''Belle's Tales of Friendship'' is a 1999 American

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

fantasy film. It was produced by

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

as a prequel to '' Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas''. It was also released to help promote the syndicated television series, ''

Sing Me a Story with Belle ''Disney's Sing Me a Story with Belle'' is an American live-action/animated television series created by Patrick Davidson and Melissa Gould. The series features Belle from the 1991 film ''Beauty and the Beast'', who now owns and manages the books ...

'', for which a live-action Belle tells stories from Disney cartoons such as ''

The Wise Little Hen ''The Wise Little Hen'' is a 1934 Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphony'' cartoon, based on the fable '' The Little Red Hen''. The cartoon features the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to the Sailor's Hornpipe. Donald and his friend Peter Pig try to avoi ...

'', ''

The Three Little Pigs "The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house t ...

'', '' Morris the Midget Moose'' and ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

'' with Belle narrating. The film stars Lynsey McLeod who continues portraying Belle in live-action form. It also stars

Paige O'Hara Paige O'Hara (born Donna Paige Helmintoller; May 10, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and painter. O'Hara began her career as a Broadway actress in 1983 when she portrayed Ellie May Chipley in the musical ''Showboat''. In 1991, she made her m ...

Robby Benson Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal; January 21, 1956) is an American actor and director. He rose to prominence as a teen idol in the late 1970s, appearing in the sports films '' One on One'' (1977) and '' Ice Castles'' (1978). He subsequently ...

David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in '' The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for fou ...

, and

Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his death as "one of the last'' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway musical and global celebrity on television" and a " ...

who reprise their roles as Belle, Beast, Cogsworth, and Lumiere, respectively, in the animated form, in the short film, ''Mrs. Potts' Party''. The film was released on August 17, 1999.

Synopsis

Belle's narration

Belle owns and works at her music and bookstore in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. A group of children walk into the store eager to hear Belle's stories, as she is noted to be a great storyteller. Belle agrees to tell a story, but the gang also play games and learn some simple lessons about life. Belle narrates two Disney cartoons, '' Morris the Midget Moose'' and ''

'', while the children help Belle clean the bookstore. She also reads ''

'' and ''

'', but Shawn and Harmony will not help make chili for the group. Along the way, Belle adds music and interacts with the children.

Mrs. Potts' Party (February 3, 1999)

Mrs. Potts is feeling depressed due to dreadful weather, and Belle decides to cheer her up by throwing a surprise for Mrs. Potts' birthday party for her. Belle has come to look at Mrs. Potts as a mother figure by this point. During preparations for the party, Belle and her friends have to avoid waking up the sleeping Beast. Beast spent the entire previous night fixing a leak in the roof and needs his sleep. However, Lumiere and Cogsworth's rivalry gets in the way. The two argue and compete over the tasks of composing music, choosing Mrs. Potts' favorite flowers, and choosing the flavors of the cake that will be served at the party. Two oven mits, Chaude (the red mit) and Tres (the blue mit), also take part in the argument, as they each side with one of the rivals. Eventually, Lumiere and Cogsworth's attempt to sabotage one another's decisions has consequences. The baking cake explodes and makes a complete mess in the kitchen. Lumiere and Cogsworth, after a scolding from Belle, decide to put their rivalry behind them for good and work together to make a small surprise for Mrs. Potts. The plan goes well, and Mrs. Potts is cured of her depression, and the sun finally shines again. Everyone learns the power of cooperation and compromises with Mrs. Potts' birthday, singed by the song ''A Little Thought''.

Cast

Live-action

* Lynsey McLeod - Belle *

Shawn Pyfrom Shawn Caminiti Pyfrom (born August 16, 1986) is an American actor and singer, who has appeared in several television series and films, and is best known for his portrayal of Andrew Van de Kamp on ABC's '' Desperate Housewives'', and as Lionel Gr ...

- Shawn * Kirsten Storms - Kirsten * Natalie Trott - Natalie * Hampton Dixon - Hampton * Jennefer Jesse - Jennefer * Julie Vanlue - Julie * Jim Cummings - Lewis (voice) * Christine Cavanaugh - Carroll (voice)

Animated

- Belle *

- The Beast *

- Cogsworth *

- Lumiere * Gregory Grudt -

Chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...

* Anne Rogers -

Mrs. Potts Various characters have been featured in Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'' franchise. This list includes those from the 1991 animated film, its direct-to-video follow-up, a short story collection, the stage musical adaptation, and the 20 ...

Jo Anne Worley Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show ...

- Armoire the Wardrobe * Frank Welker - Sultan the Footstool * Jim Cummings - Webster, Chef Bouche, Tubaloo, Big Book * Jeff Bennett - Crane, Frappe * Rob Paulsen - LePlume, Tres * April Winchell - Chandeleria, Chaude, Concertina * Jeff Conover - Harmony

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle's Tales Of Friendship 1999 films 1999 animated films 1999 direct-to-video films 1990s American animated films American children's films American films with live action and animation American sequel films Direct-to-video sequel films Beauty and the Beast (franchise) Disney direct-to-video animated films Films about princes Films set in France Films set in castles 1990s English-language films