The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain
The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain | |
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Directed by | Richard Rich |
Screenplay by | Brian Nissen |
Story by | Brian Nissen Richard Rich |
Produced by | Jared F. Brown Richard Rich |
Starring | Michelle Nicastro Douglas Sills Jake Williamson Doug Stone Steve Vinovich Christy Landers Donald Sage MacKay Joey Camen |
Cinematography | Tom Sheppard |
Edited by | James Koford |
Music by | Lex de Azevedo |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Legacy Releasing (North America) Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (International) |
Release date |
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Running time | 71 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $273,644 (US) |
The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain (also known as The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain. Alternatively known as The Swan Princess: The Secret of the Castle in European countries) is a 1997 American animated musical-fantasy film and the direct-to-video sequel to the 1994 animated film The Swan Princess. Directed by Richard Rich (who also directed the original), the film follows Derek and Odette's one-year anniversary of their wedding being disrupted by the actions of the wizard Clavius, who wants to find a magical orb, the source of the Forbidden Arts, and take over the world. The film was released on July 18, 1997. The film was followed by six more direct-to-video sequels: The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom (1998), The Swan Princess Christmas (2012), The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale (2014), The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today (2016), The Swan Princess: Royally Undercover (2017) and The Swan Princess: A Royal Myztery (2018). It is the only film in the series to be released by Warner Bros. and eight of them were released by Sony Home Entertainment.
Plot
One year since the events of the first film, Derek and Odette's anniversary is interrupted by the dangerous vandalism of Knuckles, minion of the evil sorcerer Clavius. It is revealed that Clavius was the former partner in crime of the villain Rothbart; they conquered the Forbidden Arts together until Rothbart drove Clavius underground after betraying their partnership. Clavius now wants to claim the magical orb of the Forbidden Arts that is located somewhere in Swan Lake castle, which has become Derek and Odette's new home. Clavius has Knuckles perform acts of vandalism in the kingdom that keep Derek busy and make him neglect both Odette and Uberta.
On Uberta's birthday, she is abducted by Clavius, who wants to use her as leverage. When Derek sets out to rescue his mother, Clavius sneaks into Swan Lake castle, where he locks Odette in a tower and then goes after the orb himself. Bridget, who was once Rothbart's accomplice but has joined the side of good, recognizes Clavius and knows that he is after the Forbidden Arts. She takes Speed, Puffin, and Jean-Bob into the catacombs under the castle where they find the orb first. After claiming the orb, they race back upstairs and free Odette. Odette knows now that Derek is heading into a trap, but Puffin cannot fly because his tail has been injured by Knuckles, so she convinces Bridget to use the orb to change her into a swan. Once transformed, Odette flies off to warn Derek. Clavius stumbles upon the remaining group and a chase ensues. Clavius eventually obtains the orb, and locks Bridget and the animals in the watery dungeon, although they later manage to escape.
Meanwhile, Odette reaches Derek in time to save him from drowning in a pit of quicksand. Racing back to the castle, Odette and Derek see Clavius escaping in his hot-air balloon, from which Speed, Puffin and Jean-Bob are secretly clinging to in the hopes of being able to regain the orb. Derek and Odette follow the balloon to Clavius' volcano lair. Knuckles tries to stop them, and after a fight, Knuckles falls into the lava pool beneath the volcano.
Clavius celebrates his regaining the Forbidden Arts again, but Derek arrives and the animals free Uberta from her prison. During the fight, Jean-Bob jumps on Clavius' head to stop him from delivering a killing blow to Derek, and Jean-Bob is killed when he is thrown off. Derek gets his hands on the orb, and the group rushes to escape in Clavius' balloon. Clavius tries to stop them, and during the struggle the orb is dropped. The orb shatters, causing an eruption. Clavius dies in the resulting explosion, while everyone escapes.
Later, everyone is at Swan Lake, waiting for the moon to rise on Odette, who is waiting on the surface with Jean-Bob on her wing. When the moonlight touches Odette, she is transformed back to her human form and Jean-Bob is revived. The gang celebrate their victory and Uberta's birthday. The following day, a royal guest arrives at the castle, but Derek asks Rogers to take care of it, as he wishes to spend the day with Odette. The two share a kiss, enjoying their time together alone at last.
Cast
- Michelle Nicastro - Princess Odette
- Douglas Sills - Prince Derek
- Jake Williamson - Clavius
- Michael Lanning provided the singing voice for You Gotta Love It but not on No Fear Rap.
- Christy Landers - Queen Uberta
- Donald Sage MacKay - Jean-Bob
- Doug Stone - Speed
- Steve Vinovich - Puffin
- Joseph Medrano - Lord Rogers
- James Arrington - Chamberlain
- Joey Camen - Knuckles
- Owen Miller - Bromley
- Rosie Mann - Bridget
Musical numbers
- The Magic of Love
- That's What You Do for a Friend
- You Gotta Love It
- Far Longer Than Forever (end credits)
- No Fear Rap
Release
The film had a limited theatrical release on July 18, 1997 with a domestic gross of $273,644.[1] On September 2, 1997, Warner Home Video released the film on VHS in the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment collection. In 1999, it was included in a VHS Gift set containing all three The Swan Princess movies. The DVD of the film was released in the United States on August 18, 2009.[2] In February 2004 in Europe and March 30, 2004 in the United States it was released in a DVD set containing all three The Swan Princess movies with a bonus sing-a-long disc.
References
External links
- 1997 films
- 1997 animated films
- 1997 direct-to-video films
- 1990s fantasy adventure films
- 1990s musical films
- American films
- American children's animated adventure films
- American children's animated fantasy films
- American fantasy adventure films
- American fantasy-comedy films
- American independent films
- American musical films
- Animated musical films
- Direct-to-video sequel films
- English-language films
- Fantasy comedy films
- Films directed by Richard Rich
- Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
- Films set in the Middle Ages
- The Swan Princess
- 1990s American animated films