Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
November. 11,1997 GAstonished to find the Beast has a deep-seeded hatred for the Christmas season, Belle endeavors to change his mind on the matter.
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Reviews
To me, this movie is perfection.
Better Late Then Never
Absolutely Fantastic
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
"Beauty and the Beast: The enchanted Christmas" is not the continuation of the well-known throughout the world cartoon, it is like the movie inside the movie, in other words, we are finding out what was going in the castle, while Bell lived in there. How the relations between her and the Beast had been evolving and also we are getting to know with the new inhabitants of the castle. For sure, there is no even comparison with the greatest story of all time, i mean the first part of "Beauty and the Beast", but it is also interesting to figure out what occurrences had happened while Bell was in there. It helps to understand both characters (Bell and The Beast) deeper. In fact, it is a very good story for watching before Christmas. It teaches you never give up, and despite your previous wishes haven't come true, you should keep wishing (also it was Bell's words in answer to Beast's resentment). Now we know why Beast hates Christmas and how he was before being turned into animal. I advice to everyone, (no matter child, teen or adult) watch these two very instructive and inspirational cartoons. Of course, the second part isn't the same masterpiece as the first one, but you can't demand it, because it's just a demonstration of the part of theirs life into the castle, not the whole story, so i would advice not to be critical regarding the second part and just enjoy the one chapter on the way to the greatest ending.
This is one of the many straight to video sequels that Disney produced in order to rake in more money from their films. Thankfully this is one of the better ones and only adds to the magic of the original film. If the film had had more depth and length it could have been a passable cinema release.One of the strengths of this film is that it reunites all of the original voice cast and contains all the warmth of the first film. The new songs are good if slightly overused. It remains a good film that never really gets the recognition it deserves. I am glad that it is now being packaged in a box-set with the original because the two really do compliment each other.
I watch this every year at Christmas, and I never grow tired of it. It is not as good as the wonderful original, but is actually one of the better DTV efforts, along with The King of Thieves. It is nowhere near as bad as some people have said, and one commentator gave it a low score solely on its continuity errors. Of course it has some, then again, so does every single movie in existence, even the original Beauty and the Beast. It is true that some of the animation falls a little flat,(most of it though is crisp, clean and smooth) especially with the dark backgrounds, but I liked the fact that it is darker than the original, and not at all mean spirited. Mostly the animation isn't bad at all, but I do think the computer animation stuck out like a sore thumb. The songs are well above average, and the score by Rachel Portman is beautiful. My favourite song is As long As There's Christmas, and Stories is charming. The other songs aren't as memorable, but bring a great character to the original storyline, about Belle (who was slightly changed) trying to bring Christmas to the Beast, and overcoming the many obstacles including the pipe organ Forte. The voice overs were generally very good indeed. Fife is a tad annoying, but totally bearable. Lumiere and Cogsworth are funny here, and I really admire the late Jerry Orbach. Haley Joel Osment was cute as Chip, and Angela Lansbury makes a welcome return as Mrs Potts, as well as Belle and the Beast. The real treat is in the newcomers though. Bernadette Peters is wonderful as the reluctant Angelique, and Tim Curry does an exceptional Annie-nominated voice over as Forte, song included. A perfect Christmas treat for Disney fans. 7/10 Bethany Cox
For a direct-to-video special, this movie isn't really all that bad. The animation was crisp and clean enough that I wondered if the theatrical animation department worked on this. The CG animation of the villain, Forte, was pretty impressive, even though it kind of stood out like a sore thumb compared to the traditional animated surroundings.All the voicework is back from the original movie, most notably Jerry Orbach as Lumiere and David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth. New characters were well voiced by Tim Curry, Paul Reubens, and Bernadette Peters. One thing that is definitely lacking in this movie is the quality of the songs. Most of them are kind of corny, sappy, and disposable. Compare that with the original where all the songs were magnificent and memorable, and you'll realize that Howard Ashman was definitely missed.As for the storyline, this movie provided a nice Christmas story. Recalling back when they were cursed, the characters detailed their struggle to bring Christmas back to the castle. I thought Forte was a very conniving and formidable villain. He added the conflict that made the story more interesting. It's not groundbreaking material, but it's sweet and nice enough around the holidays.So, overall, this isn't Academy Award material like its predecessor, nor was it ever intended to be. It's a good Christmas story with your favorite B&B characters.My IMDb Rating: 8/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B+ (Memorable)