The Stolen Princess

Ruslan is a travelling performer who dreams of becoming a knight and rescuing princesses. When he meets the beautiful Mila, he falls for her without realising she is the daughter of King Volodymyr. Their time together is cut short when the sorcerer Chornomor appears in a magical whirlwind and carries Mila off, intending to turn the power of her love into his own magic. Ruslan sets out after her, determined to overcome every obstacle in his path and to show that love is stronger than any spell.

The Stolen Princess is a Ukrainian animated adventure directed by Oleh Malamuzh, his first feature, followed by Mavka: The Forest Song in 2023. Yaroslav Voytseshek wrote the screenplay, Yehor Olesov produced, and the voice cast includes Nadya Dorofeeva as Mila, Oleksii Zavgorodnii as Ruslan, Yevhen Malukha as Chornomor, Oleh Mykhailiuta as Fin, Mykola Boklan as King Volodymyr and Serhii Prytula as Nestor. It runs 85 minutes and combines adventure, comedy and family storytelling.

The film took about 7 million dollars worldwide, a solid result for an independent Ukrainian animation studio. On IMDb it holds 6 out of 10 from roughly 3,200 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.7 out of 10 from around 194 votes, so the smaller TMDB group rates it somewhat higher than the larger IMDb audience.