The Blue Heron?

[NoDice4Darwin]

From what I've seen, you guys are awesome, so maybe you can help me.

I remember watching a cartoon when I was young. Basic storyline was the prince gets turned into a heron by an evil sorcerer with what I think was called a bloodstone. The princess tries to save him and ends up smashing the stone, which kills the sorcerer, but since the stone was smashed they can't turn the prince back, and she chooses to turn into and stay a heron to be with him. I could have sworn it was called The Blue Heron, but I can't find mention of it anywhere.

Help?

[Straydog]

I found a story that
has a few elements
that you describe

Wild guess
Kalif Storch
a.k.a. Caliph Stork

Clip from series Tao Tao

Russian animation

Basicly a young prince acquires a magical powder
that allows him to change into a stork. He goes out
into his garden to view a female stork and laughs at
her dancing which causes him to forget the magic word
to change back. An evil magician takes over the court.
The stork prince spies on the magician during a gathering
at the palace and overhears the magic word. he breaks
the spell and changes back. Ive found a couple of versions
of this story One in which a helpful salamander becomes
a young woman who's a fairy and another in which an owl
becomes a princess

[NoDice4Darwin]

Thanks for trying but that's not it. I remember that the animation wasn't that cartoony, and the overall story was darker, more sinister that that seems to be.

Any other ideas?

[Straydog]

Neither the Russian or
the Tao Tao cartoon tale,....

What year/decade do you remember seeing it
early/mid/late 80's?

[NoDice4Darwin]

Late 80's, maybe early 90's. I remember seeing it around the same time as The Railway Dragon and The Magic paintbrush, the americanized version I've seen posted about on here. I was born in '84 and I remember watching it when I was little.

[NoDice4Darwin]

I've been wracking my brain for details, and I've come up with a couple:

The "bloodstone" or "blood crystal" looked similar to this:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/USDA_Mineral_Quartz_Crystal_93c3951.jpg&imgrefurl=http://apgaylard.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/woo-bingo-and-the-man-from-atlantis/&usg=__2J4s7oAgra_zprG7FLVbW3dSuMg=&h=422&w=640&sz=59&hl=en&start=64&um=1&tbnid=5V9zHnTWS3uo7M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrystal%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D54%26um%3D1

but it was more symmetrical. The wizard was this little evil-looking guy with black hair and the typical black goatee. Whenever he'd use the stone, or would like cackle over it, it would pulse and you'd see his skeleton pulse with it. When the crystal smashed, the same skeleton effect appeared when he died.

The end of the movie, after the princess chooses to stay a heron, is the two herons flying together over landscapes, with the romantic music in the background.

I hope that helps.

[Norart]

Don't know if it is too late for a post on this...

The movie you are looking for is "The Admiral and the Princess". It came out on December 8, 1990.

Internet Movie Database Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194096/

Someone also posted the movie on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phwKPXTv7LM

Hope this is the one you were looking for...[/url]

[NoDice4Darwin]

OMG! You found it! *wipes a tear from her eye* You're the awesomest, thank you so much!