''The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure'', alternatively titled ''The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom'', is a 1998 American animated direct-to-video

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

and the third installment in ''

The Swan Princess ''The Swan Princess'' is a 1994 American animated musical fantasy film based on the ballet ''Swan Lake''. Featuring Michelle Nicastro, Howard McGillin, Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, Sandy Duncan, and Steve Vinovich, the film is direct ...

'' franchise. It was directed again by

Richard Rich Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was Lord Chancellor during King Edward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated almshouses in Essex in 1564. He was ...

, and features the voices of

Michelle Nicastro Michelle Nicastro (March 31, 1960 – November 4, 2010) was an American actress and singer. Life and career Nicastro was born in Washington D.C., the daughter of Carole Rose (née Guarino) and Norman Joseph Nicastro, who was an ophthalmologist. ...

and Brian Nissen as Odette and Derek. This film follows Derek and Odette having to deal with Zelda, a sorceress who is seeking the Forbidden Arts and wishes to use it to destroy their happiness. This sequel features the returning voices of Nicastro and

Steve Vinovich Steve Vinovich (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor. Biography Vinovich was born on January 22, 1945, in Peoria, Illinois. Vinovich has appeared in several feature films such as B.J Wert in 1987's ''Mannequin'', and Dr. Novos in the 199 ...

from the first film, which would be the last time, with the former's death in 2010, with all the other characters being re-cast. The overseas production was handled by

Hanho Heung-Up Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. is an animation service studio based in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1984 by Steven Hahn, over the years the studio has produced animation for many of the industry’s leading SVOD, cable, and broadcast studios and dis ...

, a South Korean animation studio that provided cel painting service for the original film, and also animated the first direct-to-video sequel, '' The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain''. It was the last film in the series to use traditional 2D animation. The film was seemingly the end of the series, until 2012, when it was followed by another direct-to-DVD sequel: '' The Swan Princess: Christmas'', which consists of

3D computer animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

for the first time.

Plot

As Prince Derek and Princess Odette's kingdom prepares to celebrate Festival Days, the evil sorceress Zelda plots to reclaim Rothbart's notes on the Forbidden Arts; notes she helped write when she and Rothbart were partners. To discover if the notes still exist, Zelda captures a yakey-bird named Whizzer, who has the ability to imitate any voice after hearing it only once. Though Zelda's magical abilities are limited, she can create a magical fireball called a seeker to target anyone she commands it to. Threatening his life with this ability, Whizzer goes to Swan Lake Castle as a spy and overhears how Derek and Rogers discovered Rothbart's notes and had them hidden. Odette never knew Derek found the notes and always assumed if such things were discovered, the notes would be immediately destroyed. She tries to convince Derek to dispose of it saying how nothing good will ever come of them while Derek maintained his belief of someday using the notes for good. After Whizzer informs Zelda, she goes to the castle pretending to be an "accordion slave". She flirts and charms Lord Rogers with a story about how she had escaped a king who kept her locked up and play the accordion constantly. Rogers falls in love with Zelda and invites her to stay at the castle, despite the reservations of Queen Uberta. That night, Zelda steals the chest with Rothbart's notes and flees. To her dismay, the notes are incomplete and prevent her from gaining full power. Zelda questions Whizzer and learns that Derek tore off the remaining portion and has it hidden. Zelda casts a seeker to find Odette, while Whizzer is sent to deliver a ransom note to Derek. The seeker successfully brings Odette and Jean-Bob to Zelda's lair. At the castle, Derek receives the ransom note and retrieves the torn portion of Rothbart's notes from where he'd hidden it in the library. Whizzer is captured by Speed and Puffin, who convince him to help them stop Zelda. Whizzer eventually agrees and the group heads out to help Derek to rescue Odette. When Jean-Bob frees Odette, she attempts to sneak off with the notes only to be caught again. Zelda then transforms Odette into a swan and imprisons her and Jean-Bob in a dome of green fire that will disintegrate anything that touches it, including its prisoners. When Derek arrives at the meeting place to pay the ransom, Zelda tricks Derek into letting his guard down by disguising herself as Odette and snatches the final piece from his grip. Zelda mocks Derek and retracts her promise of returning Odette. Instead, she plans to test the Power to Destroy on Odette. Puffin, Speed, and Whizzer finally meet up with Derek and race toward Zelda's lair. They free Odette and Jean-Bob while Zelda is busy absorbing the Power to Destroy. Derek and the others face her in battle during the ensuing fight, Zelda conjures a destroying seeker and casts it at Odette, who flies away from the lair with Puffin in an attempt to escape. Whizzer distracts Zelda by imitating Rothbart's voice, allowing Derek to snap her wand in two. Zelda falls back onto her own barricade of green fire and is killed for good. However, Puffin returns to the lair alone and reveals that Odette was killed by the seeker. A heartbroken Derek cries for his lost love, regretting that he did not destroy the notes earlier. As he burns the notes, he apologizes to Odette and prays that some good may still come from it. The flames take on the shape of a swan, from which Odette materializes, and returns to life. Derek embraces and tells Odette he loves her. The Kingdom is safe once more and the festival takes place as planned with Jean-Bob winning the obstacle course and becoming prince for a day (with a little outside help from Whizzer), and Uberta and Rogers winning the talent show. As Derek and Odette watch the proceedings, Odette asks Derek to promise there is no more magic in the castle. Derek replies he cannot because there will always be magic when Odette is there.

Cast

– Odette * Brian Nissen – Derek * Katja Zoch – Zelda * Joseph Medrano – Lord Rogers * Christy Landers – Queen Uberta * Donald Sage Mackay – Jean-Bob *

Doug Stone Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He debuted in 1990 with the single " I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epi ...

– Speed *

– Puffin * Paul Masonson – Whizzer ** Paul Masonson did also provide the voice of Frederick the chef. * Owen Miller – Bromley * Sean Wright – Sir Rothbart

Songs

* "It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This" - performed by Michelle Nicastro, Brian Nissen, Christy Landers, Doug Stone, Steve Vinovich, Donald Sage MacKay, Joseph Medrano, and Owen Miller * "Because I Love Her" - performed by Brian Nissen, lyrics by Clive Romney and Sydney Clarke * "She's Gone!" - performed by Joseph Medrano * "Bad Days Ahead" - performed by Katja Zoch * "The Right Side" - performed by Steve Vinovich, Doug Stone, and Paul Masonson * "Because I Love Her" nd Credits- performed by Connell Moss

Release

The film was originally released direct-to-video on August 4, 1998, with "It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This", "The Right Side", and "Because I Love Her" being used as three bonus sing alongs after the feature presentation. It was later released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on March 30, 2004. A full double-sided widescreen set containing all three films and the sing-a-long was released on February 16, 2004, but is only available outside of the United States. An American release of a two-pack Double Feature DVD came out on August 2, 2005, containing this film and the original ''

''.

Reception

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

have the film 3 out of 5 stars. The website reads, "So-so sequel recaptures some of 1st's charm and humor."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan Princess: The Mystery Of The Enchanted Kingdom 1998 animated films 1998 films 1998 children's films 1998 direct-to-video films 1990s fantasy adventure films 1990s musical fantasy films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films American fantasy adventure films American fantasy comedy films Direct-to-video animated films Direct-to-video sequel films Films directed by Richard Rich (filmmaker) Films scored by Lex de Azevedo Films with screenplays by Brian Nissen Films with screenplays by Richard Rich (filmmaker) Animated films about birds Animated films set in castles Animated films set in the Middle Ages The Swan Princess 1990s American animated films Sony Pictures direct-to-video films Animated films about frogs 1990s children's animated films 1998 musical films 1990s English-language films Animated films about turtles Puffins in popular culture English-language musical fantasy films English-language fantasy adventure films