Swan Princess, The

There's no question that Disney is, in terms of public perception, a brand name for animated features. And recent theatrical cartoon bombs — such as "The Princess and the Goblin," "Happily Ever After" and "Bebe's Kids" — have helped perpetuate the notion that nothing else quite measures up.

But every now and then a non-Disney animated feature comes along that is a worthy challenger. And most of the successful examples of the past decade have come from former Utahn and former Disney animator Don Bluth ("The Secret of NIMH," "An American Tail," "The Land Before Time").

Now, Richard Rich, another former Utahn who was once a Disney animator (he worked with Bluth at the Disney studio), is jumping into the fray. And Rich's first effort, "The Swan Princess" proves to be a delightful achievement.

The story, loosely adapted from the same fairy tale that inspired the ballet "Swan Lake" (with music by Utah musician Lex de Azevedo instead of Tchaikovsky) begins as a young princess and prince — Odette and Derek — who live in neighboring kingdoms are betrothed as children. The film's early scenes are very funny, showing the mischievous children playing pranks on each other as they grow up (played out against a musical backdrop). And, of course, they later fall in love.

But the evil wizard Rothbart (voiced by Jack Palance) has other plans, and he changes himself into "the great beast" to spirit Odette away, taking her to a remote lake where he turns her into a swan. To break the spell, Derek must publicly profess his undying love for her and perform an act of bravery.

While Derek is looking for her, Odette is befriended by the film's comic-relief characters, a thoughtful, wise-cracking turtle named Speed (perfectly cast with standup comic Steven Wright) and a pompous frog called Jean-Bob (John Cleese), who affects a phony French accent and is convinced that he is actually a prince, waiting for the kiss of a princess to return him to his true form.

Eventually, Speed and Jean-Bob, along with a puffin (Steve Vinovich) that may remind you of the "The Lion King's" Zazu, join Derek to formulate a rescue plan.

The voices are all great, and Palance very nicely blends humor into his villainous portrayal. (Rothbart even drops to the floor to do some one-armed pushups!)