Swans/Tropes


 * Abusive Parents: Mör is of the wmotional variety, but she eventually outgrows this.
 * Actor Allusion: One of the animals seen in the forest is Koda from Brother Bear, who was voiced by Thomas' voice actor in this film.
 * Adaptational Nice Guy: While the Ducks do start off as emotionally distant to Thomas, this is a far cry from the bullying ducjs from the original tale. They kater play this straighter by reforming and reconciling with him.
 * Adaptational Villany: The swans, on the other hand, are far worse than they were in the story, being racist towards non-swans to murderous degrees.
 * Author's Saving Throw: The film plays the Evil All Along trope better tgan most Disney films by providing more foreshadowing for Selvisk's villany and giving him enough time and actions as a villain to leave an impression. He even gets a Villain Song to explain his motives!
 * Company Cross-References:
 * Many Disney animals, including Kenai, Nita from Brother Bear 2, and Frog Tiana, can be seen througth the forest.
 * Sekvisk's death is similar to that of the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
 * Deconstruction: The film deconstructs The Ugly Duckling 's ending by pointing out how, by allowing Thomas to join them for bring the same species, the swans are just as superficial as the ducks.
 * Foreshadowing: Selvisk outright villany is hinted by his growing anger towards Thomas' new bond with the ducks and invreasingky abusive behavior.
 * Heel-Face Turn: Mor and the ducks eventually realuze the error of their prejudice and come to see Thomas as one of their own.
 * Fridge Horror:
 * We are never told whether this is Selvisk's first attempted murder. So, whose to say he hasn't tried or even succeded at getting other animals killed?
 * The swans themselves are rather uneasy with Selvisk's murderous intents, but neverthless following him, whereas Thomas is quick to call him out on it. And this is before he orders Thomas to be restrained so he attacks him. Has he killed any other swans who defied him before, thus, they are acting out of fear for their lives?
 * Fantastic Racism: Everything that does not meet Selvisk's beauty standards (AKA dosen't look like him) earns his scorn.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Upon revraling his tru nature, Selvisk mauls Thomas's wing. During his battle with Mor, Selvisk's wing is mauled by her, leaving him unable to fly and resulying in him plummeting to his death.
 * Mythology Gag: A few ones to the 1931 Disney short The Ugly Duckling:
 * The film is set in the same year the short was released.
 * One of the ducks is named Jack, and at one point Thomas says "Jack! Cut it!". This serve as nods to Jack Cutting, who directed the short.
 * Nightmare Fuel:
 * Selvisk may not have tons of time as a full-on villain, but whatever time he has makes it clear he's not someone you want to mess with. Not only he leaves tons of animals away from a protected area to by hunted and killed, but the moment Thomas objects he orders the other swans, themselves quite war of his actions, torestrain Thomas before he personally mauls his wing so he dosen't interfere. And when the ducks return to retake the place, he forcibly orders them to kill them, before attempting it himself.
 * Honestly, the mauling scene alone is scary on its own. The scene is shot almost like an execution, and for a moment it does seem poor Thomes will be murdered merely forrefusing to be involved in a disgusting mass murder plan. And, while we aren't show the precise details, the shadows are enough to show us how brutal it was. Even scarier is that swans are that brutal and worse in real life.
 * After that we get a chilling moment where Selvusk tells Thomas they will "talk" once he make sure the Hunter won't listen, his tone implying that their "talk" will be that either Thomas accepts the plan or Selvisk will kill him this time.
 * His death isn't nice either. He gets impalled to death and cocodriles are implied to eat his rests. What Do You Mean Its For Kids?!
 * The Hunter and his dogs are scarily competent secondary threats that feel straight out of a horror film. Some of the imagery is evocative of the Devil himself. And then there's the sewuence near the end where he chases the animals, which feels straight out of Psycho.
 * Shout-Out: When a bunch of animals almost run over the swans, Selvisk angrily says "Hey, I'm walking here".
 * Tearjerker: The opening flashbacks, showing how poor little Thomas felt alone thanks to his adoptive family not caring about him, and his struggkes to find a home. Thus gets even worse after watching the film, because it ends with him claiming he is finally at home with the swans... who end up being as bad, and worse, than the ducks.
 * Villain Song: Selvisk has one named "Beautiful".
 * Villanous Breakdown: Selvisk absolutely loses it when he Mor mauls his wing, becoming downright feral and rageful.