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This is another of Karel Zeman's award-winning animated films that was first released in 1977, and then in 1982 when it was shown in a retrospective of Zeman's filmography at the Vancouver Children's Film Festival. In this story of love versus the forces of evil, Krabat is an orphan, directed by a black raven to go to an old mill for some unknown reason. When Krabat arrives at the mill, the ugly, scarred miller cuts a menacing figure -- and no wonder, he is actually a black magician. Since the magician teaches Krabat the power of changing form (or "shape-shifting" as some say), doubts are immediately raised about that mysterious black raven that got Krabat here in the first place. The magician has 12 disciples, and each year the oldest disciple must challenge him in a battle to the death. A sense of foreboding increases as the evil powers of the magician seem to know no bounds. Then Krabat begins to walk a thin line when he falls in love with a village maiden, not only putting his position with the black magician in jeopardy, but maybe his own life as well.