Belle of the ball gowns

Belle is a perfect name for a 13-year-old who is turning Disney dress-up into a profitable hobby. 

That hobby is cosplay, a term that refers to people dressing up as animated characters.

Belle Babcock's passion for cosplay began about a year and a half ago, after seeing some famous cosplayers online.

“I thought it was cool,” she said. She started following the Internet celebrities on Instagram.

For her first costume, Belle attempted to re-create the look of Anna from "Frozen."  Trying to make the outfits herself, however, took away from the authenticity of the character. Belle now purchases her costumes online and has them custom-fitted, although she still creates some pieces of the outfit by hand.

For example, she created Anna's boots by gluing gold cords onto boots to achieve the look of ornamentation, and she transformed a pair

of plain heels into Elsa's shoes using simple craft store materials to make them worthy of an ice princess.

“It takes creative thinking sometimes,” Kristina Babcock, her mother, said.

Belle doesn’t only dress up for fun. For about a year, she’s been doing programs for birthday parties and community events. The paid work at parties helps her invest more into her hobby.

Now, in addition to Anna, Belle plays Elsa, Ariel, Cinderella and Rapunzel. She’s developing costumes to play Merida from Brave, Tinkerbell and even her Disney name twin, Belle.

For each character, she isn’t just putting on a dress. She sings the songs and imitates the personalities of the characters, too. For Merida, the Scottish princess in "Brave," she’s working on an accent.

“For Anna, she is spritely and quirky—I try to be more like that,” she said. “It’s changing my attitude when I put the dress on.” 

Kristina Babcock said Belle is serious about playing the character as authentically as possible. She has a whole set that she’s developed—she does sing-alongs and games, and of course, photos with the children. While in costume, she’ll only answer to the name of the character.

“I don’t want to ruin the magic,” Belle said. “Some of them really think I’m the character, so I want to do my best.”

Sometimes, though, she does just dress up for fun. A few months ago, Belle wore her Anna costume while visiting Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. There was another woman dressed as a mermaid who was paid to be there and take photos with kids. However, once Anna arrived, all the kids wanted to take photos with her, instead.

“I felt bad—she was paid to be there and all the kids were asking for me,” Belle said, giggling.

Belle also enjoys costuming up for community events and donating her time—she dressed up as Anna for the 2015 Sarasota-Bradenton Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation One Walk.

Although Belle's not sure what she wants to be when she grows up, she said she wants to continue her passion for theater, acting and cosplay— talents that are in her blood. She grew up near New York City, often hanging out backstage at her mom’s theater company.

Belle, who's enrolled in the VPA program at Booker Middle School in Sarasota, has already made appearances in some short films, and was third in the running to play Annie on Broadway. She hopes to get into the Disney college program and be a character at Disney World in Orlando. 

“I’d be any of them, as long as it’s a princess, but I might be too tall to be Anna,” Belle said.