Dumbrava minunata (1980)

Five-year-old Lizuca, who lives with her grandparents near a forest after her mother’s death, is one day taken to live with her father in her stepmother’s loveless home. When her father is away in Bucharest for an extended period, Lizuca decides to run away and return to her grandparents. Together with her dog Patroklos, she makes her way into the enchanted oak forest, where, exhausted, she lies down to sleep in the hollow of an old willow tree that evening. A short time later, Patroklos begins to speak and chases after a hare. Following him, Lizuca meets a magical little man who tells her about a great gathering. That evening, all the inhabitants of the enchanted forest will assemble. First to arrive are a woman dressed in red, the seven dwarfs, and Lizuca’s grandparents, who tell the girl that her father wants to sell the forest because her stepmother has been pressing him to do so. Many more of the forest’s inhabitants join them, including the ant queen, the bee queen, the sunflower queen “Sister of the Sun,” and several giants. The stepmother also appears as a black sorceress, accompanied by her retinue. Presided over by the Fairy of Imagination, a court is held to decide whether the sale of the forest is lawful. After all the parties have stated their positions, the forest is awarded to the people and inhabitants of the surrounding area. The black sorceress, meanwhile, is driven out into space. Still that night, Patroklos leads the grandparents to the tree hollow, where they find Lizuca asleep. The next morning, the stepmother appears at the grandparents’ home. She wants to take Lizuca back, but her grandfather has decided never to let Lizuca go again.