Animation Celebration Saturday - The Swan Princess

Nest Entertainment/Rich Animation Studios, 1994
Voices of Michelle Nicastro, Howard McGillin, Jack Palance, Sandy Duncan

The Story: Princess Odette (Nicastro) and Prince Derrick (McGillin) have been pushed together since their childhood by their parents, who who hope they'll someday marry and unite their kingdoms. They hate each other as kids, but when they meet as adults, they fall instantly in love...until Derrick says he's only in love with Odette's beauty. She leaves him, but falls into the clutches of the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart (Palance), who transforms her into a swan. In order to change her back, Derrick has to make a vow of everlasting love. He invites Odette to the ball his mother Uberta (Sandy Duncan) is holding the next evening. Von Rothbart, however, has no intention of allowing the real Odette to attend that ball, but her friends are determined to help her get to her prince.

The Song and Dance: What makes this one is sprightly Odette and her very funny companions. Steve Vinovich as Puffin and Steven Wright as Speed the Turtle are good, but my favorite is a hilarious John Cleese as Jean-Bob the frog who thinks he's a prince. Their "No Fear" number as they retrieve a map from Von Rothbart's castle is a highlight of the movie. I also love Mark Harelik as the supremely sarcastic Lord Rogers, who gets most of the film's best lines. Palance digs into his role of the sorcerer obsessed with taking over the kingdom with relish.

The Animation: According to Wikipedia, this movie used hand-painted cells for it's animation. That may have taken forever to do, but it sure worked for the finished project. The colors are vibrant and rich, the backgrounds lush and dense. It's very much in the mold of the Disney movies of the time period, which makes sense, since most of the people who worked on this were apparently former Disney animators. Some of the effects animation is beautifully done, especially Odette's transformations.

Favorite Number: Along with "No Fear," I'm a big fan of the opening song "This Is My Idea." It charmingly depicts how Derrick and Odette grow up visiting one another in a way that seems realistic and surprisingly natural for an animated fairy tale. The Busby Berkley homage/beauty pageant spoof "Princesses On Parade" is also a lot of fun. Jack Palance can't sing worth a darn, but he gives it his all on the uptempo villain song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" anyway.

What I Don't Like: Derrick is bland, dull, and a bit of a jerk. I have no idea why Odette changed her mind about him so quickly. Their big love duet "For Longer Than Forever" is cliched and drippy. It hasn't dated as well as "Eternity," the lovely pop ballad that plays over the second half of the credits (and in a music video included on 90's VHS releases). Like The Little Mermaid, this doesn't retain the tragic ending of (or much of anything at all from) the fairy tale that inspired it, Swan Lake.

The Big Finale: It's a shame that this was trounced by a holiday season re-release of The Lion King when it originally came out. It eventually became a best-seller on home video that spawned seven direct-to-home-media movies to date. I haven't seen any of them and have no intention of doing so. If you're a big fan of the Disney imitations of the 90's or are looking for a upbeat animated fairy tale for girls, this gem deserves to be far better-known.

Home Media: Unfortunately, I believe the original Swan Princess is currently out of print on DVD and has yet to make it to Blu-Ray...but the DVD can be found for cheap, and it available for rent or purchase on Amazon.

DVD
Amazon rent/buy