I do respect wanting to make an animated movie about The Princess and The Pea, as although the story is well-known it doesn't have many movies. But even with the changes to it's story, the movie is riddled with problems.
The villains are one-dimensional and don't really have many traits aside from being greedy, vain, gluttonous or ugly. Made even worse by the fact the main characters don't really much different traits aside from being nice and pretty, aside from maybe Prince Rolo.
I'm also not a fan of how King Heath doesn't call off Laird's childish attitude when it got put of hand, so much so he threatened a literal kid. (or even recognize his "daughter" very looks suspiciously like his brother.) The way they write off Hildegard as just being an evil person, despite the implication Heath constantly tries to force her to be like his dead wife or was maybe neglectful of her as a child if Helsa succeeded in corrupting her to be vain. It doesn't sit right with me, they could've done more with their characters to be more interesting and likeable.
The animal sidekicks tend to interject at weird times (also the pig sound effects get very grating.) Daria doesn't really get much agency, and feels like she's not really in the film as an active character. Even with Cinderella and Aurora, they were better established in their setting as protagonists.
Feels more like Heath himself is the main protagonist, even though it's called the Princess and The Pea. But maybe that's my perspective.
This movie felt like it was trying to take inspiration from other properties but didn't adjust things to feel more engaging in it's story. Which is a shame, with the animation (especially with it's unique look as more medieval rather than bright and colorful) and songs, if the plot was better done it could've been really good.
The villains are one-dimensional and don't really have many traits aside from being greedy, vain, gluttonous or ugly. Made even worse by the fact the main characters don't really much different traits aside from being nice and pretty, aside from maybe Prince Rolo.
I'm also not a fan of how King Heath doesn't call off Laird's childish attitude when it got put of hand, so much so he threatened a literal kid. (or even recognize his "daughter" very looks suspiciously like his brother.) The way they write off Hildegard as just being an evil person, despite the implication Heath constantly tries to force her to be like his dead wife or was maybe neglectful of her as a child if Helsa succeeded in corrupting her to be vain. It doesn't sit right with me, they could've done more with their characters to be more interesting and likeable.
The animal sidekicks tend to interject at weird times (also the pig sound effects get very grating.) Daria doesn't really get much agency, and feels like she's not really in the film as an active character. Even with Cinderella and Aurora, they were better established in their setting as protagonists.
Feels more like Heath himself is the main protagonist, even though it's called the Princess and The Pea. But maybe that's my perspective.
This movie felt like it was trying to take inspiration from other properties but didn't adjust things to feel more engaging in it's story. Which is a shame, with the animation (especially with it's unique look as more medieval rather than bright and colorful) and songs, if the plot was better done it could've been really good.