Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World (February 17, 1998)

This is the second of three sequels to Beauty and the Beast. Unlike the first, it is a collection of three shorter stories instead of a complete narrative, A formula that would be repeated in Cinderella II: Dreams Come True. It is set after Christmas but before the fight with Gaston and the voice actors again reprise their roles. The animation is slightly better than that of the first sequel, The Enchanted Christmas, looking very much like one of the Disney TV shows of the time. The first story, “The Perfect Word’ follows three new characters, a quill and a dictionary and a stack of papers, as well as the original gang, who attempt to patch things up between The Beast and Belle after an argument. This ruse is found out, however, causing their relationship to fray once more but it is patched up by the end. In the second story, “Fifi’s Folly,” it is the anniversary of Lumiere’s first date with Fifi. He is extremely nervous and so asks Belle for advice as to what to do for the occasion. Fifi overhears this conversation and mistaking concludes that Lumiere is having an affair with Belle. In the end, this miscommunication is cleared up after Lumiere and Fifi almost fall to their death and Lumiere professes his love for her. In the last story, “The Broken Wing” Belle and the Beast help nurse an injured bird after it accidentally flies into Belle’s room. The Beast acts selfishly towards the bird, refusing to let it go and forcing it to sing for him whenever he pleases. Belle eventually convinced him to let the bird go when it has healed. Belle’s Magical World is boring and not worth watching with simple stories and simple caricatures of the original Beauty and the Beast characters.

Final Rating: 2.5/10