The Trumpet of the Swan Movie Review

Fans of E.B. White's classic children stories have been given treats like Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, but this rough adaptation of The Trumpet of the Swan is not likely to please anyone out of training pants -- and even little kids will probably be entertained for only a few run-throughs.

A roughly animated fairy tale, The Trumpet of the Swan follows a happy trumpeter swan family's new kids, one of whom is mute and unable to trumpet. Alas, did is a huge jazz fan, having named his daughters Billy and Ella already, and with young Louie (get it?) unable to sing, well, that's heresy. (See also Mr. Holland's Opus for such sentiment.)

Louie, outcast from his flock, heads off on his own adventures -- crashing a summer camp, attending elementary school in Montana, learning to play the trumpet despite his lack of lips, and eventually playing for big money for Boston. As a morality play on accepting others as they are, for striving hard, and for stealing stuff only when you really, really need it, The Trumpet of the Swan is reasonably straightforward. Too bad the animation and voice acting are uninspired (Mary Steenburgen, anyone?), another symptom of a rushed direct-to-video kiddie flick.