A fairy tale that moves like watercolor coming alive, every frame painted to make you forget you're watching something from 1987. The story itself is simple, youngest son chases a golden bird across a storybook world, but the animation treats it like the journey matters more than arriving, each landscape a reason to keep watching. This is what happens when an animator decides a Grimm adaptation deserves to look like a dream you actually want to stay in.

A golden apple is stolen from a king's garden. The king has his three sons keep watch over the trees one after another and orders them to learn who the thief is. Hansu, the youngest, comes back with a feather taken from the golden bird that stole the apple. The king then sends all three sons out to bring him the bird, and Hansu's journey begins. The film is a fantasy adventure based on the Brothers Grimm story of the same name. Madhouse animated it for release in Toei's Manga Matsuri. It was finished in 1984 but held back for three years before reaching theaters, and it is noted for its ornate animation and inventive design work.