By Megan Deppe
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, which turns 20 this year, shows us that Christmas is a wonderful time to step back and remember what’s truly important. We took another look at this cherished holiday “tale as old as time” and were reminded once again what Christmas is all about.
1. Christmas is about the people you love.
Of course, Chip’s obsession over getting the perfect tree leads the gang into a bit of a disaster. The Enchanted Christmas reminds us that the holidays are not about the holiday trimmings. If you don’t have the perfect tree or accidentally burn the cookies, don’t worry about it—as long as you’re with the people you love, it’s still Christmas.
2. Teamwork gets the job done.
Despite their frequent friction, we all know Lumiere and Cogsworth are a great team. The Enchanted Christmas gives them a cute little song to emphasize their teamwork, “A Cut Above the Rest”, to prove that if they work together, they can do basically anything. Two heads are better than one!
3. Remember to have fun.
Beauty and the Beast showed us Cogsworth’s comedic chops with his iconic line, “If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it!” Enchanted Christmas also gives Cogsworth another chance to have some pun, er, fun with words. One of the best lines of the film is easily his scolding the dinnerware with, “Don’t whine, glasses.”
4. The more the merrier.
Forte’s entire existence revolves around the fact that in his organ form, he feels useful to his master, Beast. He would do anything to keep it that way, even if that means keeping Beast and Belle from falling in love. Maybe if Forte branched out a little bit, he wouldn’t have turned into a creepy villain organ with glowing green eyes.
5. Stories are the best kind of magic.
Belle has always been an avid reader, and that’s also true in this film. Her song, “Stories,” pulls viewers into a world of “mermaids, kings, and sunken treasure,” reminding us that we can take inspiration and draw strength from the stories we read and travel to worlds that might otherwise have been beyond us.
6. Don’t mix bells with holly.
Take Angelique’s word for it: that’s an amateur move. Also, be careful to find the right balance of holly and mistletoe; there is such a thing as too much. But take pride in your decorations—it’s part of the fun of Christmas!
7. Celebrate the magic of the season.
Christmas is a time for hope and for believing in magic. Sometimes when everything seems to be going wrong, it’s easy to forget that, or to focus on the bad times like Beast does. But take a page from Belle’s book and stay hopeful, because believing in the magic of Christmas will help guide you and make the world a better place.
