The Three Bogatyrs
| The Three Bogatyrs | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Melnitsa |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | |
The Three Bogatyrs is a animated franchise produced by Melnitsa Animation Studio. Voices of Sergey Makovetsky, Dmitry Vysotsky, Liya Medvedeva, Valery Soloviev, Oleg Kulikovich, Oleg Tabakov, Anatoly Petrov, Andrei Tolubeyev and Fyodor Bondarchuk with Elizaveta Boyarskaya are featured in the films. The overall plot through the series follows the adventures of three most famous bogatyrs: Alesha Popovich, Dobrinya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets.
The series has now grossed over $50 million, making it the most high-grossing Russian animated films and earning a spot as one the most profitable Russian films in the last 10 years.
This animated film is anachronistic, following the lead of the other films in this series. Set in medieval times, this film combines history of early Russia and Slavic and Russian folklore with more modern elements including a nod to Alexander Pushkin and video games. Each of the first three films featured one of the bogatyrs, Russian epic heroes, based very loosely on the heroes in the legends about Prince Vladimir in the Kievan-Rus’ bylina cycle, a collection of traditional Russian oral epic narrative poems. The fourth film, The Three Bogatyrs and the Shamakhan Queen, unites all three of the bogatyrs, Alesha Popovich, Ilya Muromets and Dobrynia Nikitich, in one film and includes unforgettable sidekicks such as Julius the talking horse, introduced in the previous films. Unlike the other three animated features, this film also makes reference to the Russian literature from 19th century and the famous narrative epic of Alexander Pushkin: The Tale of the Golden Cockerel (Сказка о золотом петушке, 1834) with the addition of the Shamakhan Queen.
The commercial success of this series has been increasing since the release of the first film in 2004, in part, because of such marketing.
Feature films
Alesha Popovich and Tugarin the Serpent (2004)
Dobrynia Nikitich and the Serpent Gorynych (2006)
Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale-Robber (2007)
The Three Bogatyrs and the Shamakhan Queen (2010)
The Three Bogatyrs in Far Shores (2012)
Characters
- Vladimit, Prince of Kiev - The ruler of Kievan Rus.
- Ilya Muromets - The most oldest and powerful bogatyr, married to Alenushka, a journalist.
- Dobrinya Nikitich - bogatyr who love to sleep, and belives that the dreams bring powers. Head of the Prince Guard. married to Nastasya Philippovna.
- Alesha Popovich - the youngest bogatyr. Born in Rostov, he has a wife: Lyubova, and his friends Tikhon and Julius The Talking Horse.
- Kolyvan - fat merchant who had the magical power to win in the lottery. He becoma a friend to the Prince of Kiev and Baba-Yaga.
- Zmey Gorinich - three-headed serpent, the best friend of Dobrynya Nikitich. If in the Bylinas Dobrynya fought with the Serpent, in the films Dobrynya trusts him.
- Tugarin Zmey - evil and greedy, commanderof the tugar army.
- Baba Yaga — happy old woman who does not eat anyone, just brews potions. Engaged in forest ecology and wetlands. Friends with Kolyvan, rehearsed his debts.
- Basileus - Byzantine Emperor, the "sworn brother" to Prince of Kiev. Bad, greedy and cowardly - in fact, all the qualities of the prince of Kiev, just doubled...
- Nightingale the Robber - evil, treacherous and cunning thief. Stole the horse of Ilya Muromets and gold coins from the Prince of Kiev.
- Burushka - The horse of Ilya Muromets.
- Julius Caesar, The Talking Horse - The horse of Alesha Popovich, born in Novgorod, where he read a lot of books, because he lived in the Church library. He Named himself in honor of the Roman commander.