Belle The Doll has a particular viewer in mind for her animated visual album The Circus: the child she used to be. She describes her nine-year-old self as someone who “knew she was different but didn’t have a word for it”.
The UK independent artist, previously known as TheyCallMeDJ, is producing the 2D film and co-writing its story with Layla. Production began on 25th October 2025. Still in early development, it explores queer love, trans identity and grief.
Belle is moving from lo-fi towards rock in her music. Her story follows a fictional Belle who turns towards a circus after losing her wife, Doll.
Memories reveal their relationship, childhood trauma and the life they shared onstage. The fantasy setting also includes ‘The Beyond’, a space between worlds, and a forest which calls to Belle.
Belle cites Mothica’s Kissing Death visual album and Jane Schoenbrun’s film ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ as inspirations. Seeing herself in the film helped Belle clarify the story she wanted to tell.
Content note: Belle flags suicide, self-harm, abuse, death and cartoon violence in the project’s material.
A tribute to Rose
The story carries a tribute to Rose, a friend of Belle and Layla who inspired the character of Doll. Belle says recordings from an earlier collaboration provide Doll’s voice, with Rose’s prior permission.
Some of the story grew from ‘Me And My Ballerina’, an unfinished musical Belle began developing years earlier. It followed two queer people who dreamed of dancing in the West End. Within The Circus, Belle and Doll tour with the musical during their life together.
Belle’s experience as a trans and disabled artist also informs her plans for representation. “A lot of the time disabled people in media are written so they have to be this inspiring person to validate their disability,” she says.
She hopes to hire queer and trans creatives, including voice actors and assistant animators. Belle is funding production through her own music project, with community support helping it develop.
On working independently, she says: “there’s no pressure to adhere to certain standards to secure funding”.
Belle currently hopes parts of the project will begin arriving in 2028 or 2029. The schedule depends on the preceding story, The Dollshouse, which she is also developing as an alt-rock album project.
Her plan is to show the completed visual album to Patreon’s Film Ticket tier first, followed a few weeks later by public access on YouTube and Patreon’s free tier. A separate soundtrack album is intended to collect music from the film, trailers and promotional material outside the main album.
Find Belle’s official links and project updates, or follow her behind-the-scenes artwork on Instagram.
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