“Travel back to the beginning of a 20-year Swan Princess journey to see how it all began! Before becoming queen, Uberta lives a humble life with her husband Maximillian when she is suddenly thrust into royalty. Through triumph and tragedy, she learns the lessons needed to become a beloved queen, all while raising the next generation of rulers. When it’s time for Uberta to pass the royal scepter to Odette and Derek, rival Queen Wixom has plans of her own to ruin the kingdom’s greatest coronation”.
-Swan Princess 11 DVD
Some thoughts from me (Potential spoilers below…)
It’s hard to know where to begin with this film, I’m fresh off my first watch and I think I’m still having trouble parsing what exactly Swan Princess 11’s deal is. First and foremost though some necessary context must be given. It’s been announced that the Swan Princess series is coming to an end! Swan Princess 11 is the second-to-last movie in the franchise, and knowing that I think at least part of the madness of this film makes a bit more sense.
Swan Princess 11 shows us how Uberta came to be Queen, and the various ups and downs of her reign. That means the first 50 minutes of this 86 min film is a speed-run of Uberta’s early years as Queen, with no context whatsoever as to why we’re doing this. After the 50 minute mark we’re finally back in the present time, where we see that Uberta has decided to retire and the rest of the film focuses on Derek and Odette’s coronation. So in hindsight, I suppose this movie is meant to be a celebration of Uberta’s reign, though I really don’t understand why the scene of Uberta deciding to retire wasn’t at the beginning of the film to establish why we’re focusing so heavily on her. Knowing that Uberta’s reign is coming to and end would also add some emotional weight to seeing where it all started.
It’s hard to explain this in text alone, but this film is really lacking in connective tissue. It just feels like a series of disconnected scenes arranged one right after another, as majority of those scenes don’t feel like they naturally flow into one another. It ends up feeling very jarring as we’re jumping from place to place, or in and out of each subplot, and there’s very few moments where you’re given a bit of time to digest the previous scene. With how much happens in this film I was really aching for some quieter moments to have a bit of breathing room.
I think at least part of that maddening pace is possibly because the studio behind this film, knowing the series is coming to an end, had a lot of stuff they wanted to cover before wrapping things up. Things like showing us Derek’s Dad and Odette’s Mom, both of whom have never appeared on screen in the series before. It was really interesting to finally get to see these characters… and yet, it doesn’t feel like we actually got enough time with them to justify their inclusion into this film.
Now spoilers ahead… but it does seem like the last film of the series will be revolving around Derek’s Dad, and the mystery of what happened to him, so at least he’ll be getting a bit more attention in the future! Odette’s Mom however, I really don’t feel like she contributed much to the plot, and because of the aforementioned fast pace of this film I’m left wishing that they didn’t include her at all and instead used that time to slow the film down. Was it nice to finally see her? Sure, but it felt like it was to the detriment of the film. But again, I think this was maybe part of the studio’s desire to cover as much as they could with what little time they have left, and I guess I can’t say I wouldn’t try and do the same if I was in their position.
It’s a shame though, because I do think there’s a fun premise to be had in this film. Uberta retiring, Derek and Odette’s coronation, and Uberta’s rivalry with the snooty Queen Wixom could’ve made for a very fun entrant into the Swan Princess series. Instead those three plot points are squashed into the last 30 minutes of the film, so there’s just no time left to do them justice.
I would’ve loved to have seen this movie set wholly in the present day. Uberta makes her decision to retire, and as she begins setting up Derek and Odette’s coronation she starts getting introspective about her reign… maybe we have her digging through her old stuff and she finds a few momento’s, the chief one being something that reminds her of her rivalry with Queen Wixom. Maybe Uberta decides to end her reign by burying the hatchet, so she invites Wixom to the coronation. Wixom happily accepts the invite and also says she wants to let bygones be bygones… maybe she even arrives a few days early because she wants to help Uberta prepare for the coronation. But of course as the film transpires, we’d see that Wixom being helpful is actually just an act. That Wixom has decided this is her best opportunity to finally win one over on Uberta, and she has a big scheme to ruin the coronation and end Uberta’s reign on a low note. You could still even set up the plot point with Derek’s Dad, and simply have something of his be one of the momento’s Uberta finds. Heck, Swan Princess 11 already sets up that Derek’s Dad has a journal that holds the key to what happened to him… just have Derek find that and realise that there’s a mystery afoot.
I’ve rambled far too long on this film already so I’ll cut it short here. I’m sad to see the Swan Princess series go because I did enjoy having a regular entrant to my Bad Princess Movie nights. In today’s day and age where many studios have had their shows cancelled unexpectedly, I’m at least glad that the studio behind the Swan Princess films know ahead of time that their series is coming to an end as it gives them the opportunity to go all out with their last film and (Hopefully) end the series on a high note. Time will tell I suppose! As sad as I am to see the series go I am looking forward to seeing what they cook up for the grand finale.
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