The Three Musketeers (1993) (V)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Directors:

Masakazu Higuchi
Chinami Namba

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas père (novel)
Jack Olesker (screenplay)

Release Date:

1993 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Romance

Tagline:

The version children love!

Plot:

A young man proves his worth in order to belong to the French squad of the musketeers. |

Plot Keywords:

Musketeer | King | Anime | Queen | Foreign Language Adaptation

Cast

Tress MacNeille

...

Milady (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Los tres mosqueteros (USA: Spanish title)

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G | Spain:T | UK:Uc | Brazil:Livre | New Zealand:G

Company:

American Film Investment Corporation

Trivia:

In the original Alexandre Dumas père novel, Constance Bonacieux is the wife of the innkeeper and d'Artagnan falls in love with her, in this version, Constance is made the daughter of the innkeeper to make the romance between she and d'Artagnan kid-friendly.

Quotes:

Rochefort: Milady, it is a great pleasure to see you again. Cardinal Richelieu asks that I give you his warm greetings.
Milady: Thank you for your greetings, Monsieur Rochefort, but there's something else you can give me.
Rochefort: First let me see what you have brought for me.
Milady: [Milady pulls out a hidden box containing the queen's diamonds] Ah, in this box lies the means with which Cardinal Richelieu can convice the King that the Queen is not worthy to sit on the throne of France with him.
Rochefort: [laughs softly] Excellent, with the Queen out of the way, the Cardinal will be the only person in France to whom the King can turn for advice.
Milady: Hm, and to no doubt the Cardinal's advice will hasten the day when the king himself loses his crown; and how long will it take after that day before the Cardinal takes the throne for himself?
Rochefort: The Cardinal will remember your part in all of this, Milady.
[Rochefort inspects the contents inside the box and gasps silently]
Rochefort: The Queen's diamonds which the King gave her on their wedding day!
Milady: How foolish of the Queen to have betrayed the King of France by sending the diamonds to the English Duke of Buckingham.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Version of Les trois mousquetaires (1953)

Soundtrack:

All For One and One For All

Nicely-done animated film based on a wonderful story!

"The Three Musketeers", produced by Golden Films and released in the year 1992 tells a story based on Alexandre Dumas' timeless classic by the same name. It is the story of d'Artagnan, a handsome young man who wants to be one of France's royal musketeers. On his way to Paris he meets his greatest enemy, Rochefort, who's on a mission for the evil Cardinal Richelieu in a plot against the queen of France. D'Artagnan, after being humiliated by Rochefort, seeks revenge and on a chase after him, meets three of France's finest musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Arathos; the four of them, all fighting against the Cardinal and his soldiers, become fast friends. D'Artagnan's chance to prove his worth to the king comes when the queen is accused of being in love with the Duke of Buckingham in England, a land enemy to their own. The king begs the queen to lie to him and say that she had not sent valuable diamonds over to the Duke, but she refuses to lie and admits having done so. D'Artagnan does not know what to believe of the queen, but he wants to prove his worth to the lovely Constance Bonacieux, a loyal friend of the queen's, and so, he takes the dangerous voyage to England, together with his three new friends, to bring over the Duke and settle the matter of honor and perhaps save the future of France.

I loved this short, fifty minute animated film. It is produced by Golden Films, one of the production companies of the many, rather unpopular, series of animated releases by GoodTimes Home Video. The quality of animation is TV-quality, nothing beyond that and the character design is the usual for Golden Films' productions, still, I must say that the background work done for "The Three Musketeers" is among the most realistic, elaborate and detail among all seven features, right up there with "Thumbelina" (1992), another personal favorite. This 1992 animated production of "The Three Musketeers" is a wonderful, kid-friendly introduction to Alexandre Dumas' timeless masterpiece that any child is sure to enjoy and cherish. I don't recommend it for adults searching for a faithful adaptation or elaborate animation, because then you'll be disappointed, but children will like it. It's also worth mentioning the film's excellent use of familiar classical pieces to add on a storybook feel to the fifty minute-runtime. Highly recommended.