PETER STACK, Chronicle Staff Critic

THE SWAN PRINCESS: Animated fairy tale-style adventure. With with the voice talents of Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, Howard McGillin and Sandy Duncan. Directed by Richard Rich. (G. 90 minutes. At the Kabuki, Century Plaza and other Bay Area theaters).

Shining through figures a bit too blocky and bland, ``The Swan Princess'' is nonetheless a charmer in the animated fairy-tale genre of G-rated movies. Parents will take as much delight as kids.

For parents in the market for a matinee baby-sitter film during the Christmas shopping season, this is one. It's innocent, romantic fun with cute comic characters and enough music to give it a showbiz sparkle. As they say at Rich Animation Studios in Burbank where this film was created, Disney isn't the only animated game in town.

``The Swan Princess,'' which opens today, features the voice talents of Jack Palance as a bad egg enchanter named Rothbart; Broadway star Howard McGillin as a handsome young prince named Derek; and stage and TV actress Michelle Nicastro as the pretty princess, Odette, for whom Derek pines, but who is imprisoned as a swan. .

Funny side characters include a flirtatious frog (voice of John Cleese), a turtle (comedian Steven Wright), and a puffin (Steve Vinovich). Sandy Duncan gives voice to Queen Uberta, and two American Conservatory Theater veterans, Daken Matthews and Mark Harelik, lend voice talents as royals in the medieval-flavored romantic adventure. Broadway singer Liz Callaway is the singing voice for Odette.

The story is simple. Prince Derek and Princess Odette have been raised since childhood to marry, but their passage to adulthood as playmates has been anything but lovey-dovey . The villainous Rothbart wants to nab the kingdom, but his only hope of doing so is marrying Odette, grown into a stunning beauty.

Disguised as a fire-breathing bat, Rothbart steals Odette. Derek sets out on a knightly quest to find her, helped by the frog, the turtle, the puffin and a bun gling buddy named Bromley (Joel McKinnon Miller).

There's almost no violence in the film, which favors natural settings and, for weaponry, archery. Only one scene, when Rothbart appears as the bat, is strong enough to make kids shudder a little. The script chirps with funny interplay between the animal characters. Music by Lex de Azevedo (Michael Jackson's former music director) and lyrics by David Zippel (``City of Angels'') are pleasantly hummable.

Let Odette escort you back to the Swan Princess Reviews page