The Big Picture
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a somewhat underrated Christmas special with good animation and solid new characters.
- The film introduces the villain Forte, voiced by Tim Curry, who is a master manipulator with immense power and a brilliant villain song.
- Forte’s motivation sets him apart from other Disney villains, as he simply wants to keep his new life as a magical organ, adding meaningful context to the original story.
Before The Walt Disney Company became obsessed with remakes of classic animated films that nobody asked for, the company was consistently churning out straight-to-video sequels of classic animated films that nobody asked for. One of them being a somewhat underrated Christmas special titled Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Released in 1997, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas sees Belle (Paige O’Hara), Beast (Robby Benson), and the rest of the castle’s residents spend holiday fun to cheer up their resident grumpy prince.
Even in this dark age of corporate cash grabs for the company, there were some Disney sequels that are better than others, such as The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time. We wouldn’t go as far as to say Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a hidden masterpiece, as it still suffers from a barebones plot that doesn’t progress its iconic characters in meaningful ways. That said, it’s also pretty harmless, featuring good enough animation and some solid new characters. Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas overall isn’t anything to write home about, but it does have one simple addition that makes it criminally underrated.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
An arrogant young prince (Robby Benson) and his castle’s servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong village girl Belle (Paige O’Hara) enters the Beast’s castle after he imprisons her father Maurice (Rex Everhart). With the help of his enchanted servants, including the matronly Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation.
- Release Date
- November 22, 1991
- Director
- Gary Trousdale , Kirk Wise
- Cast
- Paige O’Hara , Robby Benson , Richard White , Jerry Orbach
- Runtime
- 84
What is ‘Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas’ About?
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas takes place in between the events of the original Beauty and the Beast film. The plot essentially unfolds during the events of the “Something There” montage, where Belle and Beast slowly but surely fall in love. In short, the jolly holiday plotline of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas takes place after Belle meets the Beast for the first time, and before they break the spell that binds the castle.
What should be a rare happy occasion for Beast’s Castle is actually a miserable one, as in true Ebenezer Scrooge fashion, Beast hates everything about Christmas. This is mainly because the day that Beast and his servants were cursed also just so happened to be Christmas Eve, so Beast blames the holiday for his current predicament. Now that Belle has formed something of a loose friendship with Beast, she hopes to change his mind about the beloved holiday with the help of familiar faces like Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers), and Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), as well as all new characters like Angelique (Bernadette Peters) and Fife (Paul Reubens). The only thing standing in their way (apart from Beast’s infamous attitude) is a manipulative organ who has Beast wrapped around his finger.
Tim Curry’s Forte Steals the Show in ‘Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas’
Remember when we said Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas has some solid characters? Well, easily the best new character introduced is the film’s main villain, Forte, voiced by legendary voice actor and veteran villain icon Tim Curry. Anyone familiar with the prolific character actor’s work knows that Curry is well-known for bringing the colorful personalities of cocky villains to life (literally with that time he played Rooster in Annie). In addition to his live-action marvels like Pennywise in the It miniseries, Long John Silver in Muppet’s Treasure Island, and The Concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Curry’s animated antagonist work is second to none, with Forte being one of his many standouts.
Unlike the happy-go-lucky comic relief figures like Lumiere and Cogsworth, Forte is the only servant of Beast who could be considered a true villain. Before the infamous curse, Forte was the Prince’s court composer, and a rather lousy one at that. The curmudgeonly musician tried to play some Christmas music on that fateful night, and his poor playing made the Prince so furious that he treated the sorceress who cursed him as poorly as he did. In a way, Forte could be held partially responsible for how Beast and his servants came under the spell.
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Despite his role in the spell, Forte clearly got a better deal than the other servants of the castle. Where most of them became smaller household objects, Forte was turned into a massive anthropomorphic organ. Not only that, Forte can also use some form of music magic to create green constructs to move things around and do his bidding. He’s arguably the most powerful character in the entire Beauty and the Beast franchise next to the Sorceress, as he gets rather close to destroying the entire castle with his magic toward the end of the film.
In addition to being an immensely powerful construct, Forte is also a master manipulator who uses his influence to manipulate the Beast consistently. Though he was a meager composer in his old life, Forte’s new abilities allow him to have a hold over the Beast, convincing him that he’s a dear friend and not someone with selfish motivations. He gets dangerously close to getting his master to forsake Belle altogether, potentially trapping Beast and his peers in their magical forms forever.
We should also mention that Tim Curry also gets to flex his well-established musical chops with Forte in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. His villain’s song “Don’t Fall in Love” is a delight to listen to, being good enough to stand against the villain’s power ballads from the theatrical Disney films. That said, much like Curry’s cult-favorite performance as Hexus in Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, his villain song has some…let’s just call it, “questionable” lyrics. Case in point: one of the lyrics from Forte’s song is “When you’re turned on, just turn off.” That is amazing.
Forte’s Motivation Sets Him Apart from Other Disney Villains
Forte already has a lot of great elements, such as a brilliant voice actor, a great villain song, and an engaging backstory. However, what really makes Forte work in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is his motivation for being the evil manipulator that he is. He doesn’t want to take over the world or find some ancient secret; he just wants to keep his new life as a magical organ. That’s a stark contrast to the other servants of the castle, as Forte has embraced his new life and the immense power it brings.
Even though Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas has many flaws and never really justifies its existence, Forte is a significant exception to that. Not only is he deliciously entertaining, but he also adds meaningful and surprising context to the beloved original. Forte’s role in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas makes him more than worthy of being among Disney’s lexicon of iconic villains.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is available to stream on Disney+.
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