The Swan Princess

Plot

King William (Dakin Matthews), widowed father of newborn Princess Odette, and Queen Uberta (Sandy Duncan), widowed mother of young Prince Derek, decide to betroth their children in the hopes of uniting their kingdoms. Unbeknownst to the royal duo, the evil sorcerer Rothbart (Jack Palance), concerned by Odette's birth, is planning to take William's kingdom for himself by mastering a type of dark magic known as The Forbidden Arts. But before he can make his move, he is attacked by William's men. Rather than sentencing him to death, however, King William spares Rothbart's life by banishing him from the kingdom. Before leaving, Rothbart swears to William that he will get his power back and steal everything that he had.

William and Uberta have Odette and Derek meet every summer, hoping they'll fall in love. As children, this fails miserably, but when the years pass and the two reach adulthood, they do fall in love. Derek (Howard McGillin) declares that the wedding preparations begins, but when he expresses his wish to marry Odette (Michelle Nicastro) only for her beauty, she rejects him. Odette and William leave, but they are ambushed by the vengeful Rothbart, who transforms into a "Great Animal" with his new powers, kidnapping Odette and fatally injuring William. Upon being tipped off by the arrival of King William's captain, Derek arrives on the scene, where William tells him with his dying breath that they were attacked by a "Great Animal", and that Odette is "gone". Assuming Odette's death, Uberta encourages her son to find another princess. But Derek is determined to find Odette, believing that she is still alive. He and his best friend Bromley (Joel McKinnon Miller) practice hunting every day in preparation for facing the Great Animal.

Elsewhere, Rothbart is keeping Odette at his castle lair at Swan Lake. He has cast a powerful spell that turns Odette into a swan during the day, and she is able to temporarily turn human at night if she is on the lake under moonlight. Every night Rothbart asks Odette to marry him so he can rule William's kingdom, but she refuses. During her captivity, she befriends a turtle named Speed (Steven Wright), a French frog named Jean-Bob (John Cleese), who dreams of being human, and an Irish puffin (Steve Vinovich).

Puffin and Odette (in her swan form), fly together to find Derek. By chance they stumble upon Derek in the woods, for he is searching for the Great Animal. But Derek mistakes Odette for the Great Animal (having deduced that the creature is a shapeshifter), and tries to kill her. The ensuing chase leads Derek to Swan Lake, where he witnesses Odette's change from swan to human when the moon rises. The two share a loving reunion, and Odette tells Derek that the spell can only be broken by a vow of everlasting love. Derek invites Odette to his mother's ball the following night, hoping to declare to the world of his love for her. Derek leaves just as Rothbart arrives. The enchanter has heard the whole conversation, and informs Odette that she will never make it to the ball for there will be "no moon" on this same night, much to her dismay and sorrow. Later, inside his castle, fearing that Derek's vow would ruin his plans, Rothbart decides to make his hag sidekick Bridget an artificial Odette, ensuring that if Derek made the vow to her as the wrong woman, then Odette will die. The next night, while Derek is helping out the preparations for the ball at Uberta's castle, Rothbart imprisons Odette (in swan form) in the dungeon of his castle, along with Bromley, whom he had found in the woods the other night. Bridget, in the form of the human Odette, arrives at Uberta's ball where she is dancing with Derek, who is unaware of her true identity.

At Swan Lake, Puffin, Speed and Jean-Bob manage to free Odette from the dungeon through a duel with two hungry crocodiles and she flies to Uberta's castle, but she is unable to warn Derek in time. And much to Odette's horror, Derek makes the vow of everlasting love to the wrong girl. Rothbart enters and shows Derek the fake Odette's true form, Bridget. Upon realizing his mistake too late, Derek races after Odette back to Swan Lake, where Odette transforms back into her human form. Odette dies in Derek's arms, but not before telling him that she loves him. A furious Derek confronts Rothbart, ordering him to revive Odette, but the sorcerer declares to the prince "only if he defeat...him". Rothbart transforms into the Great Animal, and a battle ensues with Rothbart overpowering Derek. Odette's animal friends return Derek's bow to him, and Bromley, who has also escaped the dungeon, provides Derek with a single arrow. Derek catches and fires the arrow into the Great Animal's heart, destroying him.

Derek confesses to Odette that he loves her for her kindness and courage, and Odette returns to life; the spell on her is broken. The next day, the two are married and they moved into Rothbart's former castle where they lived happily ever after.

Production

Richard Rich was one of several animators to leave Disney during the 1980s, and he subsequently formed his own company. The film was created by hand painting cels, a tedious technique which caused Rich and his crew to take over four years to produce the final product.

Marketing

Pilsbury partnered with Turner Home Entertainment for a marketing campaign, to create a product costing $24.98. The campaign had a 20 million dollar budget, despite the movie having only made 10 million when it was announced.

Soundtrack

The theme song "Far Longer than Forever" was written by lyricists by Lex de Azevedo & David Zippel and composer Lex de Azevedo.

In the 1994 animated film, the song was performed by vocalists Liz Callaway (as the singing voice of Princess Odette) and Howard McGillin (as the speaking and singing voice of Prince Derek). In the closing credits, a pop/R&B rendition of the song was performed by recording artists Regina Belle and Jeffrey Osborne. Michelle Nicastro sings a reprise of the song in the 1997 sequel, Escape From Castle Mountain.

The lyrics of the song revolve around the bond between two lovers who, although they are far apart, have faith that their love would eventually draw them together once again. In the film version, Princess Odette and Prince Derek are pledging their love for each other, despite the fact that distance and circumstances separate them. However, they truly believe that their love shared could overcome any barrier.

The New York Times wrote "The melody of 'Far Longer Than Forever'...echoes the first five notes of 'Beauty and the Beast.'" Everything's Better With Bob deemed it the best song of the film due to being "void of all daft rhyming schemes that hit the rest of the songs in the film". The Animated Movie Guide noted that the song had a theme of faith. The "Far Longer Than Forever" commercial single was jointly released by Sony Wonder and Sony 550 Music. MusicHound Soundtracks: The Essential Album Guide to Film, Television and Stage Music called the "seemingly mandatory big ballad" "extremely annoying" due to "strik[ing] a totally different artistic note" in the contect of the film's musical landscape. The Motion Picture Guide 1995 Annual: The Films of 1994 said the "love theme" was deserving of the Golden Globe. Star-News deemed the song "insistent," noting that audiences may "quickly get [their] fill" of the tune.

"Far Longer than Forever" was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1995 for Best Original Song.

Musical Numbers

1. "This Is My Idea"
2. "Practice, Practice, Practice"
3. "Far Longer than Forever"
4. "No Fear"
5. "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
6. "No Fear (Reprise)" (featured only in the film; not in the soundtrack)
7. "Princesses on Parade"
8. "Far Longer than Forever" (End Titles) - Regina Belle and Jeffrey Osborne
9. "Eternity (End Titles)" - Dreams Come True

Theatrical

The Swan Princess received U.S. theatrical release on November 18, 1994, and only made $2,445,155 on its opening weekend. It eventually had a total domestic gross of $9,771,658 against a $21 million budget, becoming a huge financial disappointment, partly due to struggling competition with a re-release of The Lion King.

Disney's reissuing of The Lion King just as this film was being released was seen as "sabotage" by Variety.

Home video

The Swan Princess was originally released on home video on August 1, 1995, by Turner Home Entertainment, and sold over 2.5 million units. 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 VHS 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 3: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom. In the US the film along with its sequels can be seen in the full frame ratio, as opposed to the European releases where the film is preserved in its original widescreen aspect ratio. Currently, a Blu-ray version of the film has yet to be announced.

Reception

As of 2014, Rotten Tomatoes has a 44% ("rotten") score, based on 9 reviews with an average score of 5.3/10.

Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Despite the comparatively limited resources at his disposal, Richard Rich shows that he understands the recent Disney animated renaissance and can create some of the same magic. The movie isn't in the same league as Disney's big four, and it doesn't have the same crossover appeal to adults, but as family entertainment, it's bright and cheerful, and it has its moments." Similarly, Hal Hinson of The Washington Post said it was a better film than The Lion King, praising its "fluid, unhurried pace" and "lush, original sense of color", though deeming the score "[not] terribly distinctive".

Brian Lowry of Variety said the film was "technically impressive but rather flat and languid storywise", and James Berardinelli of ReelViews said "much of The Swan Princess is trite and uninspired" in his 2.5/4 star review, though added "nevertheless, despite its problems, The Swan Princess is actually one of the better non- Disney animated productions to come along in a while".