If there are one thing I hate it’s a Disney knock-out holiday video. The Swan Princess Christmas is not so much a knock-off, it’s a super knock-off as Swan Princess was a Disney knock-off. The style of animation is in the style of those Barbie and Tinkerbell movies that came out round the same time and it doesn’t have the same charm or artistry of the original but 3d is faster and cheaper.
I would say the fact it’s a Christmas movie makes it so much worse but the sad truth is that it anchors it into an insipid and trite plot.
The Plot
It’s Derek and Odette’s first Christmas together. This sets the movie before the first sequel, Escape from Castle Mountain. Everyone is in super high Christmas spirits and there is all the cliche trite stuff that make Christmas important and yet so easily ruined. There is three decorating, a pageant and wind chimes. Christmas Wind Chimes are a least something new.
The ghost of Rothbart wants to come back but the Spirits of Christmas is stopping him. So to be restored he has make everyone grumps. The only thing that is keeping him at bay are the Christmas wind chimes. So because Odette and Derek have some plot contrive super Christmas Sprits, it’s up to them to save Christmas and the world. At the end Rothbart changes Odette into a Swan because it’s customary at this point.
I don’t even recall what the Pond Pals’ roles were in this movie. I think Jean-bob was using mistletoe to get girls to kiss him.
This movie is a standard evil guy wants to ruin Christmas story but sans the redemption arc. If I’m being honest the Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas was better and I didn’t enjoy that one either. I’m a holiday grump.
None of the voice actors are back but more than that they made decent voice actors sound third rate. This might be why Laura Bailey is credited as Elle Deets. The director just sucked the talent right out of people.
I don’t think I need to mention how worthless and bland the characters are in this movie, if they didn’t have it when people were trying they sure the heck don’t have it now.
The most notable feature of this movie is the 3d animation. There is a lot artistry that can achieved with the medium but this not in this movie. The visuals in this movie are shoddy. If I’m being charitable, this movie was a direct-to-video release and there just wasn’t a budget to craft much more beyond what they could with their allotted resources.
That being said the visuals can be weird with the characters making expressions that make them look like they are high. The animation is just blocky with sparse details. I guess it more representational, you can tell that it’s the character designs from the from the original movie and that is enough.
If you thought the animation was bad well then there is the music. They used modern music and it just doesn’t mesh with the tone. The use of modern song was more likely another budget friendly choice.
The Swan Princess Christmas is awful but the nicest thing I can say is that trite plot made the movie more boring.
Update 2023 – an attempt was made to fix the grammar and toning down some vitriol since I no longer subscribe to the angry and bitter critic. It was a regrettable phase. I have not rewatch this movie since this review so I do not know if my opinions on it have changed or not.