''The Trumpet of the Swan'' is a 2001 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

produced by

Nest Family Entertainment Nest Family Entertainment is an American family entertainment company based in Coppell, Texas. It was formed in 1980 as Family Entertainment Network by Jared F. Brown, Stephen W. Griffin, and Seldon O. Young. The company has produced several dram ...

and

RichCrest Animation Studios Crest Animation Productions (formerly RichCrest Animation Studios, Rich Animation Studios and originally Rich Entertainment) was an Indian-American animation studio located in Burbank, California, United States. The studio's most well known work ...

, directed by

Richard Rich Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was Lord Chancellor during King Edward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated almshouses in Essex in 1564. He wa ...

& Terry L. Noss, and distributed by

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

Premise

Based on

E. B. White Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), ''Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and '' The Trumpet of the Swan'' ...

's popular children's book of the same name, it tells the story of a young

trumpeter swan The trumpeter swan (''Cygnus buccinator'') is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl, with a wingspan of 185 to 250 cm (6 ft 2 in to 8 ft 2 ...

who is born with

muteness Muteness or mutism () is defined as an absence of speech while conserving or maintaining the ability to hear the speech of others. Mutism is typically understood as a person's inability to speak, and commonly observed by their family members, caregi ...

and is vying for the attention of a beautiful pen. He overcomes this by learning to play the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

Cast

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...

as Louie *

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

as Father *

Mary Steenburgen Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...

as Mother *

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

as Serena * Seth Green as Boyd *

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

as Mrs. Hammerbotham *

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeffe ...

as Monty *

Sam Gifaldi Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

as Sam Beaver * Melissa Disney as Billie *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM) KATH (910 kHz) is an ...

as Serena (cygnet) / Paramedic / Newscaster *

E. G. Daily Elizabeth Ann Guttman, (born September 11, 1961) better known as E. G. Daily and Elizabeth Daily, is an American actress and singer. Daily is best known for her animation voice roles as Tommy Pickles on ''Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grown ...

as Ella * Pamela Segall Adlon as A.G. Skinner *

Steve Vinovich Steve Vinovich (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor. Biography Vinovich was born in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Jennie J. (née Kuhel), a secretary, and Stephen J. Vinovich, an insurance salesman. His paternal grandparents are Croatian. ...

as Maurice / Roger *

Gary Anthony Williams Gary Anthony Williams (born March 14, 1966) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He voiced the character of Uncle Ruckus on ''The Boondocks'', and a number of video game characters. He also appeared on the television series '' Weeds'', ...

as Sweets *

Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transforme ...

as Senator *

Michael Winslow Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven '' ...

as Chief *

David Jeremiah David Jeremiah is an American evangelical Christian author, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch in El Cajon, California, a suburb of San ...

as Squirrel / Hawk *

Julie Nathanson Julie Nathanson (born May 10, 1975) is an American actress who can be heard as Silver Banshee and Jewelee in DC's animated film '' Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay'' and as Jess Black in Ubisoft's '' Far Cry 5''. She has been voicing Belle from ''Bea ...

as Felicity * Dana Daurey as Apathy *

Michael Kostroff Michael Kostroff (born May 22, 1961) is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program ''The Wire'' as defense attorney Maurice Levy. Kostroff starred in the fifth season of the series and appeared in all four earlier seasons as a guest star. ...

as Waiter * Lee Magnuson as Clerk * Steve Franken as Bud * Norman Parker as Policeman *

Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor, comedian, and radio personality. He provided voice-overs for animation and video games. Angel had voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' S ...

as Justice of the Geese

Release

Critical reception

''The Trumpet of the Swan'' received mostly negative reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film scored a 15% 'Rotten' rating. The site's critical consensus says "An uninspired E.B. White adaptation that's targeted at the very young."

Box office

By the end of its run, ''The Trumpet of the Swan'' grossed a mere $628,387.

Awards and nominations

In 2001, it was nominated by the Casting Society of America for best voice-casting in an animated film, but lost the award to Disney's ''

The Emperor's New Groove ''The Emperor's New Groove'' is a 2000 American animated slapstick comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 40th animated film produced by the studio, it was directed by Mark Dindal and pr ...

''. It is notable, however, that an independent animated film would be able to win such a nomination. It was the last film based on a book by

until 2006's '' Charlotte's Web''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trumpet Of The Swan, The 2001 films 2001 animated films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films Films directed by Richard Rich American independent films TriStar Pictures animated films TriStar Pictures films Films based on children's books 2000s American animated films Films based on American novels Animated films about birds Animated films about friendship Films about summer camps Films set in Boston Films set in Montana Films based on novels by E. B. White 2000s English-language films