Product Details

• Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• DVD Release Date: November 22, 2011
• Run Time: 72 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0052OPJ28
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,834 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Features include:

•MPAA Rating: G
•Format: Blu-Ray
•Runtime: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So excited that this is being released again!, November 5, 2011

By 

brandilynn7 (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (Special Edition) (DVD)

This is one of those movies that will disappear into the Disney "vault", only to be released every 10 years or so. I unfortunately did not get it the last time it was out, and have regretted it ever since. This movie is a wonderful tale of Belle's first Christmas in the castle (it is supposed to be during the time the last movie took place, only before the beast's transformation back into a man- it is presented in a flashback form.) The same old characters from the original Beauty and the Beast are here, along with a couple new characters- including Fife (a picollo) and Forte (a huge pipe organ voiced by the always fabulous Tim Curry) and Angelique (the Christmas angel who was once the castle's decorator voiced by the incredible Bernadette Peters.) Forte was once the court's composer but he is quite content with staying the was he is because, as he says, "humanity is overrated". He also feels more appreciated and needed as the organ, because the beast enjoys his melancholy music. The plot revolves around the castle trying to plan a Christmas, even though the beast banned it after being cursed because it brought back painful memories of his human years and the time he turned into the beast (which is portrayed in this movie as happening at Christmas), and Forte's attempt to stop Christmas from happening and also destroying Belle so she cannot fall in love with the beast and restore their humanity. The movie does not take anything away from the original and is rather a fantastic companion to Beauty and the Beast. It includes some great new songs, including "As Long As There's Christmas", "Stories", and "Don't Fall In Love". Like the original Beauty and the Beast, the film does have some dark moments- the beast's anger is once again shown and Forte is very sinister- but this is a Christmas movie and we know that Belle and the Beast do eventualy fall in love, so the happily ever after is inevitable.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Long As There's Christmas..., October 1, 2011

By 

Reconnecting To My Childhood "Time Won't Let ... - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas Special Edition (Two-Disc Blu-ray / DVD in Blu-ray Packaging) (Blu-ray)

...Disney will keep rereleasing their movies in new format for more profits. Kidding aside, I bought this film on DVD years ago after it had already gone out of print. I sadly admit that I must have paid near $80 just for the nostalgic feeling of watching this again at Christmas. Was it worth the eigthy dollars? Probably not, but now people will be able to buy it for less than $30 and that is worth the price, especially in high definition.

It doesn't have the animation quality that the big budget original had but they do the best they can with the budget they have and it will definitely be gleaming on Blu-ray. Some people say that the organ is too scary for kids, really? Is it the voice or what? I just don't see it. He is no scarier than the witch from Snow White, the Pleasure Island sequence from Pinochio, or even Gaston in the final scenes of the original. Parents all have to use their own discretion when allowing children to watch any film but I don't see how the villain here is any more frightening than those other acclaimed classics.

The only downside with this release, not really any new special features. I would have loved a commentary or some new look back, even some classic disney holiday cartoons updated to high definition. I would have loved them but I can't say I expected them. Disney isn't as great at including new material as they have been in the past. There is the new inclusion of segments from the old Lynsey McLeod series Sing Me A Story with Belle, which will be nice to revisit but doesn't seem to tie into the holiday theme upon first inspection.

I guess the fact that I'm now buying this to put it beside my Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray means I'll have spent over a hundred dollars on the film. It might not be worth it to most but I thoroughly enjoy this film and it's fun to find time to watch it every Christmas.

I say 5 stars because I do love it, but let's be honest and say that if the original film is five stars this one is somewhere between three and four in reality. The production quality isn't as good, understandably, and the songs aren't as sweeping. The story is quaint, fun for the holidays and better than most Disney sequels but there was no way it could live up to the masterpiece of the original. That said, I love the film and I find it hard to believe anyone can honestly say this film negates the impact of the original (which is something that can be said of other Disney sequels). Now I'm just waiting on the separate release of Lion King 2 on Blu-ray and I'll have all the Disney sequels I ever need or want to own.

(Correction: I may not mind purchasing the Aladdin sequels on Blu-ray someday but they feel more inclusive to the television series than the original film and as such I'd be more inclined to buy them in a series set.)

***So having watched it the PQ is about what you'd expect. It isn't a diamond edition wow factor, but it looks crisp clean and like it was just animated, much better than my old DVD did. The special features are all standard definition, so the Sing me a Story segment (which is only good for kids or one nostalgic viewing) is a little hard to watch due to fuzziness. I wish they had made some new features but as a direct to video sequel I knew that wouldn't happen.

I will say I'd only give this a 3.5 or 4 out of 5 for PQ overall though because the organ character, computer generated back in the late nineties, really shows a pixelated or digitized appearance. He clearly wasn't rendered in a high quality image and there was no way to change that now and it shows. I'm still happy I bought it, I love this film at Christmas and other than the pixelated digital organ, expected lower production values than the original that I was already aware of and no real new special features I thought it was great and worth the price after using the 5 dollar off coupon Disney is offering online.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 1:78:1 presentation of a 1:33:1 home video.., December 9, 2011

By 

DK - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas Special Edition (Two-Disc Blu-ray / DVD in Blu-ray Packaging) (Blu-ray)

One thing that I think prospective buyers should know is that the original 1997 direct-to-home video was created with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1 (4:3). This current Blu-ray/DVD release presents the film in (and only in) an aspect ratio of 1:78:1. They've accomplished this not by restoration/enhancement but by trimming a fair amount of each frame vertically. (This is essentially the same effect that you can achieve with most modern widescreen TVs when viewing 4:3 content; the picture is zoomed in and the top and bottom of the frame is hidden behind the TV bezel.)

I personally would have preferred that Disney kept the original aspect ratio and gave the user the option to enhance the film with Disney View (like the Blu-ray version of Snow White).

How bad is it? If you've seen the original (or the 2002 special edition release) you'll notice immediately that the frame now tends to appear crowded in the mid to close shots - especially with the camera focuses on the characters faces.

If you've never seen the film before you'll probably be satisfied with your purchase. It's a great story with memorable songs and the original cast. If you find that you really do enjoy it I would encourage you to track down a copy of the 2002 special edition release (or borrow it from a friend for a few days) to see what you missed.