The Princess and the Pea is a 2002 animated musical fantasy film adaptation of the popular 1835 fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea" by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was directed by Mark Swan. It was released August 16, 2002 as an American-Hungarian production of Feature Films for Families & Swan Productions. The script writers were Forrest S. Baker and Ken Cromar.

Plot

War and famine have destroyed the glory of an old kingdom. The story of how a princess was discovered by a pea became lost in the process. Sebastian the royal raven tries to restore the story using an old tapestry found by a young Prince Rollo of the far away kingdom, but it is partially torn. It is written that if the Legend of the Pea is lost, the Kingdom will fall at the reign of the 18th king, who unfortunately happens to be Prince Laird, the primary candidate for the throne, selfish and greedy eldest son of the old King Windham, who believes that riches and fashions is what it takes to rule. With the help of Sebastian & Rollo, Laird’s noble and kind younger brother Prince Heath is crowned King in accordance to the law of being the “first” son to enter the throne room during the ceremony, much to the chagrin of Laird. Heath proves to be a far fairer ruler by sentencing Laird to become Ruler of the Pig Kingdom, where the older brother vows revenge. Nine months later, Heath's wife Mariana delivers a daughter, but dies during childbirth. Laird's greedy and gluttonous wife Helsa also gives birth to a daughter simultaneously. Laird conceives an evil plan to regain the crown. He sends Helsa to take care of Heath's daughter, making King believe that Helsa lost her baby. During the night, Laird swaps his and Helsa’s daughter with Heath’s, intending to give her away, so his child can rule. Helsa, who feels sympathetic towards her niece as she too lost her mother at a young age, remorsefully begs Laird to give the baby to a loving family.