The final episode of NBC’s Believe airs Sunday… unless you believe. That series, and its inspirational young heroine, are the object of a rescue mission by another famous heroine: Belle, from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast…
Technically, the one damsel out to rescue another is singer and actress Paige O’Hara, who gave voice to Belle in 1991’s Beauty and the Beast animated classic. She’s such a fan of Believe (9 p.m. ET), and of the central young character of Bo (played by actress Johnny Sequoyah, left), that she even contacted Disney to beg that ABC pick up the show now that NBC has canceled it. That should ring a bell at Disney, when Belle rings them…
“I called Disney’s TV arm, and asked them to please take a look at it,” O’Hara told TV Worth Watching yesterday, laughing at her own boldness. “Because I can – I’m Belle!”
When told that it sounded very Disney that one heroine would go to bat for another, O’Hara admitted, “It is very Disney. But I’ve never done this before – I’ve never gone on a campaign for a TV show before, ever. I just really fell in love with this little girl, and the characters around her.”
Asked why Believe resonated with her so much, O’Hara (shown here, at right, with Shania Twain at left) had an instant response – a better synopsis of the show than NBC had provided in its own press releases.
“Predominantly,” she explained, “it’s the character of the young girl Bo, who’s 11 years old and has telekinetic and clairvoyant powers that are so powerful that she’s got mad scientists trying to take her to use her for evil reasons. She’s also got the government wanting her.
“It’s a battle of good and evil, the show, and she’s the epitome of goodness. What’s so wonderful is that every single episode, she’s running for her life, and she’s being protected, but she uses her powers to save someone. She has these visions of somebody that’s going to die, or needs her or whatever, and so she puts her own life aside to save that person or that family.”
One of Bo’s protectors, played by Jake McLaughlin (“a brilliant actor,” O’Hara says) is William Tate, who learned this season, along with viewers, that he is Bo’s biological father. That revelation is another reason O’Hara is hooked.
“I just want the show to continue,” she admitted. “Every single week, I find myself riveted by it. I’m totally attached to the father-daughter relationship, and the way that those characters have grown together.”
Her fondness for Believe, however, is more than personal. Though it’s been more than 20 years since Beauty and the Beast, new generations of youngsters keep drawing inspiration from the independent female character of Belle, and O’Hara has never stopped witnessing, and even strengthening, that connection.
(A gifted artist, she eventually collaborated with Disney on an ongoing series of paintings inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Her signed works are available at the Renaissance Gallery in Las Vegas, for which she hand-embellishes every piece. An example is seen at right.)
O’Hara sees the value of Believe through young eyes, even if NBC doesn’t.
“Think of it,” she said. “It’s the only show out there that really has a true heroine for young girls. A show that parents can watch with their kids – and I’m talking young kids as well. There’s scary stuff in the show, but there’s never blood and gore – it’s not at all like that.
“It’s definitely a show where children can learn, and have this character Bo as a true role model, a true heroine. It’s not like she’s goody two-shoes perfect: She’s got a little bratty side to her, and she’s very funny. But ultimately, she is selfless, and she will do anything to save people.
“If Disney were handling this program,” O’Hara concluded, “it would be a hit. It’s not being promoted. NBC is not giving it the respect it deserves. If it had the right network and the right promotion behind it, I firmly believe, for little kids, it would be the TV version of Frozen and The Hunger Games.”
Ask not for whom the Belle tolls. This time, it tolls for ABC…