Cogsworth

"Always the voice of reason, Cogsworth, the prince's butler keeps a watchful eye on the castle's servants, making sure that everything is running to Beast's liking."

- Diamond Edition Website

Cogsworth is a supporting character from Disney's 1991 animated feature film, Beauty and the Beast. He is the Beast's majordomo, who as part of the curse was turned into an enchanted clock.

Personality
"This has gone far enough! I'm in charge, here!"

- Cogsworth

Cogsworth naturally has a serious demeanor which is evident in his strict attitude in serving the Beast and ordering the other servants around constantly. However, Cogsworth does mean well and is as good-natured as Lumière is. He is Lumière's best friend and also a rival of sorts. Cogsworth's preference to abide by the Beast's rules often puts a severe strain on his friendship with Lumière, who opts for a more rebellious and carefree personality, but overall, he values his friendship with Lumière and sees him as a brother, demonstrated in the original film (when he saves Lumière from being melted by LeFou, Gaston's henchman) and the midquels.

Though often viewed as a "stick-in-the-mud," Cogsworth has a much softer side to his personality. He's ultimately compassionate, intelligent, and actually enjoys the idea of having a fun time within the castle; only ruling against various festivities in hopes of keeping the Beast's anger at bay. He can also be rather sassy, and is prone to making sharp remarks in response to the words of his friends; often in a rather serious manner.

Though loyal enough, Cogsworth's allegiance to the Beast is mostly driven by fear (at least during the time of the curse). Although this is true, he was shown to care for his master's happiness and well-being, specifically during the time of Belle's imprisonment, and took it upon himself to provide a boost of confidence whenever the insecure Prince was in need of such.

Beauty and the Beast
On Christmas night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and asked for shelter. Because of her repulsive appearance, the master of the castle, the Prince, turned her away. She then revealed herself to be a beautiful Enchantress, and transformed the Prince into a hideous beast, because of his cruel ways. For further punishment, the castle servants were cursed as well, with Cogsworth specifically turning into a clock. If the Beast can't find anyone to love and love him in return by the time the last petal of an enchanted rose falls, he and the servants will be cursed forever.

A few years later, a man named Maurice lost his horse and needed a place to stay during the brutal winter night. Cogsworth opposed the idea of inviting him in because of the master's rules, but Lumière went ahead and served Maurice anyway, with the other servants following along. Soon enough, the Beast arrives and imprisons Maurice. Cogsworth and Lumière bicker over the event, until they spot a girl, a young maiden named Belle, who is looking for her father, Maurice. She trades places with him as a prisoner, and Cogsworth joins the other servants in their attempt to help Belle and the Beast fall in love to break the spell.

As time passed, Belle and the Beast have developed a close relationship. Cogsworth and the others decided to set up a ballroom dance to seal their relationship, but the Beast frees her when Maurice becomes stranded in the woods looking for Belle. Cogsworth is the first to hear of Belle's release and quickly informs the others. With no hope of becoming human, Cogsworth is fed up with the very idea of Belle being able to break the spell. Suddenly, an angry mob invades the castle to kill the Beast.

Cogsworth and the other servants battle heroically and defeat the villagers. Cogsworth even saves Lumière's life during the battle. Meanwhile, the Beast battled Gaston, the leader of the mob, and an admirer of Belle. He fatally stabs the Beast right before falling off the castle rooftop, to his death. Cogsworth, Lumière, and Mrs. Potts head to the Beast's side. He dies and the three lose all hope, but Belle confesses her love before the last petal falls. The Beast transforms into the Prince once more, and Cogsworth regains his human form as well. During the final scene he offers to bury the hatchet with Lumière, only to start arguing with him about who foretold the fact that Belle would break to spell first (it was Lumière), but eventually, they break off to watch Belle dance with the Prince.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Cogsworth is witnessing the Beast and Belle's relationship together and see they are becoming closer and closer as the day goes by. Belle walks through and seems excited. Cogsworth and the servants have a bad feeling Belle is thinking of Christmas and unfortunately for them they are right.

Cogsworth and the others try their best to change the subject to no avail. Lumière and the others decide to go with it, but Cogsworth does not. While Lumière, Belle, and the rest of the castle wish to do a Christmas celebration without the Beast, Cogsworth out of fear wishes not to join the rest of the group in order to keep the Beast on his good side. He eventually chooses to join them in celebrating Christmas, mainly because of the food that will be served but warns them to keep quiet so that the Beast won't find out.

In the end, the Beast finally realizes Christmas is a time to spend with the ones he cares about, and Cogsworth is very happy for him. Later, when Maestro Forte has gone mad and his music threatens to tear the castle apart, Cogsworth and Lumière have to keep the Enchanted Rose from falling off.

Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World
In the first segment The Perfect Word, Cogsworth participates in a dinner organized for Belle and the Beast which goes horribly. After telling the Beast that Belle will apologize after he did first, Cogsworth is thrown out the room alongside Lumiere. Later that evening, he unknowingly exposes everyone that the Beast's apology letter was forged (by Webster, Le Plume, and Crane) which results in the three get banished. After the three returns, he helps them relax from the cold alongside Belle and the rest of the servant. Everything turns out well when the Beast apologizes to everyone after overhearing that Belle always believes in his kindness.

In Fifi's Folly which sets on the anniversary of Lumière's first date with Fifi, Lumière grows so nervous to the point that he cleans himself excessively and turns to Belle for advice, by walking with her in the garden and reciting what he plans to say to Fifi to her. Fifi overhears this and believes that Lumière and Belle are having an affair behind her back. To get back at Lumière, Fifi attempts to seduce Cogsworth, who is apparently not interested. Cogsworth later along with Mrs. Potts and friends rescue Lumiere and Fifi from falling into the ravine.

In Mrs. Pott's Tea Party, Cogsworth competes with Lumiere for a surprise party to cheer up Mrs. Potts. They have very different opinions in both cakes and flowers (the latter which forces both to hide them in the Beast's room) and the result is a disaster. Fortunately, both see the error of their ways and combine their effort together and organize a splendid party that cheer Mrs. Potts up.

In Broken Wing, Cogsworth feels he is losing control over his staff after he was unable to order the sewing box to repair the Beast's cape along with the kitchen wares (including Fifi and Lumiere) are not listening to him and demands their respect with harsh treatment. In the meantime, Belle convinces the Beast to free the recently-captured bird, and he releases it once its wing is cured, but the bird, still too weak, begins to fall, and the Beast rushes to rescue it. In the process, Cogsworth falls from the West Wing balcony and into the garden, but is unhurt thanks to Lumiere and friends, and learns that you cannot demand respect, but you can earn it by giving it.

House of Mouse
Cogsworth also made numerous cameo appearances in the 2001-03 animated series House of Mouse.

In "The Stolen Cartoons", after hearing a joke, Lumière gave Cogsworth a rough pat on the back while laughing, having Cogsworth's head dumped in his soup.

In "Thanks to Minnie", he, Lumière, and Mrs. Potts watched Minnie run off in tears, leaving them wondering what happened. In the end, due to gossip, Lumière and Cogsworth were convinced they were upset with each other, resulting in a scuffle.

In "Ask Von Drake", Cogsworth was seated by Lumière during the headcount of all the Disney character guests.

In "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation", Cogsworth was notably seen during the invasion of the Pink Elephants.

Cogsworth also makes a few cameos in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.

Cameos and other appearances
Cogsworth makes a cameo appearance in the Timon and Pumbaa episode "Serengeti Western". He complains that he shouldn't have left the castle.

An emoticon version of Cogsworth appears in the Beauty and the Beast entry of the As Told by Emoji short series.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Cogsworth will appear in the 2017 live-action remake, voiced by Ian McKellen.

Kingdom Hearts series
Cogsworth makes an appearance in the games, but due to his homeworld's fall into darkness by the time of Kingdom Hearts, he does not appear in the first game until the world is restored by the time of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

His role in 358/2 Days is minor, but by Kingdom Hearts II, Cogsworth is more involved in the storyline. By this time, Cogsworth along with the rest of the servants are imprisoned in the castle dungeon by the Beast (who was under influence of Xaldin at the time) out of fear that he could hurt them. Upon his freedom by Sora, Cogsworth tells him about the Beast's curse, and eventually assists them in bringing the Beast back to his senses when the latter becomes berserk by Xaldin's influence. After Xaldin is defeated, peace is restored in the castle. It is assumed that by the end of the game, Cogsworth regains his human form, as the Beast is seen to have turned back into a human during the credits.

Other games
In Belle's world in Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure, Cogsworth makes a non-speaking appearance alongside Lumière throughout the player's adventure.

Cogsworth also appears as a costume available for roaming townspeople in Disney INFINITY 2.0, where he plays a significant role in the Interior Toy Box, giving missions and information.

Musical
In the stage version, Cogsworth's role was originated by the late Heath Lamberts, with the final performances being played by Jonathan Freeman.

Though following the same general story as the film, one of the additions made to the musical would be a more elaborately detailed version of the spell with the object transformation being mostly gradual, as to make sense out of having human-sized versions of the enchanted objects. Over the course of the show, Cogsworth is starting to shift further into becoming more of a clock, developing a turnkey and driving further desires for the spell to be broken. This shift was foreshadowed in an earlier scene, where Lumière, in a perturbed tone, expressed his notice of Cogsworth becoming increasingly stiff and tense, in a physical sense, just as the enchanted rose has shown signs of wilting.

A relationship with the Wardrobe would also be added, as in the earlier Disney On Ice adaptation, with Cogsworth having been an admirer of her opera performances.

Disney Parks
Cogsworth makes a few appearances in several locations in the Disney theme parks around the world, exclusively for entertainment purposes.

Disneyland
In the Fantasyland Theatre telling of the Beauty and the Beast story, Cogsworth is theatrically represented by one of the hosts.

Walt Disney World Resort
He is generally unavailable for meet-and-greet sessions, but has made exclusive appearances during private events at the Be Our Guest Restaurant, after showings at the Beauty and the Beast stage show at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Cogsworth has his own topiary in Epcot during the Flower and Garden Festival in Spring.

He also appears in Beauty and the Beast: Live, where he plays a role similar from the film, being very upset over having someone in the castle, though he nearly had a change of heart when realizing the girl, Belle, has the ability to break the spell.

Tokyo Disney Resort
Cogsworth makes a brief appearance in the Beauty and the Beast segment of Once Upon a Time at Tokyo Disneyland.

Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Cogsworth appears as part of Belle and Beast's display in Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, as well as Belle's wall carving inside of Enchanted Storybook Castle. In Lumière's Kitchen at the Shanghai Disney Hotel, a portrait of Cogsworth and Lumière is featured, which transitions to portray the duo in both their human and cursed forms.

Disney Cruise Line
An animatronic Cogsworth also appears in the show Dreams, aboard the Disney Wonder.

Trivia

 * The costume that Cogsworth dons during the battle to defend the castle is an obvious reference to Napoleon Bonaparte, a famous French general.
 * John Cleese was originally intended to voice Cogsworth.
 * He is visually referenced in the Shrek 2 film, when Shrek, Donkey, and Puss try to escape the Fairy Godmother's factory, they accidentally leak a potion and two of the Godmother's henchmen are turned into a candelabra and a clock.
 * An inanimate clock resembling Cogsworth can be seen on a table alongside a candelabra resembling Lumière in the ABC series Once Upon a Time episode "Skin Deep".
 * Cogsworth's line, "Flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep," was improvised by his voice actor, David Ogden Stiers.