The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain
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| The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Rich |
| Produced by | Richard Rich Jared F. Brown Thomas J. Tobin |
| Written by | Brian Nissen Richard Rich |
| Starring | Michelle Nicastro Douglas Sills Jake Williamson |
| Music by | Lex De Azevedo |
| Editing by | James Koford |
| Distributed by | Nest Family Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
| Running time | 71 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Swan Princess |
| Followed by | The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain (alternately titled The Swan Princess II, The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Swan Princess: The Secret of the Castle) is the first sequel to the animated film The Swan Princess. It was directed by Richard Rich and released in 1997.
This sequel features recycled footage from the previous film, most notably in the flashbacks during "The Magic of Love" sequence. Musically the film also samples the soundtrack of the previous film, such as during the scene where Clavius is changing Queen Uberta into various animals, the instrumental of "Practice, Practice, Practice" can be heard.
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[edit] Plot
It has been a year since the events of The Swan Princess, but Derek and Odette's anniversary is interrupted by the dangerous vandalism of Knuckles, a minion of the wizard Clavius. Clavius, who was Rothbart's partner, wants to claim the orb of Forbidden Arts which is located somewhere in Swan Lake castle, which has become the new home of Derek and Odette.
Clavius abducts Derek's mother, Queen Uberta, 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 (whom throutout the movie is tired of hearing Puffin repeating "no fear" over and over) 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 of an accident earlier on in the movie, 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 throughout the castle. Clavius eventually obtains the orb, and locks Bridget and the animals in the watery dungeon.
Elsewhere, Odette reaches Derek just in time to save him from sinking to his death in a pit of quicksand. Racing back to the palace, they 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 but Knuckles try to stop them. After a big fight Knucles is soon caused to fall into the lava pool beneath the volcano.
Clavius celebrates having the Forbidden Arts again, but is cut short when 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, but Jean-Bob is killed in the act. Derek finally gets his hands on the orb, and the gang rushes to escape in Clavius' balloon. Clavius tries to stop them, and during the struggle the orb is dropped, which shatters on the floor and causes a massive explosion which presumably kills Clavius.
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 comes back to life. The gang celebrate their victory and Uberta's birthday.
[edit] Voice cast
- Michelle Nicastro as Odette
- Douglas Sills as Derek
- Jake Williamson as Clavius
- Christy Landers as Uberta
- Donald Sage Mackay as Jean-Bob
- Doug Stone as Speed
- Steve Vinovich as Puffin
- Joey Camen as Knuckles
[edit] 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)
[edit] Release
The film had a limited theatrical release in July 1997 but performed poorly, only achieving a total domestic gross of $273,644[1]. Three months later in September 1997 the film was released on video. In 1999 it was included in a VHS Gift set containing all three The Swan Princess movies. It has not been released on DVD in the USA, but in February 2004 in Europe it has been released in a DVD set containing all three The Swan Princess movies with a bonus a sing-a-long disc.
