''The Swan Princess'' is a 1994 American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

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 ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

based on the ballet ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

''. Featuring

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. ...

Howard McGillin Howard McGillin (born November 5, 1953, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. He is known for originating the role of John Jasper in '' The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' (1985) and for portraying the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' ...

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

Steven Wright Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. He is known for his distinctive lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical j ...

Sandy Duncan Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of ''Peter Pan'', the sitcom '' The Hogan Family'', and the Disney films '' The Million D ...

, 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 ...

, the film is directed by former

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

animation director

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 scored by

Lex de Azevedo Alexis King de Azevedo (born January 14, 1943) is an American composer, songwriter, and pianist known primarily for his film scores and his work on ''The Swan Princess (soundtrack), The Swan Princess'' of which one of his songs was nominated for ...

. The film was distributed by

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

in the United States and by

Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operations. It was laun ...

outside the US. It was released theatrically on November 18, 1994, and grossed $9.8 million against a $21 million budget, becoming a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

, mostly due to struggling competition with the release of ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' (1994). The film later became popular through home video releases and has since been followed by a series of direct-to-video sequels starting in 1997. The theme song "

Far Longer than Forever "Far Longer than Forever" is the theme song from the animated movie ''The Swan Princess''. The song was written by composer Lex de Azevedo and lyricist David Zippel, with production by Robbie Buchanan. The song is performed by Regina Belle and Jef ...

" is performed by

Regina Belle Regina Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles "Baby Come to Me (Regina Belle song), Baby Come to Me" (1989) and "Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle is most notabl ...

and

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D. (band), L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. B ...

. The song was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

in 1995 for Best Original Song.

Plot

King William and his friend Queen Uberta both have a child; Uberta has a son named Derek and William has a daughter named Odette. The two want their children to marry when they grow up so they can unite their two kingdoms forever. However, sorcerer Rothbart plans to take King William's kingdom for himself. William discovers his plans and Rothbart is banished. He swears revenge. Derek and Odette hate each other as children but when they reach adulthood, they do fall in love. However, when Derek can't think of anything he loves Odette for besides her beauty, she rejects him, disappointed. On her way home, she and her father are ambushed by Rothbart, who transforms into a " Great Animal", kidnapping Odette and fatally injuring William. The dying William tells Derek about the Great Animal and Odette. The kingdom assumes that she is dead, but Derek is determined to find her. Rothbart is keeping Odette captive at Swan Lake. To make her unable to leave, he casts a powerful spell that turns Odette into a

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

during the day. She can temporarily return to her true form at night if she stands on the lake when the moonlight touches it. Rothbart's goal is to marry Odette so he can rule the kingdom. During her captivity, she befriends a

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

named Speed, a French

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

named Jean-Bob, and an Irish

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

named

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Puffin. In the woods, Derek mistakes Odette for the Great Animal and tries to kill her. The ensuing chase leads him to Swan Lake, where he witnesses her reverting to a human. Odette tells Derek that to break the spell, he must make a vow of everlasting love. He invites her to the ball, hoping to declare to the world his love. Rothbart transforms his hag sidekick, Bridget, into a

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

Odette to fool Derek into making his vow to the wrong woman, which will kill the real Odette. On the night of the ball, he imprisons Odette and Derek's friend Bromley. Odette's animal friends free her and she flies to the castle to warn Derek, but she is too late; Derek has made the vow. Realizing his mistake, Derek follows Odette back to Swan Lake, where she dies in his arms. A heartbroken Derek battles Rothbart and with the help of Bromley and Odette's animal friends, kills him. Derek confesses his love to Odette, realizing that it's the person Odette has become that he loves about her, and she comes back to life; the spell on her is broken by his love. Derek and Odette get married and they, along with his mother, Rogers, Bromley, King William's servants, and the animals move into Rothbart's castle.

Voice cast

The chorus consists of Catte Adams, Stephen W. Amerson, Beth Andersen, Susan Boyd,

Amick Byram David Amick Byram (born January 24, 1955) is an American singer and two-time Grammy nominee. Byram is the co-founder and Producing Director of the American Coast Theater Company. A native of McLennan County, Texas, Byram is a well-known sessions a ...

, Randy Crenshaw, Michael Dees,

Jim Haas James Edwin Haas (died January 2018) was an American singer who performed vocals for many artists including Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Jackson Browne, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Pink Floyd, and Barry Manilow. Leif Garrett, after Haas' death ...

, Debbie Hall, Angie Jaree, Bob Joyce, Jon Joyce, Kerry Katz, Tampa M. Lann, Rick Logan, Susan McBride, Bobbie Page, Sally Stevens, Susan Stevens-Logan, Gary Stockdale, Carmen Twillie, and

Oren Waters Oren Waters is an American vocalist best known for his work with the backup singing group The Waters, his siblings: Luther, Maxine and Julia. As an ensemble, Waters has been a part of 260 gold and over 100 platinum albums with artists including ...

Production

Having previously directed ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a r ...

'' (1981) and '' The Black Cauldron'' (1985) at

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

in Burbank, California, Richard Rich was slated to co-direct ''

Oliver & Company ''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American Animated film, animated musical film, musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is inspired by the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist''. I ...

'' (1988) until he was fired by Disney feature animation president Peter Schneider. Following his departure from Disney, he subsequently formed his own studio, Rich Animation Studios with about 26 employees, in which most of his key employees came from

, including the company's marketing chief, Matt Mazer. Subsequently, Jared F. Brown from Living Scriptures, Inc. tapped Rich into producing half-hour animated videos based on the audio cassette readings of the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

. Inspired by the success of

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...

's animated films as well as Disney's early-1990s animation renaissance, Rich decided to adapt the German folk tale version of ''Swan Lake''. During production, the script went through twelve drafts over the course of two years. Rich would later attempt to sell his script to several Hollywood studios but to no success. Later, Brown struck on the idea of merging Rich Animation Studios, Family Entertainment Network, and Cassette Duplicators Inc., a cassette-duplicating operation in West Valley City, Utah, into one production holding company called Nest Entertainment. 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. Most of the cel painting was done at

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 ...

in Seoul, South Korea. Overall, 275 animators and artists worked throughout the film's production.

Music

David Zippel David Joel Zippel (born May 17, 1954) is an American musical theatre and film lyricist, composer, songwriter, director, and producer. Early life and education Zippel was born on May 17, 1954, in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region ...

was approached by Richard Rich to write the lyrics to songs for ''The Swan Princess'', while the songs and score were composed by

. The theme song "

" was written by de Azevedo and Zippel. In the film, the song was performed by

vocalists Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Liz Callaway Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress, singer and recording artist, who is best known for having provided the singing voices of many female characters in animated films, such as Anya (Anastasia), Anastasia in ''Anastasia (1997 ...

(as the singing voice of Princess Odette) and

(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

and

. In the 1997 sequel ''Escape from Castle Mountain'', Michelle Nicastro sings a reprise of the song.

Caryn James Caryn James is an American film critic, journalist, university lecturer, and writer. Biography She grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and obtained her doctorate in English literature at Brown University. She began working as a freelance jour ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' noted the "melody of 'Far Longer Than Forever' ... echoes the first five notes of '

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'." Animation historian

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

wrote in his book ''The Animated Movie Guide'' that the song had a theme of faith. The pop single was jointly released by

Sony Wonder Sony Pictures Kids Zone is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Despite the similarity in name, Sony Wonder is not directly related to the fo ...

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 nga totally different artistic note" in the context of the film's musical landscape. The 1995 edition of ''

The Motion Picture Guide ''The Motion Picture Guide'' is a film reference work first published by Cinebooks in 1985. It was written by Jay Robert Nash, Stanley Ralph Ross, and Robert B. Connelly. It was annually updated through new volumes and had a CD-ROM version, whi ...

'' felt the "love theme" was deserving of the Golden Globe. John Hartl of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' deemed the song "insistent", noting that audiences may "quickly get their fill" of the tune. "Far Longer than Forever" was nominated for a

in 1995 for Best Original Song.

Release

When ''The Swan Princess'' was nearing completion,

purchased the distribution rights in the United States, and

obtained the foreign distribution rights.

Marketing

Pillsbury partnered with

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner on August 2, 1986. Purchased by Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was lar ...

for a marketing campaign to promote the film's home video release.

Home media

Turner Home Entertainment first released ''The Swan Princess'' on VHS and LaserDisc in the Turner Family Showcase collection on August 3, 1995, and sold over 2.5 million units. Outside the United States, Columbia TriStar Home Video released it on VHS. On March 30, 2004, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released the film for the first time on DVD, in Special Edition. The Special Edition DVD contains a few extras, including trailers, a read-along feature, a sing-along feature, and games. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment later re-released the Special Edition DVD on August 18, 2009. It was also released as a double-feature DVD with its sequel '' The Swan Princess 3: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom''. A Blu-ray version of the film was released on October 29, 2019, for its 25th anniversary.

Reception

Critical response

''The Swan Princess'' received favorable reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film three out of four stars, writing "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 ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said it was a better film than ''

'', praising its "fluid, unhurried pace" and "lush, original sense of color", though deeming the score " otterribly distinctive". Caryn James of ''The New York Times'' noted the film's similarities to ''

'' (1991), writing it was "not quite as good or fresh, but it's delicious all the same, bound to amuse children and entertain their trapped parents, too." Brian Lowry of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' stated the film was "technically impressive but rather flat and languid storywise".

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

of ''ReelViews'' gave the film stars of 4, writing that "much of ''The Swan Princess'' is trite and uninspired", 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".

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

of ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

'' gave the film two out of four stars, writing the film is a "casually drawn tale of a boring prince and princess tormented by a dull sorcerer. The songs are weak, and no relationship is developed between the principals." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''The Swan Princess'' has an approval rating of 50% based on 12 reviews and an average score of 5.4/10.

Box office

During its opening weekend, ''The Swan Princess'' opened in tenth place at the box office, earning $2.4 million. It eventually grossed $9.8 million against a $21 million budget, becoming a

box office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

, mostly due to struggling competition with several other family films and 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''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan Princess, The 1990s children's animated films 1990s English-language films 1990s fantasy adventure films 1990s fantasy comedy-drama films 1990s musical comedy-drama films 1990s romantic musical films 1994 American animated films 1990s musical fantasy films 1994 children's films 1994 films 1994 romantic comedy-drama films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated drama films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films American fantasy adventure films American fantasy comedy-drama films American musical comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American romantic fantasy films American romantic musical films Animated films about birds Animated films about frogs Animated films about princesses Animated films about royalty Animated films about shapeshifting Animated films about turtles Animated films about witchcraft Animated films based on fairy tales Animated films set in castles Animated films set in the Middle Ages Balls (dance party) in films Children's comedy-drama films English-language fantasy adventure films English-language fantasy comedy films English-language fantasy comedy-drama films English-language fantasy drama films English-language musical comedy-drama films English-language romantic comedy-drama films English-language romantic musical 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) New Line Cinema animated films New Line Cinema films 1994 musical films