As I like anime very much, after seeing a captivating anime version of Swan Lake, I was wondering if there were any similar ones. By chance on YouTube I came across the Wild Swans and watched it. First of all, I'm 18 and I adore the timeless Hans Christian Andersen story, at a young age I always found it beautiful and touching. And this 1977 anime was exactly that.
The animation is stunning, mystical and ethereal with backgrounds that are lavish and characters that are well designed. For example you have the protagonist Elisa, she is beautifully drawn and I could relate to her because of the fact she was very kind-hearted here and loyal to her brothers, in contrast with a grotesque-looking character such as the Witch who serves as the main villainess of the piece. Another delight was the music, some of it was simple but it was nevertheless haunting and beautiful.
The film does keep true to the spirit of the story which is quite melancholic and poignant, it isn't word from word and one or two characters and situations are added, but that doesn't matter to me. I still loved the story here, as it was beautifully told and well structured. And the dialogue isn't clichéd or trite, it is honest and mysterious-like, a major plus in my book. Even the King's dialogue was worthwhile, there are some instances where a character may have dialogue that makes you groan, but because of the sincerity the King had here, that wasn't the case.
And of course I loved the characters. I loved Elisa, the Witch and the King. And I loved how Elisa's brothers weren't bland or obnoxious, and Greta like her mother is someone you would love to hate. When Elisa spared them at the end, I was like be thankful you weren't burned at the stake because you deserved that seeing how badly you treated Elisa and her brothers. In short, they got more than they deserved in my opinion, sounds callous I know but I kind of get angry when an innocent person is slandered for selfish reasons. Finally, the voice work is dynamic and expressive, I recognised the voice actress of Elisa from somewhere(presently I can't remember exactly where though) and she was really appealing. It is a shame really none of the voice actors are credited here, because the voice actress of the witch I thought was superb, she reminded me slightly of Susanne Pleshette's Yubaba/Zeniba in Spirited Away.
Overall, beautiful and touching film, deserves to be better known. When I saw it I could find absolutely nothing wrong. 10/10 Bethany Cox
The animation is stunning, mystical and ethereal with backgrounds that are lavish and characters that are well designed. For example you have the protagonist Elisa, she is beautifully drawn and I could relate to her because of the fact she was very kind-hearted here and loyal to her brothers, in contrast with a grotesque-looking character such as the Witch who serves as the main villainess of the piece. Another delight was the music, some of it was simple but it was nevertheless haunting and beautiful.
The film does keep true to the spirit of the story which is quite melancholic and poignant, it isn't word from word and one or two characters and situations are added, but that doesn't matter to me. I still loved the story here, as it was beautifully told and well structured. And the dialogue isn't clichéd or trite, it is honest and mysterious-like, a major plus in my book. Even the King's dialogue was worthwhile, there are some instances where a character may have dialogue that makes you groan, but because of the sincerity the King had here, that wasn't the case.
And of course I loved the characters. I loved Elisa, the Witch and the King. And I loved how Elisa's brothers weren't bland or obnoxious, and Greta like her mother is someone you would love to hate. When Elisa spared them at the end, I was like be thankful you weren't burned at the stake because you deserved that seeing how badly you treated Elisa and her brothers. In short, they got more than they deserved in my opinion, sounds callous I know but I kind of get angry when an innocent person is slandered for selfish reasons. Finally, the voice work is dynamic and expressive, I recognised the voice actress of Elisa from somewhere(presently I can't remember exactly where though) and she was really appealing. It is a shame really none of the voice actors are credited here, because the voice actress of the witch I thought was superb, she reminded me slightly of Susanne Pleshette's Yubaba/Zeniba in Spirited Away.
Overall, beautiful and touching film, deserves to be better known. When I saw it I could find absolutely nothing wrong. 10/10 Bethany Cox
