The Swan Princess: Christmas

2012 American film

The Swan Princess: Christmas

DVD cover.

Directed by| Richard Rich
Screenplay by| Brian Nissen
Story by|

* Richard Rich
* Brian Nissen

Based on| Swan Lake
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Produced by|

* Richard Rich
* Seldon O. Young
* Jared F. Brown

Starring| Laura Bailey
Yuri Lowenthal
James Arrington
G.K. Bowes
Sean Wright
Edited by| Joe Campana
Music by| Vassal Benford

Production
companies

Crest Animation Productions
Nest Family Entertainment

Distributed by| Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release date

* November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06)

Running time

| 83 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

The Swan Princess: Christmas is a 2012 American animated fantasy family film directed by Richard Rich, produced by Crest Animation Productions and Nest Family Entertainment.[1] It is the fourth film in The Swan Princess series, and the first in 14 years. The film follows Princess Odette and Prince Derek celebrating their first Christmas together. As the kingdom prepares for the festive season, Odette and Derek must thwart the villainous Rothbart's plans to destroy the kingdom's Christmas spirit. The film takes place after the events of the first film, but before the events of the second film. While the three previous films in the series were animated using traditional 2D hand-drawn techniques, The Swan Princess Christmas was the first in the series to be created entirely with CGI animation.

Out of all of the cast members James Arrington is the only one to return from the original film and its sequels, Doug Stone reprises his role as Speed from the sequels and Sean Wright reprises his role of Rothbart from The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure. The film is followed by an animated direct-to-DVD entitled The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale released one year later.

## Plot

[edit]

Princess Odette and Prince Derek are on their way to Queen Uberta's castle to celebrate their first Christmas together. Unbeknownst to them, the evil sorcerer Rothbart has returned and enlisted the help of a black cat named Number 9 by promising nine extra lives. Number 9 lures Derek to the cellar of Uberta's castle where he opens a chest with an R on it. When Derek leaves, Rothbart emerges from the chest as a ghost. Rothbart starts his plan to destroy the kingdom's Christmas spirit, the only thing more powerful than the Forbidden Arts, as this will make him mortal again. As a ghost, Rothbart is able to cast minor spells that cause people to fight. He does this until almost the entire kingdom is in disharmony.

Derek and Odette learn of Rothbart's return when wind chimes playing "Far Longer than Forever" make him visible and hold him immobile. They set up chimes around the castle, but Rothbart eventually re-enlists the help of Bridget, his former hag henchwoman. She helps remove the wind chimes for him.

As part of the Christmas festivities, Uberta and Rogers are staging musical performances. They have become aggressive and competitive with each other. Odette, who is staging her own song, invites the children to perform "Christmas is the Reason" which momentarily weakens Rothbart's power over Uberta and Rogers. Odette follows up on this by inviting Uberta and Rogers to give gifts and food to the poor. This time, the good will breaks the spell on the whole kingdom, and Rothbart is severely weakened.

Rothbart's final chance to ruin the kingdom's Christmas spirit is to sabotage the royal Christmas tree. He sends Number 9 to steal one of the Christmas lights. Rothbart casts a spell on it that will destroy the tree. Derek learns of this plan thanks to Bridget, who has double-crossed Rothbart and traps him inside a giant chime.

Derek rushes back to the Christmas Eve party to stop the tree from being lit, but he is too late. The enchanted light bulb bursts the tree and its ornaments into flames. Rothbart becomes mortal again, takes Uberta's crown which he transforms into his own, and kidnaps Odette, where he takes her back to Swan Lake.

At Swan Lake, Rothbart transforms Odette into a swan again and traps her inside a cage made of roots, just as Speed, Puffin and Jean-Bob arrive. Puffin tries to attack Rothbart, but the evil sorcerer transforms the bird into a Christmas ornament. He casts a spell on the moonlight, so that when it touches Odette's wings, she will transform into a swan-shaped ornament forever. Derek arrives to rescue Odette and Rothbart transforms into the Great Animal. Derek is overpowered, but Odette sings "The Season of Love". The positive lyrics weaken Rothbart until he bursts into flames. Odette changes back into a human while Puffin returns to his normal self. Derek dies from his injuries, but Odette sings again. The spirit of Christmas revives him and restores the royal Christmas tree. At the Christmas party, the kingdom puts up a new Christmas ornament on the tree, honoring Derek and Odette.

## Cast

[edit]

* Laura Bailey (credited as Elle Deets) as Princess Odette
* Summer Eguchi as her singing voice
* Yuri Lowenthal as Prince Derek
* Michaelangelo as his singing voice
* Jennifer Miller as Queen Uberta
* Joseph Medrano as Lord Rogers
* Sean Wright as Sir Rothbart
* David Lodge as Number 9 and Guard #1
* Catherine Lavine as Bridget and Village Woman
* James Arrington as Sir Chamberlain
* Clayton James Mackay as Jean-Bob
* Gardner Jaas as Puffin
* Doug Stone as Speed, Sir Peter, and Guard #2
* Joey Lotsko as Bromley, Servant, and Guard #3
* Brian Nissen as Ferdinand the Chef
* Maxine Blue as Wood Cutter's Wife
* G.K. Bowes as Caretaker
* Gabriela Miller as a Girl
* Catherine Parks as Maid
* Ashley Spain as a Girl
* Joseph De Tacht as a Boy

## Music

[edit]

The film's music was composed by Vassal Benford. Two albums were released in conjunction with the film. A Christmas album, "17 Songs from The Swan Princess Christmas" was released on October 22, 2012, containing the film's Christmas songs and a few instrumental pieces from the film.[2] A more complete soundtrack album, "The Swan Princess Christmas Soundtrack", was released on November 8, 2012, containing 34 tracks of the film's songs and instrumental pieces.[3][4] Both albums contain a studio version of "Season of Love", Odette's song from the film, performed by Anna Graceman.

Soundtrack album | Christmas album | Song/track title

|
|

1  | 1  | Overture and Prologue
2  | 2  | Jingle Bells
3  | 3  | We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4  |  | Royalty
5  |  | Evil Schemes
6  |  | Ice Leopard Chase
7  | 4  | Deck the Halls
8  | 5  | Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9  | 6  | Season of Love (movie version)
10  |  | Princess in Love
11  |  | The Theme
12  | 7  | Jolly Old St Nicholas
13  |  | Jean Bob
14  | 8  | Angels We Have Heard On High
15  |  | 12 Days of Rothbart
16  | 9  | Christmas Is The Reason
17  |  | The Hag
18  |  | Root of Perrywinkle
19  |  | Cutting Down the Chimes
20  | 10  | Food for the Poor
21  | 11  | God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
22  | 12  | Joy to the World
23  | 13  | The Great Escape
24  | 14  | Away In A Manger
25  |  | The Great Chase
26  | 15  | Here We Come A-Caroling
27  |  | The Countdown
28  |  | Rothbart's Wrath
29  |  | The Great Animal
30  |  | Aliens
31  | 16  | Derek's Rebirth
32  |  | Epilogue
33  | 17  | Christmas is The Reason (reprise)
34  | 18  | Season of Love (Anna Graceman)

## Reception

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2022)

|

Common Sense Media gave the film 2 out of 5 stars. The website reads, "Animated sequel lacks magic; some mild violence."[5]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Christmas films

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 305–306\. ISBN 9781476672939.
2. ^ "The Swan Princess Christmas Music CD". Amazon. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
3. ^ "The Swan Princess Christmas Music: Various Artists". ITunes. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
4. ^ The Swan Princess Christmas Soundtrack. ISBN 1564899810.
5. ^ "The Swan Princess Christmas Movie Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved 2022-06-13.

## External links

[edit]

* The Swan Princess: Christmas at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

The Swan Princess

Films|

* The Swan Princess (1994)
* The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain (1997)
* The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (1998)
* The Swan Princess: Christmas (2012)
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale (2014)

Music|

* The Swan Princess: Music From The Motion Picture
* "Far Longer than Forever"

Related|

* Swan Lake

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Richard Rich

* The Fox and the Hound (1981)
* The Black Cauldron (1985)
* The Swan Princess (1994)
* The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain (1997)
* The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (1998)
* The King and I (1999)
* The Scarecrow (2000)
* The Trumpet of the Swan (2001)
* Muhammad: The Last Prophet (2002)
* The Swan Princess: Christmas (2012)
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale (2014)
* The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today! (2016)
* The Swan Princess: Royally Undercover (2017)
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Myztery (2018)
* The Swan Princess: Kingdom of Music (2019)
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Wedding (2020)
* The Swan Princess: A Fairytale is Born (2023)
* The Swan Princess: Far Longer than Forever (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake

Dance|

* Swan Lake (Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo)
* Swan Lake (Balanchine)
* Swan Lake (Bourne)

Film|

* Swan Lake (1981)
* Barbie of Swan Lake

| The Swan Princess|

* The Swan Princess
* The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain
* The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom
* The Swan Princess Christmas
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale
* The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today
* The Swan Princess: Royally Undercover
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Myztery
* The Swan Princess: Kingdom of Music
* The Swan Princess: A Royal Wedding
* The Swan Princess: A Fairytale is Born
* The Swan Princess: Far Longer than Forever

|

Related|

* Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
* Danse des petits cygnes
* Princess Tutu
* The Black Swan (novel)
* Black Swan (film)

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