LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST

Name: LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST
Item: LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST
Author: Cooper Dowd

"Lackluster Princess Party"

Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST brings beloved characters from Disney’s Princess lineup together in a LEGO-modeled adventure. Streaming on Disney Plus, the movie opens King Triton being kidnapped. This act of villainy leaves the sea and the land in turmoil. His kidnapper is none other than Gaston, the evil hunter from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, who’s stealing magical artifacts for himself. Now Gaston wants King Triton’s trident. Gaston agrees that if the King’s chosen heroes can overcome Gaston’s magical challenges, he will let King Triton go free. Triton chooses his daughter, Ariel, and four other princesses. They must stay true to themselves and one another to save the day.

LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST has a fun story concept for people who love Disney princesses. However, the plot and animation suffer from lazy production values. The movie has strong moral elements like commitment to friendships and fighting against doubt, but it also has cartoon violence, a reference to reincarnation and magic. A mild feminist worldview also puts a damper on the adventure. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger and older children.

Content:

(BB, O, FR, Pa, Fe, V, N, V, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview promotes kindness to animals, the power of loyalty to one’s friends, fighting against doubt, and who you are rather than what material possessions you have, but there is some witchcraft or “magic” such as the magic wand from CNDERELLA

Foul Language:

No foul language

Violence:

Many scenes of cartoon violence in the context of LEGO figures being broken or characters knocked around and sent flying, and it’s implied a character is killed in a burst of fire

Sex:

No sex

Nudity:

Some partial upper male nudity whenever King Triton, the shirtless merman, is onscreen

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Villain kidnaps the father of one princess, and villain has been stealing magical artifacts.

More Detail:

LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST is an animated romp featuring some of Walt Disney Animation’s favorite princess characters in a special crossover story.

When the villain Gaston from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST kidnaps Princess Ariel’s father, he sets off a chain reaction of magical consequences for the land and sea. The imprisoned King Triton offers Gaston a deal. If Ariel and her friends Tiana, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Moana can overcome Gaston’s challenges, the villain must set the King free. However, if Gaston’s challenges defeat the princesses, Gaston can have King Triton’s magical trident and rule all the lands. The princess gang must stay true to themselves and one another in order to save the day.

Sadly, the very thing that makes LEGO DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CASTLE QUEST interesting to watch also winds up being the movie’s biggest weakness. Viewers who love characters from THE LITTLE MERMAID or BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will find that their favorite characters are missing depth or behaving uncharacteristically to serve a weak storyline. For example, Gaston is the mastermind behind the story’s main conflict, despite the fact he’s a demonstrably unintelligent villain. Snow White, the youngest and traditionally most innocent of the princesses, is given a recurring joke about how excited she is to use her inexplicable axe as a weapon. To make matters more awkward, the only male characters in the story are either portrayed as vain or weak, leaving them to be saved or defeated by teenage Princesses. Other lazy story elements include the fact that no explanation is made for how Gaston rose to power or managed to capture the King of the Sea. Though this may be satisfying enough for very young audiences, fans of the Disney franchises will be left with little to enjoy.

On top of these disappointing elements, some false Polynesian mythology about reincarnation and magic are evident in the movie, along with some cartoon violence. They overshadow the moral elements like commitment to friendship and overcoming doubt in THE CASTLE QUEST.

For all these reasons, MOVIEGUIDE advises caution for younger and older children.