The Swan Princess (1994)

King William (Dakin Matthews), widowed father of newborn Princess Odette, and Queen Uberta (Sandy Duncan), widowed mother of young Prince Derek, decide to betroth their children in the hopes of uniting their kingdoms. Unbeknownst to the royal duo, the evil sorcerer Rothbart (Jack Palance), concerned by Odette's birth, is planning to take William's kingdom for himself by mastering a type of dark magic known as The Forbidden Arts. But before he can make his move, he is attacked by William's men. Rather than sentencing him to death, however, King William spares Rothbart's life by banishing him from the kingdom. Before leaving, Rothbart swears to William that he will get his power back and steal everything that he had.

William and Uberta have Odette and Derek meet every summer, hoping they'll fall in love. As children, this fails miserably, but when the years pass and the two reach adulthood, they do fall in love. Derek (Howard McGillin) declares that the wedding preparations begins, but when he expresses his wish to marry Odette (Michelle Nicastro) only for her beauty, she rejects him. Odette and William leave, but they are ambushed by the vengeful Rothbart, who transforms into a "Great Animal" with his new powers, kidnaping Odette and fatally injuring William. Upon being tipped off by the arrival of King William's captain, Derek arrives on the scene, where William tells him with his dying breath that they were attacked by a "Great Animal", and that Odette is "gone". Assuming Odette's death, Uberta encourages her son to find another princess. But Derek is determined to find Odette, believing that she is still alive. He and his best friend Bromley (Joel McKinnon Miller) practice hunting every day in preparation for facing the Great Animal.

Elsewhere, Rothbart is keeping Odette at his castle lair at Swan Lake. He has cast a powerful spell that turns Odette into a swan during the day, and she is able to temporarily turn human at night if she is on the lake under moonlight. Every night Rothbart asks Odette to marry him so he can rule William's kingdom, but she refuses. During her captivity, she befriends a turtle named Speed (Steven Wright), a French frog named Jean-Bob (John Cleese), who dreams of being human, and an Irish puffin (Steve Vinovich).

Puffin and Odette (in her swan form), fly together to find Derek. By chance they stumble upon Derek in the woods, for he is searching for the Great Animal. But Derek mistakes Odette for the Great Animal (having deduced that the creature is a shapeshifter), and tries to kill her. The ensuing chase leads Derek to Swan Lake, where he witnesses Odette's change from swan to human when the moon rises. The two share a loving reunion, and Odette tells Derek that the spell can only be broken by a vow of everlasting love. Derek invites Odette to his mother's ball the following night, hoping to declare to the world of his love for her. Derek leaves just as Rothbart arrives. The enchanter has heard the whole conversation, and informs Odette that she will never make it to the ball for there will be "no moon" on this same night, much to her dismay and sorrow. Later, inside his castle, fearing that Derek's vow would ruin his plans, Rothbart decides to make his hag sidekick Bridget an artificial Odette, ensuring that if Derek made the vow to her as the wrong woman, then Odette will die. The next night, while Derek is helping out the preparations for the ball at Uberta's castle, Rothbart imprisons Odette (in swan form) in the dungeon of his castle, along with Bromley, whom he had found in the woods the other night. Bridget, in the form of the human Odette, arrives at Uberta's ball where she is dancing with Derek, who is unaware of her true identity.

At Swan Lake, Puffin, Speed and Jean-Bob manage to free Odette from the dungeon through a duel with two hungry crocodiles and she flies to Uberta's castle, but she is unable to warn Derek in time. And much to Odette's horror, Derek makes the vow of everlasting love to the wrong girl. Rothbart enters and shows Derek the fake Odette's true form, Bridget. Upon realizing his mistake too late, Derek races after Odette back to Swan Lake, where Odette transforms back into her human form. Odette dies in Derek's arms, but not before telling him that she loves him. A furious Derek confronts Rothbart, ordering him to revive Odette, but the sorcerer declares to the prince "only if he defeat...him". Rothbart transforms into the Great Animal, and a battle ensues with Rothbart overpowering Derek. Odette's animal friends return Derek's bow to him, and Bromley, who has also escaped the dungeon, provides Derek with a single arrow. Derek catches and fires the arrow into the Great Animal's heart, destroying him.

Derek confesses to Odette that he loves her for her kindness and courage, and Odette returns to life; the spell on her is broken. The next day, the two are married and they moved into Rothbart's former castle where they lived happily ever after.