Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Swan Princess



I caught this animated film this afternoon on Cartoon Network. The Swan Princess is an adaptation of the ballet The Swan Lake.
Swan Lake was composed by one of my favorite classical composers, Tchaikovsky. I’ve always loved the story and I’ve always wanted to see the performance. Until now, I still envy my sister for being able to watch it performed live by no less than the Philippine’s Prima Ballerina herself, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde last 2007 in Aliw Theater.
The Swan Princess is a loose adaptation. The basic story goes like this: Odette was transformed into a swan by the villain Von Rothbart. She turns into swan by day and turns back into being human at night, only when there’s a moon. She befriends a puffin, a turtle and a frog. These three creatures helped her reunite with her love, Prince Derek. Okay, pretty cliche. But remember, this is from a very old fairy tale.
So, like I said, it was a loose adaptation. Odile wasn’t there, only, of course, Odette. Prince Siegfried, becomes Prince Derek. The film also suggested a reason why Von Rothbart cursed Odette. In the real ballet, it wasn’t known. However, in this film, Von Rothbart cursed Odette because he wanted to rule Odette’s father’s kingdom.
They were bethrothed to each other since birth. They didn’t like each other at first but when they met each other again when they grew up, they seemed to warm up to each other. Prince Derek announced that the wedding must go on.
However, the wedding didn’t pursue. Why? This is actually my favorite part. Prince Derek complimented Odette on her beauty and she asked, “Is beauty all that matters to you?”
You know what he said? “What else is there?” My favorite line in the movie, and yet it was the stupidest thing he ever said. So, Odette went away. Yeah, you go girl! The counselor even said that the Prince should write a book and the title goes like, “How to Offend Women in Five Sentences or Less.” That was funny.
So anyway, Odette was kidnapped by evil sorcerer Rothbart and turned into a swan. Prince Derek realized that beauty wasn’t everything and worked hard to find Odette. They met and Prince Derek learned that the only way to break the spell was to declare his promise of eternal love.
The next part was so screaming Little Mermaid. The prince almost married the wrong girl and Odette almost died because of it. But well, the spell was broken when he said that he love her for her kindness and courage. It’s not all about beauty anymore.
The Swan Princess was entertaining and lively and romantic. Though, not up to Disney’s standards, the animation was okay, too. The songs were also likable when you hear them, though for some reason, nothing really sticks to my mind. “Far Longer Than Forever” was nice but I guess I have to hear it a couple more times before it becomes a favorite.
But anyway, I still love it.

*picture from Google

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