| The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Rich |
| Produced by | Richard Rich Jared F. Brown |
| Screenplay by | Brian Nissen |
| Story by | Brian Nissen Richard Rich |
| Starring | Michelle Nicastro Douglas Sills Jake Williamson |
| Music by | Lex de Azevedo |
| Editing by | James Koford |
| Studio | Rich Animation Studios Nest Family Entertainment Swan II LLC |
| Distributed by | Warner Home Video (VHS) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | July 18, 1997 |
| Running time | 71 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $273,644 (USA) |
The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain (also known as The Swan Princess: The Secret of the Castle in European countries) is the first sequel to the animated film The Swan Princess. It was directed by Richard Rich and released in 1997.
This sequel features recycled footage from the previous film, most notably in the flashbacks during "The Magic of Love" sequence. Musically, the film also samples the soundtrack of the previous film, such as during the scene where Clavius is changing Queen Uberta into various animals; the instrumental of "Practice, Practice, Practice" can be heard.
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It has been one year since the events of The Swan Princess, but Derek and Odette's anniversary is interrupted by the dangerous vandalism of Knuckles, a minion of the wizard, Clavius the Magic-Shaper. Clavius, who was the partner of Rothbart the Spell-Weaver, wants to claim the all-powerful mystic magical orb of the Forbidden Arts which is located somewhere deep within Swan Lake castle, which has become the new home of Derek and Odette. Clavius and Rothbart both conquered the Forbidden Arts together, until Rothbart drove him (Clavius) underground after betraying their partnership.
At Derek's castle, his mother, Queen Uberta, cannot conceive the fact that she is turning fifty tomorrow. When her assistant Chamberlain tells her the news of the mysterious attack on one of Derek's fields, Uberta wails that Derek is sure to forget her birthday.
When the birthday comes, Clavius, dressed as a clown abducts Uberta to use her as leverage, but not before being pestered by the Queen while on the way to his lair. When Derek sets out to rescue his mother, Clavius sneaks into Swan Lake castle where he locks Odette in a tower and then goes after the orb himself. Odile, who was once Rothbart's accomplice but has joined the side of good , recognizes Clavius and knows that he is after the Forbidden Arts. She takes Speed, Puffin, and Jean-Bob (whom throughout the movie is tired of hearing Puffin repeating "no fear" over and over) into the catacombs under the castle where they find the orb first. After claiming the orb, they race back upstairs and free Odette.
Odette knows now that Derek is heading into a trap, but Puffin cannot fly because of an accident of spraining his tail earlier in the movie so she convinces Odile to use the orb to change her into a swan. Once transformed, Odette flies off to warn Derek. Clavius stumbles upon the remaining group and a chase ensues throughout the castle. During the chase, Clavius frantically warns that if the orb hits the ground, it'll cause the whole castle to explode, taking out everyone within it. Clavius eventually obtains the orb, and locks Odile and the animals in the watery dungeon.
Elsewhere, Odette reaches Derek just in time to save him from sinking to his death in a pit of quicksand. Racing back to the palace, they see Clavius escaping in his hot-air balloon, from which Speed, Puffin and Jean-Bob are secretly clinging to in the hopes of being able to regain the orb. Derek and Odette follow the balloon to Clavius' volcano lair but Knuckles tries to stop them. After a big fight, Knuckles is soon caused to fall into the lava pool beneath the volcano.
Clavius celebrates with a remix of Born to be Wild having the Forbidden Arts again, but when he attempts to transform Uberta into a fly he is cut short when Derek arrives and the animals free Uberta from her prison. During the fight, Jean-Bob jumps on Clavius' head to stop him from delivering a killing blow to Derek, but Jean-Bob is killed when he is thrown off. Derek finally gets his hands on the orb, and the gang rushes to escape in Clavius' balloon. Clavius tries to stop them, and during the struggle the orb is dropped, which shatters on the floor and causes a massive explosion which presumably kills Clavius and destroys the Forbidden Arts in the process.
Later, everyone is at Swan Lake, waiting for the moon to rise on Odette, who is waiting on the surface with Jean-Bob on her wing. When the moonlight touches Odette, she is transformed back to her human form and Jean-Bob revives. The gang celebrate their victory and Uberta's fiftieth birthday.
The next day, a guest (the king of Lincolnshire) arrives a day early, much to the surprise of Derek and Rogers. Derek asks Rogers to tell the king to wait as he plans on spending the day with Odette.
The film had a limited theatrical release in July 1997 but performed poorly, only achieving a total domestic gross of $273,644.[1] Two months later in September 1997 the film was released on video. In 1999 it was included in a VHS Gift set containing all three The Swan Princess movies. The DVD of the film was released in the USA on August 18, 2009.[2] In February 2004 in Europe it has been released in a DVD set containing all three The Swan Princess movies with a bonus a sing-a-long disc.
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