The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain

The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain, alternatively known as The Swan Princess and the Secret of the Castle in European territories, is a 1997 American animated musical-fantasy-comedy film and the first direct-to-video sequel to the 1994 animated film The Swan Princess. Directed by Richard Rich (who also directed the original), the film follows Derek and Odette's first anniversary of their wedding being disrupted by the actions of a wicked magician, Sir Clavius, who wants to find a magical orb, the source of the Forbidden Arts, and take over the world. The film was released on July 18, 1997. It is the only film in the series not distributed through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Chronologically, this film takes place after The Swan Princess: Christmas, since Odette mentions this as the first Christmas since her father's death.

Plot
After the events of the first film, Prince Derek and Princess Odette's anniversary is interrupted by the dangerous vandalism of Knuckles, the minion of the evil magician Clavius. It is revealed that Clavius was the former partner-in-crime of the villain, Rothbart; they conquered the Forbidden Arts together until Rothbart drove him underground after betraying their partnership. Now, Clavius wants to claim the magical orb of the Forbidden Arts that is located somewhere in Swan Lake castle, which has become Derek and Odette's new home. Clavius has Knuckles perform acts of vandalism in the kingdom that keep Derek very busy and make him neglect both his wife and mother.

On Queen Uberta's fiftieth birthday, she is abducted by Clavius, who wants to use her as leverage. When Uberta's lackey, Sir Chamberlain, sends Derek the letter, stating that Uberta has been captured, he sets out to rescue his mother. Meanwhile, Clavius sneaks into Swan Lake castle, where he kidnaps Odette, locks her in a tower and then goes after the orb himself. Bridget, who was once Rothbart's accomplice but has joined the side of good as she fell in love with Chamberlain, recognizes Clavius and knows that he is after the Forbidden Arts. She takes Speed, Puffin, and Jean-Bob 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 his tail has been injured by Knuckles, so she convinces Bridget 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. Clavius eventually obtains the orb, and locks Bridget and the animals in the watery dungeon, although they later manage to escape.

Meanwhile, Princess Odette reaches Derek in time to save him from drowning in a pit of quicksand. Racing back to the castle, Odette and Derek 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. Knuckles tries to stop them, and after a fight, Knuckles falls into the lava pool beneath the volcano.

Clavius celebrates his regaining the Forbidden Arts again, but 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. Unfortunately, Jean-Bob is killed when he is thrown off. Derek gets his hands on the orb, and the group rushes to escape in Clavius' balloon. Clavius tries to stop them, and during the struggle, the orb is dropped. The orb shatters, causing an eruption. Clavius dies in the resulting explosion, while everyone escapes.

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 is revived. The gang celebrates their victory and Uberta's birthday. The following day, her valet, Lord Rogers, tells Derek that a royal guest from Lincolnshire had arrived at the castle, but Derek asks Rogers to take care of it, as he wishes to spend the day with Odette. The two share a kiss, enjoying their time together alone at last.

Cast

 * Michelle Nicastro – Princess Odette
 * Douglas Sills – Prince Derek
 * Kenneth Cope provided the singing voice for this film's end credits version of Far Longer than Forever.
 * Jake Williamson – Sir Clavius
 * Michael Lanning provided the singing voice for You Gotta Love It but not on No Fear Rap.
 * Christy Landers – Queen Uberta
 * Donald Sage MacKay – Jean-Bob
 * Doug Stone – Speed
 * Steve Vinovich – Puffin
 * Joseph Medrano – Lord Rogers
 * James Arrington – Sir Chamberlain
 * Joey Camen – Sir Knuckles
 * Owen Miller – Bromley
 * Rosie Mann – Bridget

Songs

 * "The Magic of Love"
 * "That's What You Do for a Friend"
 * "You Gotta Love It"
 * "Far Longer than Forever" (end credits)
 * "No Fear Rap"

Release
The film had a limited theatrical release on July 18, 1997 with a domestic gross of $273,644. On September 2, 1997, Warner Home Video released the film on VHS in the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment collection. In 1999, it was included in a VHS gift set released in the United Kingdom containing all three The Swan Princess movies. The DVD of the film was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on August 18, 2009. In February 2004 in Europe, it was released in a DVD set containing all three The Swan Princess movies with a bonus sing-a-long disc. However, unlike the first and third films, it did not get released on DVD in the United States until August 2009.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, Swan Princess has an aggregated score of 40% based on 5 critic reviews. Renee Longstreet of Common Sense Media have a review score of 2 out of 5 stars writing: "Charm replaced with cartoon violence in lackluster sequel."