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Gugu Mbatha-Raw has been cast in Disney’s live-action adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast," in which she'll play Plumette the feather duster - maid of the castle prior to the Enchantress' spell, who is also Lumiere's girlfriend. She is transformed into a feather duster after the curse. There have been some changes to her name throughout the different adaptations of the original work; in the musical, she is called Babette, or simply “The Featherduster"; and in "Belle's Magical World," she is called Fifi. She has also been known by the name "Marie" in spin-offs. Most recently seen in Gina Prince-Bythewood's "Beyond the...

Sequels and spinoffs are all the rage on the big screen these days, but the news that Disney is moving forward with a Frozen 2 still comes as something of a surprise considering the studio has been reticent to pump out theatrically-released follow-ups to its biggest hits - only The Three Caballeros, The Rescuers Down Under, Fantasia 2000 and Winnie the Pooh are part of the Disney Animated Canon.

However, throughout the '90s and '00s Disney had a lucrative side-business in direct-to-video sequels that were turned around quickly and cheaply and made the studio a fast buck. Many execs felt that these cheapened the originals and John Lasseter put the brakes on them, although the recent Tinker Bell films (branching out from Peter Pan) have their roots in this release model.

Digital Spy revisits 13 of Disney's most unnecessary straight-to-video sequels below:

Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (1994)

The very first...

By Todd Garbarini

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Beauty and the Beast was a very successful film for Walt Disney upon its was released on Wednesday, November 13, 1991. The follow-up to the studio’s highly praised The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast proved that a new generation of audiences had a desire for animated film fare. As a result of this success, Disney decided to create another adventure with Belle and the Beast. The result was Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, which originally was intended as a theatrical continuation of the story, but ended up being produced for home video in 1997. The film may appear to be a sequel, but it is not. The action actually takes place within the timeline that occurs in the original film: after the fight with the wolves, but before the fight with Gaston.

Since the Beast was transformed from a Prince on Christmas,...

The Movie Pool visits Belle's Magical World on DVD!

DVD Specs

Release Date: November 22, 2011

Rating: G

Running Time: 92 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Spanish, French Soundtracks

Subtitles: English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, French, and Spanish

Special Features: "Sing a Story with Belle" live-action episode "What's Inside Counts;" "Belle's Delightful Dinner" Game; Disney Song Selection (Sing Along Mode); Enchanted Environment

The Set-up

In a series of animated segments, Belle teaches Beast a number of lessons, and helps her friends, including Mrs. Potts. Features the voices of most of the original cast, including Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson.

The Delivery

When Disney presents something under the Beauty and the Beast banner, it better live up to the classic original. Unfortunately, Belle's Magical World does little to elevate the series; in fact, it drags the whole thing down.

Hampered by sub-standard animation, Belle's Magical World presents...