The Princess of Snow Cats (1992)

The Princess of Snow Cats ( - lit. Yukineko no Hime) is a 1992 USA-Japan animated film directed by Shigeru Kobayashi and David Kirschner. The film was released in the USA and Japan on November 6 and November 21, 1992 respectively. The film revolves around Elizabeth von Snowflake, a white cat who is a princess of a tribe known as the Snow Cats, and Joshua, a young boy who took in Elizabeth as a kitten and becomes her friend, who both plot to save the Snow Cats when the Silver Snowflake gets stolen by the sinister King Hydrax, who controls the weather, and he threatens to use the Sun to melt down and wipe out the Snow Cat Kingdom, while Joshua also tries to introduce the Snow Cats to Christmas and Hanukkah.

The film is a co-production between Kushner-Locke Co., Toei Animation and AKOM and distributed by 20th Century Fox (North America and Latin America) and Paramount/Universal (International).

Reviews were generally positive about the film's animation and message, but criticized the film's clichéd plot. The film, Christmas-themed, was given an early release of November 6 to avoid competition from the then-upcoming releases of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Disney's Aladdin.

Release dates

 * November 6, 1992 (USA & Canada)
 * November 13, 1992 (UK, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand)
 * November 19, 1992 (Israel)
 * November 20, 1992 (Philippines, Malaysia & Singapore)
 * November 21, 1992 (Japan)
 * November 26, 1992 (Brazil & Argentina)
 * November 27, 1992 (Italy, Spain & Portugal)
 * December 4, 1992 (Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela)
 * November 5, 1993 (Greece)
 * November 11, 1993 (Czech Republic, Slovakia & Slovenia)
 * November 12, 1993 (Sweden, Denmark, Iceland & Poland)
 * November 18, 1993 (Germany, Belgium & the Netherlands)
 * November 19, 1993 (Austria, Switzerland, Norway & Finland)
 * November 24, 1993 (France)
 * November 26, 1993 (Italy)
 * December 2, 1993 (Russia)

Characters

 * Elizabeth von Snowflake - The main protagonist of the movie. She is the princess of the Snow Cat Kingdom and learned how to save the kingdom, but when the Silver Snowflake got stolen, she began to lose her magic gradually and had to rely on Joshua to make things right. She is very kind, sensible and cute, and she is an anthropomorphic white cat (fitting since she is a Snow Cat).


 * Joshua - The secondary protagonist of the movie. He is a smart, young, quiet, kind young boy, who is in third grade when he takes in Elizabeth, and is in fourth grade when Elizabeth grows up. He is given the task of saving her and the Snow Cat Kingdom, while he tries to introduce the kingdom to Christmas and Hanukkah. Until he is brought to the kingdom, he spends his life at an orphanage where he took in Elizabeth and hid her from Mother Superior, the strict, pompous and cruel nun. From there, he teaches the kingdom what he learned about Christmas and Hanukkah at the orphanage.


 * King Cornelius von Snowflake II - The ruler of the Snow Cat Kingdom and Elizabeth's father. At first, he doesn't trust Joshua and is reluctant about his intent to help the kingdom (since he is a human), but as time goes by, and it becomes more clear that Elizabeth is losing her magic, he becomes more trusting of Joshua.


 * Queen Hortensia von Snowflake - The queen, Cornelius' wife and Elizabeth's mother. Unlike her husband, she is actually very trusting of and much kinder to Joshua, since he took her in as a kitten.


 * Prince William von Snowflake - The prince of the kingdom, Cornelius and Hortensia's son and Elizabeth's brother. He is very kind, wise and gentle, sharing the beliefs of his mother and especially friends with Joshua (as thanks for taking care of her).


 * King Hydrax - The cruel, corrupt king of the Weather World above the Snow Cat Kingdom, whose motivation for his plot to wipe out the kingdom is that he was banished from the Snow Cat Kingdom and vowed revenge on the kingdom.

Reception & release
The film got mixed reviews on its release, with many critics praising the film for its message and animation but felt there was more sentimentality than necessary and the plot was overly cliched, although the villain got praise from many and was cited as a reason for older children to enjoy it. However, the use of an interfaith family (the Royal Family) and Joshua teaching them how to cope with celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas was the subject of praise from many Christian and Jewish viewers.

In North America, the film grossed $24,770,890, out of a $22.5 million (¥2,103,862,500) budget, and in Japan, the film grossed ¥1.5 billion ($16,041,923). The film also grossed around $8 million in other territories, bringing the gross to just over $48 million worldwide.

Music
The film's score was composed by James Horner, with songs written by Will Jennings. The film contains five songs written (including the end credits versions of one song), listed below:

The film's soundtrack was distributed on CD and cassette by Columbia Records and released on November 3, 1992 in North America. In Japan, the soundtrack also included an original song by J-pop band Dreams Come True and distributed by Sony Music Japan.
 * Be Mine Forever (sung by Joshua)
 * Welcome to the Kingdom (sung by the Royal Family)
 * Under the Weather (sung by King Hydrax)
 * Be Mine Forever (Reprise) (sung by Joshua and Elizabeth)
 * Be Mine Forever (End Credits) (sung by Celine Dion and Boy George)

Home media
The film was released on video in North America by Fox Video on October 26, 1993 and in Japan by Toei Video on November 19, 1993. In Brazil, the film was released on VHS by 20th Century Fox through Abril Vídeo on November 17, 1993 and is among the last videos to use the PAL testcard/anti-piracy warning set to Jane Wiedlin's Tangled. In Argentina, the film was released on VHS by Gativideo on November 30, 1993 (local distributor of 20th Century Fox and Disney-owned movies).

The film was later released on DVD by Fox on November 18, 2003 in North America, and on DVD in Japan by Pony Canyon on November 25, 2005.

Merchandise
In Japan, Bandai released plush toys, action figure playsets and stationery based on Elizabeth for girls. Morinaga also released candy and snack foods based on the movie during the theatrical and home video releases, although sales of the merchandise were popular enough to prompt Morinaga to resume sales beginning in 1994, and they can still be bought in Japan or at import stores. In North America, toys were distributed by Bandai USA and Irwin Toy (Canada).

Pizza Hut, in the USA and Canada, promoted the film with a Kids' Pizza Pack for $2.99 each and discounted food and drink purchases during the theatrical release and revived the Kids' Pizza Pack and discounts for the video release but also offered plush toys for 99 cents each with any purchase.  The film was adapted into a Game Boy, Atari Lynx, TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine and Sega Game Gear game released in stores on November 10, 1992 (nearly a week after the film's release in theatres), and later adapted into a Super NES/Super Famicom, Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive and 3DO game in 1993 for the film's video release in October of 1993. In Taiwan, a video game for the Super A'Can was released as a launch title in 1995. A DOS/IBM PC game was also released. The video game was published by Bandai.