Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)

Astonished to find the Beast has a deep-seeded hatred for the Christmas season, Belle endeavors to change his mind on the matter.

Director:

Andrew Knight (as Andy Knight)

Writers:

Flip Kobler, Cindy Marcus

Stars:

Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paige O'Hara	...	Belle (voice)
Robby Benson	...	Beast (voice)
Jerry Orbach	...	Lumiere (voice)
David Ogden Stiers	...	Cogsworth (voice)
Bernadette Peters	...	Angelique (voice)
Tim Curry	...	Forte (voice)
Haley Joel Osment	...	Chip (voice)
Frank Welker	...	Phillippe / Sultan (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Axe / Poke (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Various (voice)
Kath Soucie	...	Enchantress (voice)
Paul Reubens	...	Fife (voice)
Angela Lansbury	...	Mrs. Potts (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Judith Blazer	...	Chorus (singing voice)
Jeff Blumenkrantz	...	Chorus (singing voice)

Storyline

Belle prepares the castle for Christmas against Beast's wishes, trying to bring him happiness for the season. Forte, a pipe organ, fears that Belle's plans may eventually bring about an end to the curse... the curse that brought him more importance in the Master's life. Forte uses Fife, a flute who desperately wants a solo, to destroy Belle's plans and get rid of her.

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Plot Keywords:

told in flashback | anger | bad temper | talking object | temper | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Music | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beauty and the Beast 2

Company Credits

Production Co:

Disney Interactive Studios,Disney Television Animation,Disneytoon Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the beginning of the song "As Long as There's Christmas", the first bit of music and the way the snowflakes swirl through the room is similar to Pocahontas (1995)'s "Colors of the Wind" when the leaves twirl through her hair and the music is the same.

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Goofs

Throughout the film the chip in Chip's cup form switches from left to right.

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Quotes

Angelique: [singing] As long as there's Christmas, I truly believe that hope is the greatest of the gifts we receive.

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Alternate Versions

When the film was re-released on Blu-Ray and DVD in 2011, the following edits for the remastered version brought some small changes from previous releases of the film:

• The film is matted to match widescreen formats, while the original release was held in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
• The colors obviously, are slightly pale.
• When Belle sings "It'll stay up until July..." in the original release, the camera is at a Dutch angle, where as in the later release, it is straight.
• When Forte introduces himself to Belle ("I am Miestro Forte, court composer...") the sound appears to be slightly out of synchronization and there is a slight pause focusing on the steps before the camera pans up to Forte.
• When Forte shouts "I THINK NOT!" there is a keyhole cutaway when the camera zooms out, in the earlier releases, there is none.
• The Christmas angel on the tree at the end of the flashback is replaced by one resembling Angelique.
• The end credits are golden yellow like the end credits of the first movie instead of chalk white like in the earlier releases.

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Connections

Featured in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: the Top 10 Worst Animated Disney Songs (2016)

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Soundtracks

As Long As There's Christmas (Reprise)
Written by Rachel Portman and Don Black
Performed by Paige O'Hara and Bernadette Peters

User Reviews

A complete disappointment

Based on reviews of fans, I had some anticipation that this film would be one of the better Disney sequels. But, I was very disappointed with this sequel.

I must admit that this direct to video sequel had its good points. I really enjoyed the song, "Stories." First of all, it was nice for Belle to have a solo considering that many Disney heroines have solo songs in their movies. One can argue that the "Belle: Reprise" is a solo for Belle. But a reprise, technically, isn't an actual song. I did think "Stories" was the key highlight in this film. Not only that, bringing the back the original cast was a smart idea, considering that most Disney sequels don't have at least one key actor/actress from the original.

However, the movie did have several bad points. I was disappointed about the storyline. People complained about the story being "too dark for Christmas." I must agree with that consensus. I don't think they portrayed the "true meaning of Christmas." I honestly thought they spent too much time on Forte. I have no doubts about that. The songs were okay but not good as the original. I must give an exception for Stories. That was the only song that stood out for me. The animation was obviously "sequel-ish quality". Aside from that, I was stunned with the scene of peril towards the end. The castle nearing collapsing? I thought Disney went too far! No need for an action/adventure twist to this sequel about Christmas.

The bottom line: A 4 out 10 for this disappointing sequel.

A word to the parents: If you plan to buy this for a young child, be cautious and watch the film with them. There are scenes of peril and several dark scenes featuring the malevolent pipe organ. If they get too scared, at least you'll be around to console them. There is some brief language in one of the songs. So, if you're concerned about children hearing bad language, handle the situation with good and reasonable thinking.