Paige O'Haraas BelleThe story
About Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
A direct-to-video animated sequel that sits inside the first film's story. On Christmas Eve the castle's household tries to cheer up the Beast, while a former court composer who has become a pipe organ schemes to stop the celebration and keep the couple apart. The housekeeper tells it as a tale of a Christmas that almost never happened.
The CineClaus verdict
A cheap sequel with a better idea than most expensive ones: what if the grumpy host simply bans Christmas?
A tree hunt, a smashed dining room and a handmade book carry the story, and a scheming pipe organ supplies just enough menace to make the happy ending feel earned. It is thin, a little rushed, and the new songs are no classics.
But it is soft, snowy and short, and the reconciliation lands. Good for a lazy December afternoon with small children, less so for anyone who loved the original for its depth.
The family desk
Can the kids watch?
Our take: fine for most children, though the scheming organ villain and a near-fatal finale may frighten under-fives.
Content advice & accessibility
- Our age guidance
- Editorial, separate from the official U certificate, and never looser than it.
