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Trumpet of the Swan, The

EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures

Trumpet of the Swan, The reviews
27
4.0 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Family/Kids

Written by: E.B. White (book)

Directed by: Richard Rich

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 11, 2001
DVD: July 31, 2001

Running Time: 75 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: G for General Audiences

Starring Jeffrey Schoeny, Jason Alexander, Mary Steenburgen, Seth Green, Carol Burnett, and Joe Mantegna

Based on the classic children's book by E.B. White, this is the tale of a trumpeter swan named Louis who learns to speak to the world with a trumpet stolen from a music store by his father.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

63

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

Modest, unassuming fare for younger children.

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50

Boston Globe Jay Carr

The film is gentle and carries a simple moral.

40

The New York Times Stephen Holden

A bland, well-meaning mishmash that never coheres into a dramatic whole.

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38

Chicago Tribune Loren King

A lame duck.

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38

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

An innocuous family feature that's too little/too late in the fast-moving world of feature animation.

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38

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A brightly colored but terminally dull cartoon.

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30

Variety Jeremy Arnold

Bland animated musical offers little to charm adults with fond memories of the book, and even tykes are likely to become bored by the halfway point.

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30

Film.com Tom Keogh

As with most non-Disney animated features, Trumpet of the Swan does make the Mouse look like a genius.

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30

Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart

Nothing quite works about The Trumpet of the Swan, one of those animated films that make you realize how hard it is to strike the right tone for a family film.

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30

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

At times, both swans and humans appear oddly out of sync with their flat backgrounds, while the film's few musical flights of fancy never achieve visual liftoff.

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25

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Upbeat but generic songs (one performed by Little Richard) and jazz lines add a little energy but the film feels less like a feature than an expensive ad for the upcoming video.

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25

Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr

A pox on the man's (E.B. White) memory.

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20

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

A shame, this frenetic mess, as there were loads of reasons to be hopeful.

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20

TV Guide Frank Lovece

Stiffly animated and featuring uninspired songs.

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20

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

A clumsy, witless cartoon version of E.B. White's rather uncelebrated children's story.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steven C. gave it a 0:
You will fall asleep in it.

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