The Swan Princess

I wish more children's animated films could have been made like this one. The Swan Princess was a favorite of mine as a child, and now as a mother of 4 I have had my memory jogged as to exactly why. It was a true love story, filled with everything you would hope for in a movie for your children. No bathroom humor. No implied vulgarity like is so common in certain D I S N E Y movies these days. Prince Derek and Princess Odette meet as children, he a few years older than her. Their parents concoct a plan to try to get them to fall in love by bringing them together every summer throughout their whole childhood. You see them struggling to be friends, and eventually, when they reach an age of maturity realize they have actually fallen in love. But there is one problem.... Derek is unable to communicate his love for Odette in words. She is devasted, they part ways. And then you get into the meat of the story in which Derek has a chance to prove his love for Odette in ways he couldn't express in words. There are plenty of lighthearted moments and characters. Delightful music. A serious villain. And an extremely satisfying ending. I highly recommend this film to those who want quality stories for their children. It is a favorite of both my daughters and sons.

My 2 year old loves it and there’s no DEI nonsense

This movie is a classic. It is perfect for our little girls and holds the perfect childhood feel all the while we're the adults can enjoy it too. I cannot believe that they haven't made a live action adaption to a perfectly cinematic movie

32 years later and still one of the best movies made in the 90s.

Great musical. Love the songs. Its a hidden classic that most people have forgotten.

I watched this as a kid and so many memories have stuck with me into adulthood. We watched this with our 3.5 year old: there are some scary scenes but overall she loved it (like I did!!)

A great movie which my five year old daughter really enjoyed, and I did too. First, my only real complaint is about the voices of Rothbart (Jack Palance), the villain, and Speedy (Steven Write), the turtle. Rothbart is simply too raspy, breathy, and quiet to be heard in many scenes. I know that was Palance's signature voice, but it just didn't work here because 1) he was hard to understand, and 2) his voice sounded really out of place compared to the other actors' voices, which came through loud and clear. It's a real shame, too, because when you pay close attention, it's actually a great performance: menacing, witty, and funny. And Speedy, although, yes, a turtle, is so slow and dull to listen to, that after the first couple lines of monotonous drone, you just don't care anymore. Also a shame because it drags down what could have been a cute sub plot with Jean-Bob (John Cleese), a delusional frog who thinks he's The Frog Prince. Speedy is too boring, Jean-Bob is shouting due to the action, and the result is a muddled meh. Now the good stuff. The music is very well done and some of the songs are quite catchy. The story is endearing and the acting and animation are all very good. A couple of the "broadway" style numbers in the second half seem to jump the shark a bit, but they're still fun to watch. Oddly enough, the scenes with just the people are better than the scenes with the animals of the lake. Odd because Disney fare usually relies on cute animals/magical creatures to carry the human characters. A welcome break from Disney's approach to story telling and animation, which are great in their own right, but it's always nice to find quality, feature-length animation from a different studio. All in all, a solid 4 stars and a good flick for the little ones.

It’s good