The Swan Princess and the Secret of the Castle

Whereas the original The Swan Princess (VL-7/95) was one of my favorite animated films of the year, this lackluster sequel just doesn't fly. Picking up where the first film left off, the story opens with newlyweds Derek and Odette (prince and princess, respectively) preparing to celebrate their first anniversary. Only, Derek's busy all the time, Odette pines for her man, and some not-so-nice person is systematically setting fires to fields in the kingdom. Naturally, this person is a pawn of the main villain: Clavius, an unexciting Merlin wannabe, who does the only thing that makes the film semi-interesting--he kidnaps Derek's loquacious (and often hilarious) mother, who ends up teaching Clavius and his henchman a thing or two about holding a "lady" captive. Mom is being used as bait to lure Derek away from the castle so that Clavius can steal something called the "dark arts," which looks like one of those electricity balls you can buy in the mall for $29.95 and, apparently, confers awesome magical powers. The trio of animal cut-ups are back: Jean-Bob, Speed, and Puffin, but they're just not as funny here. Finally, if you haven't seen the original, you won't be able to make head nor tailfeathers out of several aspects of the story. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review— Aug. 18, 2009—Sony, 71 min., G, $14.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1997's The Swan Princess and the Secret of the Castle sports a great transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. DVD extras include music videos for “The Magic of Love” and “That's What You Do for A Friend.” Bottom line: a small extras package for a weak sequel.]