Mark Swan's The princess and the ervilha (2002) 

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Interview with Mark Swan (The princess and the pea)

I guess that most of you do not know this little independent film of Mark Swan ( a former  animator at Don Bluth’s ), released in 2002.

Before starting my article, I just want to show off a bit by saying that I fiercely tried to promote it on YouTube back in the days. Indeed, a few years ago, it was impossible to find anything about it unless you were a real loser who would spend his/her  time scrutinizing every page on Google (that is how I was and  luckily, I’m really not like that  anymore , AMEN!) So anyway, I found a trailer in low resolution and then I managed to get the film in an Italian version. I then projected some scenes on YouTube and since there was an increasing  number of visits on my page, I continued to search for more anecdotes about the movie. Later on and by chance I found the film in stock in Paris and I jumped on it. (I still remember it was in November 2006). So I finally got to see it under good conditions (well yeah, I do not understand Italian duh! ..) and so I could have an idea on this unknown film

Be careful, I\'m not saying this film is marvelous; not at all, but I still enjoyed defending it and making it known over time.

Going back to The Princess and the Pea, you must know that Mark Swan worked in the world of animation for over thirty years and helped in no fewer than a dozen projects (more or less known and more or less important) such  as Cats Don’t Dance, A Goofy Movie or four productions by Don Bluth

In 1993, the artist decided to work independently from all studios and founded his own company, Swan Animation. He gradually found means to make his first feature film based on Andersen\'s fairy tale

It is interesting to realize , (and it may even make one  smile), that

  are all based on tales by this Danish author ; you can also see notice that  all three heroines  in each respective film,namely Ariel, Thumbelina and Daria are redheaded.  A mere coincidence you might say...

The story in itself is quite complicated whereas the scenario is pathetically simple. Basically, it is about this princess who is kidnapped at birth and is forced to work as a servant, far away from her father, therefore, ignoring everything about her identity. In the kingdom, however, her cousin takes her place and pretends to be the real princess with the help of her mother (who claims to be her aunt) and her father, who seeks to gain the throne from his brother.

Anyways, I skipped a lot of points but I tried to provide you with a little synopsis that will not give you a headache.

The biggest flaw  of this film (and  which is claimed to be a quality) is that  it copies exactly all the great animation classics. Thus we see unfolding before our eyes 

 shots (Prince Rollo tries to find his sword in the water but instead defends himself with a fish), 

(Daria meets her prince near a waterfall and he seems stunned by such beauty ..)  and  even 

 (Daria sings and dances alongside some kind of ghosts from the past). One can also find several references in the script to 

 (Daria is brought up as a peasant  far away from her family), 

 (the hatred that Liard could feel towards his brother Heath). etc. etc. etc.. 

Another shortcoming of the film is the lack of the heroine’s presence on the screen; I do not know about how it is for you but for  me, when I  want to watch 

 and not follow the adventures of a  stupid bird who seems to repeat his  theory about the vegetable over and over  and over  again. In fact, Daria only appears about six or seven times during the whole  film (about   twenty minutes for a movie that is an hour and some 15 minutes long). It\'s even more unfortunate when one finds out that she  is the only character  that gets a nice animation . This detail has already slightly annoyed me in 

 (hey, another coincidence?) but at least in the latter, the beauty of the  design, the setting and the animation makes us forget the lack of  Aurora’s presence . 

As for the minor characters, it must be said, they are mostly insipid and ridiculous, therefore,that’s  another flaw . I can take as an example, Prince Rollo who appears frequently yet he does absolutely nothing during the most part of the film. He courts Daria; he finds her amazing,he  dances with her yet he continues to court other princesses ,finding each one  more beautiful than the  other. The Golden Award of stupidity goes, nevertheless ,to Sebastian, the songbird who speaks relentlessly about the theory of the pea: he talks about it, he sings about it ,he explains it ... one of his lines even became the tagline of the film: "Never underestimate The Power of a vegetable,"… Excuse me but WTF?

Nevertheless, despite all these great defects, the film stands honorably when you know it was produced with a budget of less than ten million dollars. Indeed, the entire film is pretty nice

visually; there are moments in which we find  very astonishing and good quality animation  . We can also say that Alan Williams’ soundtrack is quite pleasant to listen to on the whole, especially the song "Kingdom of the Heart" and its reprise. Besides that, the biggest surprise of the film for me is the character of  Hildegard, Daria’s cousin, a real crazy,hysterical, angry and spoiled little brat who gets into fits for nothing and who has several cult lines "YOU THERE! I have decided that you will marry me !!!!" .One  can say that Hildegarde holds the funny aspect of the film  in the same way that Charlotte held  this role in 

Finally, concerning the production of the film, it was spread all over  the world : in Utah and California, as well as in England, Hungary and also  Spain.

In conclusion, the film is 50 percent successful in the sense that Swan was able to surround himself with talented artists and provide a visually decent film yet he  failed  to tell an inventive and interesting story .

P.s:  If you feel like leaving a comment, click on "commentaires". :)

Posté par beautifuldenzel à 04:35 - Animated princesses - Commentaires [7] - Permalien [#]

Tags : th princess and the pea unknown kingdom heart daria rollo

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Odette I was going to devote an article to Anastasia but since I\'m in a Black Swan phase right now, I...

Posté par Leslie, 02 février 2011 à 08:29 | | Répondre

wow, your blog is amazing, I\'ve been trying to find some concept art of this movie for a loooong time. thanks so much ! can\'t wait for the rest !!!!!!

Posté par blando, 22 février 2011 à 23:32 | | Répondre

Posté par Poody, 23 février 2011 à 08:22 | | Répondre

Do you know where I can find a good quality video/movie of it ??? :d

Posté par Iranaaa, 11 avril 2011 à 16:36 | | Répondre

I really love your blog! I just found it today. I also love this movie, and your review is really fair. I\'m curious, do you know if the human animation for this film was rotoscoped?

Posté par Rin Chan, 25 novembre 2013 à 01:41 | | Répondre

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Posté par Elyse, 29 juin 2014 à 05:46 | | Répondre

Posté par dariaspea, 28 août 2014 à 14:31 | | Répondre

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