40 Fun Facts About Beauty and the Beast: the Enchanted Christmas

In The Enchanted Christmas, the Beast's court composer Forte was turned into which instrument?

A pipe organ fixed to a castle wall, Forte sends his small sidekick Fife to do his scheming for him.

Which castle servant tells the villagers the tale that makes up most of The Enchanted Christmas?

Mrs. Potts tells it to end a squabble between two fellow servants over who saved the holiday. She concludes that the credit belongs to Belle.

Why does the Beast at first forbid Belle's holiday plans in The Enchanted Christmas?

He was cursed that day: the spell fell on the castle at Christmas, so for the Beast the holiday is only the anniversary of his transformation.

The Enchanted Christmas follows a 1991 film, the first animated feature nominated for which Oscar?

Best Picture had never had an animated nominee before Beauty and the Beast. It was also the first animated film to win the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy.

Which actress, singer of the 1991 title ballad, returned as the teapot in The Enchanted Christmas?

Angela Lansbury doubted her voice suited that ballad and had to be coaxed into recording it. She came back for the 1997 follow-up but was recast in the next one.

What does Belle teach the Beast to do in the castle courtyard early in The Enchanted Christmas?

To skate is the lesson, and the pair glide happily until Forte's jealous scheming sends them crashing into the snow.

What handmade present does Belle prepare for the Beast with Chip's help in The Enchanted Christmas?

A storybook is her gift, and reading it convinces the Beast that she only wants him to be happy. He apologises and agrees to celebrate after all.

Which British actor, the concierge in Home Alone 2, voices Forte in The Enchanted Christmas?

Tim Curry sings the villain's own number too. Audiences already knew his menace from Pennywise in It and Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror.

On the castle balcony at the end of The Enchanted Christmas, what gift does the Prince give Belle?

A rose is his present, echoing the enchanted flower whose falling petals once counted down his time as a beast.

Fife, Forte's insecure sidekick in The Enchanted Christmas, is which instrument brought to life?

A piccolo is the form of timid Fife, who turns on his master in the end and finishes the film leading the castle orchestra.

Forte tempts Belle to seek a grander tree in which woodland in The Enchanted Christmas?

The Black Forest is Forte's suggestion, made because every tree near the castle looks small and underwhelming to Belle and Chip.

What does Forte promise Fife for helping to part Belle and the Beast in The Enchanted Christmas?

A solo of his own is the bait, and it is a lie: when Fife finally objects, Forte shows him that the pages he was offering are blank.

In the climax of The Enchanted Christmas, Fife reveals that Forte draws his power from what?

His keyboard is the weak point, so the Beast tears it away and smashes it, and the villain is finished.

Where does the Beast lock Belle up after saving her life in The Enchanted Christmas?

The dungeon is her punishment for leaving the castle grounds, and the servants gather there to comfort her until the Beast relents.

What accident nearly kills Belle while she is out fetching a tree in The Enchanted Christmas?

She falls through ice after her startled horse sets off a chain of mishaps, and only the Beast's arrival saves her from drowning.

In The Enchanted Christmas, what does the Beast wreck after Forte says Belle has fled?

The decorations in the dining room are torn down in his rage before he storms out to look for her, and he arrives just in time to pull her from danger.

In The Enchanted Christmas, Forte spies on Belle and the Beast from which part of the castle?

The West Wing is where Forte and his sidekick watch the pair's friendship grow, and where he then begins plotting to end it.

Why does Forte, the villain of The Enchanted Christmas, want the Beast's spell to stay unbroken?

He prefers his new form because the Beast, who ignored his gloomy compositions when he was human, now leans on them for comfort.

Which child actor, the hero's son in Forrest Gump, took over as Chip in The Enchanted Christmas?

Haley Joel Osment replaced the teacup's original voice two years before The Sixth Sense made him a star. Another boy supplies the character's singing.

The flashback in The Enchanted Christmas begins a few weeks after which event from the 1991 film?

The rescue from the wolves comes first, which places the story inside the original film rather than after it. Only the opening and closing party scenes happen later.

Which figure from the 1991 film's prologue speaks in a flashback in The Enchanted Christmas?

The Enchantress is voiced by Kath Soucie in the flashback. In the 1991 film she is seen only in the prologue's stained-glass windows and never speaks.

Which comedian, Lock in The Nightmare Before Christmas, voices Fife in The Enchanted Christmas?

Paul Reubens is best known as Pee-wee Herman, a character he developed with the Los Angeles improv troupe the Groundlings.

Which actor, singer of Be Our Guest in 1991, returned as Lumière for The Enchanted Christmas?

Jerry Orbach was by then famous as Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order, and his return as the candelabra earned him an awards nomination.

Which actor, narrator of the 1991 film's prologue, returned as Cogsworth in The Enchanted Christmas?

David Ogden Stiers, best known as Major Winchester in M*A*S*H, also voiced Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas and Jumba in Lilo & Stitch.

Which Broadway singer voices Belle and performs carols on The Enchanted Christmas soundtrack?

Paige O'Hara first voiced the heroine in 1991 and returned for the direct-to-video follow-ups. The album adds eight carols sung in character.

Which 1970s teen idol, the Beast's voice in the 1991 film, returned for The Enchanted Christmas?

Robby Benson found fame in films such as Ice Castles and later directed six episodes of Friends.

Broadway star Bernadette Peters voices which treetop ornament in The Enchanted Christmas?

Angelique is an old flame of Lumière, and she opposes celebrating at first, until Belle wins her round.

Which theme song about hope do Belle and the Beast's servants sing in Disney's 1997 holiday sequel?

As Long as There's Christmas appears in three versions on the soundtrack, the last a pop duet for the end credits, and it earned its writers an awards nomination.

Which carol do the castle servants sing over the opening titles of The Enchanted Christmas?

Deck the Halls has a Welsh melody dating back to the sixteenth century, and its English words were written by a Scottish musician in 1862.

The Enchanted Christmas was the first film from a Disney studio opened in 1996 in which country?

Canada's Disney studio worked from Toronto and Vancouver and hired mostly graduates of one local animation college, but it was closed in 2000.

How was Forte created for The Enchanted Christmas, unlike the hand-drawn characters around him?

Computer animation was the director's fix for a design too intricate to draw by hand, though it was in neither the original plan nor the budget.

Which ceremony gave The Enchanted Christmas five nominations, including two for its voice actors?

The Annie Awards also nominated the film's director, writers and theme song, but every one of those categories went to a rival.

Disney opened the studio behind The Enchanted Christmas after which 1994 video sequel became a hit?

The Return of Jafar was Disney's first direct-to-video animated feature, stitched together from the planned opening episodes of an Aladdin television series.

Which 1998 video release followed The Enchanted Christmas as the next Beauty and the Beast film?

Belle's Magical World was pieced together from episodes made for a Beauty and the Beast television series that failed to launch.

Which English composer, an Oscar winner for Emma, wrote the songs for The Enchanted Christmas?

Rachel Portman had become the first female composer to win an Oscar for a film score earlier in 1997, months before this film reached stores.

Which lyricist of the Oscar-winning song Born Free wrote the words for The Enchanted Christmas?

Don Black also wrote the words for James Bond themes including Thunderball and Diamonds Are Forever.

Which singer of the 1991 film's pop duet returned for the end-title duet of The Enchanted Christmas?

Peabo Bryson won a Grammy for the 1991 duet and another a year later for A Whole New World, the pop single from Aladdin.

In the climax of The Enchanted Christmas, what does Forte attempt to keep Belle and the Beast apart?

Bring down the castle is his last resort, on the reasoning that the pair cannot fall in love if they are dead. His own thunderous playing is the weapon.

Which 1991 character has only a cameo, listening at the castle party in The Enchanted Christmas?

Maurice, Belle's inventor father, simply joins the villagers hearing the tale, while the film's new characters take the spotlight.

Which voice of Fred in Scooby-Doo supplies Belle's horse and the castle dog in The Enchanted Christmas?

Frank Welker has voiced Fred since the character's debut in 1969 and took over as Scooby-Doo himself in 2002.