For the first 10 minutes of this film, I was expecting nothing more than a cheap, so-so knock-off. Well, the animations still weren't exactly the highest of quality, but they worked. As for the story itself... I was wondering how they could possibly expand the Princess and the Pea to over an hour, and they did by almost making the pea storyline non-existent and instead focusing on another. This film should have been called The Prince and the Peasant, but I digress, titles don't always matter and the story it gave us was actually very interesting/clever. The songs were also quite good. Again, this was just loads better than I thought it would be and ended up being a very enjoyable experience.
8 Reviews
I Have Mixed Feelings About this Movie
MovieTVRomanceFan27 August 2021
For the longest time I wanted to see the Princes and the Pea and I have to say after finally watching it's not exactly what I expected. I thought this was a decent film with good music and an intriguing storyline, but I felt it really lacked focus on Daria. She is supposed to be the main protagonist, but surprisingly this movie didn't focus enough on her as it should have and actually focused more on all the other characters who unlike Daria got actual screentime, focus and development. This was honestly the main fault that Daria didn't get more of a role in the film. It's called the Princess and the Pea, but should've been called something else since it severely lacked the actual Princess.
The characters who got the most focus were her love interest, father, villains and even the actual pea itself got more of a storyline and mystery than Daria herself ever did. It's a real shame. The wasted potential of a storyline involving a long lost princess with absolutely No Focus Whatsoever. No one even realized the truth or had even the slightest suspicions until the very end. I also think her love story with Rollo needed more development. I thought they were cute together, but even their romantic relationship was severely lacking. I felt a connection and some chemistry, but their relationship needed so much more work done.
Aside from this I did like all the characters, the songs were unique and quite beautiful and there were several times I did laugh and enjoy myself. Not to mention the action and suspense was exciting to watch and I think my favourite character was the crow. Honestly though I felt this was a decent film at best with a lot of potential, but I won't lie when I say it could've been better.
The characters who got the most focus were her love interest, father, villains and even the actual pea itself got more of a storyline and mystery than Daria herself ever did. It's a real shame. The wasted potential of a storyline involving a long lost princess with absolutely No Focus Whatsoever. No one even realized the truth or had even the slightest suspicions until the very end. I also think her love story with Rollo needed more development. I thought they were cute together, but even their romantic relationship was severely lacking. I felt a connection and some chemistry, but their relationship needed so much more work done.
Aside from this I did like all the characters, the songs were unique and quite beautiful and there were several times I did laugh and enjoy myself. Not to mention the action and suspense was exciting to watch and I think my favourite character was the crow. Honestly though I felt this was a decent film at best with a lot of potential, but I won't lie when I say it could've been better.
And I thought The Scarecrow was underrated.Nope this is the one
lisafordeay2 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The Princess and the Pea came out in 2002(although it looks like it came out in the 90s) and is based off Han Christiam Anderson's fairytale based on the same name. A handsome prince from a far off land is set to marry a bride, but while he is taking a walk in the forest,he meets a beautiful woman named Darla who is really a princess as she was kidnapped and swapped as a baby. Could she be the girl to test if there is a pea under the mattress(hence title of film).
But with the evil Count Laird(who I swear sounds like Martin Short) will Daira's true identity be revealed in time before the prince marries the wrong girl.
The animation is nice(although weird during the kingdom to my heart/Once Upon a December rip off sequence), the voice cast is good. Overall I was glad I seen this film as it took me till now to have seen this film.
Shame no one ever talks about it the same with The Scarecrow(another underrated film).
The animation is nice(although weird during the kingdom to my heart/Once Upon a December rip off sequence), the voice cast is good. Overall I was glad I seen this film as it took me till now to have seen this film.
Shame no one ever talks about it the same with The Scarecrow(another underrated film).
A whole lot of cartoons in one.
lelie6 January 2004
When I first saw Mark Swan's 'Princess and the Pea', I was expecting a short plot less fairytale. Instead, I was treated to a long animated film, with plenty of character development, and much more of a plot than the fairytale I remember. Many of the situations and characters are based on other animation. Homage is paid to Disney film like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and even Black Cauldron. It isn't limited to Disney; one scene is very much like Wonder Works Anastasia, and another like Rich's Swan Princess, with others like Thumbelina. But it all flows nicely. The whole plot has a quiet pace. A smart bird (like Zazu in Lion King?) plays a major part. Plenty of singing. After the first song it was quite good. The animation was quite nice; real feature animation and not TV animation. All in all, a very nice film. Too bad it can't get the exposure it would if it had a Disney label. It may be hard to find, but it's worth it. It makes me look forward to Swan's The Velveteen Rabbit.
Imaginative and Sweet
ridiculonius20 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Mark Swan's The Princess and the Pea is an imaginative and surprisingly original take on the old fairy tale that suffers from a lack of budget and a weak heroine. Like most Disney movies, it seeks to pad a relatively simplistic story with villains, extra characters, and a deeper plot, and in that area it succeeds very well. The script is strong, blending elements of classic animated films, the dark undertones of Grimm fairy tales, and its own charm and flair. However, as I mentioned before, the heroine is rather weak, and the central romance a bit too clichéd to be taken seriously by a modern audience.
The film begins shortly before Laird, the wicked and selfish crown prince, is to be coronated. He cannot find his golden shoes, which are still in the throne room after he threw them at young Prince Rollo from a neighbouring kingdom. Determined not to look like a fool by wandering into his own coronation barefoot, Laird sends his younger brother Heath to fetch his shoes. However, unbeknownst to Laird and Heath, an old law states that whichever prince enters the throne room first shall be crowned king. Heath enters and is crowned King in his brother's place. He makes Laird Lord of the Pig Country, much to Laird and his wife Helsa's displeasure. Shortly after, both Helsa and Heath's wife give birth to baby girls. Heath's wife, unfortunately, dies in childbirth. Laird decides to switch the girls, leaving Helsa as a nurse to their daughter, Hildegard, while Heath's real daughter, Daria, is sent to live with the Pig People. Years later, an adult Rollo returns to the kingdom to seek a wife. He is turned off by Hildegard's shallowness, but is smitten with Daria, whom he meets in the woods one day. But their love will soon be interrupted by Laird, determined to take back his kingdom. Meanwhile, Heath's faithful friend, Sebastian the Crow, is desperately searching for the key to the Legend of the Pea, which he needs to find before the end of Heath's reign, or the kingdom will be destroyed.
This film suffers a great deal from the animation, which isn't *too* terrible, but looks very off-putting in a few places and almost looks as if it were done on Flash. The songs were for the most part catchy, well-sung, and worked seamlessly into the film; however, the love theme "Kingdom of the Heart" was rather cheesy and halted the story. A lot of the imagery (and songs, in one case) seemed to be taken from other films; the reflection of Daria in the pond that aged as it rippled was taken directly from Quest for Camelot, for example, and the song "Kingdom of the Heart" sounded suspiciously like "Dreams to Dream" from An American Tale: Fievel Goes West.
Daria herself is supposed to be the pure-hearted, sensitive and kind princess that Hildegard couldn't be - however, she's a little *too* sweet. There's nothing wrong with her being a good person, but she was very 2-dimensional; her only personality trait seemed to be that she was nice. All of her hopes, dreams, and dialogue seemed to focus on one of two things; everyone in the world getting along and being good, and her finding the perfect man. Her and Rollo's relationship was a little too quick, and since they only shared about 5 lines of dialogue and a dance together, the quality of the time didn't quite override the quantity. This might fly in a '50's cartoon like Cinderella, but this film was made in 2002, after more than 10 years of cartoon heroines becoming more dynamic and their relationships with their true loves becoming more deep. Considering how imaginative the rest of the movie was, Daria's personality and her romance with Rollo seemed a bit underwritten and lazy.
However, this does not diminish the fact that the movie had a very original set-up. The original Princess and the Pea is a simple story, and this film managed to give it an interesting plot as well as a fun, foppish villain whose humorous moments never distracted from the real threat he posed. Characters like Helsa were given a bit more depth than can usually be found in secondary characters; she was shown to have a good heart underneath her cruel and selfish ways. Sebastian was a fun character and Heath had a real nobility to him. Even the animal side-kicks, Daria's three pet pigs, were enjoyable to watch; and unlike other films featuring animal side-kicks, the pigs weren't mere distractions and filler.
All in all, this movie suffers in a few spots that keep it from being perfect. If it had gotten a bigger budget and they had rewritten Daria's character, it could've been a much better film. However, it is still a great little gem and a lot of fun to watch. It hasn't got a lot of notoriety, and if it hadn't been for YouTube I probably never would've seen it; but if you can get your hands on it, I'd highly recommend you watch it!
The film begins shortly before Laird, the wicked and selfish crown prince, is to be coronated. He cannot find his golden shoes, which are still in the throne room after he threw them at young Prince Rollo from a neighbouring kingdom. Determined not to look like a fool by wandering into his own coronation barefoot, Laird sends his younger brother Heath to fetch his shoes. However, unbeknownst to Laird and Heath, an old law states that whichever prince enters the throne room first shall be crowned king. Heath enters and is crowned King in his brother's place. He makes Laird Lord of the Pig Country, much to Laird and his wife Helsa's displeasure. Shortly after, both Helsa and Heath's wife give birth to baby girls. Heath's wife, unfortunately, dies in childbirth. Laird decides to switch the girls, leaving Helsa as a nurse to their daughter, Hildegard, while Heath's real daughter, Daria, is sent to live with the Pig People. Years later, an adult Rollo returns to the kingdom to seek a wife. He is turned off by Hildegard's shallowness, but is smitten with Daria, whom he meets in the woods one day. But their love will soon be interrupted by Laird, determined to take back his kingdom. Meanwhile, Heath's faithful friend, Sebastian the Crow, is desperately searching for the key to the Legend of the Pea, which he needs to find before the end of Heath's reign, or the kingdom will be destroyed.
This film suffers a great deal from the animation, which isn't *too* terrible, but looks very off-putting in a few places and almost looks as if it were done on Flash. The songs were for the most part catchy, well-sung, and worked seamlessly into the film; however, the love theme "Kingdom of the Heart" was rather cheesy and halted the story. A lot of the imagery (and songs, in one case) seemed to be taken from other films; the reflection of Daria in the pond that aged as it rippled was taken directly from Quest for Camelot, for example, and the song "Kingdom of the Heart" sounded suspiciously like "Dreams to Dream" from An American Tale: Fievel Goes West.
Daria herself is supposed to be the pure-hearted, sensitive and kind princess that Hildegard couldn't be - however, she's a little *too* sweet. There's nothing wrong with her being a good person, but she was very 2-dimensional; her only personality trait seemed to be that she was nice. All of her hopes, dreams, and dialogue seemed to focus on one of two things; everyone in the world getting along and being good, and her finding the perfect man. Her and Rollo's relationship was a little too quick, and since they only shared about 5 lines of dialogue and a dance together, the quality of the time didn't quite override the quantity. This might fly in a '50's cartoon like Cinderella, but this film was made in 2002, after more than 10 years of cartoon heroines becoming more dynamic and their relationships with their true loves becoming more deep. Considering how imaginative the rest of the movie was, Daria's personality and her romance with Rollo seemed a bit underwritten and lazy.
However, this does not diminish the fact that the movie had a very original set-up. The original Princess and the Pea is a simple story, and this film managed to give it an interesting plot as well as a fun, foppish villain whose humorous moments never distracted from the real threat he posed. Characters like Helsa were given a bit more depth than can usually be found in secondary characters; she was shown to have a good heart underneath her cruel and selfish ways. Sebastian was a fun character and Heath had a real nobility to him. Even the animal side-kicks, Daria's three pet pigs, were enjoyable to watch; and unlike other films featuring animal side-kicks, the pigs weren't mere distractions and filler.
All in all, this movie suffers in a few spots that keep it from being perfect. If it had gotten a bigger budget and they had rewritten Daria's character, it could've been a much better film. However, it is still a great little gem and a lot of fun to watch. It hasn't got a lot of notoriety, and if it hadn't been for YouTube I probably never would've seen it; but if you can get your hands on it, I'd highly recommend you watch it!
pretty good!
filinia_1329 December 2007
My 3 sisters and I have watched every Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and Fox animated movie that our nearby DVD store has. Last night when we were entering the store, my sister said something about renting ''Cinderella''. I told her that I didn't want to watch ''Cinderella'' AGAIN (i don't think that i could stand hearing another ''bibidi bobidi boo'' for the 3rd time this month) and that we should get something that we hadn't already watched, like that one, ''The Princess and the pea''. She agreed eventually, because she knew I wouldn't stop whining if I didn't have it my way. Well, in the end all my sisters loved the movie. The storyline is very nice and the animation good. Not as good as Disney's but much more than acceptable. All in all ''The Princess and the pea'' is a great movie that should have gained more recognition and is way better than many other big labeled animated features such as ''Shark Tale'' and ''Home on the Range''.
Just Another Princess Movie
calvinjedediah17 September 2022
When I was a kid, I always wondered why Disney never made a Princess and the Pea movie, and when I found this, it became one of my favorite fairy tale movies to watch. On rewatch as an adult, I can tell it's definitely not on par with Disney, but I'd argue it's still a hidden gem. It's better than the worst of Disney's catalogue, for sure.
The songs are actually good, and the score as well. The villain is pretty fun, and though the plot is a bit silly in retrospect, it's well paced and well done. It's actually quite funny, dramatic, and endearing.
I'm invested in our heroes' journey as they fall in love and save the kingdom. That's more than enough for me.
The songs are actually good, and the score as well. The villain is pretty fun, and though the plot is a bit silly in retrospect, it's well paced and well done. It's actually quite funny, dramatic, and endearing.
I'm invested in our heroes' journey as they fall in love and save the kingdom. That's more than enough for me.
The movie's animation is nice to look at and the songs are decent, but has a very weak and flawed plot.
molinagrn30 October 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I do respect wanting to make an animated movie about The Princess and The Pea, as although the story is well-known it doesn't have many movies. But even with the changes to it's story, the movie is riddled with problems.
The villains are one-dimensional and don't really have many traits aside from being greedy, vain, gluttonous or ugly. Made even worse by the fact the main characters don't really much different traits aside from being nice and pretty, aside from maybe Prince Rolo.
I'm also not a fan of how King Heath doesn't call off Laird's childish attitude when it got put of hand, so much so he threatened a literal kid. (or even recognize his "daughter" very looks suspiciously like his brother.) The way they write off Hildegard as just being an evil person, despite the implication Heath constantly tries to force her to be like his dead wife or was maybe neglectful of her as a child if Helsa succeeded in corrupting her to be vain. It doesn't sit right with me, they could've done more with their characters to be more interesting and likeable.
The animal sidekicks tend to interject at weird times (also the pig sound effects get very grating.) Daria doesn't really get much agency, and feels like she's not really in the film as an active character. Even with Cinderella and Aurora, they were better established in their setting as protagonists.
Feels more like Heath himself is the main protagonist, even though it's called the Princess and The Pea. But maybe that's my perspective.
This movie felt like it was trying to take inspiration from other properties but didn't adjust things to feel more engaging in it's story. Which is a shame, with the animation (especially with it's unique look as more medieval rather than bright and colorful) and songs, if the plot was better done it could've been really good.
The villains are one-dimensional and don't really have many traits aside from being greedy, vain, gluttonous or ugly. Made even worse by the fact the main characters don't really much different traits aside from being nice and pretty, aside from maybe Prince Rolo.
I'm also not a fan of how King Heath doesn't call off Laird's childish attitude when it got put of hand, so much so he threatened a literal kid. (or even recognize his "daughter" very looks suspiciously like his brother.) The way they write off Hildegard as just being an evil person, despite the implication Heath constantly tries to force her to be like his dead wife or was maybe neglectful of her as a child if Helsa succeeded in corrupting her to be vain. It doesn't sit right with me, they could've done more with their characters to be more interesting and likeable.
The animal sidekicks tend to interject at weird times (also the pig sound effects get very grating.) Daria doesn't really get much agency, and feels like she's not really in the film as an active character. Even with Cinderella and Aurora, they were better established in their setting as protagonists.
Feels more like Heath himself is the main protagonist, even though it's called the Princess and The Pea. But maybe that's my perspective.
This movie felt like it was trying to take inspiration from other properties but didn't adjust things to feel more engaging in it's story. Which is a shame, with the animation (especially with it's unique look as more medieval rather than bright and colorful) and songs, if the plot was better done it could've been really good.
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