I went into this one expecting it to be an endurance test, but it's better than most of its reviews suggest. That wouldn't be hard, because most of them insist it's awful. I can understand why, because the film certainly has serious flaws. The animation is adequate at best, with some incidental characters so badly designed as to be almost hideous, in the case of the squirrel particularly. The use of colour tends to be garish, and basically it looks like a TV cartoon for the most part.

But it has some oddly redeeming characteristics. The basic story is actually quite engaging. I liked the main character, and it comes across with a refreshingly naive and uncynical, un-hip story about true love and self-worth.

Louie is a trumpeter swan (Richard Rich definately has a thing for swans, doesn't he?) Louie is born mute - major drawback for a species whose signature is their voice, and for someone whose father names his kids after jazz singers (Ella, Billy and Louie). Louie learns to read, write and to express himself through playing trumpet (yes, ridiculous, but any more ridiculous than a flying elephant?). He's aided by a human boy, taken advantage of by an unscrupulous manager, and smitten by a cute girl swan who, while Louie is away in Boston, is on the brink of marrying a jerk-swan who reminds me of some character from Happy Days.

There are some things I don't understand about this movie. I don't understand how the swans migrate from wherever they were to Montana, and then the same squirrel and human characters are there when they arrive. I don't understand how anybody in a feature film in the USA in the 21st Century could get paid to draw a fox as badly as the one that appears briefly near the start of the film.

This is an old-fashioned type of movie which teaches decent values, and is aimed at a younger audience. I haven't read the book, so I can't compare the two, but from other reviews I've read, fans of the book are generally disappointed by it. I don't know though. For all it's faults, and occaisonally plain ghastly character animation, and (to me, an inexplicable, unsettling quality which somehow seeps through most of Rich Animations later stuff, but which I'm sure kids wouldn't notice) 'Trumpet of the Swan' has something that appealed to me. Despite some glaring faults, and a general sense of carelessness about the production, this one got under my skin just enough to ve nuding the 2.5 barrier, though I'm sure a lot of you are going to watch it, shake your heads and wonder why. So be warned, I seem to be in a minority in thinking this film is sort of worth watching.

I can see 'Trumpet of the Swan' being a favourite with snaller kids, and for all its faults and obvious cheapness I can think of some blockbusters which were less satisfying.

A good one for pre-teens, and for anyone who wants to see an animated movie set in Billings Montana. You'll probably be waiting a while for the next one.

I must say though that if Richard Rich and Nest Productions keep slipping in the production values dept (this is quite a come down from 'Swan Princess', which was only fair anyway) I can see all their future films going straight to DVD.