|
|
Post by albinotanuki on Aug 21, 2012 8:25:18 GMT -5
I've known a LOT of people who legitimately like this film, including my boyfriend, but for me, the movie has a LOT of flaws to it. Too many for me to even list in one seating, so I'll start off with my number 1 main problem with the film. The moral.
Prince Derek (don't know why they didn't name him Siegfried like in the Swan Lake ballet) and Princess Odette are arranged to be married by their parents who have them visit each other once ever summer and when they're old enough to get married, they fall head over heels for each other. Up until meeting each other at their legal age, they hated one another, but now they're "in love". Suddenly, Odette asks Derek why he loves her and he says its because she's beautiful. She asks him what else about her he loves and he tactfully replies "What else is there?". She gets turned off by his comment and leaves him, only to be kidnapped by the evil wizard Rothbart and turned into a swan. So Derek and Odette must find a way to break the spell.
1. Odette is critical of Derek falling head over heels for her for thinking she's hot when she herself is guilty of the same thing. She hated Derek as much as he did since they were kids. What qualities does Odette see in Derek outside of being "omg, so hot!"?
2. She gets turned into a swan. Swans are already considered beautiful by most people, so its pointless to have a "there's more to love than just a person's beauty" moral if the main character gets turned into a swan. If she got turned into a beast or an old hag, that might convey the moral of the story in a more powerful way.
3. We don't really see anything that really defines Odette's character outside the faux-Disney princess archetype. They say that there is more to her character than just her looks, but they don't show it. If she was a real developed character with well written traits, she could be really interesting. Other than that, "What else is there?"
|
|
|
|
Post by FaPingMulan on Aug 22, 2012 12:02:22 GMT -5
Personally I love this film. The animation is beautiful, the voice acting is great, the songs are enjoyable as are the characters, and the film is an enjoyable piece as a whole to watch.
I have nothing against your opinions since everyone is entitled to them however I cannot agree with two of the things you pointed out that personally i think Derek is a far better sounding name than Siegfried and second she has to be turned into a swan because that the movie is called swan princess if they turned her into a beast it would just be a copy of beauty and the beast only with opposite gender roles.
|
|
|
|
Post by disneyfangirl on Aug 22, 2012 17:34:06 GMT -5
I'm with FaPingMulan on this one. Siegfried doesn't sound as a big of a catchy name as Derek. That's like trying to pick to see if Flynn's old name Eugene is better than his other name when you compare him from Tangled lol! However if you bring up the sequels to this film, they did go a little bit overly dramatic on the death too much because Odette dies twice, yet besides her, Jean-Bob only had one death experience  Plus, I don't think I've seen a grown man like Derek crying so much a lot everytime something bad always happens to the love of his life LOL! Did you see the way he took it out on a rock that broke his sword into splitting parts? XD |
|
|
|
Post by albinotanuki on Aug 22, 2012 20:06:44 GMT -5
second she has to be turned into a swan because that the movie is called swan princess if they turned her into a beast it would just be a copy of beauty and the beast only with opposite gender roles. I know she's suppose to turn into a swan because that what the title of the movie is, but if you're going to tell your own interpretation of Swan Lake, I don't think using the Beauty and the Beast moral is a good way to go (unless if Derek gets himself turned into a monster as well as Odette into a swan, but that would make things complicated). I know this is suppose to be a loose adaptation of Swan Lake, but frankly, I've seen better adaptations (I recommend watching the anime version). Oh yeah, another thing that bothers me about the movie is the music. Its not very memorable, especially the lyrics. Also, as a movie copying the style of films from the Disney Renaissance, I'd expect the song to imitate Disney songs, but these feel more like parodies of Disney songs. Movies like Quest for Camelot have gotten flack for trying to be too much like Disney, but one thing people seem to praise that film for are the memorable songs. The songs in this, with one exception, aren't songs that I found myself singing to. And what REALLY bothers me is that this was adapted from a ballet, that has much better music in it. I say they should've gone the Sleeping Beauty route and take music from the ballet and add lyrics to them. |
|
|
|
Post by FaPingMulan on Aug 22, 2012 21:50:31 GMT -5
They made an anime version of it? Yuck. Sorry but I can't stand anime. it's cheap animation and very ugly for me to look at or pay more than 5 minutes attention to it. The only anime I could ever stand was Ronin Warriors, Gundam Wing, Sailor Moon (only the first two seasons though) and Digimon (only the first two seasons) anything else I can't stand.
As far as them using the disney style formula that's awesome to me because the only film studio I like really is disney so that doesn't bother me at all in fact it probably makes me enjoy it all the more.
I never care much for ballet or how much something follows something else so the fact that it's loosely based doesn't bother me either. If it was exactly the same what would be the point of the movie, you might as well watch a ballet version of it on dvd or something which would be pretty boring to me lol.
And sleeping beauty's music bores me honestly sorry but it's true. these of course are just my opinions but I stand by them
|
|
|
|
Post by albinotanuki on Aug 22, 2012 21:56:10 GMT -5
Sorry but I can't stand anime. it's cheap animation and very ugly for me to look at or pay more than 5 minutes attention to it. If you think animation in anime is cheap, I recommend watching Hayao Miyazaki's films; particularly Spirited Away. My other point, I'll admit, is a bit of a nitpick and in a way, I KINDA praise the film for this, but I don't think its done well. The movie basically establishes that this world the characters live in is a multiracial one with black and dark skinned people in the background, but how come all the main characters are white? If you're going to establish that your world is racially diverse, why not make your main cast as such? Why not make Odette Black (Black Swan. Get it?)? |
|
|
|
Post by FaPingMulan on Aug 23, 2012 13:49:42 GMT -5
because technicially black people were slaves back then and I would rather them be none existent than for it to be fake with them not following racial guidelines of the time period.
For example in my show Merlin Gwen is black but she starts out as a maid and deemed as nothing because of it until she marries arthur making her queen.
as for spirited away i saw it and thought it long and boring as I do with most anime things
|
|
|
|
Post by albinotanuki on Aug 23, 2012 14:16:54 GMT -5
because technicially black people were slaves back then and I would rather them be none existent than for it to be fake with them not following racial guidelines of the time period. Tiana from The Princess and the Frog was a Black girl living in the South during the 1920s, which wasn't that great of a time and place for most Black people and she became a princess. Here's another question which I'm hoping to be enlightened on. Why did Rothbart need to ask Odette to have her marry him to take over the kingdom? Is he actually in love with her or not? If not, than why not just forge both their names on a marriage certificate and clam the kingdom that way? It'd be a shorter film, yes, but it would make more sense. |
|
|
|
Post by FaPingMulan on Aug 23, 2012 17:06:49 GMT -5
yes I know but you also remember originally they wanted to make Tiana's character more like Cinderella but couldn't do it because it was deemed as being way too racist so they changed it and though i thought the film was great it still bombed.
As far as Rothbart is concerned if you remember he explained his reasoning very briefly when Odette tells him to take the kingdom with his magic and he replies "Naw. Tried that already. Once you steal something you spend your whole life fighting to keep it." which he is basically saying he wants Odette as his property but as you pointed out if he forced her to marry him the movie would be over.
|
|
|
|
Post by albinotanuki on Aug 24, 2012 20:38:14 GMT -5
The only reason The Princess and the Frog bombed at the box office was because little boys didn't want to see a princess movie and instead wanted to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel (Ugh. Can't believe even my boyfriend is into that; I weep for him.).
What I'm saying abut whole issue with having multiracial characters in the film is that if you aren't going to bother making any of your main caste multiracial, then why bother making the world they live in multiracial at all? Imagine if The Puzzle Place, a tv show about racial diversity and tolerance, had nothing but white puppets? What would be the point?
|
|
|
|
Post by FaPingMulan on Aug 25, 2012 7:04:00 GMT -5
i do see your point but how did swan princess live in a world that was multiracial, it's a cartoon fantasy taking place in the medieval ages after all
|
|
|
|
Post by albinotanuki on Aug 25, 2012 8:00:42 GMT -5
Plus, its a cartoon movie. They didn't HAVE to draw in people of different ethnicities in the film, but they did.
|
|
|
|
Post by falinesmate on Dec 1, 2012 22:33:21 GMT -5
Prince Derek (don't know why they didn't name him Siegfried like in the Swan Lake ballet) and Princess Odette are arranged to be married by their parents who have them visit each other once ever summer and when they're old enough to get married, they fall head over heels for each other. Up until meeting each other at their legal age, they hated one another, but now they're "in love". Suddenly, Odette asks Derek why he loves her and he says its because she's beautiful. She asks him what else about her he loves and he tactfully replies "What else is there?". She gets turned off by his comment and leaves him, only to be kidnapped by the evil wizard Rothbart and turned into a swan. So Derek and Odette must find a way to break the spell. 1. Odette is critical of Derek falling head over heels for her for thinking she's hot when she herself is guilty of the same thing. She hated Derek as much as he did since they were kids. What qualities does Odette see in Derek outside of being "omg, so hot!"? 2. She gets turned into a swan. Swans are already considered beautiful by most people, so its pointless to have a "there's more to love than just a person's beauty" moral if the main character gets turned into a swan. If she got turned into a beast or an old hag, that might convey the moral of the story in a more powerful way. 3. We don't really see anything that really defines Odette's character outside the faux-Disney princess archetype. They say that there is more to her character than just her looks, but they don't show it. If she was a real developed character with well written traits, she could be really interesting. Other than that, "What else is there?" I never really cared much for this film but here's my take on your questions. 1. I think "hate" isn't the right word of them meeting each summer, they were just like any boy and girl at a young age and didn't care to be around eachother, especially Derek who was all for "hanging out with the guys" i.e. his friend. And we all know that girls usually have feelings before boys do in regards to "liking" eachother. I think Odette even smiled at Derek when they first met until he snubbed her and complained about kissing her hand. In the teenage scene Derek actually seemed jealous of Odette talking and laughing with the palace guards, "She's always flirting with the castle guards..." and usually the teasing thing (him doing the rabbit ears when they're in the carriage, her throwing the tomato at him before she leaves) is a cover-up for liking the other person. Anyway as she said in the final scene of the song, she finally started to see he was getting past his "immaturity." 2. In regards to Derek saying, "What else is there?" yeah it was dumb, but you know guys are usually more physically-oriented, at least when it comes to attraction at first sight. But yeah I had the same thinking about Odette mad at the "what else" comment; when she first sees Derek, I mean all she says is her knees are buckling as he smiles at her and then realizes he's "grown up." 3. In regards to her character, well you know the thing is he says she is kind and couregous, and they show that in the movie, but Derek never sees it at all really in the movie. I mean I guess the "kind" thing could be applied to her being kind to her animal friends, but Derek never sees that. And in regards to couregous that could be applied to her getting inside Rothbard's castle to get the map but he never sees that either. I guess the only courgeous thing he does see is her dodging his arrows as he tries to kill her, thinking she is that "great animal" or whatever. XD 4. Siegfried sounds Slavic or Germanic considering Swan Lake was for a Russian audience, while Derek is an 'Anglicized' name for an American audience. |
|
|
|
Post by FaPingMulan on Dec 2, 2012 7:07:37 GMT -5
nicely stated, falinesmate
|
|
|
|
Post by disneyfangirl on Dec 3, 2012 14:37:12 GMT -5
Since we're still on the same subject about this movie, was anyone aware that they made a christmas movie for this film? It's done in CGI! I found the trailer of it myself on Youtube and the animation in it looks so god awfully dreadful! X______________X
|
|
