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The Swan Princess
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The Swan Princess is a Golden Globe nominated 1994 animated film based on the ballet "Swan Lake". Starring the voices of Jack Palance, Howard McGillin, Michelle Nicastro, Steven Wright and John Cleese, the film is directed by ex-Disney animation director Richard Rich, with a music score by Lex de Azevedo. There were two sequels: The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.
William, father of Princess Odette, and Queen Uberta, mother of Prince Derek, conspire to matchmake their two offspring in the hopes of bringing their kingdoms together.
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Encyclopedia
The Swan Princess is a Golden Globe nominated 1994 animated film based on the ballet "Swan Lake". Starring the voices of Jack Palance, Howard McGillin, Michelle Nicastro, Steven Wright and John Cleese, the film is directed by ex-Disney animation director Richard Rich, with a music score by Lex de Azevedo. There were two sequels: The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.
Plot
King William, father of Princess Odette, and Queen Uberta, mother of Prince Derek, conspire to matchmake their two offspring in the hopes of bringing their kingdoms together. As children and adolescents, Derek and Odette cannot stand each other, but when they meet as adults, they see each other in a different light and fall in love. When Derek announces that they may plan the wedding, Odette stalls. She asks Derek what else he sees in her besides her beauty, to which Derek responds: "What else is there?" Odette is disappointed and the wedding is called off.
Odette and William leave Uberta's castle, but during their journey home they are attacked by Rothbart, an enchanter whom King William had banished years before. King William's Captain manages to make it to Uberta's castle, telling him they were attacked by a "Great Animal". When Derek rides out to the site of the attack, he only finds King William, who says "It's not what it seems" before dying. The people of the kingdom believe that Odette is dead, except Derek, who vows to find her. To this end, he constantly practices his archery skills with his friend, Bromley.
In truth, Rothbart has cast a spell on Odette, keeping her captive at a lake in the woods. Although she is technically free to leave the grounds whenever she likes, as soon as moonlight leaves the lake, she transforms into a swan. In order to become human again, Odette has to be on the lake itself, and moonlight has to touch her wings. Rothbart explains that he wants to legally take over William's kingdom by marrying Odette. Every night Rothbart visits her to ask her to marry him, and every night she says no. While staying at the lake, Odette befriends three animals: Jean-Bob a French frog that thinks he's a prince, Speed the turtle, and Puffin the puffin. Odette believes that Derek is looking for her, just as Derek believes that he will one day find her.
Working together with her animal friends, Odette manages to lure Derek to the lake, where she transforms in front of him. She explains that the spell can only be broken by a "vow of everlasting love", which Derek must "prove to the world". Derek asks that Odette attend the ball that is being held at his castle the following night, so that he may make the vow before of all the guests. After Derek leaves, Rothbart arrives and reveals that he has heard their entire plan. He magically transforms his sidekick, the Hag, into a replica of Odette, so that she may attend the ball in Odette's stead, explaining that if Derek makes the vow to the wrong girl, Odette will die. Rothbart locks Odette in the watery dungeon of his castle.
At the ball, numerous princesses are introduced to Derek. Odette manages to escape the dungeon, but she arrives at the ball too late and witnesses Derek making his vow to the Hag. When Derek realises his mistake, he follows Odette back to the lake, where she transforms back into human form, but is slowly dying. Rothbart reveals himself and transforms into the Great Animal. A fight ensues between him and Derek, and is ended when Derek fires an arrow into the Great Animal's heart. Derek tells Odette he loves her, for reasons beyond her beauty, and she recovers. The pair are married in a royal wedding, with the entire kingdom rejoicing.
Voice cast
Musical numbers
- This Is My Idea
- Practice, Practice, Practice
- Far Longer Than Forever
- No Fear
- No More Mr. Nice Guy
- No Fear (Reprise) [Featured only in the film between "Princesses on Parade", but not on the film soundtrack]
- Princesses on Parade
- Far Longer Than Forever (finale) - Jeffrey Osborne & Regina Belle
- Eternity (End Titles) - Dreams Come True
Release
Theatrical
The Swan Princess had a theatrical release in November 1994 to a lukewarm response of $2,445,155 on its opening weekend. It eventually had a total domestic gross of $9,771,658. Currently has a "C" At Boxofficemojo. as of 2008 38% of the critics at Rottentomatoes give positive reviews (based on 8 reviews).
Home video
The Swan Princess was originally released on home video on August 1 1995. In certain European countries, the full The Swan Princess trilogy was released in a 2-disc double-sided set on February 16 2004. On March 30 2004 the film was re-released to mark its 10-year anniversary, with a new cover for the video and Special Edition DVD. The Special Edition DVD contains a few extras, including trailers, a read-along feature, a sing-along feature and games. On August 2 2005, The Swan Princess was released as a double-feature DVD with its sequel The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.
Nominations
Sequels
Two sequels were made to the movie: The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom. The sequels are alternately titled The Secret of the Castle and The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure respectively in certain European DVD releases. Both sequels deal with the heroes having to face other dark arts magicians who are connected with Rothbart, the villain of the original movie. Most of the main voice cast did not return for the sequels except Michelle Nicastro who reprised her role as Odette, and Steve Vinovich who reprised his role as Puffin. The two sequels featured re-used animation and background shots from the original film, as well as the original music score.
See also
External links
- - The Swan Princess Official Website
- - Official Website
- Producer & Distributor
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