Beauty and the Beast: An Enchanted Christmas is a direct-to-video sequel to the theatrical Disney animated modern day classic, Beauty and the Beast. It is somewhat irritating that the Disney studio, which hadn't made a sequel to any of their animated features until 1990's The Rescuers Down Under (which was a theatrical production and quite good), now makes a habit of producing direct-to-video sequels for all their animated movies.

But as for Beauty and the Beast: An Enchanted Christmas, it isn't bad for what it is. The story is told in flashback (that way Lumiere, Cogsworth, and the rest of the household staff can still be their transformed selves) and relates the story of the Christmas during Belle's imprisonment at the Beast's castle. The villain (there has to be a villain) is the highlight of the show -- an ominous pipe organ named Forte, voiced by the incomparable Tim Curry. Forte is immobile, but he's no less threatening and menacing for it. The interplay between Belle and the Beast was a bit overdone -- there's nothing we didn't already see in the first movie -- and the new character Angelique is tiresome, but thanks to Forte, his deluded minion Fife, and the antics of the old standbys Lumiere and Cogsworth, An Enchanted Christmas is quite enjoyable.