Rumple walks over EVERYONE, and uses EVERYONE. That was his character trait in OUAT. I prefer Belle in the 2014 French version of La Belle et la Bete over cartoon Belle any day. That Belle ( closer to the original story) is kind without being completely judgemental. The Belle in Disney's BATB resembles her sisters' traits in the original story.

Both Belles' annoy me tbh, but OUAT's a little more. It's partly because she barely has any development of her own outside of being a crutch for Rumple and someone the heroes occasionally go to when they need book smarts or one of Rumple's plot solving devices, and partly because she's a bit too self-righteous for my taste.

^Yeah. Belle was never my favorite princess because they never strike the right tone for her. But that French flick did. Too bad more people haven't heard of it or watched it. The plot ( and its twist) is good, and the CGI is spectacular, and Lea Seydoux totally nails Belle's caring personalty without making the character self-righteous.