Not all decent animated films were made by Disney or big studios. The Swan Princess is one of those black sheep. Directed by Richard Rich, the movie is based off of the beloved ballet, Swan Lake. The film is a mix review with different critics saying different things. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 44% rating, but Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars, so there must be something right about it.
The movie is really short, lasting for only and hour and twenty minutes, but it didn't have big budget a Disney film had, so we should at least be grateful the movie was able to astound with what it gave us. The animation not only flows very well, the soundtrack fits as well. Like with Quest for Camelot, I'll start with the music, though there won't be any spoilers since the movie was made in 1994 (HEY! the year i was born!), but i'll make sure not to ruin the experience too much.
Despite the movie being based off of a Ballet, there's hardly any "ballet" music in it, at least that I can tell. I never went to see any Ballets growing up, but I always assumed they were more subtle and less musical-like. Which is what this movie is, a musical. And like every musical, the music must serve one of two purposes, to express the emotions or the plot of the movie.
The first song is quite a long one, but it does keep the lyrics different for the most part. The song lasts for a good six minutes, but i thinks its good. My favorite bits are from the citizens who make all these nice quips about the economy and holidays. The next two songs are a little pointless, but they do serve a point. Far Longer than Forever is a song about the two lead's love and it does sound very convincing that the two will eventually find each other again, and it serves the purpose of expressing the inner emotions of the singer. The other is a problem. Practice, Practice, Practice is a very repetitive and boring song, but it does serve as a good training montage to show how good an archer the hero is.
The rest of the music is a lot less important, more comical and fast paced. But they are all pretty nice and serve to keep the ears busy without pointless conversations. As one who prefers music to talking its easier to appreciate the action when i don't need to hear the characters talk.
Now the plot. Like I said before, I never saw Swan Lake, so I don't know how much the movie kept canon, but it goes as such. Princess Odette and Prince Derek are the respective heirs to their parents' kingdoms, so Odette's father and Derek's mother decide to join their kingdoms by engaging their children. They spend the next eighteen years trying to coerce the two into falling in love. I really like this, since most Disney movies have the characters falling in love after three days. These two have eighteen years. Well, things appear to be finally working in the right direction on their last summer together, but Derek goofs makes it seem like all he cared about was how beautiful Odette is. Offended, Odette and her father leave and say their goodbyes.
A rogue wizard, named Rothbart, Odette's father had banished for attempted mutiny returned and attacked, killing Odette's father and kidnapping Odette, turning her into a swam for good measure. Derek tries to find her with his best friend Romney and Odette gets the help of three animals: Speed the Tortoise, Juan-bob the frog, and Lieutenant Puffin. The plot is Swan Lake still with the wizards tricking the Prince at a ball into declaring his love for another instead of Odette and it ends with an epic battle that was pretty much ripped off of Sleeping Beauty.
Now, I didn't want to ruin the experience since the movie is pretty good and those that know the plot to Swan Lake will know the plot to this movie. It's pretty decent though. Sadly, like all these C-list animated movies, the movie was overshadowed in the box office by so many other big names like Interview with a Vampire and Star Trek: Generations. Strangely enough, the movie warranted three sequels including a christmas special, so Richard Rich must have really liked the movie to make another.
All in all I rate the movie a 7.5 out of 10. good night everyone
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