Full disclosure: I’m a bit under the weather as I write this, so apologies for not offering up my usual whit and cleverness. Rather, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for one of my favorite childhood movies, the 1994 Swan Princess from Nest Entertainment and Rich Animation Studios.
Coming as it did during the Disney Renaissance, it’s understandable how this one could be missed. Another animated movie with another princess who has animal friends and falls in love with a handsome prince, despite the dastardly villain doing his darndest to keep them apart because he wants to take over a kingdom and be king so some other upstart villain can come along in a sequel or two and decide to overthrow him. (Okay, that last part is me being cheeky.)
Anyway, at its corps, The Swan Princess bears a striking resemblance to Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and others. When you get past the top-level synopsis, though, this movie does things others didn’t do in such a fascinating way.
OKAY: PAUSE: The rest of this post may contain spoilers, depending on your definition of spoilers. Just letting everyone know.
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And so, in no particular order, the reasons I love The Swan Princess and feel it is an underrated movie.
💑 Enemies to Lovers: No instalove or love at first sight here. Our leading couple, Derek and Odette, meet as kids, and the “you’ll give me cooties” vibes are everywhere. And it’s made even funnier by the fact almost no one in either of their kingdoms, including their parents, has any clue they can’t stand each other.
👸 A Sarcastic Princess: Yes, Odette is largely prim, proper, and a 90s princess, but every so often, she dishes it in the most “b*tch please” way possible. It makes the dynamic between her and Rothbart (the villain) absolutely fantastic, and it shows Odette can handle herself.
🙏 A Vow, Not a Kiss: The Swan Princess is loosely based on Swan Lake, and in the movie, Rothbart places Odette under a spell that can only be broken by a vow of everlasting love. Derek can’t just plop a kiss on her lips and call it done. He has to mean it, which makes for some fantastic tension, romantic and otherwise.
🤡 Rogers: He is Derek’s chamberlain, and he gets his own mention because Mark Harelik was absolutely phenomenal as this character. The deliveries, the one-liners—just perfect. One of the best comic relief characters there is.
🎶 Far Longer Than Forever: And no list of reasons I love this movie would be complete without the signature romantic duet. Not only is it an excellent moment of character emotion, but Liz Callaway and Howard McGillin knocked it out of the park. In fact, if you do nothing else, go find this song and listen to it. So good.
And there you have it—the type of blog post you get when I’m likely fighting off a very mild cold and not feeling the drive to do heavy critical lifting. If you’re a Swan Princess fan, tell me your favorite thing about the movie in the comments. And if you’re not, well, I guess I can’t help you… (I’m kidding—maybe I do have some wit today, after all).
👋 Fair travels,
Mary
P.S. A big thanks to moonzigg from pixabay.com for the image.
P.P.S. This is my 42nd blog post since I restarted my blog at the beginning of 2026, so my Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy people, sound off.
