The Wild Swans (2004)

The Wild Swans is a 2004 American 2D Hand drawn-animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios (previously called "Walt Disney Feature Animation" and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first Disney animated feature film in the decade of 2000's which is a Disney-fairy tale. It is based on the tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The film tells the story of a fearless princess named Elisa who sets off on an epic journey alongside a prince named Dirk ,his trusted, yet jokey companion and best friend, Jack, and Elisa's brothers who got turned into swans as a magic spell. They go along and help her to find return back to her home, which was overtaken her aunt Arianna, the sorcerous woman who is also Queen Paige's sister. Arianna's plans is to take over the kingdom and stop anyone who stands in her way. Meanwhile, they happen to stumble across Elisa's mother Paige, which was said to have left her kingdom, after Arianna got powerhungry.

Both Ron Clements & John Musker serves as directors of the film. It makes it the second time they ever directed a Disney film based on a H.C Andersen-tale, (The first being "The Little Mermaid". It features the voices of Bonnie Wright, Daniel Radcliffe, Cate Blanchett, Gary Oldman, Billy Boyd, Sean Bean, Evangeline Lilly, Patrick Warbuton, Kelly McDonald and Anthony Hopkins.

The Wild Swans premiered on August 6, 2004, It was met with strongly positive reviews from critics and audiences, with some film critics considering The Wild Swans to be one of the best Disney animated feature films since the studio's renaissance era. The film was also a massive commercial success; it accumulated $1.926 billion in worldwide box office revenue, $681 million of which was earned in the United States and Canada and $1.245 billion of which was earned in overseas-territories. It beat numerous records from previous animated films, such as the highest grossing Buena Vista distributed- animated film of the 2000’s (previously held by Pixar's Finding Nemo), and the highest grossing animated film of 2004 (previously held by Dreamworks's Shrek 2, 2 and a half months ago).

Tv Tropes:

Actionized Adaptation: The first of the hand-drawn animated H.C Andersen-based Disney films of the 2000’s. It’s still a Disney movie that is a fairy-tale and with songs more akin to the ones in the Disney Renaissance, but this is the first 2D-animated Disney Princess film in the 2000’s where the stakes are a lot higher, more intensity and there’s more thought-provoking, emotional & timeless storytelling, which would follow for the other five Disney 2D-animated H.C Andersen films to come. And they all pull it off with a G-Rating.

All Star Cast: This film has lots of recognizable names and some of the actors & actresses made a name for themselves thanks to previous works in fantasy franchises especially. Bonnie Wright, Daniel Radcliffe & Gary Oldman from the “Harry Potter”-fame, Cate Blanchett, Billy Boyd & Sean Bean from the “Lord of the Rings”-fame. And then ones like Evangeline Lilly, Patrick Warbuton, Kelly McDonald and Anthony Hopkins, are pretty well know as well.

And You Thought It Would Fail: Following some few 2D-Disney animated box office under-performers like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Home on the Range & especially their biggest bomb ”Treasure Planet”, some executives at Disney, were iffy about how ”The Wild Swans” was going to perform, considering that it was another hand-drawn animated film in the computer animation-age. Little did they know that the film would become the first huge 2D-animated film in the 2000’s era, since another 2D-animated Disney feature based on H.C Andersen tale (The Snow Queen). After this movie’s large success which saved the full interest in 2D-animated features, some more hand-drawn animated films from Disney would follow, which they would also be among the highest grossing films of their respective years and even among the top 50 highest grossing films of all time. It also helps that the films (starting with The Wild Swans in 2004 & ending with The Nightingale in 2008) would be considering some of the best animated films of the 2000’s and of all times in general.

Darker and Edgier: Not completely dark or serious, but it is certainly one of the Disney fairytales with a mature tone. Though it’s definitely not without it’s fun & feel-good moments which makes sure it knows that it’s a Disney movie.

Playing Against Type: It’s genuinely surprising that Disney directors like Ron Clements & John Musker, who directed more upbeat & comedy-driven Disney films like Aladdin & Hercules, would do a more serious & emotional film like this. Both this & one of the next films “Thumbelina” have a more emphasis on the adventure-part.

Tropes regarding Elisa:

100% Adoration Rating: Aside from Arianna (her aunt in blood and the main antagonist of the film), she is beloved by the entire kingdom, and the rest of her family loves her dearly.

Blue Is Heroic: Princess Elisa wears a blue dress, which indicates tons of goodness in her.

The Smurfette Principle: In terms of the royal siblings, Elisa is the only princess and daughter of her family.

Youngest Child Wins: Elisa (the only daughter of Queen Paige & King Thomas) is the youngest of the 12 royal children. And she’s a preteen who’s 11 years old, no less.

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