La bella e la bestia - Un magico Natale

The thing that really hurts this sequel (other than the lackluster work from all the normally superb voice actors, and deflated story) is the fact that this is OBVIOUSLY an afterthought of a sequel. The main villain, as well as some additional characters, were not even mentioned in passing in the 1991 film. There is really no need for this movie at all.

The only exceptional thing about this sequel is Tim Curry's excellent voice-over work, and the CGI imaging of his character, even if it is misplaced alongside the traditional animation. I'd say skip this altogether if you really enjoy the classic 1991 feature, as I do.

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

When I first heard that a sequel to BATB was to come, I was surprised: how is it possible that the Prince is the Beast again? But when I saw the film, I found it quite good - it was nice to see something new happening in the castle. And I liked the "nature of a beast" which the enchanted Prince seemed to have more than in the original story. I must confess that Forte was really frightening! And the best in the whole movie was the coming of the Enchantress and the transformation of the Prince into the Beast. Yes, I really liked the film very much.

When I heard that there was going to be a direct to video sequel of Beauty and the Beast, I was appalled. But I took a chance and rented it. Using the original cast was an inspired idea! The animation is great (much better than most DTV sequels), but the CGI used on Forte (the evil organ) is distracting. The songs aren't wonderful. It's nice to explore the section of the original movie that was skimmed over. Christmas!

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a sequel to Beauty and the Beast obviously, I wasn't too sure if I had wanted to see this because I thought it was just going to be one of those cheesy Christmas special things. But it turns out that this was just a semi-prequel for the story, just going for the stories in between when the time where the beast was still a beast, Belle was still trying to figure out her place in the palace as well as the servants who are still objects in this story. I actually thought it was a nice addition to the story, now I do think that this was unnecessary, because of course we always have to have a villain to these stories and this one somehow in between all the drama of trying to get the beast to turn into a prince, we have an organ that is trying to break the beast's heart away from Belle, yeah, it's silly.

Belle is still a prisoner in the Beast's castle. All the servants are trying to figure out a way for them to fall in love with each other, but with Christmas coming up, they look at this as a great opportunity to bring them together. Belle is excited for Christmas, but the beast isn't happy seeing how it's the one year anniversary of his spell being cast upon him. The organ player though is not in the mood to be mortal again, so he decides to figure a way for the beast to steer clear of falling in love with Belle.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a decent sequel, it's a little silly, but I think it wasn't that bad. It was nice little story to add to the fairy tale, it's for the kids for sure, but it's a nice family film as well. There are some good songs in here as well, also we have Tim Currey who is always an awesome villain. Over all, I'd say to give this movie a chance, it has decent animation, a charming story, and the original voices, how rare is that when it comes to a Disney sequel? But I do recommend Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, it's a nice Disney film, even for the holidays as well.

6/10