The Wild Swans 1962

The princess Elisa, Valentina Tumanova, and her eleven brothers live in peace and happiness until their father marries again and brings home a new queen, Elena Ponsova. She proves to be an evil witch who, with her dark magic, tries to curse Elisa. But Elisa’s good heart repels the spell. Instead, the queen darkens Elisa’s face and dirtying her hair, leaving her unrecognizable. She also attempts to turn the eleven princes into black, ugly birds, but their kindness causes the curse to misfire and they become beautiful white swans instead. The queen drives them from the castle, and the next morning Elisa is sent away as well because her father does not recognize her. Left with nothing, she sets out to find her brothers.

After many years, she finally finds them, and from a crow, Elena Ponsova, she learns that the curse can be broken by herself: she must knit eleven sweaters from tall, burning nettles, and must take a vow of silence until the last sweater is finished, not allowing any distraction.

While she toils in isolation, she meets a king, Viktor Sergachyov, who falls in love with her and allows her to live in his castle. An archbishop conspires with the king’s fiancée, the archbishop’s niece, to make people think she is a witch. She is nearly burned at the stake, but at the last moment, her brothers come to the rescue. She throws the sweaters over them, and the curse is broken, allowing her to tell her story and return the king’s love.