I've seen both the original Japanese version of this film with subtitles and the English dub with David Hemmings and Kay Lenz, and I would recommend the English version solely for these voice talents and the wittiness of the script. The background sounds and music are the same on both, good in the case of the Tschaikovsky music and the gloomy echoing in Rothbart's abode, not so good in the case of silly squelching sounds when squirrels jump.
The film draws its inspiration from the story in the ballet Swan Lake and is somewhat limited by this, although it adds the requisite happy ending (at least so far as the goodies are concerned) instead of the ambiguous or downright tragic ending usually seen in the ballet performances. Siegfried and Odette's characters and design are bland and generic, with Odette malingering in her captor's jail waiting to be rescued and not showing much inventiveness in finding a solution to her situation, and Siegfried abandoning his responsibilities as the leader of his kingdom because of the way he feels about her, but the characters of antagonists von Rothbart and his daughter Odile steal the show.
Rothbart and Odile can both shapeshift into owls. In human form, Rothbart can probably best be described as a 'metrosexual ogre' -- a green-skinned, burly figure with antenna-like eyebrows and medieval- fantasy-boy hair/beard and cloak. Odette is pale and slight with blue hair and dominatrix-style gloves and corset. The English dub manages to inject a surprising amount of camaraderie and humour between them that isn't present in the original Japanese. Odile teases Rothbart and winds him up and he tells her to shut up, but there's a feeling underneath it that they care about each other and enjoy being partners in evildoing. At the end they both meet their demise and Rothbart dies calling out to Odile to help him. These characters came across as having more of a real father-daughter relationship that was far more relatable to than the stiff romance between the protagonists.
Unmemorable and slightly annoying are two squirrel characters that seem to have been incorporated to make what is essentially a mature and somewhat dark premise more child friendly. They perform only a single relevant act to the plot when they unlock Odette's prison, allowing her to escape to Siegfried's ball. I tend to skip through these scenes when watching the film, and I think it would honestly have worked better had they not been included, and it would have bettered Odette's rather weak character had the scriptwriters come up with a more proactive way for her to escape.
The animation does show its age, although the backgrounds and some of the character designs make up for it. This is an old school anime, and if you liked the more moderate Japanese style of animation before it got all cutesy and exaggerated and disturbingly sexualised, this one is for you. It probably will not have a great deal of appeal to modern children, but adults will probably get a chuckle out of the Rothbart/Odile scenes while rolling their eyes at the squirrels.
The film draws its inspiration from the story in the ballet Swan Lake and is somewhat limited by this, although it adds the requisite happy ending (at least so far as the goodies are concerned) instead of the ambiguous or downright tragic ending usually seen in the ballet performances. Siegfried and Odette's characters and design are bland and generic, with Odette malingering in her captor's jail waiting to be rescued and not showing much inventiveness in finding a solution to her situation, and Siegfried abandoning his responsibilities as the leader of his kingdom because of the way he feels about her, but the characters of antagonists von Rothbart and his daughter Odile steal the show.
Rothbart and Odile can both shapeshift into owls. In human form, Rothbart can probably best be described as a 'metrosexual ogre' -- a green-skinned, burly figure with antenna-like eyebrows and medieval- fantasy-boy hair/beard and cloak. Odette is pale and slight with blue hair and dominatrix-style gloves and corset. The English dub manages to inject a surprising amount of camaraderie and humour between them that isn't present in the original Japanese. Odile teases Rothbart and winds him up and he tells her to shut up, but there's a feeling underneath it that they care about each other and enjoy being partners in evildoing. At the end they both meet their demise and Rothbart dies calling out to Odile to help him. These characters came across as having more of a real father-daughter relationship that was far more relatable to than the stiff romance between the protagonists.
Unmemorable and slightly annoying are two squirrel characters that seem to have been incorporated to make what is essentially a mature and somewhat dark premise more child friendly. They perform only a single relevant act to the plot when they unlock Odette's prison, allowing her to escape to Siegfried's ball. I tend to skip through these scenes when watching the film, and I think it would honestly have worked better had they not been included, and it would have bettered Odette's rather weak character had the scriptwriters come up with a more proactive way for her to escape.
The animation does show its age, although the backgrounds and some of the character designs make up for it. This is an old school anime, and if you liked the more moderate Japanese style of animation before it got all cutesy and exaggerated and disturbingly sexualised, this one is for you. It probably will not have a great deal of appeal to modern children, but adults will probably get a chuckle out of the Rothbart/Odile scenes while rolling their eyes at the squirrels.