WhileBeauty & The Beast’s Yuletide spinoffBelle’s Enchanted Christmasisn’t as famous as its theatrically released predecessor, the interquel does offer the franchise’s best villain in the form of Tim Curry’s Forte. Notevery Disney princess moviehas a great villain, and this can occasionally mar the viewing experience upon a re-watch.Frozenis a modern classic, but it is hard to work out exactly why the duplicitous Prince Hans would reveal his nefarious plan to Anna when he does, unless he hopes to get caught. Similarly, althoughBeauty & The Beast’s Gaston is an iconic villain, he has one problem.
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There are many wonderful, magical Disney Princess movies but there is one that stands out above the rest, Beauty and the Beast (1991).
Gaston is a perfect embodiment of small-town bigotry, but this means that he spends most of the movie separated from Belle and the Beast. The characters only cross paths inBeauty & The Beast’s ending, meaning their feud isn’t as effective as it might have been if they shared more scenes together earlier in the story. Fortunately,Beauty & The Beast’s Christmas spinoff,Belle’s Enchanted Christmas, features an unforgettable villain who ameliorates this issue, illuminating the darker side of the Beast while also fleshing out Belle’s story. His tale even takes place during the events ofBeauty & The Beast.
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Forte Was The Beast’s Composer Before He Was Turned Into An Organ
A rare interquel,Belle’s Enchanted Christmastakes place duringBeauty & The Beastand explores how the movie’s heroine won over its eponymous antihero over one magical holiday season.Belle’s Enchanted Christmasincludes classic songs like “Stories” and “As Long As There’s Christmas,” both of which rival anything from the originalclassic Disney Renaissance movie. However, it is the villain ofBelle’s Enchanted Christmaswho truly makes the interquel stand out. Played with typical campy aplomb by Tim Curry, Forte was the prince’s composer in life. Cursed alongside the rest of the castle’s staff, he became a living pipe organ.
Forte tragically believes that he is more useful to the Beast this way and thinks that Belle opening the Beast’s heart will only hurt his cause.
Unlike most of the castle’s inhabitants, who long for Belle to return them to their human selves, Forte is alone in preferring his non-human form. Forte tragically believes that he is more useful to the Beast this way and thinks that Belle opening the Beast’s heart will only hurt his cause. Determined to convince the Beast that Belle is trying to get between them, Forte even attempts to trick Belle into drowning in a frozen lake with the help of his accomplice, Piccolo. Played by Paul Reubens, Piccolo is the comical henchman to Curry’s chilling villain.
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The entire story ofBelle’s Enchanted Christmasis glossed over in one montage duringBeauty & The Beast, and it is hard not to notice how little screen time the pair’s chemistry gets after watching the spinoff.Disney’s Bellegets a little character development in the original movie, butBelle’s Enchanted Christmashas far more time to delve into both her character and her relationship with the Beast. Belle’s irrepressible optimism and her determination to reach the Beast through fiction explain how the icy, isolated antihero finally thawed, ended his brooding, and fell for her.
Meanwhile, this storyline drives Forte’s villainous plot to keep the pair apart. According to Forte’s logic, the Beast needs to remain a beast so that he doesn’t leave the castle and abandon his pipe organ. Forte has convinced himself that life as an instrument holds more meaning than his human existence ever did, and he is willing to kill Belle if this is the only way he can hold onto the modicum of power he wields in the Beast’s life. Forte spendsBelle’s Enchanted Christmastrying to convince the Beast that Belle doesn’t really want to be with him.
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This explains why the Beast was so paranoid about betrayal in the original movie and adds a layer of pathos toBeauty & The Beastby revealing that his thoughts were consistently poisoned by a false friend.Disney’s successfulBeauty & The Beastdidn’t include any of this context, makingBelle’s Enchanted Christmasa stellar addition to the franchise. The original movie also didn’t include any mention of Forte or an appearance by Curry’s villain, but this makes sense thanks to the ending ofBelle’s Enchanted Christmas.
The pipe organ tries to use his music to kill both Belle and the Beast, but only succeeds in destroying himself.
When Forte’s scheme to kill Belle fails, the pipe organ tries to use his music to kill both Belle and the Beast by crushing them in the rubble of the crumbling palace. However, the organ only succeeds in destroying himself, collapsing in a jangling mess during the spinoff’s dramatic finale. Since this entire storyline seemingly occurred during the montage where the couple fell in love withBeauty & The Beast, it makes sense that the villain ofBelle’s Enchanted Christmasnever appeared in the original movie.
Beauty & The BeastandBelle’s Enchanted Christmasare available to stream on Disney+.
