After a generation of countless Disney movies, anyone would expect some lower company to try and beat Disney at his own game. So far, nothing's worked and this movie is a good example of this. The story is the beautiful princess, Odette, is kidnapped by a powerful sorcerer (a plot we have seen dozens of other times), but here is the twist. The bad guy puts a spell on her, making it so that she will always be a swan, unless she is on the lake when the moon's light is shining on it. Now, let me introduce the 'prince charming' of the story. Derek is the prince of another kingdom who blows the two kingdoms chances of being allies when he says the wrong words to their princess, but he is still in deep love for her and is looking for the creature known as the "Great Animal", who kills Odette's father. While Derek is searching for the identity of the Great Animal, Odette, as a swan, meets three characters definitely meant for small children. You have Jean Bob, the frog who thinks he is a prince, Speed, a turtle that sounds and feels way too close to Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore, and General Puffin, a puffin bird.
After the opening song "This is my Idea" which was the closest the movie got to being anywhere as good as Disney's orchestra, the movie seems to fall apart. Jean Bob has the fakest French accent I have ever heard and he is just annoying, rather than funny. Speed? Probably the only decent character in the story. General Puffin? It seems like he is just showing off for Odette, knowing she is a princess, and the methods of helping her just become too childish and too immature for any audience to really care for the story.
The Swan Princess is stuffed with songs, all of which sounds either horrible, or just plain idiotic, like the sorcerer's song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "Princesses on Parade". Every song makes you wonder why they put in the song, and after hearing 3 of these pathetic tunes, you just want to go and spend your day elsewhere.
The story is also packed full of clichés. It would have been easy to simply avoid these, but for some reason, the director couldn't. The whole "princess being kidnapped, and prince rushing to save her" sounds like a dozen of Disney's movies, and the characters in the Swan Princess aren't any different. You have innocent, little Odette who has a terrible curse on her (*cough* Sleeping Beauty *cough**cough*), the fair, defeats-all prince, and the three child-friendly characters. Also, here's a surprise! Well, not really. The bad guy is actually the Great Animal!? What other movies have villains that change into awesome creatures? "Aladdin", "Sleeping Beauty", and probably many more other movies that I am too tired to think of right now. And what a surprise also. The 'Great' powerful Animal is killed in ONE HIT! Again, WAAAY over-used.
If you are looking for a decent family movie for kids to leave you alone until half way through, this could be that movie. But if you have a chair that has a leg that is smaller than the others, The Swan Princess is definitely more efficient than some cardboard. Honestly, The Swan Princess is a movie that feels far too much like a would-be Disney clone and has too many clichés for me to actually recommend it.
After the opening song "This is my Idea" which was the closest the movie got to being anywhere as good as Disney's orchestra, the movie seems to fall apart. Jean Bob has the fakest French accent I have ever heard and he is just annoying, rather than funny. Speed? Probably the only decent character in the story. General Puffin? It seems like he is just showing off for Odette, knowing she is a princess, and the methods of helping her just become too childish and too immature for any audience to really care for the story.
The Swan Princess is stuffed with songs, all of which sounds either horrible, or just plain idiotic, like the sorcerer's song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "Princesses on Parade". Every song makes you wonder why they put in the song, and after hearing 3 of these pathetic tunes, you just want to go and spend your day elsewhere.
The story is also packed full of clichés. It would have been easy to simply avoid these, but for some reason, the director couldn't. The whole "princess being kidnapped, and prince rushing to save her" sounds like a dozen of Disney's movies, and the characters in the Swan Princess aren't any different. You have innocent, little Odette who has a terrible curse on her (*cough* Sleeping Beauty *cough**cough*), the fair, defeats-all prince, and the three child-friendly characters. Also, here's a surprise! Well, not really. The bad guy is actually the Great Animal!? What other movies have villains that change into awesome creatures? "Aladdin", "Sleeping Beauty", and probably many more other movies that I am too tired to think of right now. And what a surprise also. The 'Great' powerful Animal is killed in ONE HIT! Again, WAAAY over-used.
If you are looking for a decent family movie for kids to leave you alone until half way through, this could be that movie. But if you have a chair that has a leg that is smaller than the others, The Swan Princess is definitely more efficient than some cardboard. Honestly, The Swan Princess is a movie that feels far too much like a would-be Disney clone and has too many clichés for me to actually recommend it.