Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

Beauty and the Beast:
The Enchanted Christmas

North American VHS cover
Directed by Andy Knight
Produced by Lori Forte
John C. Donkin
Written by Flip Kobler
Cindy Marcus
Bill Motz
Bob Roth
Starring Paige O'Hara
Robby Benson
Angela Lansbury
Jerry Orbach
David Ogden Stiers
Bernadette Peters
Tim Curry
Andrew Keenan-Bolger
Paul Reubens
Music by Rachel Portman
Edited by Tony Migalaski
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date
  • November 11, 1997 (1997-11-11)
Running time
 71 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (also known as Beauty and the Beast 2) is a 1997 American direct-to-video animated Christmas musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It takes place within the timeline of the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast.

Plot

A Christmas party is held at the Beast's castle sometime after the spell is broken, attended by almost the entire village. While reminiscing about the previous year's Christmas, Lumiere and Cogsworth get into an argument over who "saved" Christmas, prompting Mrs Potts to tell the story.

Going back a year, not long after the Beast saved Belle from the wolves, Belle anticipates the coming Christmas season, as do the other servants, though they reveal that the Beast is against the season since he was transformed into a Beast on Christmas Eve. To lighten his spirit, Belle teaches the Beast how to ice skate. They are observed from the West Wing by Forte, a pipe organ who was formerly the Prince's court composer and does not want the spell to break, as he is of more use in his enchanted form. He sends his piccolo minion, Fife, to sabotage their newfound friendship, causing Belle and the Beast to crash into the snow. Then, when Belle makes a snow angel, the Beast sees his snow figure as a shadow of a monster. He roars, thrashes the snow and storms off in a fit of rage. As Fife claims that Forte will be proud of him, the Beast stomps back into his castle in fury and depression.

Despite the Beast's misgivings, Belle decides to celebrate Christmas without his consent, though the Beast gradually opens up to the idea with advice from Lumiere. Belle meets Forte in the West Wing and he suggests that she venture into the forest to find a Christmas tree, but he secretly tells the Beast that Belle is abandoning him. Belle and a few more servants find and chop the tree down, but Belle falls through thin ice and almost drowns. The Beast intervenes and saves her in time, though he locks her in the dungeon for breaking her promise not to leave.

As Belle is comforted inside the dungeon by the servants, the Beast has a change of heart when he finds a storybook present Belle left for him. He reads it and frees Belle, giving his consent to celebrate Christmas. Forte attempts to use his powers to bring the castle down and kill everyone. Fife betrays him and aids the Beast and Belle. The Beast reaches the West Wing and after a brief fight, damages Forte's keyboard. Forte smashes to the floor, destroyed. With Forte gone, the castle is repaired and Christmas is celebrated. The castle and servants are decked out in holiday decorations, right before Belle and the Beast do their famous ballroom dance from the first film.

Back in the present, Mrs Potts concludes that it was Belle who saved Christmas. Belle and the Prince enter the court to greet their guests, presenting Chip with a storybook as a present. As Fife, now the new court composer, leads the orchestra, the Prince and Belle share a moment on the balcony, where he gives her a rose as a gift.

Cast and characters

Production

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas was put on a direct-to-video release after Aladdin: The Return of Jafar and other sequels based on theatrical films were having success on the direct-to-video market. The film was the first product of a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television Animation's Toronto Studio, The studio was shut down in 2002 because of studio cutbacks. Animation coordination done by Walt Disney Television Animation's Sydney Studio and Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. located in Xindian District, Taipei, Taiwan and Characters Builders.

In the early stages of production, the film was going to be a sequel to the original film. The film was to feature Avenant, here depicted as Gaston's younger brother, as the villain. Avenant's goal was to avenge Gaston by ruining the lives of Belle and the prince and threatening to kill them, reportedly using sorcery to transform the prince back into a Beast. Although he was cut out of the story and the plot had changed, this trait was given to Forte, the pipe organ, who did not want the Beast to become human again. This plot was inspired by the 1946 film, which inspired the first film and where Avenant was the villain and inspiration for Gaston.

While the original film depicted the Enchantress' transformation of the Beast with stills of stained-glass windows, Enchanted Christmas reenacts this event with an animated sequence while also including the servants' transformations too.

Release

The film was first released on VHS on November 11, 1997. It is the fourth highest grossing direct-to-video animated film, surpassing the $180 million mark. The film is right behind Aladdin and the King of Thieves at $186 million. A bare-bones DVD was released on October 13, 1998. Both editions were quickly taken out of print and the film remained unavailable until Disney released the Special Edition DVD and VHS on November 12, 2002, just after the studio released the original film's Special Edition DVD release. The new DVD featured a remake music video of the song "As Long As There's Christmas" by Play. Also featured was a game titled Forte's Challenge, a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, Disney Song Selection, and Enchanted Environment, where it shows the Beast's Castle during the different seasons. The original film's Special Edition and this one's were taken out of print at the same time in January 2003. The Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray were re-released on November 22, 2011, following the release of the 'Diamond Edition' of the first film in the United Kingdom in Region 2 PAL format in November 2010. It was released in Region 4 Australia on November 3 with the same features on the original Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas DVD. The Blu-ray re-release was put into the Disney Vault along with other two films.

The film was re-released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on a Blu-ray combo pack on October 25, 2016.

Reception

The film received an approval rating of 0% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 reviews.[1]

Awards

The film won two of its eight nominations.

Award Result
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films: Best Home Video Release Nominated
Annie Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production for director Andrew Knight Nominated
Annie Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production for "As Long As There's Christmas" by Rachel Portman and Don Black Nominated
Annie Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production for Tim Curry Nominated
Annie Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production for Jerry Orbach Nominated
Annie Award: Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production for the Writers Nominated
WAC Award: Best Direct to Video Production Won
WAC Award: Best Director of Home Video for Andrew Knight Won

Soundtrack

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released September 9, 1997
Genre Soundtrack/Christmas
Length 46:44
Label Walt Disney Records
Producer Bambi Moe
Jay Landers
Harold J. Kleiner

The original score and songs were composed by Rachel Portman with lyrics written by Don Black. The film's songs were recorded "live" with an orchestra and the cast in a room, similar to the first film. "Stories", sung by Paige O'Hara, is about what Belle will give the Beast for a Christmas: a story book, and is heavily based on the motif in the finale of Jean Sibelius' symphony no. 5. "As Long As There's Christmas", the theme of the film, is about finding hope during Christmas Time. The song was sung by the cast of the film with a back-up chorus and is sung when Belle and the enchanted objects redecorate the castle for Christmas.

"Don't Fall In Love", sung by Tim Curry, displays Forte's plan on keeping the Beast away from Belle to stop the spell from breaking. "A Cut Above The Rest", also sung by the cast, is about how teamwork and friends are very important in life. "Deck The Halls" is performed during the opening title by Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Bernadette Peters, and the Chorus. A soundtrack was released on September 9, 1997. The album serves as the film's soundtrack and also as a Christmas album of traditional carols sung by Paige O'Hara.

  1. Deck The Halls (Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Chorus)
  2. Stories (Paige O'Hara)
  3. As Long As There's Christmas (Paige O'Hara, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Chorus)
  4. Don't Fall In Love (Tim Curry)
  5. As Long As There's Christmas (Reprise) (Paige O'Hara, Bernadette Peters)
  6. A Cut Above The Rest (David Ogden Stiers, Jerry Orbach, Paige O'Hara)
  7. As Long As There's Christmas (End Title) (Peabo Bryson, Roberta Flack)

Tracks 8 to 15 feature Paige O'Hara singing familiar Christmas carols:

  1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  2. Do You Hear What I Hear (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  3. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel/Joy To The World (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  4. O Christmas Tree (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  5. The First Noel (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  6. What Child Is This (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  7. The Twelve Days Of Christmas (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  8. Silent Night (Paige O'Hara)[2]
  9. Belle's Magical Gift (Rachel Portman)
  10. Fife's Yuletide Theme (Rachel Portman)
  11. The Enchanted Christmas Finale (Rachel Portman)

References

  1. ↑ "Beauty and the Beast - The Enchanted Christmas". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Recorded specifically for album; not used in the film.
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