"Once upon a time, in a far away land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. And as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"
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| The Christmas Star, shining above the castle... |
Belle loves Christmas, and this time, a year earlier, she was trying to win over the Beast's heart, make him more agreeable, less misanthropic, and sad. He had rescued her from the wolves already and she'd seen there was more to him than the monster he seemed to be. Restoring Christmas in the castle seemed like a step in the right direction.
The Prince, however, became a beast at Christmas time and he thoroughly despised the holidays. His only companion, the only one who seemed to understand him still was Forte, the castle's maestro, now an organ, whose sullen melodies offered his Master comfort in the loneliness of his cursed exile. It is Forte, in fact, who takes issue when Belle tries to revive Christmas. When the members of the castle were cursed, Forte was dealt a poor hand and ended up as an organ, stuck to the wall, unable to visit any other place in the caste. He doesn't miss it though, because now he has his master's companionship and he fears that if the curse is lifted, he will lose that. That's why, when he realizes what Belle is trying to do, he attempts to sabotage Christmas at every turn.
Forte wants Belle gone. He wants to remain an organ and to keep his Master's friendship for himself, and himself alone. It is with this selfish darkness in his heart that he sets the girl up and sends her out into the forest, tricking her into believing that the forest is safe, and that she must go fetch a tall Christmas tree, for the Christmas tree has always been the Prince's favorite part of Christmas. The Forest, however, is impossibly dangerous, and as if it wasn't enough that her life was in mortal peril, the beast is convinced that the reason she left was that she was trying to escape. Will he come and rescue her? Will he throw her at the dungeons for leaving? Is Christmas ever going to be a jolly time in the castle again?
I love Beauty and the Beast. It has always been my favourite movie, and Belle, my favourite princess. I remember I had a pink pen with a drawing of bell on one end when I was in my second year of university. Mother had given it to me... One day I dropped that pen and few girls saw it and started laughing. For some reason they thought it hilarious that I should have a Belle pen and they started mocking me about... It didn't make any sense... Belle is an intelligent girl in love with books and stories, perpetually excluded in the provincial village where she grew up. Was it really surprising that she was my favourite princess? When I asked the girls that, they had no answer.
I greatly enjoyed seeing so many of my favourite characters again in this little movie, and with the original voices! I can't say the movie is as good as the first one (what is?) mostly because of how the songs are placed in the story. There's an old rule of musical theatre according to which, when the emotions become too intense for talking, the characters sing. When it becomes too much even for singing, they dance. The first film follows that rule. This time it doesn't really feel like that, it's more like the songs were placed at random intervals, according to someone's guess of whether or not some music was required.
The story is still pretty nice though, and the ending feels every bit as magical as it should...
From picture books
All filled with wonder
Magic worlds where
The impossible
Becomes the everyday
We'll find a mountaintop
And some moonbeams
To sit under
I'll lead because I know the way
So much to discover
I do it all the time
I could live inside bright pages
Where the words all rhyme
We will slay the dragons
That still follow him around
And he'll smile, yes he'll smile
As his dreams leave the ground
Stories and stories
'Bout mermaids, kings
And sunken treasure
Magic worlds where the impossible
Becomes the everyday"
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