May hold the attention of the very young, but despite marginal attempts at Disney-style cleverness, the simplistic writing, flat animation and sloppy direction will leave adults bored.
Comment
05/11/01
Trumpet of the Swan (2001)
13
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:5
Rotten:35
Average Rating:3.4/10
Consensus: An uninspired E.B. White adaptation that's targeted at the very young.
Runtime: 75 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: Young mute trumpeter swan Louie yearns to have a voice. He leaves his family's nest to learn to read and write in order to express himself. After befriending a young schoolboy named Sam, Louie... [More]
Starring: Jason Alexander, Mary Steenburgen, Reese Witherspoon, Seth Green
Director: Richard Rich, Terry Noss
Reviews for Trumpet of the Swan
There isn't much for children to see at the movies that doesn't fall into the usual dog-droppings-and-pratfall stuff of films like See Spot Run.
05/11/01
The moral of this E. B. White classic is: Never give up trying to express your unique personality.
05/10/01
Features charmless songs, junky animation, hambone voice talent.
05/17/01
Too bad the director didn't set his mind to making a film parents could enjoy, too.
05/14/01
The music, an eclectic blend of jazz and contemporary music, is one of the film's strongest calling cards.
05/10/01
"Trumpet of the Swan" features flat background art, some poor sound syncing and insipid, sugary songs.
05/23/01
An unmemorable feature-length cartoon destined for a quick trip to video shelves.
05/02/01
An innocuous family feature that's too little/too late in the fast-moving world of feature animation.
05/11/01
Top CriticThe movie leeches from the book most of what makes the story wonderful: The sly humour and the occasional dark edge that keeps the inherent sweetness on the safe side of sentimentality.
05/11/01
Trumpet of the Swan is not just lackluster. It’s also lackbeauty, lackhumor and lackquality.
05/10/01
A bland, well-meaning mishmash that never coheres into a dramatic whole.
05/11/01
Top CriticThe only possible audience for this film are young children and their exceedingly bored parents.
05/10/01
Top CriticA lame duck.
05/10/01
Well-meaning but wholly forgettable.
05/10/01
This adaptation of E.B. White's classic novel doesn't even live up to the Hanna-Barbera Charlotte's Web, let alone 1999's Stuart Little.
05/11/01
One ugly duckling of a cartoon.
05/11/01
The animation is poor.
05/03/01
A very good family movie with much to enjoy and talk about.
05/07/01
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