The Swan Princess

Swanprincessposter — The film's original theatrical poster

The Swan Princess is a 1994 animated film very loosely based on the ballet Swan Lake by Peter Tchaikovsky. The film is the first in the Swan Princess series, which consists of 11 direct-to-DVD sequels (2 hand drawn and 9 in computer animation)

Plot[]

King William, widowed father of newborn Princess Odette, and Queen Uberta, widowed mother of young Prince Derek, decide to betroth their children in the hopes of uniting their kingdoms. Rothbart is an evil sorcerer who wishes to take William's kingdom for himself, but before he can make his move, he is attacked by William's men. Although banished from the kingdom, Rothbart vows to return to get his revenge.

William and Uberta have Odette and Derek meet every summer in the hopes that 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 declares that the wedding preparations begins, but when he expresses his wish to marry Odette only for her beauty, she rejects him. Odette and William leave, but they are ambushed by Rothbart, who transforms into a "Great Animal", kidnaps Odette, and fatally injures 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." Believing that Odette is dead, Uberta encourages Derek to find another princess, but he is determined to find Odette, believing that she can still be alive. He and his best friend Bromley practice hunting every day in preparation for facing the Great Animal with the help of Uberta’s valet, Lord Rogers.

Elsewhere, Rothbart is keeping Odette at his castle lair at Swan Lake. He has cast a 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, a French frog named Jean-Bob, who dreams of being human and thinks he's a prince, and Puffin, an Irish puffin.

After obtaining a map from Rothbart's castle while avoiding his hag sidekick Bridget, 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. Derek mistakes Odette For The Great Animal 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 explains 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 imprisons Odette as a swan in the castle dungeon, along with Bromley whom he had found in the woods. Furthermore, because there is a new moon on the night of the ball, Odette remains a swan that night.

Fearing that Derek's vow would ruin his plans, Rothbart sends Bridget to the ball disguised as Odette. Odette's friends free her from the dungeon and she flies to Uberta's castle, but she is unable to warn Derek in time. Derek makes the vow of everlasting love to the wrong girl, which causes the spell to start killing Odette. Upon realizing his mistake, Derek races after Odette back to Swan Lake, where Odette transforms back into a princess just before she dies in Derek's arms. A furious Derek confronts Rothbart, ordering him to revive Odette. Rothbart transforms into the Great Animal. A battle ensues with Rothbart overpowering Derek. Odette's animal friends return Derek's bow to him, and Bromley, who has escaped the dungeon, provides Derek with a single arrow. Derek catches and fires the arrow into Rothbart'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 broken. The two are married and live happily ever after, while Bridget switches sides and falls in love with Uberta’s lackey, Sir Chamberlain.

Cast[]

Michelle Nicastro as Princess Odette.
- Liz Callaway as Odette's singing voice.
- Adrian Zahiri as Odette as a child, pre-teen, and teenager.
- Larisa Oleynik as Odette's singing voice as a child.
Howard McGillin as Prince Derek.
- Adam Wylie as Derek as a child, pre-teen, and teenager.
- J.D. Daniels as Derek singing voice as a child.
Sandy Duncan as Queen Uberta.
Jack Palance as Rothbart.
- Lex de Azevedo as Rothbart's singing voice.
- Frank Welker as the Great Animal.
John Cleese as Jean-Bob.
- David Zippel as Jean-Bob's singing voice.
Steven Wright as Lorenzo "Speed" Trudgealong.
- Jonathan Hadary as Speed's singing voice.
Steve Vinovich as Puffin.
Dakin Matthews as King William.
Mark Harelik as Lord Rogers.
Joel McKinnon Miller as Bromley.
- Wes Brewer as Bromley's singing voice.
James Arrington as Sir Chamberlain.
- Davis Gaines as Sir Chamberlain's singing voice.
Bess Hopper as Bridget.
Brian Nissen as the Narrator.

Transcript[]

The Swan Princess/Transcript

Musical Numbers[]

This Is My Idea
Practice, Practice, Practice
Far Longer Than Forever
No Fear
No More Mr. Nice Guy
We Go For It
Princesses On Parade
Forever In My Heart (Deleted Song)
Eternity
Dreams Come True

Trivia[]

This is the only film in the franchise to be made by New Line Cinema; the second film was made by Warner Bros. Home Video, and the other films were made by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
Howard McGillin and Davis Gaines played the titular character in the musical The Phantom Of The Opera in certain productions. In fact, McGillin has played him for the longest time ever.
This is the second animated film released by New Line Cinema; the first was Babar: The Movie (another animated film involving royalty). However, it was the last animated theatrical film from that studio until 2024's upcoming films Fixed (which is Sony Pictures Animation's first R-rated film) and the anime prequel The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim.
- Thus, it was also the last New Line Cinema release to use the 1994 prototype logo, as New Line's following films from Dumb And Dumber onwards would use the next variant of the 1994 logo, which would last for the next 16 years until 2011.
The theatrical, pre-2019 digital, and most international home media releases (as well as the post-2010's television printings and the Hulu streaming) use the New Line Cinema logo (as opposed to its US theatrical distribution), while some international home media releases (such as the 1995 Mexican VHS) retain the Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International logo (as opposed to its international theatrical distribution) and both the North American full screen printings (including the Netflix streaming) (except the 1995 Canadian VHS, which used the Alliance logo, as opposed to its Canadian theatrical distribution) and the 2019 widescreen Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD digital printings replace the New Line logo with the original Nest Entertainment logo, so don't expect to see the same version twice. The latter two printings mark the first time a widescreen version of the film has used the Nest Entertainment logo, finally removing the New Line Cinema logo.
The Japanese Title is called (スワン・プリンセス　白鳥の湖 Suwan purinsesu hakuchō no mizūmi).
Roger Ebert gave The Swan Princess three stars.
The Swan Princess has a lot in common with The Princess And The Frog:
- Both Jean Bob and Naveen have a french accent and they often speak in French or they say some words
- they sound look alike.
- they encounters hungry alligators.
- they sit on a turtle
- The sphere of water when Facilier's spell is broken looks just like Odette’s transformation.