Froschkönig (1988)

While playing, Princess Henriette accidentally drops her golden ball into a well. A frog appears and promises to help her if the princess agrees to let him play with her, eat with her, and sleep in her bed. Henriette promises, but once she has her golden ball back, she leaves him behind without giving him another thought. The frog follows the princess to the castle, where, at her father’s insistence, Henriette must grant his wishes, much against her will, because a promise must be kept. But when the frog wants to sleep in her bed, the furious Henriette throws him against the wall, and he turns into a prince. Henriette now wants to be with the prince, but, as he sadly confesses to her, he has not been freed from the spell because Henriette did not keep her promise. Despite her protests, he leaves the castle to go into exile. When Henriette’s father’s search for the prince proves fruitless, the princess decides to look for him herself. Along the way, she meets Fire and Water. They cannot help her, but can only let her pass through their realms. Wind, at last, can carry her to the citadel where the prince has been exiled. The guard initially turns her away, but she sneaks inside by posing as a new servant boy named Heinrich. Henriette gives the cellar master a gold necklace in exchange for being allowed to serve wine to the prince, which lets her drink from the same cup as him and fulfill her first promise. The necklace makes the prince suspect that Heinrich might be a woman, so he has peas scattered on the cellar stairs as a test, and Henriette slips on them. But she passes the test by insulting the cellar master despite the pain, instead of crying. Henriette gives the cook a hairband in exchange for being allowed to serve the food and fulfill her promise to eat from the same plate as the prince. The hairband heightens the king’s suspicion that Heinrich might be a woman. The cook suggests testing Heinrich in the armory: a woman would not touch the weapons. But she passes this test too, trying out the weapons and driving the king and the cook out of the armory. Henriette gives her golden ball to the chamberlain and thereby gains entry to the prince’s bedroom. She gets into his bed and fulfills her promise to sleep in the same bed as him. When the prince sees the golden ball, he realizes it is Henriette. He does not let on, however, and tests her again by giving her the post of coachman and ordering her to drive him to his bride. Reluctantly and in tears, she grants his wish. But the destination is the castle of Henriette’s father, and the prince declares Henriette to be his bride.