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Beauty and the Beast - The Enchanted Christmas (Special Edition)

Beauty and the Beast - The Enchanted Christmas (Special Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Belle and Beast are back
Review: I have no idea why Belle likes Beast. He is so grumpy and rude, and maybe no heart for love. And he gets back into his grumpy ways. The movie reunites Belle, Beast and the other characters in the castle from the 1991 movie. And this time Belle and Best team up with so new charcters.

But the old ones are still around. The new characters include a pipe organ named Forte (Tim Curry), a piccolo named Fife (Paul Reubens) and a christmas tree angel named Angelique (Bernadette Peters). As the movie opens, Lumiere (Jerry Orgen) and Cogsworth (David Odgen Stiers) can't see eye to eye on who saved Christmas. So they talk Mrs Potts (Angela Lansbury) into telling the story. Actually it was her son named Chip (Haley Joel Osment) who talked his mom into the story.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas DVD
Review: Compared to today's Direct To Video Disney, this 1997 "sequel" to Beauty and the Beast seems very high quality. The animation does not match the original, no DTV ever will, but luckily it lacks a lot of that flat feel that plagues many Direct To Video productions today. Perhaps because the colors are darker. The only problem is the lack of detail in the backgrounds at times, it's too simplistic. And the characters sometimes are very flat, with no depth like the original classic.

All the original voices return from the original (except Chip), which gives it good continuity. Tim Curry is excellent as the villain Forte. The songs are strong enough, better than anything I've heard in most of the other DTV's from Disney.

Now, to the big problem. Despite the entire movie taking place in two days, it's very hard to swallow that this entire new story took place within the first film. There was not enough time in the first film for this "lost chapter" to have taken place. Continuity errors arise when the Beast imprisons Belle for trying to escape (she was going to cut down a Christmas tree) after giving her word that she wouldn't leave. Problem is that Belle already fled once before in the original, when the Beast rescued her from wolves. And after that incident, the Beast and Belle began to get closer almost immediatley.

Even worse, it turns out (unless Belle and Beast wore the same outfits twice) that the ball room sequence in the original occurred during their Christmas celebration. C'mon, it was obvious that it was not Christmas during the original. It was winter yeah, but Christmas was the last thing on anybodies mind during the incidents that occurred in the original. Oh, and also the Beast hates Christmas becuase it turns out that he was turned into a Beast on the holiday. (Guess the narrator forgot to mention that in the original, didn't he?)

As far as trying to make this story fit within the original, I think a below average job was done. So why four stars? Because even though this does not hold a candle to the original, it is still a very good holiday movie, on it's own, for children. This is much better then those annual Mickey Mouse and Winnie The Pooh Christmas movies that Disney puts out, and I can gaurantee that parents will have an easier time sitting through this movie than those.

It is also vastly superior in terms of quality when compared to recent Disney sequels, just compare this to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" and you'll see what I mean. Just don't expect a Best Picture Oscar-calibre film like the original was.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent direct-to-video Christmas movie!
Review: This story is a lost chapter from the original " Beauty and The Beast' telling after the events of how the Beast saved Belle from the wolves, Belle plans on having Christmas in the castle but the master forbids it because Christmas was part of his dark past and needs a evil Pipe Organ named " Forte" ( voiced by Tim Curry) to cope with him, but Forte must also stop Christmas from coming. However, Belle with Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Angelique ( A new character) and more must bring cheer to the Beast.
Entertaining and original direct-to-video movie with quality animation, some cool CGI animation and great voice acting. It's also a meaningful animated Christmas flick that shows about the meaning of Christmas.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not as Enchanting as the Original, But Fun Just the Same
Review: Belle has just been saved from the wolves by the Beast. As a way to show her appreciation, Belle decides that the castle will celebrate Christmas, even though the Beast has forbidden it. Surely it will bring hope and joy back to everyone in the castle, right?

But Forte, the former court composer, is against the idea. The current pipe organ has become used to being the Beast's confidant and advisor and is threatened by the idea of Beast falling in love and the spell being broken. Enlisting the aid of Fife, he tries everything he can think of to ruin Christmas and drive Belle and the Beast further apart.

Overall, I'm not too impressed with most of the Disney straight to video sequels. But this one is entertaining. The storyline is engaging, even if the ending is obvious from the start. The idea of setting the "sequel" in the middle of the original movie is wonderful, and helps develop all the characters. Yet the wrap around part shows us the human characters again and how things have changed. All the original voices are back, except for Bradley Pierce as Chip, who is replaced by Haley Joel Osment. In an effort to appeal to kids, the main target for this movie, Chip has a larger role in this one, but it really helps advance the story as well.

As with most Disney animated sequels there are two major flaws. The animation isn't as good as the original, although it certainly works to tell the story. Also, with the exception of "As Long As There's Christmas," the songs are immediately forgettable and actually take away from the enjoyment of the movie. Also, clocking in at just over an hour, it's pretty short.

The picture and sound on this DVD are fantastic. For a special edition, this DVD is short on extras, but the number they have are fitting the movie. There is an interesting making of documentary, but the rest of the features are for kids to enjoy.

If you go into this movie not expecting the brilliance of the original, you'll be entertained. And it will get you in the holiday spirit. What more can you really ask for?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lovely.
Review: I found the movie quite entertaining. I haven't seen the original movie for quite a long time now, so I can't be biased or weigh them side by side. In its own accord it was my sort of movie. The dark scenery sort of "gave the mood" if you like. The beginning scene after the enchantment had been gone for a year tend to be bright in comparison of the scenes during the time of the enchantment. That alone shows differences in the beast's/prince's and perhaps even Angelique's moods about christmas. The songs Stories and As long as there's Christmas were very nice. I'd have to say I enjoyed Stories the most. It was beautiful and the lyrics were wonderful. The singing isn't perfect, but at the same time it give more emotion, it seems more raw and perhaps sincere. Since it has been many years before the first movie, I would assume the voices aren't quite the same. Nevertheless, they did well enough. The new characters were interesting. I enjoyed the "bad guys" the most. People would deem it scary for children, but then again I have seen scenes in other movies just as dark and scary back when I was little. I believe it depends on the child and the upbringing, and how the parents feel. The plot had its lacking points, like how the Beast suddenly decided to lock Belle up after saving her. Strange, strange man if you ask me. The Beast's portrayal seemed a bit out of character from what I recall. Belle was just as kind and patient as ever. Lumiere was still a shameless romancer and Cogsworth was still never listened to. Chip was adorable as ever though. The way the scenes were done weren't as elegant. It was more like how you'd watch a bugs bunny cartoon... far away instead of up close or at different angles. Thus, it didn't have a more enchanting impact as the original. I wouldn't compare it or try to fit it in with the original. I'd leave it as a stand alone. In that case it is a nice movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Scary movie
Review: My daughter, who is 4, was actually scared of the pipe organ. We stopped watching it in the middle because it was too scary for her. I do not recommend this movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not much fun for a Christmas video
Review: Somehow I think Disney gets away pretty easily with G ratings for some of it's cartoons. If you are into dark, disturbing, and sometimes violent Christmas stories then you might like this movie, but I didn't appreciate songs that included lyrics about sending characters to "Hell", and a scary pipe organ who decided that "they won't be able to enjoy Christmas if they are DEAD!!!".

The themes are definitely PG material. It's not even a fun movie. You leave it remembering the dark and disturbing parts and not the happy parts.

If you think this will be a magical, happy Christmas movie to add to your collection think again. If you want to watch cartoon characters fighting for their lives with your little kids, then you might want to buy this movie, otherwise stay away.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I really enjoyed this movie! HOWEVER!!!!! GGGGRRRRR DISNEY!
Review: I feel this movie was put together very well for a Christmas Special! I am also glad they released a soundtrack as well because it really has great music on it!

MY PROBLEM WITH THE DVD IS THAT THEY FORGOT TO ADD THE ORIGINAL MOVIE VERSION OF "AS LONG AS THERES CHRISTMAS" ON IT! That made me really upset! I like Play's music video to the song don't get me wrong but I would really enjoyed this DVD if they had BOTH MUSIC VIDEOS ON THE SPECIAL EDITION DVD!!!! I had to get the Read Along DVD of Beauty and the Beast to get the video! That to me did not make any sense at all!

They put both videos of the original song from Beauty and the Beast on the Special Edition DVD! Why not get the same treatment? SORRY! THAT JUST ERKS ME! :)

Another thing, this DVD is full screen! Why not have a wide screen version of the DVD? I would have loved to see the other parts of the movie that was CHOPPED OUT IN THE STUPID FULL SCREEN VERSION! ERRRR DISNEY ERRR!

OTHER THAN THAT: get the DVD! :)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Badly done, Disney!
Review: There is a reason this didn't come out to theatres - it actually isn't worth watching on tv!

Supposedly this christmas adventure occurs during Belle's stay in the Beast's castle in the full-length film Beauty and the Beast. The characters in this straight to video release, however, were not the same in voice or attitude as in the other movie. As well, there are additional characters that appear and are never seen in the original movie. Even my little ones had a problem with the inconsistencies!

Overall, it just doesn't make much of a package. The character voices are poorly done, the animation is unimpressive and the music is uninteresting.

This is the only Disney release my family hasn't enjoyed and I would suggest you avoid it, too!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enchanted DVD
Review: Ok you can argue all you like about Disney straight to video sequels frankly not being very good and being a detriment to the Disney legacy- and you are totally right! However, "Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas", along with "Winnie The Pooh's Grandest Adventure" is one of those straight to video sequels where Disney did put some effort in. Granted, certain continuity as with Belle's dress is partly stretched, but this sequel isn't at all bad. The animation is inferior to "Beauty & The Beast" but is superior to other Disney video sequels. It also has great music and is full of Christmas spirit.

However, as with my review of "Beauty & The Beast", I'm gonna focus on the special features and the DVD itself. First of all, the film is digitally remastered and looks fantastic. As for the special features, "Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" has "Forte's Challenge" game; an Enchanted environment fireplace; Sing-along song tracks; and a music video by Play. There is also an exciting behind the scenes documentary which I was very impressed by. With this documentary, whenever a bright circle appears on screen, if you press play, the documentary will go into greater depth before returning to where it left off. The documentary is also designed with Children in mind and thus is a lot of fun as well as being informative. This was a very pleasant surprise and definitely added bonus ponits to a very pleasant DVD.

"Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" the film gets 3 stars.

"Beauty & The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" the DVD gets 5 stars!


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