Richard RichRezensionen

A magical, musical animated adventure based on the classic fairy tale "Swan Lake". The story of the beautiful princess Odette, who is transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer's spell. Held captive at an enchanted lake, she befriends Jean-Bob the frog, Speed the turtle and Puffin the bird. Despite their struggle to keep the princess safe, these good-natured creatures can do nothing about the sorcerer's spell, which can only be broken by a vow of everlasting love.

Adventure

Adolescence

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Evil sorceress Zelda kidnaps the Swan Princess in order to wreak havoc on the peaceful land of Swan Lake.

A fox and a hunting dog can't be friends.

0/4 (Terrible).

Besides having a story that's ill-conceived and impossibly boring at every turn, every image in the entire movie is directly lifted from another movie.½

The story of Mormon from age 10 to the death of Moroni his son as an old man is challenging, and a lot of years were skipped, but the main points of the story were well told, including the supposition that Mormon made his abridgement of the Large Plates of the Nephite kings during the years he refused to lead their armies, due to their wickedness and disobedience to God's commandments.

The story of Lehi's Vision is narrated almost exactly as printed in The Book of Mormon, with scripted interpolations depicting the reasons some people might have for either holding onto the Iron Rod or choosing otherwise.
The video also adds scenes of people rescuing some of those who have fallen away.

NOTE for the series: we chose not to buy these when our children were young, not just for the expense (contracted for the entire series), but because we didn't want them confusing cartoons with scriptures.
As an adult, I am enjoying the art, music, and writing. I think they are best suited to middle-schoolers, who are past the age of belief in make-believe, but not so old (teenagers!) as to find them too childish.½

Cartoon in style and script, but conveys some of the essential religious story and lessons.

The cartoonish treatment of Lehi's family seemed a bit over-the-top for the seriousness of the story, but the script handled the episode of Nephi and Laban reasonably well.

Good condensation of the mission of Alma & Amulak to the apostate Zoramites. Impressive interpretation of the Rameumpton. Gives a subtle shout-out to present-day missionaries making door approaches without success, but the anachronistic "so long" was jarring.
Animated slow motion for effect was okay; violence is blacked out since this is intended for children.

The song about the seed of faith was nicely illustrated.
The song over the credits slipped in a phrase from "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel," but I don't know if that was deliberate or just an unconscious memory.
Most of the target viewing audience of children may not recognize it, but their parents may, as it has been covered by many modern groups, including Elvis, Groban, & Celtic Women, and is the "anthem" of the Liverpool Football Club (soccer).

Gives a good summary of this episode in the on-going wars of the Lamanites against the Nephites, but adds a lot of unscriptural text and events.
The "strobe" effect created by omitting some of the intervening frames during some of the battle are meant to emphasize those moments without slowing down the action; it works, but is overused.

Fictional expansion that covered the essentials of the fall of the Tower of Babel and the journey of Jared & his brother, whos name (Mohonri Moriancumr) is not given in the Book of Mormon / Book of Ether, but was revealed to Joseph Smith Jr later.

This script does a good job of giving the back-story for Lamoni's sheep-robbing people and the choice of Mosiah's sons to go as missionaries to the Lamanites.

My biggest complaint is using the stereotypical image of Injuns for the Lamanites, and a rather doughy version of quasi-Middle-Eastern faces for the Nephites.

Cartoon in style and script, but conveys some of the essential religious story and lessons.

Ironically for the film where Don Bluth quit during production, this is the Disney film that to me feels the most like a Don Bluth film. It's a bit dark, but full of heart, can feel slowly paced, but has a genuine story that drives it forward. Even so, for a children's movie, it's not all that stimulating (see aforementioned slow pace), and I never cared much for it myself growing up. As an adult, I have a much bigger appreciation for it than I ever did as a child (as I indeed do with the better ones among Don Bluth's films) which is how it edges up to four stars now.½

According to the Holy Tradition of the Church, Joseph of Nazareth was an older man, a widower with children, when he took the Holy Virgin under his care. This element of Orthodox Tradition differing from what is depicted in this animation should be pointed out.

Christ's voluntary submission to death at the Cross is the undoing of sin, of death, and of the devil.

Not impressed, but kids might think it's fun. Too many stereotypes of hill-billy rednecks.½

A story about God's grace, love, and mercy

The King is Born is a video classic about the birth of Jesus based on the Bible. Beginning with Gabriel announcing God's blessed plan for Mary, this video brings all the elements of this timeless story to life. Journey with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and witness the humble birth of our Savior together with the shepherds.

A skeleton wants a pig so he can get a cauldron to make zombies.

Concept: D
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: C

Enjoyment: D

GPA: 1.4/4½

The concept is good (of course) despite the unbelievability of a swan understanding human concepts and speech enough to talk to a human and learn to read.
The execution is okay, barring some inanities. The music is decent enough, and the trumpet playing is sweet.
The quality of the VHS is poor because of age.½