Product Description

A mute Trumpeter swan is given the gift of a trumpet and finds his voice with the help of a young boy.
Genre: Foreign Film - Spanish/misc SA
Rating: G
Release Date: 1-JUN-2004
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38799 in DVD
• Brand: ALEXANDER,JASON
• Released on: 2001-07-31
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.com
Jason Alexander's vocal performance as the hambone father of Louie, a mute trumpet swan, is quite simply the most entertaining element of Trumpet of the Swan, an animated version of E.B. White's children's novel. Given to long-winded speeches and flamboyant displays (Alexander's extended "death scene" after his character is knicked on the wing is a hoot), the former George Costanza's hot-air waterfowl partially salvages this oddly unmoving family feature. The story concerns the silent Louie (his thoughts are spoken by actor Jeffrey Schoeny), who suffers the ridicule of other swans but communicates a depth of feeling by playing a brass horn. The restless script has difficulty developing a coherent emotional rise; director Richard Rich (The Swan Princess) would have done well to cut back on the number of discrete episodes that rush by with dizzying, graceless speed. Joe Mantegna signs on as the voice of a big-city scoundrel who signs Louie to an exploitative music contract, while Mary Steenburgen plays Louie's mother, and Reese Witherspoon speaks for the hero's true love. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

My 3-year-old LOVES Trumpet of the Swan! Great for Kids!
Trumpet of the Swan is obviously a film made for children, but one that adults can enjoy too...which is VERY important if your children are like mine and watch their new video DAILY for the first week! I must add that I think it's unfair to hold this movie up to Disney standards as some reviewers seem to be doing. This is NOT a Disney film, which costs about $10 more, and I find it is every bit as good or better than anything else in the childrens home video department.

I've never read the book, so I can't speak to how well it follows the original story (but does anything from Hollywood EVER follow the original book?) And I concede the animation does not meet the highest standards. (There's a pretty obvious flaw in Louie's big trumpet performance.)

But on to the positives...

While the animation isn't the best quality, the color is bright and beautiful! And the vocal talent is terrific! The cast of voices includes Jason Alexander (Father), Mary Steenburgen (Mother), Seth Green (Boyd), Reese Witherspoon (Serena), Carol Burnett and Joe Mantegna. Each actor injects life and personality into their character. I especially liked Mary Steenburgen's "mother" and Jason's "father" is very entertaining. My daughter thinks the camp leader who mumbles through the megaphone is funny--I found him annoying at first but I got the joke when I saw the campfire scene.

And as a music lover I must mention the film's music. Louie's "trumpet voice" is performed by Michael "Patches" Stewart, and the music score is by Marcus Miller. I find myself humming the tunes at work and my 3 year-old is already starting to sing along with the words!

Bottom line...small children will love Trumpet of the Swan!

My Kids Love this Movie
My two children ages 3 and 4 love this movie. In fact, this is one that they routinely watch, rewind and watch again (when I let them). I have sat down and watched this movie several times over and still enjoy it.

This doesn't follow the original book very well. If you are someone that believes a movie has to follow the book word for word you will be dissapointed. However, if you can get past that, you will enjoy this book.

Louis a trumpeter swan is born unable to talk. He falls in love with Serena and can't court her. He goes to school and learns to read and spell and write. However, as other swans can't read it does him very little good. In the meantime his father gets a trumpet for him. Louis learns to talk through the trumpet and music.

This is a classic video. It is well done. I have read reviews for the dvd that say there is poor pictures and audio. This is not the case for the VHS tape we have at our house.

This movie is about relationships between parents and friends and husbands and wives. It is about music and love and more.

Well worth the money.
Enjoy.

E. B. White Fan Finally Satisfied
It was with some hesitancy and fairly low expectations that I put Trumpet of the Swan into my VCR. The creators of former screenplays inspired by E. B. White's books have turned literary masterpieces into cinema that leaves the viewer unsatisfied at best and most likely thoroughly disgusted by the unhallowed cinematic treatment of White's literary brilliance. This attempt, however, left me pleasantly surprised. The changes in storyline are minimal and appropriate for moving this work from book to movie format. The animation is lighthearted yet aesthetically pleasing. The vocal talent, particularly of Jason Alexander, is impressive. In short, this is one video adults can thoroughly enjoy along with their children, especially if they have had the pleasure of reading White's book together prior to viewing it.