The Swan Princess Gets 25th Anniversary Blu-ray Release

With the market on fairy tale princesses seemingly cornered by the House of Mouse, it is nothing short of a miracle that Sony managed to be the first to snag the story of "Swan Lake" for an animated musical adaptation. Now, twenty-five years later, THE SWAN PRINCESS makes a dazzling appearance on Blu-ray, just in time for the holidays.

The evil sorcerer Rothbart (JACK PALANCE) has long sought to unseat King William and take his kingdom for his own. Alas, his plan is found out, and he is banished from the kingdom. However, years later, Rothbart returns and confronts the royal traveling party, returning from a disappointing meeting with the queen of another land. It had been King William's hope that his daughter, Odette (MICHELLE NICASTRO) would fall in love with handsome Prince Derek (HOWARD McGILLIN), and that their union would unite the two kingdoms as one. Indeed, the royal parents had been forcing the two together from a young age to kindle that relationship that was difficult to develop.

Their plan works, but falls apart when Derek cannot express why he would marry Odette other than that she is beautiful. Dejected, the king and his daughter return home, which is where they run afoul of Rothbart, who kills the king and abducts Princess Odette, casting a spell on her that turns her into a swan. Every night, when the moonlight touches the lake, if she is on the lake she will transform back to her human form. But with sunrise, she will revert back to a swan, no matter where she is -- and this curse will remain on her until she agrees to marry Rothbart so that he may inherit the kingdom, or until someone declares true love for her and proves it to the world.

Derek is the only one who believes Odette is still alive, and spends all his time hunting for her. But when he finds her, will he find the way to dispel the enchantment and save Odette from Rothbart's clutches? He'll need the help of Odette's pond friends, Jean-Bob the frog (JOHN CLEESE), who believes he's an enchanted prince; Speed (STEVEN WRIGHT) the turtle, and Puffin the puffin (STEVE VINOVICH). And he'd better hurry, because his mother is hosting a ball for all the other eligible princesses throughout the land in order to get Derek married off for political purposes.

Done with elegant two-dimensional animation and filled with fun adventure sequences and complex musical arrangements, THE SWAN PRINCESS is a worthy addition to your movie collection, and makes for a great gift as well.