It follows the original ballet's story relatively faithfully and incorporates Tchaikovsky's score, with the only real deviations being the removal of the other swan maidens and the addition of Non Human Sidekicks in the form of two squirrels named Hans and Margarita. It was also made as the fourth in Toei's World Masterpiece Fairy Tales series of films, with the others being The Wild Swans (1977), Thumbelina (1978), Twelve Months (1980), and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1982).
This anime contains examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Rothbart is infatuated with Odette to the point of having spent at least three years trying to win her heart. He's also the Evil Sorcerer who took her away from her home, cursed her to be a swan, and is rather ugly on top of that, all of which repulses her.
- Adapted Out: Odette's fellow swan maidens aren't present here. There are other swans around, but they seem to be normal birds.
- Adaptational Villainy: Rothbart is made even worse than he is in the ballet, where his motives are left vague and undefined. Here, he destroyed Odette's kingdom in addition to kidnapping her and turning her into a swan because he couldn’t handle her rejection of him.
- Adaptation Species Change: Odile is called the "Black Swan" in the ballet, implying she turns into one. In this anime, she turns into an owl-like bird like Rothbart.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Twice. Rothbart abducted Odette and cursed her to be a swan three years prior to force her to eventually marry him for lack of any other prospects, and in the end, he holds Siegfried at sword-point to threaten her with the prince's death if she still refuses.
- Ascended Extra: In the ballet, Odile only appears in the ballroom scene and nowhere else. Here, she's a relevant character from the start.
- Beta Couple: Hans and Margarita, the two talking squirrels, are this to the main couple of Odette and Siegfried.
- Big Bad: As per the ballet, Evil Sorcerer Rothbart is the main villain who cursed Odette.
- Caged Bird Metaphor: After Rothbart dies and his castle collapses, a songbird is shown escaping its cage in the ruins to symbolize Odette's newfound freedom from her curse.
- Canon Foreigner: Hans and Margarita have no equivalents in the ballet.
- Collapsing Lair: Rothbart's castle collapses into ruins upon his and Odile's deaths. Odette and Siegfried make it out to reunite with each other afterwards.
- Cue the Sun: The sun rises in the ending during Odette and Siegfried's reunion, signifying the end of Odette's curse.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Odile is Rothbart's loyal daughter, and is every bit as wicked as he is.
- Damsel in Distress: Odette has been in Rothbart's captivity and trapped under his curse for three years.
- Defiant Captive: Despite having been his prisoner for years, Odette continually refuses Rothbart's marriage proposals. It's only when Siegfried's life is endangered that she finally gives in.
- Driven to Suicide: Siegfried stabs himself in the heart with his own sword in despair when Odette promises Rothbart her hand in marriage in exchange for Siegfried's life. Rather than killing him, this creates a flash of light that somehow destroys Rothbart and Odile and undoes Odette's curse.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Rothbart and Odile have a strong father-daughter relationship, despite being evildoers who both have totally unhealthy attitudes to their own romantic relationships. The David Hemmings/Kay Lenz English dub even adds some humorous banter between them not present in the original Japanese.
- Evil Sorcerer: Rothbart, though he only really displays his powers at the end when he conjures up tornadoes and uses his magic to separate Siegfried and Odette.
- Evil Wears Black: Both Rothbart and Odile wear entirely black outfits in contrast to Odette's white gown.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The entire film takes place over the course of two days.
- Faint in Shock: Odette faints into Rothbart's arms when she sees Siegfried pledge his love to Odile at the ball. She wakes up very quickly to get out of Rothbart's grasp and escape, though.
- Fat Bastard: Rothbart is the Big Bad, as well as noticeably more rotund than everyone else.
- Fat and Skinny: Applies to the main villain duo. Rothbart is quite plump, and his daughter Odile is very thin.
- Forced Transformation: In addition to cursing Odette to turn into a swan by day, Rothbart turns Hans into a toad for trying to help Siegfried against him.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Siegfried knows Odette for about a day, tops, when he invites her to the ball at his castle the next night so he can announce her as his bride-to-be.
- Greek Chorus: Hans and Margarita's only function is to be this, being observers of Siegfried and Odette's story. They help Odette escape Rothbart's castle, but that's all they do that's plot-relevant.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Odette has blonde hair and is a kind-hearted, innocent Princess Classic.
- Hand Gagging: Rothbart uses this to stop Odette when she reaches the ball to try and prevent Siegfried from falling for Odile's disguise.
- Happily Ever After: Rothbart and Odile both die when Siegfried stabs himself in the heart, breaking Odette's curse and freeing her to be with Siegfried.
- Hoist Hero over Head: After she faints, Rothbart holds Odette up over his head this way while gloating at Siegfried.
- Idiot Ball: Siegfried has it bad here. Odile tells him her real name and he still thinks she's Odette, including thinking he misheard Odette originally telling him her name.
- Ironic Name: It might not have been intentional irony, but Rothbart's name means "red-bearded" in German and he has blue hair instead.
- Love at First Sight: Siegfried falls in love with Odette immediately upon meeting her and tells her he felt something for her the moment he looked her in the eyes. This is later revealed to be mutual when Odette tells Rothbart that she has loved Siegfried from afar for the past three years.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Siegfried is completely duped by Odile's disguise as Odette even after she outright tells him her real name is Odile, and announces her as his bride-to-be at the ball, dooming Odette.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Hans and Margarita are two talking squirrels that serve this role for Odette and Siegfried.
- No Body Left Behind: The light that comes from Siegfried's sword plunging into his heart destroys Rothbart and Odile to the point of disintegrating them.
- No Ontological Inertia: Rothbart's demise causes Adolf to be restored after being turned to stone and undoes Hans' transformation into a toad.
- Not Good with Rejection: Rothbart, and how! He destroyed Odette’s home kingdom, kidnapped her and turned her into a swan to have her all for himself, and uses all of his magical power to prevent Odette from marrying Siegfried, even holding his sword at Siegfried’s neck during the climax to force Odette to marry Rothbart! Odile isn’t any better, urging her father to kill Odette when she turns him down again and when Siegfried turns her down, she says that her father can kill him.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Rothbart is mostly played up as a lovesick buffoon, with Odile as his Hypercompetent Sidekick...until the ending, where he conjures tornadoes, uses his magic to separate Siegfried from Odette and forces Odette to agree to marry him by holding his sword at Siegfried’s neck. That said, Odette’s explanation of the circumstances behind her being captured by Rothbart does foreshadow his being very dangerous at the end.
- Ominous Owl: In keeping with the ballet, Rothbart turns into an owl. He also looks fairly similar to one in human form, having long eyebrows indicative of an owl's "brow" feathers.
- The Power of Love: Odette explains to Siegfried that her curse can only be broken if a man loves her with all his heart. It comes true at the end, with Margarita claiming that Odette and Siegfried's love was stronger than Rothbart's sorcery.
- Taken for Granite: Siegfried's friend Adolf is turned into a statue when he tries to shoot the swan Odette. He returns to normal when Rothbart dies.
- Talking Animal: Hans and Margarita are two talking squirrels.
- Truer to the Text: An unintentional version because this anime preceded the two other animated film adaptations, but it's by far the most faithful to the original ballet out of the three. Siegfried's name remains Siegfried, Odette was cursed to be a swan by Rothbart prior to the story, and Rothbart turns into an owl instead of a bat-like creature or vulture.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Rothbart is a Fat Bastard who's goofy-looking at best, while his daughter Odile is a slender and waifish-looking vamp.
- Villainous Crush: Rothbart is in love with Odette and makes constant efforts to woo her, all of which she rejects. Odile also develops an attraction to Siegfried.
