Geirlug, The King's Daughter

Geirlug, The King's Daughter is a 1963 American animated fantasy film co-directed by Sid Marcus and Paul J. Smith, written by Bill Danch, Tedd Pierce, Dick Kinney and Al Bertino, based on the Icelandic fairy tale of the same name by Andrew Lang and it was produced by Glenn Berman and Walter Lantz. It features the voices of Martin Landau, Grace Stafford, Nancy Kwan, Dal McKennon and Paul Frees. It was scored by Darrell Calker, who also wrote the music for some of Walter Lantz's short films.

It was produced by Lantz/Berman Productions and it was released by Universal Pictures on August 8, 1963, and it was grossed $9.2 million from theatrical distribution rentals over a $5 million budget, making it the fourth animated feature film to be distributed by Universal. The film had gained a cult following in recent years.

Plot
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Voice cast

 * Martin Landau
 * Grace Stafford
 * Nancy Kwan
 * Dal McKennon
 * Paul Frees

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Production
In 1955, producers Walter Lantz and Glenn Berman, who was in production on The Light Princess at a time obtained a copy of one of Andrew Lang's books. Lantz selected "Geirlug, the King's Daughter". It received $800,000 to fund the film with distribution being handled by Universal-International Pictures, who were one of the distributors of the film, as recommended to Edward Muhl, who was the head of production of the time.

Martin Landau was approached to do the voice in 1958, followed by Grace Stafford in 1959 and Nancy Kwan, Dal McKennon and Paul Frees in 1960. Darrell Calker, who returned to Lantz after being dropped out in 1949 was signed on to do the music score for the film in 1961, and decided to create musical songs for the film.

Release
The film was originally released on June 8, 1963 by Universal Pictures, and it was rereleased in 1971, 1974 and 1977.

Home media
The film was released on MCA DiscoVision laserdisc on December 25, 1979, which was released in time for the Christmas season, and it was the top selling family video of 1979 and early 1980, making it an instant winner for DiscoVision players. It was subsequently released on VHS and Betamax by MCA Videocassette on September 18, 1981, and it soon to surpassed Dumbo to became the most watched animated video ever.

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Box office
The film earned estimated theatrical rentals of $9.2 million for its initial theatrical release, upping it to $12.5 million when it was released in 1971, and had a lifetime domestic gross of $75 million in North America after various re-releases. It became the top animated film of 1963, outpacing Disney's The Sword in the Stone.

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Critical reception
The film received positive reviews form critics earning a 97% "Approval" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 80 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 9.6/10. The consensus states: "An animated adaptation of fairy tale, Geirlug lived up to its standard to be the greatest animated film of the year." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of 85 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades
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Legacy
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Main transcripts
To see the transcript of the film, click here.

Trailer transcripts
To see the transcripts for the trailers of the film, click here.