It's hard to see an animated feature and not compare it to some of Disney's Best. Hey Disney did pioneer the concept, perfected it, and did what not many companies could do: Do it well.
This movie didn't do it well, although Richard Rich (the Director) did once work for Disney, he directed "Fox and the Hound" and "The Black Cauldron"- with the latter being one of Disney's bigger disappointments. Ten years later, he directed "The Swan Princess" even after Disney tried to convince him to stop production as they were planning to release a version of their own, but when he wouldn't scrap his, they scrapped theirs, and in 1994, Disney had it's biggest box office gross ever with the Lion King, The Swan Princess brought in about 9 Million in the US (Disney re-releasing The Lion King at the same time was a little dirty on Disney's part- but it may have saved a lot of parents from having to sit through a bland Disney Wannabe)
The Animation is the films best asset, Brightly colored, smooth, no gimmicks or massive special effects. The characters on the other hand, could've used a little retooling, they lack much, if any existed, of a personality. Princess Odette, in an attempt to put her in the head strong, faith in herself Disney Heroines of the early 90's, fails to do so. When Princess Odette and Prince Derrick meet as adults, they are completely smittne with each other, he tells her she's beautiful, to which she asks "Is Beauty all the That Matters?" and he asks "What Else is there?" We are supposed to believe that this is no ordinary Princess, she's smart, sophisticated, and yearns for more than just being a beautiful face, which would be alright except that up to that point, they couldn't stand each other, and then when placed in a room together, they stare at each other, and are in love- so didn't she just fall in love with what she saw? They never really seemed to be into each other's personalities before, so doesn't that just leave Aesthitcs? True, the Prince's response isn't exactly, well good doesn't begin to cover it, the Princess is being hypocritical.
The story isn't the worst, but has a few plot holes, one of which would make the ending completely unnecessary, but would leave out the generic fairy tale battle between the prince and a large creature.
The only other saving grace are Odette's Animal friends - Speed the Turtle, Jean Bob the Frog (John Cleese with a cheesy French Accent), and Puffin- the Puffin(?). Jean bob's ongoing attempts to get a kiss form Odette to break his spell (he believes he is actually a Prince that was turned into a frog) are actually interesting- too bad the rest of the movie isn't.
The saddest thing about the whole movie is it's blatant ripping off of a Disney Score. The songs throughout the movie are often very similar to the songs in Beauty and the Beast, but unlike Beauty and the Beast, the songs aren't exactly catchy, let alone good. The only decent piece of Music is the love song "Far Longer Than Forever" sung by Prince Derrick and Odette (whose singing voice is also that of Anastasia's, Kiara in Disney's Lion King II, and Princess Jasmine in the 2nd and 3rd Aladdin Films) but even it doesn't compare to anything from the Disney Songbook- the Title of the song itself has a cheeseboard romance sound to it. This one would've been much better as a straight to video release, and compared to some of Disney's Straight to Video flicks does help it look slightly better, but only slightly
Overall, kids will enjoy it, the Animation is Beautiful and Lush, but Parents may want to leave the room.
My recommendation, pop in Beauty and the Beast or the Little Mermaid- Head strong Princesses, people under magic spells that change their appearance, great music that you don't mind getting stuck in your head, Well Developed Stories, Well Developed Characters.
This movie didn't do it well, although Richard Rich (the Director) did once work for Disney, he directed "Fox and the Hound" and "The Black Cauldron"- with the latter being one of Disney's bigger disappointments. Ten years later, he directed "The Swan Princess" even after Disney tried to convince him to stop production as they were planning to release a version of their own, but when he wouldn't scrap his, they scrapped theirs, and in 1994, Disney had it's biggest box office gross ever with the Lion King, The Swan Princess brought in about 9 Million in the US (Disney re-releasing The Lion King at the same time was a little dirty on Disney's part- but it may have saved a lot of parents from having to sit through a bland Disney Wannabe)
The Animation is the films best asset, Brightly colored, smooth, no gimmicks or massive special effects. The characters on the other hand, could've used a little retooling, they lack much, if any existed, of a personality. Princess Odette, in an attempt to put her in the head strong, faith in herself Disney Heroines of the early 90's, fails to do so. When Princess Odette and Prince Derrick meet as adults, they are completely smittne with each other, he tells her she's beautiful, to which she asks "Is Beauty all the That Matters?" and he asks "What Else is there?" We are supposed to believe that this is no ordinary Princess, she's smart, sophisticated, and yearns for more than just being a beautiful face, which would be alright except that up to that point, they couldn't stand each other, and then when placed in a room together, they stare at each other, and are in love- so didn't she just fall in love with what she saw? They never really seemed to be into each other's personalities before, so doesn't that just leave Aesthitcs? True, the Prince's response isn't exactly, well good doesn't begin to cover it, the Princess is being hypocritical.
The story isn't the worst, but has a few plot holes, one of which would make the ending completely unnecessary, but would leave out the generic fairy tale battle between the prince and a large creature.
The only other saving grace are Odette's Animal friends - Speed the Turtle, Jean Bob the Frog (John Cleese with a cheesy French Accent), and Puffin- the Puffin(?). Jean bob's ongoing attempts to get a kiss form Odette to break his spell (he believes he is actually a Prince that was turned into a frog) are actually interesting- too bad the rest of the movie isn't.
The saddest thing about the whole movie is it's blatant ripping off of a Disney Score. The songs throughout the movie are often very similar to the songs in Beauty and the Beast, but unlike Beauty and the Beast, the songs aren't exactly catchy, let alone good. The only decent piece of Music is the love song "Far Longer Than Forever" sung by Prince Derrick and Odette (whose singing voice is also that of Anastasia's, Kiara in Disney's Lion King II, and Princess Jasmine in the 2nd and 3rd Aladdin Films) but even it doesn't compare to anything from the Disney Songbook- the Title of the song itself has a cheeseboard romance sound to it. This one would've been much better as a straight to video release, and compared to some of Disney's Straight to Video flicks does help it look slightly better, but only slightly
Overall, kids will enjoy it, the Animation is Beautiful and Lush, but Parents may want to leave the room.
My recommendation, pop in Beauty and the Beast or the Little Mermaid- Head strong Princesses, people under magic spells that change their appearance, great music that you don't mind getting stuck in your head, Well Developed Stories, Well Developed Characters.