Movie Review: The Swan Princess (1994)

So, I was on Netflix, looking for something to do, and I stumbled upon this film, The Swan Princess. Developed by Nest Productions (my LDS audience would know this as the company behind Living Scriptures). This was the full length movie they did, or at least to hit the theaters.

I've checked some sites for the average rating. Audiences thought it was okay, critics thought it was very "eh." My opinion... It is better than most recent children movies, but not enough to sit down and watch it myself more than once. I will watch it with kids when they want to watch it.

The story is, two neighboring kingdoms have the idea to bring the two together through the marriage of a prince and princess. When the two are younger and growing up, they don't get along, then start to fall in love. Things go wrong when the prince says something without thinking (typical guy thing to do) and then she gets kidnapped and imprisoned by a curse and a sorcerer out to achieve her fathers kingdom through marriage. So, the prince must rescue her and break her curse before it is too late.

The Positive- It doesn't talk down to the audience, which is a huge pet-peeve of mine with children's movies. You need to talk at children, not down to them. That is a big problem with some movies, but this doesn't. It has also aged pretty well. The voice casting was well done. Without any major actors for the most part, you see more of the characters and not the actors. There also aren't any plot holes either. It is also a romance you can believe. Plus, the animation has aged pretty well.

The Negative- It makes a plot turn that makes no sense and the villain is probably one of the weakest have ever seen. He is one dimensional, has a very bad plan, and he has a ridiculous song, that is probably the weakest song in the movie. It does have subtle moment of LDS/Mormon doctrine, which can turn off some people who aren't members of the Church.

Final Thoughts- This is a movie for children and a better one than others. I am not looking at this movie through nostalgia lenses. If you want a wholesome film for your younger kids, I would recommend this one. For an older audience, there are better animated films for them.