The Wild Swans

is a 1977 Japanese anime fantasy film produced by Toei Animation, based on the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale The Six Swans and on Hans Christian Andersen's variation The Wild Swans. The film was first shown in Japan on 19 March 1977 in the Toei Manga Matsuri (Toei Cartoon Festival). The Wild Swans represents the first entry in Toei's World Masterpiece Fairy Tales movie series, followed by Thumbelina (1978), Twelve Months (1980), Swan Lake (1981), and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1982). Plot King Hildebrand is hunting in the woods when he gets lost and asks an old woman for help. The old woman promises the King that her daughter Greta can show him the way out if he agrees to marry her. Enamored by Greta's beauty, King Hildebrand accepts her proposal and takes Greta back to the castle with him.