THE SWAN PRINCESS

Rating 3 out of 5

In the 1990s, every animation studio was chasing the success of Walt Disney Animation’s Renaissance era, who at the time was at the highest point of their studio’s history with now timeless classics such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. 20th Century Fox had Anastasia to give an alternate princess film, DreamWorks had the biblical films with The Prince of Egypt, but one independent film studio decided to bring to life the revered ballet Swan Lake with The Swan Princess and threw their hat into the theatrical animation ring. There is no denying the charm of The Swan Princess from its strong painted celluloid animation production and the strong values at the centre of the story, but as a whole The Swan Princess is a decent animated film that is overshadowed by the titans of the animation genre released at the same time.  

Using Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet as inspiration, The Swan Princess has all the hallmarks of an animated film of the 1990s. A central princess romance, the powers of darkness trying to use the princess to achieve their sinister deeds, a noble prince tasked with saving his true love, talking animal sidekicks, and a plethora of musical numbers. There is no question that the film looks to the Disney films for inspiration for the type of film that it wants to be, and there is nothing wrong with that as it's a great blueprint for an animated film. Where the film is lacking is in the character development, with all of the characters feeling very surface level, without a defining characteristic to make them an unforgettable animated character, relying more on the visual design to sell the audience on the character than the writing, motivation and growth of the character itself. Especially when comparing Odette to the princess of the Disney Renaissance era, she just lacks the spirited personality that has made Belle and Ariel timeless characters that have inspired generations of young girls, and with her being the most developed character of The Swan Princess, the rest of the character writing fails to measure up to the story itself.

For an animated musical, while the songs do help move along the film’s story, the songs themselves are largely unremarkable. David Zippel, who would go on to write lyrics for Disney’s Hercules and Mulan, pens the lyrics to the songs alongside Lex de Azevedo composed the film’s score and music for the songs, with many of the songs changing styles and tempo to help sustain the film’s energy. The standout without question is “Far Longer than Forever”, the film’s theme song, with is gorgeous vocals of Liz Callaway and Howard McGillin as it echoes the Disney’s title theme song from Beauty and the Beast with its musical stylings and chord progressions, but the rest of them fail to have that quality to make them an unforgettable tune that will be stuck in your head for days.

Any animated film of the 1990s, especially a princess one, has the insurmountable standard of being measured against the works of Walt Disney Animation, and while none can measure up to that, it doesn't mean that they are bad films. And that is exactly what The Swan Princess is. It is not without its charms, and for those viewers who grew up watching the film, the sense of nostalgia will no doubt overcome them with this magical tale of good, evil and true love. Without strong character writing and only one strong song on the film’s soundtrack, The Swan Princess never earns its flowers despite strong production efforts from the filmmaking team (which are highlighted on Swan Princess: The Original Making-Of which is included on this new 4K UHD Blu-Ray release), making for a nostalgic animated film for those who grew up with it unable to create new fans with ease.