The Swan Princess

The Swan Princess is a 1994 film based on the ballet "Swan Lake". Starring the voices of Jack Palance, Howard McGillin, Michelle Nicastro, Steven Wright and John Cleese, the film is directed by ex-Disney animation director Richard Rich, with a music score by Lex de Azevedo. There were 2 sequels: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.

Plot
As children, Prince Derek and Princess Odette are forced to spend their summers together by their widowed parents, who hope that the two will eventually fall in love and marry, so that the kingdoms of the two will be united. As children and adolescents, Derek (McGillin) and Odette (Nicastro) can't stand each other, but as young adults they begin to see each other in a different light and fall in love with each other. But one night things take a bad turn when Derek unintentionally offends Odette, who then refuses to marry him if he can't prove that he loves her for who she is and not just her beauty. Odette and her father are then attacked by Lord Rothbart (Palance), a vengeful sorcerer who was cast out of William's kingdom when he plotted against the king; Rothbart kills William and kidnaps Odette, placing a spell on her that turns her into a swan during the day, and she can only regain her human form when the moonlight touches the lake to which she is bound. Only a vow of everlasting love from Derek can set her free, or marrying Rothbart, thus giving him her father's kingdom. While everyone else believes Odette is dead, Derek refuses to give up hope and sets out to find his true love, which involves a hunt for "the Great Animal... which is not what it seems". With the aid of a patient turtle, an Irish puffin and a slightly delusional, love struck frog (who thinks that a kiss from a beautiful maiden will turn him "back" into a prince), Odette manages to get Derek to the lake, where he sees her resume her human form. With Rothbart approaching, Odette urges Derek to escape after explaining the spell to him, and he tells her to come to a ball his mother is preparing, and there he will make the vow before the world that will set her free. But Rothbart has already caught on to their plan and, taking advantage of the fact that the night of the ball will have no moon, he locks Odette in his castle and then transforms his hench-woman into the form of Odette to send to the ball, so that when Derek makes the vow to her instead of the real Odette, Odette will die.

Despite the efforts of her animal friends to get her out of the castle, Odette is too late to get to the ball to warn Derek, who is tricked into making his vow to the wrong girl, thus setting in progress Odette's death. Rothbart then shows up to gloat about his victory, sending Derek on a mad rush to get to Odette, whom he finds dying by the lake. Rothbart then challenges Derek to a duel to save Odette`s life, and transforms himself into the Great animal. With some help from his friend Bromley, Derek manages to kill Rothbart with an arrow shot. At first it appears that Odette is still lost, but after Derek professes his love and admiration of her compassion and soul, Odette reawakens. The two are then married, and all ends happily.

Voice Cast

 * Odette - Michelle Nicastro (speaking) and Liz Callaway (singing)
 * Derek - Howard McGillin
 * Rothbart - Jack Palance (speaking) and Lex de Azevedo (singing)
 * Jean-Bob - John Cleese (speaking) and David Zippel (singing)
 * Speed - Steven Wright (speaking) and Jonathan Hadary (singing)
 * Puffin - Steve Vinovich
 * Queen Uberta - Sandy Duncan
 * King William - Dakin Matthews
 * Rogers - Mark Harelik
 * Bromley - Joel McKinnon Miller (speaking) and Wes Brewer (singing)
 * Chamberlain - James Arrington (speaking) and Davis Gaines (singing)
 * The Hag - Bess Hopper

Musical Numbers

 * This Is My Idea
 * Practice, Practice, Practice
 * Far Longer Than Forever
 * No Fear
 * No More Mr. Nice Guy
 * No Fear (reprise)
 * Princesses on Parade
 * Far Longer Than Forever (finale)
 * Eternity (End Titles)

Trivia

 * The scene where Lord Rothbart does one armed push ups during his song was a reference to Jack Palance, who did Rothbart's voice, won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his role as Curly in City Slickers, when, at age 73, dropped to the ground and performed one armed push ups for the audience.
 * Speed looks more like a tortoise than a turtle. The main difference between the two is that turtles have broad, flat flippers, which would make them ungainly on land, while tortoises have stiff legs too heavy for swimming.  However Speed could be a terrapin, as they are adapted for both walking and swimming.

Sequels
Two direct-to-video sequels were made to the movie: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure. The sequels are alternately titled The Secret of the Castle and The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom respectively in certain European DVD releases. Both sequels deal with the heroes having to face other dark arts magicians who are connected with Rothbart, the villain of the original movie. Most of the main voice cast did not return for the sequels except Michelle Nicastro who reprised her role as Odette, and Steve Vinovich who reprised his role as Puffin.