The Enchantress is particularly important in the story of Beauty And The Beast, however,
in Disney's 1991 animation she only appears via the stained glass windows during the opening
prologue.
Disney's 2017 reimagining of the fairy tale expands her role, casting actress Hattie Morahan,
and giving her character real time on screen throughout the movie.
Which means now we can fill in some gaps that fans have speculated about from the animated
film.
Yippee-ki-yay movie lovers, it's Jan here and in this video, I want to delve into the
character of the Enchantress and explore some theories about her role in the live-action
remake of Beauty And The Beast.
Just a quick warning: there are spoilers ahead for the new Beauty And The Beast movie if
you haven't seen that yet.
If that's you, tap or click here for my spoiler-free review and come back and watch this video
after you've seen the movie.
So, the first thing that's significantly different in Disney's remake is that the introductory
prologue is actually voiced by the Enchantress herself.
Her new narration helps to fill in some additional backstory about the cold-hearted and selfish
nature of the prince and how he taxed his people heavily to pay for his lavish parties
and possessions, which, by the way, feels like a bit of historical commentary given
that the new movie is set in the mid-eighteenth century, a few decades before the French Revolution.
The filmmakers' decision to have the Enchantress deliver the narration is an interesting one,
because although we don't initially know it, her character is going to be at the centre
of many key moments during the new film.
And it also points to her role as a sort of guiding hand over the events of the story.
Next, we get to actually see the transformation of the old woman who appears at the prince's
door into the Enchantress, in a scene very reminiscent of the flashback scene from The
Enchanted Christmas, an animated Beauty And The Beast spin-off movie released in 1997.
As well as showing the prince's transformation into the Beast, the way that the Enchantress
is bathed in glowing light and appears to hover in front of the prince is similar in
both movies.
As for the way she transformed from an old woman in need of help into a magical being,
that reminded me of the Fairy Godmother's transformation in Disney's 2015 live-action
remake of Cinderella.
Indeed, the idea of the Enchantress as a sort of fairy or fairy godmother actually connects
back to the original 18th-century French story of Beauty And The Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne
Barbot de Villeneuve.
In fact, in Villeneuve's original story from 1740, there's a good fairy who helps both
Beauty and the Beast, and this fairy actually turns out to be Beauty's aunt, as unknown
to Beauty, her mother was also a fairy.
Villeneuve's tale also features an old fairy who looked after the prince while his mother
the queen was defending the kingdom, but later in the story, this wicked old fairy cursed
the prince, turning him into a beast, simply because he refused to marry her.
Disney's animated and live-action films combine these different good and bad fairies into
one person: the Enchantress, who encompasses various aspects of their characters.
And interestingly enough, in the Disney novel "As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale", the Enchantress
is actually Belle's mother!
But, I wonder whether in this live-action version of Beauty And The Beast, it's the
Prince's dead mother who has sent the Enchantress to help redeem her son and set him back on
the right path from which he's strayed.
Remember, in the family portrait, the Prince's mother is the only person whose picture hasn't
been ripped by the Beast, perhaps because she was the good influence in the family,
and as Mrs Potts tells us, it was the Prince's father who turned his son bad, which is what
ultimately led to the curse.
If that's all true, then in this film, the Enchantress is basically acting 'in loco parentis',
in other words, 'in the place of a parent', and by teaching the prince a lesson is, therefore,
fulfilling the role his mother can no longer play.
Now, I'm sure many of you made the connection that the beggar woman Agathe is the same person
as the Enchantress, who seems to have disguised herself in this way so she can move freely
without the townspeople paying her much attention, which means she can keep an eye on events
and even influence them somewhat.
Agathe first appears when Gaston points her out to Belle as a warning about the consequences
of what happens to unmarried women after their fathers die.
And the next time we see Agathe is when she comes to help Maurice after Gaston and LeFou
abandon him to the wolves.
This is a moment that shows the compassionate and kind side of the Enchantress, and after
she takes Maurice back to her makeshift home in the woods she gives him hot tea, or perhaps
some magic concoction, and helps him get better.
By the way, did you notice the owl in these scenes?
It's interesting because in medieval Europe, owls were often associated with wise-women
and witches.
And in some symbolism, they're connected to magical forces and the idea of being able
to see beyond your immediate reality, which is a nice metaphor for the story of Beauty
And The Beast.
Now, given the owl's symbolism, the fact that Agathe has one is a nice way to hint that
she's connected with the character of the Enchantress and therefore has a lot more power
than the townspeople would assume a beggar woman would have.
With all that in mind, it's also intriguing that in the original animated movie, an owl
appeared to Maurice and Phillipe just before Maurice took the wrong turning on his way
to the fair.
And in the new movie, given the way she watches over events, it's implied that the Enchantress
caused the lightning strike to fell the tree that blocked Maurice's path and led him into
the enchanted part of the forest.
By the way, when I interviewed Beauty And The Beast director Bill Condon recently, he
told me that the cane the Enchantress uses at the start of the film is the same shape
as the branch that came down in front of Maurice.
You could also argue that the Enchantress guided subsequent events that led Maurice
to the Beast's castle, even the wolves chasing him there.
And by steering Maurice towards the castle, she seems to have been hoping to give the
cursed prince an opportunity to interact with someone from the outside world and redeem
himself.
Which is what eventually happens when he meets Belle.
Agathe was also present during the mob scene, observing the events, and she quietly entered
the castle during the final battle between the mob and the enchanted objects.
And it's there where she witnesses the true love Belle and Beast have for each other.
What's really interesting in this scene is that Belle isn't actually the one who breaks
the curse.
The last petal falls before Belle declares her love for Beast and so the enchanted characters
are condemned to stay inanimate objects and Beast himself already appears to have died
from the wounds inflicted by Gaston.
But when the Enchantress sees how much Belle loves Beast, she takes control and reverses
the curse, bringing the rose petals back to life.
She envelops the Beast in the petals and a magical energy that revives him and transforms
him back into his human form.
Then the enchanted characters also come back to life in their human forms, the crumbling
castle is restored, and winter melts away to spring, with the sun rising over the previously
dark castle and grounds.
Given the Enchantress's guiding hand in these events, I wonder whether she also caused the
castle rampart to crumble below Gaston's feet, sending him plummeting to his death!
After all, at the start of the film, Gaston did use the example of Agathe and the fact
she's a spinster reduced to begging, as a way to try to control Belle and curb her independence.
And he also tried to kill Maurice, then lied about it and undermined Agathe as a witness,
calling her 'a filthy hag' in front of the rest of the town.
The decision by the filmmakers to give more screen time to the character of the Enchantress
aka Agathe in the new version is an interesting one and I'm sure fans will debate her motives
and to what extent she could be considered a good character or a cruel one, much as fans
have done with her character in the animated movie.
However, I do think that the filmmakers have given the character more agency in the live-action
version, beefing up her role as a kind of subversive woman, who lives on the edge of
society and its expectations.
Just like the updating of Belle's character, the updating of the Enchantress's character
is, in a way, in tune with Villeneuve's original French story, which tackled themes and issues
important to 18th-century women, and it's also in tune with how screenwriter Linda Woolverton
wanted her version of the tale in the animated movie to be more relevant to contemporary
audiences by making Belle more independent back in 1991.
And I also think that the filmmakers have made an effort to humanise the Enchantress,
changing her from a character you only see talked about via a stained glass window to
someone who can show compassion at various moments in the story.
And you could even argue that her decision to curse the prince and those around him was
for the good of his kingdom as before this he had little love in his heart and treated
his subjects poorly taxing them excessively.
As for the idea of punishing his servants as well, that's fixed to an extent in the
new version as it's made clear that they were not blameless as they didn't try to stop the
prince, though I'd imagine if they had stood up to him they would simply have been dismissed.
However, Mrs Potts does tell Belle that the servants bear some responsibility for how
the prince turned out like his cruel father who she says 'twisted him up to be just like
him', and they did nothing to prevent it.
Now, I'd love to know what you thought about the Enchantress and the changes to the character
in the new version of Beauty And The Beast.
And how did you like the ending to the new movie?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!