This is a strange straight-to-video release in that it's not a sequel, or even a prequel, but some sort of "midquel." For it inexplicably takes place in the middle of the original "Beauty & The Beast" (1991), somewhere after Belle is imprisoned in the castle but before the big dance number at the end. Most everyone has always looked down sequels upon since they're usually designed just to make money off the reputation and memories of the original film. This video, while again not a sequel, is quite guilty of that sin. Yet this film is even worse in that it intrudes upon -- and forcibly spreads apart -- the original story and soils one's memory of it.
Of course "the Mouse" (you know who we're talking about) wants to make some money from this series, figuring that parents will rush out to buy it -- especially with all of the heavy promotion and since most of the original vocal talents have returned to inhabit the characters. Unfortunately, the rest of the crew didn't return and this video -- while competent -- certainly can't stand anywhere near the original. While that film clicked on all cylinders -- and was the first and only animated film ever to be nominated as Best Picture of the year -- this one comes off a cheap wannabe.
Like most follow up movies, most of the original film's elements have returned. Here we have the original characters (with most of the original voices), a scary forest with wolves, and some big Broadway-like musical numbers. We also get a great deal of the original plot where Belle continually tries to warm the Beast's cold heart. What's missing, though, is the magic and spirit that inhabited the first film. In comparison, this one continuously feels flat and uninspired.
Part of that lies in the less than sensational music. Following in the footsteps of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's Oscar winning score & lyrics from the original, this film's composer and lyricist had their work cut out for them right from the beginning. How do you compete with the earlier films' accomplishments? The answer is that you try to reproduce it, but this score by composer Rachel Portman ("The Adventures of Pinocchio" and the Academy Award winning score for "Emma") and the lyrics by Don Black don't even come close. While there are a few decent numbers, none of them compare to the award winning material that so delighted us in the original.
Using a Canadian animation shop for the first time, this film's visuals don't equal that found in Disney's theatrical releases -- most likely due to a lower budget -- but I've certainly seen many worse-looking straight-to-video efforts. While it occasionally looks rather flat and the characters don't quite look as good as they did in the original (especially Belle who at times looks rather odd), there are some nice touches.
Most notable are those involving Forte, the evil pipe organ, who is mostly computer-animated. His character has much more visual depth and seems more alive than his drawn counterparts, and the results look wonderful. While it does look quite impressive (and Tim Curry delivers a fun vocal take to accompany the character), the scenes where the traditional animation mixes with the computer generated material looks quite bad, and really makes the hand drawn stuff pale in comparison.
For the most part the plot works -- since they lifted much of it from the original -- but some new elements don't make any sense. Forte, who's been turned into a huge cathedral-like organ, wants to remain that way. It seems he's become the master's most trusted confidant and friend, and by lifting the spell over the castle, this relationship would change. Of course Forte would be human again, but what the heck -- if he likes being an organ, he likes being an organ. What makes the plot rather listless, however, is the fact that we've essentially seen the story (in the original) and since this one takes place in the middle of that film, there's little or no sense of uncertainty regarding the outcome.
Of course, younger kids won't pay much attention to that, and will probably enjoy watching this film nearly as much as they did the original. It's just too bad that Disney didn't care to capture the hearts and minds of the adults like they did with the first one. Perhaps the obvious marketing savvy behind this video has tainted our opinion of it, but none of that is helped by the video's length that barely runs for seventy some minutes (including credits) -- just proving that it was obviously never intended for theatrical release.
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