The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (Video 1998) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
15 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
Better than the Secret of the Castle, but nowhere near as good as the first film.
TheLittleSongbird29 May 2009
The first film will always be the best film. I personally was disappointed in Secret of the Castle, which wasn't as good as I remembered it when I was a child. The second sequel is deeply flawed, but not at all bad. In terms of quality, the animation is better than the Secret of the Catle with a better drawn Rodgers and more fluidity, though there are a number of noticeable goofs, like Odette's dress being pink then blue within 5 seconds and green to blue in It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This. I liked the incidental music, and the songs, while forgettable after a few days, are pleasant to listen to, the most memorable being Derek's solo Because I Love Her. They're also closer in tone to the first film's score than to the second. The voice acting is at least serviceable especially Michelle Nicastro, Katja Koch and Christy Landers. Brian Nissen as Derek is rather colourless though. The plot, compared to Secret of the Castle is more interesting and fast-paced with a movingly dark climax, though it is admittedly daft and predictable in an adult perspective. Zelda is much better a villain than Clavious, more tolerable and much better voiced(more evil-sounding rather than OTT), and her motives(stealing Rothbart's notes) were clearer, and didn't take such a long time unlike the first sequel to get into it. Uberta and Rogers were hilarious with lines such as "You have the timing of a busted clock" and I loved their tango. I also liked it when Speed and Jean Bob(they and Puffin are decent characters in both sequels but not as funny as in the first) started reprising "For Longer than forever". However there are many things wrong with it. For instance the blue bird Whizzer is very annoying and sometimes pointless, though it was funny when he imitated Jean Bob's voice. Also the absence of John Cleese as Jean Bob is noticeable, and is sorely missed. The dialogue is not always involving, particularly when Derek says "I'm not going to lose Odette." And like the Secret of the Castle, the overall film is too short, and not helped by the silly romance between Rogers and Zelda. In conclusion, a flawed but much better second sequel. 6/10 Bethany Cox.
5 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Yeah, it's silly, but take it for what it's worth
Smells_Like_Cheese31 December 2006
I had to rent a couple of movies for my little cousin for New Year's and she picked out The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom and The Little Mermaid 2 and we just watched both films, while she's sleeping, I figured I could get a couple comments in. :) While this is a very cheesy cartoon, it really wasn't that bad. You have to admit that for children, these plots are new to them and it could be a great introduction of these stories to them.

Odette finds out that Derek has been secretly keeping the magic secrets of Rosthoe and she tells Derek to destroy them immediately, but him being a guy, typically he does not do so and tells her that no on could achieve the magics without his help. When a witch named Zelda gets her hands on them, she finds out that Derek tore off the last words of a spell she wants to use to destroy everything, and she kidnaps Odette in order to retrieve this information.

The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom is silly and predictable, but for the kids I would honestly say it's a go. It's so rare we have these clean cut cartoons now a days, so I'm going to cut the film some slack. It was just weird seeing all the voices change all of a sudden, I grew up with the first one, so I guess it was just stuck in my head.

4/10
4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
The 3rd entry in this series is a good story...
dwpollar29 March 2005
1st watched 3/29/2005-6 out of 10(Dir-Richard Rich): The 3rd entry in this series is a good story with pretty good songs despite a weak villainess who uses a goofy disguise to lure herself into the Prince's castle. Pretty much like the first two, this movie doesn't blow you away with anything great, but just is there as a good piece of entertainment. The main characters are developed well but the biggest flaw is a silly romance thrown in between the evil sorceress disguised as a Swedish maiden in distress, and a servant of the castle who is at his hammiest. There is romance and many hints of good character versus bad that is displayed for the young ones which is also a plus. All in all this was an enjoyable and well made piece of animation that will probably close out the series.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Painful...absolutely painful
irmentis_python20 May 2006
I am the sort of person who never, ever watches animated movies, but I make an exception for Thumbelina and the Swan Princess. Being absolutely in love with the first installment of the series, I bought this and sat down to watch it with a very biased mind, determined to love it because I'd spent money buying it. I finished the movie, and all I can think is THE HORROR!!! I wanted to like it, I really did. I tried very, VERY hard to like it. But I couldn't enjoy a second of this grueling film. The songs made me feel like ripping my ears out of my head. The dialogue was so lame I felt myself twitching with frustration and irritation every time someone opened his or her mouth. The villain was laughable and I felt myself wanting Derek and Odette to die in the end... and I was absolutely in love with them from the first film.

I am going to try repress the memory of this movie, because it almost destroyed the first one for me. There is one song in the movie in which there are a series of flashbacks to the first film. The difference in animation between the two is made very obvious, and I began yearning for the first one and wishing I'd never set eyes on the third.

Do yourself and favor and don't waste your time.
4 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A lot better
walsh-2223 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is a lot more superior than the second film. The magic is definitely back in this instalment. The songs are catchy and the animation is a lot better.

It does contradict itself as the villain Zelda knows about the evil arts and in the previous film the villain said only he and Rothbart knew about the black arts and no-one else.

The ending is darker because it looks like the black arts have killed Odette and there is relief when she comes back from the dead because it is such a beautiful love story.

What a funny sub-plot with Jean-Bob training for the assault course and at the end beating a tough looking guy to become prince for the day.

It is a good ending to the trilogy of films.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
A Painful Experience
LonesomeRoad7717 November 2017
Everything about this movie was terrible. It's not even a movie, it's a product. The people who made this slapped together a cheap sequel with low effort (there is a song where nothing but footage from the first film is used). I cringed through pretty much the entire movie. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about this. Frankly, I don't know why I watched this and I am mad at myself for wasting the hour it took to get through this. This "movie" was somehow worse than the incredibly low expectations I had set for it. I recommend this to absolutely no one.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
A decent sequel.
Animany9415 August 2017
The overall outcome of the 3rd installment of The Swan Princess is decent. Mostly because the villain is more credible and the animal friends are funnier in this one compared to the previous movie.

Most of the other returning characters also do a decent job. Uberta's and Rogers' interactions are quite amusing in this one.

There are also an action scene including Odette and her animal friends which is great by this movie's standards. The climax is also stronger than in the previous movie. Watch it yourself, I will not spoil anything.

Even though the story is similar to the previous movie, I will call it good enough to make it entertaining. Most of the songs are also memorable. The best is easily Derek's love song "Because I Love Her".

Brian Nissen as Derek, though, is not very involving. He is the weakest of the original characters in this movie. There are also this new animal called Whizzer, which can be quite annoying, but occasionally has a few good lines.

Flawed? Yes, but the best sequel of the two original sequels.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
This Swan is an Ugly Duckling :P
penchantpoetry12 January 2011
The very thin plot is a rehash of the previous film, involving another betrayed accomplice of the original villain, Rothbart - this time, a witch named Zelda - trying to get at some magic left in Rothbart's old castle...which our heroes are inexplicably living in.

The original three animal sidekicks are still the closest this series has to memorable characters. Speed the turtle and Puffin the puffin are OK, by virtue of their cool voices. Jean-Bob the would-be frog price is tolerable. Every other character in the film is annoying - bickering, whining and generally acting like jerks - except the titular princess, Odette, who can't muster enough character to be anything, including annoying.

Each film in the trilogy involves Prince Derek being wrong and having to find a way to make it up to Odette - she is, as one character states, "always right." This makes Derek an unlikable idiot and Odette dull and one-dimensional.

A bird named Whizzer joins the cast. Picture Fife from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas on massive amounts of sugar and helium. He fills the role of "reluctant villain's accomplice" that seems to pop up a lot in these direct-to-video films. And for some reason, the whole first scene is about him.

There's a lot of fluff about a festival, including a talent show and an obstacle course. There's also a romantic subplot of sorts for Lord Rogers (or as I call him, Grimsby Cogsworth), that goes nowhere, save for killing more time with a long musical number.

The animation is passable - Rogers actually looks a little less creepy in this one - but it says something about the budget when they re-use the title card (and its fancy effects animation) from the original film.

I suppose children or adults who remember it from their own childhoods might like it. But there are much, much better animated films out there that also feature princesses in pretty dresses, animal sidekicks, scheming villains and musical numbers - and actually know what to do with them! :)
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
If you seen the first movie than avoid this one
lisafordeay6 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Today this was on TV along with the first movie(which I own on VHS)and I loved the first Swan Princess movie really I loved it as it was my favourite as a kid and I liked the animation and the characters,but this 3rd installment from The Swan Princess movies was awful. We get to see a new charcther who is working for this evil witch called Zelda who disguises herself as a Swedish slave and gets Rogers to fall for her and of course she ditches him for the forbidden of the arts spells,which Derek got rid of in the first film or maybe it was the second one. Odette gets kidnapped again by Zelda and turns into a swan again. So its up to Derek to save her again.

There is one scene where we get to see the first swan princess movie and I was like really movie you had to put that in there,well there was no need to see the first one. The music was painful,the voice cast was meh and I wished Howard McGillan was Derek again as Brian Nissan was NOWHERE as good as Howard's version. Also was it me or were the creators desperate to show the first movie again and follow the same formula as the first one? Overall do yourselves a favor and watch the original again.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
lower than the previous two
erminahotmail7 December 2023
The 3rd entry in this series is a good story with pretty good songs despite a weak villainess who uses a goofy disguise to lure herself into the Prince's castle. Pretty much like the first two, this movie doesn't blow you away with anything great, but just is there as a good piece of entertainment. The main characters are developed well but the biggest flaw is a silly romance thrown in between the evil sorceress disguised as a Swedish maiden in distress, and a servant of the castle who is at his hammiest. There is romance and many hints of good character versus bad that is displayed for the young ones which is also a plus. All in all this was an enjoyable and well made piece of animation that will probably close out the series. To conclude rating 8.5.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
The Magical Castle crashes to a thud
ryangilmer0076 September 1999
Also titled--> The Magical Castle--> This one is a stretch. Why bother? Why create another rockbart and then add another story line that has nearly nothing to do with the play nor swan lake. Only some girlfriend of rockbart, the stolen book of forbidden arts and the original characters (not voices remain). Stripped to to its bares this is a continuation by a thread. Next thing you know some bird will have memorized the "forbidden arts" and Swan Princess 4: the magical bird will be born. Thankfully though the chapters are supposedly closed and this will beginning but bad ended trilogy will come to a close.
3 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Fail
cute_cuddlez873 August 2009
I loved the first movie, the second one was okay, disappointed John Cleese wasn't jean bob anymore as hes my favorite character. But the third one...what happened to the animation??? it looks low budget like a sat morning cartoon! except for the flashback which was taken from the first movie. They really should have stopped after number 2, this just makes the rest look bad!! Derek's voice has changed but its not as recognizable as jean bob..Rogers also looks very strange. I also don't understand where Rothbart came from. I thought he died! This movie made me want to turn it off, as much as i love the first one, i was very disappointed with this installment. They will never beat the original!:)
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Dumb but pretty funny
verrucktcarlos30 August 2020
This was (is) my favorite Swan princess movie as a kid. For some reason I never had the first one, and the second one even though I had it on VHS I don't recall ever seeing it, maybe I watched it one time and found it boring so I never watched it again.

This movie is pretty silly, but I think it is pretty funny, specially Rogers, Queen Uberta and Zelda, for some reason I find them hilarious. It is just so dumb when Zelda disguises herself as a german maid(?) and Rogers falls stupidily in love with her, and when she leaves he goes insane and sings a song which along with Zelda's song I think are the best ones.

I really like that they cut down on the animals because they are a bit annoying and in the first one they give them too much screen time, in here they give them what they truly deserve.

The whole talent show thing is so silly but funny, specially Uberta with the whole tango thing.

It's basically an alternative version of the second one, but does it a lot better.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
the best
Luna_K20 January 2002
This movie is the best one of the three. I liked the first one, too, though the second was a waste of time, but this one is the best. First of all, the story is great, for the most part it's fun to watch, and you can almost feel what's happening there. The new songs and music are very good, too. So if you liked the first one and/or the second one you ARE going to like this one very much.
0 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
this is a great movie , as good as the first
Princess_Odette9 September 2001
This is a great movie and I think that it is as good as the first I like all three of the swan princess movies but the first and third are my fav's The second is good but lacks something The third has a great plot and is a great story. It's full of fun songs and charaters , including all our fav's frome the first two movies plus new ones It's an all new magicial advencher With Prince Derek, Princess Odette and all their friends. It's a great story with a pretty cool villian
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed