In the original animated Beauty and the Beast film, which came out in 1991, the mere thought of Belle loving literature was enough to turn the entire town against her (though of course, she had the redeeming feature of good looks, according to them). “A beauty, but a funny girl,” they sang, as she walked by them. “She really is a funny girl, that Belle.”

Now, in the new movie, Watson’s Belle will be seen putting all the knowledge she’s gleaned from her love of reading to good use. Rather than conform to the gender-prescribed roles of 1740s France, she will be seen turning her back on the housework – and, even better, designing inventions to help women everywhere escape from their time-consuming chores.

Emma Watson convinced Disney to give Beauty and the Beast a feminist makeover