A Tale of a Kingdom

A Tale of a Kingdom is a 2004 computer-animated-musical-dramedy-fantasy film produced by MacNamara-Pierre Pictures and distributed by Skyes Distribution. the 18th film produced by MacNamara-Pierre, it was directed by Ricardo Ayala and Karl Pouliot, produced by Klemens Grün and Alexei Laliashvli, with a soundtrack produced by Kurdish Doman Çêker. The screenplay was written by Greyson Fisher and Abdul Hai al-Amin, who also wrote the film's story along with Brazilian Jorge Caetano. The film stars Mya Cole, Isabelle Murphy, Jagger Booth, Billy Duffy, Truman Mcpherson, Trevon Rose, Lucas Campbell, Albert Vaughan, Frankie Brown, Kristen Cox, Lauren Miller, Benson Thatcher. A Tale of a Kingdom follows Princess Olyra (Mya Cole), who as a baby witnesses the murder of her mother, Queen Yussa (Lauren Miller) and her father, King Nahei (Benson Tatcher), architected and executed by her aunt, Princess Esra (Kristen Cox), Esra tries to kill the baby but is prevented by the religious leader of the kingdom, Askadeu (Lucas Campbell), the now queen then decides that the religious man finds a way to keep the girl away from the kingdom for her whole life, he then puts the girl in a small basket where there were some fruits, and places her to be carried away by the current the river, but she is lucky and is adopted by a family of peasants (Trevon Rosen and Isabelle Murphy). When she grows up, her adoptive parents decide to tell the truth to the girl, and present the basket to Olyra, and after that she leaves to discover that she is the pretender to the throne that her aunt usurped her, Along the way, she meets three companions: Yshykuce (Elizabeth Brewer), Typachu (Frankie Brown) and Cishe (Truman Mcpherson).
A Tale of a Kingdom premiered at the in on February 27, 2004, and was released in USA on March 19, 2004, for a 3-month theatrical run. It was also released on DVD, later also being released on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The film grossed $1.673 billion worldwide against a budget of $102 million, being the highest-grossing film of 2004. the film received critical acclaim for its realistic 3D animation, voice acting, soundtrack and storyline, reviews likening the film to old ballads of the Middle Ages. The film was nominated for 6 awards at the 77th Academy Awards, winning 5 awards, as well as numerous other awards.
The film's soundtrack became a phenomenon at the time, reaching number one on the and other music charts around the world; the two most successful songs were "Somebody to Be Mine" and "Usurped Kingdom", the first was at the top of the for 5 consecutive weeks.
== Plot ==
The Kingdom of Eskivina is led by Queen Yussa, who together with her husband, King Nahei, has a female daughter. This daughter will be the future occupant of the throne of the kingdom, which makes her infertile aunt Esra furious, since for years she tried to get pregnant to take advantage of her sister, and make her daughter succeed her on the throne. Esra then decides to create a plan to kill her sister, her brother-in-law and her niece and thus becomes the next and unquestioned queen. Esra gathers a huge number of low-ranking military conspirators and promises that if the coup is successful, everyone will be promoted, and under this small militia, she places the knight Alashamu as commander of the troop, after immense planning, the coup is executed , and Yussa and Nahei are overthrown from the throne, Yussa tries to save her daughter but is killed by her own sister, and even then she takes the baby, and approaches a river, where she tries to drown her there, but when she goes to throw the girl in the river, Askadeu, healer and religious leader of the kingdom, prevents and begs the new queen to have mercy on the child, he then asks Esra to give the child to him, she gives in but orders the religious to make that baby disappear from there.
Askadeu then provides a basket where he puts the baby, puts a small pillow and a sheet to snuggle the child, and throws the baby into the river and watches the basket be carried away by the current, having faith that one day it will return or that at least be adopted by a kind hearted family. the basket carrying Olyra ends up hitting a rock, and this prevents the basket from continuing to navigate, the baby then starts to cry, the child's cries are then heard by Yshykuce, a 9 year old girl who, when looking at where the he hears cries, runs to warn his parents, Oshua and Freyna, who analyze the situation, and find a note inside the basket written by Askadeu that asks that if someone finds Olyra, they take care of her. The couple of peasants then take the basket and take it into the house, where they breastfeed the child with milk and give her some baby food. From there, the film advances in time, Olyra is now a young adult who is 20 years old, and helps her adoptive parents in the agricultural work alongside her adopted sister Yshykuce, the works have made the young woman, who still does not know that she inherits the throne of the kingdom, create a physique that not even the men of that community obtain, with muscular and athetic legs making her able to run, arms and chest puffed up, in addition to an almost natural ability to hold her breath, which makes her an expert swimmer. Yshykuce is sometimes envied for the true "physical blessing" that her adopted sister had, Yshykuce however competes with Olyra in running and swimming, although the lack of breath prevents her from being able to beat the princess for a long time.
Meanwhile, in the capital, Askadeu is at his residence, where he has a crystal ball, while meditating, the ball begins to shine in a way that becomes unbearable for the healer to resist the temptation to look at what happens, when he arrives, the ball then presents something that makes Askedeu completely celebratory, the ball demonstrates Olyra and Yshykuce picking some berries and wheat to make a pie, Askadeu recognizes Olyra by her eyes, and then goes into celebration to know that the true queen is alive in somewhere in Eskivina. When they are eating the pie, Oshua and Freyna decide to have a talk with Olyra after the meal, after the end of the meal they then take the basket which Olyra brought to them and reveal that she is actually adopted, and that she was pulled by the current of the river from the capital there, this leaves Olyra emotionally shaken, she then retires to her room, later, Yshykuce decides to visit her adopted sister in order to console her, getting there she discovers that Olyra plans to leave and find out where she should have been all this time, Yshykuce however tries to convince her to stay without success, so she decides to go along with Olyra on this trip. the next day, both then say that they will leave at sunrise the next day to Freyna and Oshua, who beg them to stay, but both are already decided, they accepts the decision of both.
At sunrise, they leave for the trip in a canoe, which their father built together with some other neighbors for them, and then everyone says goodbye to Olyra and Yshykuce, and is moved to see the departure of the two young women towards the capital, Kouni. At a first stop, the two decide to bathe in the waters of the river, and stop at an archipelago, and when they are after bathing, they then hear a cry for help, when they get there, they find a young boy, who is tied to a tree trunk and seems to have been malnourished for several days, they ask his name, he then introduces himself, says his name Typachu, when Yshykuce asks how he got there, he says it was a trap set by Alashamu, that in addition to being a prominent military man, he is also married to Esra, which makes him king of Eskivina, but Esra is an unfaithful wife and betrayed her with Typachu, which made Alashamu so angry that he decided to kidnap him and leave him on that deserted island until he dies of hunger, thirst, or is bitten by a poisonous animal. Olyra says that both are leaving for the capital and invites Typachu to accompany them if he wants, the same accepts although afraid.
When at the river, they notice that the food is starting to get scarce, and then they decide to fish and stop on dry land again, while fishing, they are startled by another young man, Typachu hits him with a punch in the man, who gets up and calms the boy, he introduces himself and says that his name is Cishe, and that they have been on that island for years, when he was exiled by Queen Esra for being a faithful officer to Queen Yussa, and that when Esra took the throne, he refused to be faithful to her, and in order not to be arrested he had to abandon his wife and son in the dead of night and take a boat and leave far from Kouni, his boat was wrecked near that island, and he ended up living there, and he says that he spent all these years getting ready a munificent strategy to free the other officers who did not surrender to Esra and were arrested. Yshykuce then decides to invite the former officer to return to Kouni and do what he plans, although he doesn't put much faith in it.
Meanwhile, Alashamu asks Esra the possibility that Olyra is still alive, which the queen mocks, as she is sure that she drowned in the river where Askadeu threw her, and if she did not drown, she died of malnutrition, but then a One of the soldiers arrives and warns that the healer is talking nonsense in his residence, saying that Esra can't wait for who is returning to put an end to her reign, the highness considers this an outrage and decides to go to Askadeu's house in person, where she hears the same talk as the peasants who will visit the peasants who took care of Olyra, the queen then hears the location of the couple's house and decides to send the cavalry to arrest them. Olyra and her companions finally arrive at Kouni, Typachu and Cishe are forced to wear a cloak that prevents an officer from recognizing their face. Olyra then says that he will look for some work around while he allows Typachu, Yshykuce and Cishe to wander around the city. An officer then approaches Yshykuce and asks her who are the two hooded ones that accompany her, due to a law imposed by Esra that prohibits anyone from wearing a hood to facilitate identification, she says that they are her relative but he is suspicious, and when leaves to discover Cishe's hood, Yshykuce attacks him allowing the other two males to flee, Yshykuce ends up knocking out 4 officers, and after that she runs away, hiding in a chicken coop.
Olyra ends up getting a job at a flower shop, and soon after, Typachu and Cishe arrive to reveal that Yshykuce was involved in a fight with 4 guards, and is being hunted by the city, Olyra despairs and decides to look for her, while Yshykuce is on the other side of the city and still hidden in the perch, she ends up falling asleep there, while her companions spend the whole afternoon looking for her. The owner of the chicken coop finds Yshykuce and reports it to the guards, who, after a whole day of searching, finally end up arresting her. Yshykuce is sent to a cell where she finds several other former officials loyal to Queen Yussan, as Cishe said, they reveal that when Yussan was murdered she had a female baby, which Esra tried to kill, but luckily for the child Askadeu prevented the illegitimate majesty from killing her, so Esra handed over the extermination of the baby to the healer, who placed the child in a basket and set her to be carried away by the current of the river, and after that nothing is known about the girl's fate, only the hope is still hanging in the air that one day the pretender to the throne will return, and claim what is rightfully hers, Yhsykuce connects the dots, and notices that her adopted sister is the queen they so longed for the return, she then asks what name the baby would have, one of the former officers reveals that the name Yussan and Nahei gave the girl was Olyra, which then makes Yshykuce say that Olyra was adopted by her parents, became a robust young woman, just like a monarch must be, and she is in town, which makes the prisoners rejoice.
Alashamu tells Esra the next day that the prisoners were having a real riot in the prison the night before, the queen questions what caused the celebration, he then tells that the prisoners only replied that that celebration was due to the fact that "Esra will see the end of his reign within a few days", which makes the monarch furious and questions what is generating this frenzy in everyone faithful to her sister's reign. Olyra discovers that Yshykuce has been arrested and goes to see her, and when she gets there she is welcomed by the guards' celebration, she does not understand what is going on, and asks what happened, Yshykuce cannot speak because there are guards everywhere in that prison, and says that it's better for Olyra to look for Askadeu.
shortly after she leaves the prison, Oshua and Freyna arrive carried by the guards, and are thrown into the same cell as their daughters, they then hug and Yshykuce decides to tell her parents the discovery, which makes them simply go into shock when to know that they cared for a queen for so many years. Cishe is also arrested after being discovered by the guards, and falls into a cell next to Yshykuce and his parents, there he is greeted by his former companions, and reveals his plan to overthrow Esra from power, Yshykuce also tells him that in fact, he now has a very strong reason to do so, as their companion is actually the legendary Princess Olyra, which leaves Cishe in purest joy, makes him even more excited to present what he has drawn up for years in exile.
Meanwhile, Olyra and Typachu, being the only ones still free, are at the flower shop where Olyra works, and there they admire some roses and start to fall in love with each other, this feeling is increasing more and more over time, until that Typachu finally finds the courage to declare himself to Olyra, she accepts and both finally come together as a couple. Typachu is then recognized by his father, the baker Henyezi, and his mother, Tyrie, who decide to hide him and his girlfriend in their house. There he introduces Olyra, which leaves Henyezi and Tyrie paralyzed to the point where they are left without answers and afraid to speak what they know, doing the same thing as Yshykuce, and indicating that the young woman goes to Askadeu, and he will speak the truth.
Curious, Olyra goes after the healer Askadeu, trying to find out what truth he would tell her, and after several questions, she finally arrives at the religious leader's residence, who already opens the door with a joy stamped on his and soon after celebrating, embraces her, he asks why all that joy, Askadeu then invites her to sit down and takes her hand, the healer then says what Olyra did not expect, and says everything, from her birth to the day her mother was murdered by her aunt, and when he threw her into the sea by the basket that her adoptive parents found her, and says that it is time for her to prepare herself, and go claim the place that is hers, the throne of the kingdom, Olyra refuses in shock until finally accepting that she was the heir to the throne and that it was time to put everything in its right place again. She then goes back to buy a sledgehammer, she buys it and goes to Typachu's parents' house, arriving they call her to go to the jail where Yshykuce, Oshua, Freyna and Cishe are, there they leave all the guards unconscious, and deliver the sledgehammer to Cishe, who breaks the walls of her cell, being able to free herself, and then breaks the cell where her allies and friends are, after that everyone joins, and you begin to tell everyone that Princess Olyra, the one that Esra tried to kill along with Yussa and Nahei, the crowd gathers more and more people, which makes all the guards warn Queen Esra what happens, Alashamu says that Olyra, together with Cishe and Typachu have returned, and are gathering a crowd, Esra is shocked to learn that her niece is and more prepared than ever, so she sends all the soldiers possible to the front of the battle, the soldiers enter into direct confrontation with the population, meanwhile, Olyra enters the castle in search of her aunt.
Upon finding Esra, Olyra decides to draw a sword that she took from one of the guards, and asks her aunt to abdicate and exile herself from the kingdom on a distant island, Esra however mocks the girl, and says she will kill her, points to the floor and says that she will make a rug with Olyra's skin just like she did with her biological mother and father, this makes Olyra furious and says that she should not ask for such a tragic end, Esra continues mocking and says that she is who shouldn't have asked for a tragic ending and been left in the fields alongside her adoptive family. Olyra then says that "fate allowed her to return there, and when fate writes something, no one can erase", at which point Esra says that if it weren't for Olyra, referring to her as a "lucky brat", she would never she would have had to do what she did and says that the girl will never be more than just the little princess who had her mother and father murdered and was still sent to the gutter like garbage, at that moment the princess gets angry and decides to go to a sword battle against your aunt.
The first part lasts and ends when Esra cuts Olyra's cheek with her sword and after that goes up to the castle terrace, Olyra follows him and the second part of the battle begins, this time Olyra wins after disarming Esra, who strikes the princess with a kick in the stomach, she wakes up after the blow and sees that her aunt desperately tries to escape, leaving as the only solution having to risk hanging from the balconies of the castle windows, at a height that in case of a fall, would lead to death. Esra then slips off one of the balconies and falls, with there being no doubt that she is dead, After notifying the queen's death, the remaining living guards finally surrender, and the people celebrate the victory of the real one and mock Esra's death, saying that they "look forward to seeing her begging while she burns in Hell".
Months pass, and now Queen Olyra and her now husband King Typachu are crowned, Olyra is pregnant, Cishe can finally be by her family's side without fear of anyone and Yshykuce ends up falling in love with one of the former guards who accepted duty allegiance to Olyra in exchange for prison, Oshua, Freyna, Henyezi and Tyrie are honored with titles of Sir and Madam and now they have moved to the capital because they will have a larger land where they employed all the neighbors of the place where they lived previously, and Askadeu becomes majordomo of Olyra and Typachu, Alashamu to avoid arrest decided to go into exile on an island far from Eskivina. Though unsympathetic to her aunt, Olyra gave Esra a dignified grave alongside Yussan and Nahei. The film ends with the Queen and King being led by the crowd towards the castle.
== Voice cast ==
*Olyra (voiced by Mya Cole) is the main protagonist of the movie, she is the legitimate heir to the throne who is prevented from assuming the rank of Queen by her aunt Esra, she spends years living as a simple peasant without suspecting her royal lineage, when she arrives in Kouni, she finds a job as a florist, but Askadeu reveals to her about her responsibility to claim the throne of the kingdom, and she finally realizes her responsibility and goes to avenge her biological parents.
*Yshykuce (voiced by Elizabeth Brewer) is a deutragonist of the film, she is Olyra's adoptive sister, when she grows up she decides to accompany her sister on the journey to Kouni, getting there she gets involved in confusion with the authorities and is arrested, and inside the jail she discovers that her adoptive sister and in true the rightful queen. 
*Typachu (voiced by Frankie Brown) is one of the protagonists of the film, he meets Olyra and Typachu when they rescue her in an archipelago, he was placed there by Alashamu, since Esra betrayed him with the young man. He joins the two travelers and arrives in Kuoni with them, there he and Olyra fall in love, and in the end they are crowned King and Queen of Eskivina.
*Cishe (voiced by Truman Mcpherson) is one of the protagonists of the film, he is found by Olyra, Yshykuce and Typachu on a deserted island, where he self-exiled to avoid prison when he refused to owe loyalty to Esra, he spent years on that island planning a way to overthrow Esra. When he discovers that Olyra is the girl who was with him all this time, he finally puts his plan into practice alongside his old colleagues from his officer days.
*Oshua (voiced by Trevon Rose)