The Trumpet of the Swan

Disappointing animated adaptation of E.B. White's 1970 children's book has Louis, a mute trumpeter swan, trying to overcome his disability. Louis befriends a human boy who persuades him to learn to read and write, which doesn't help him much in the animal world, but brings him fame in the human one. His father, distraught over his son's "defect," steals a trumpet for him, and Louis learns to play, becoming famous enough to assuage his father's guilt over the theft by paying for the instrument. The animation, story, and (surprisingly) the score, all seem flat, while the script provides nothing in the way of magic. Only the youngest (under 5) of viewers will be distracted, but probably not for very long.