Parents' Guide to

The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today!

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Lots of peril and adventure in clever princess tale.

Movie PG 2016 79 minutes
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What's the Story?

THE SWAN PRINCESS: PRINCESS TOMORROW, PIRATE TODAY! features Princess Alise, who is happy to be a princess but doesn't want to live the prim, tiara-topped life her grandmother has in mind. She prefers a little adventure and, after escaping princess boot camp, heads for the sea, stylishly sporting an eye patch. She, Lord Rogers, and crew are promptly storm-tossed onto an island where man-eating Boggs are delighted at the prospect of dining on visitors seasoned with rosemary and tarragon. They are all saved by Lucas, a boy who ran away when his desperately poor parents decided that his best chance in life would come if they gave him up for adoption. Alise persuades him to come with her and her rescuers, assuring him that his parents must truly love him. A ghost of a flying squirrel guides them all to a happy and safe ending.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1):

This cleverly written Swan Princess installment will be amusing for watch-along parents, and their reassuring presence may be the perfect antidote to the peril the main characters are subject to. The humor is sophisticated. When Rogers prescribes some adventure for Alise, the highly formal queen assures him, "She'll get all the adventure she needs with a tight corset and ill-fitting shoes." Songs are funny and uplifting. Groups work politely and cooperatively together. Some jokes may go over the heads of children, including one about the destruction of Pompeii. The vocabulary is wonderfully wide-ranging: "insidious," "pillaging," and "pathetic."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how it feels to be in danger. Have you ever been afraid you were going to be hurt? What did you do?

  • How do the royal guards work together to rescue Alise and Lord Rogers? Have you had to work as a team before? What was the project? How did you do?

  • Lucas thinks his parents don't love him because they wanted to send him away. How do you think he feels when he realizes that everything they were doing was out of love for him?

  • Have you seen the other movies in this series? How does this movie compare to the others?

Movie Details

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