The Three Bogatyrs

The overarching plot throughout the series follows the adventures of three bogatyrs: Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets.

Set in medieval times, this film combines the history of the Kievan Rus, Slavic, and Russian folklore with more modern elements including a nod to Alexander Pushkin and video games.

Unlike the other three animated features, this film also makes reference to the Russian literature from the 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.

This is the third installation of the series and the story revolves around Ilya Muromets and his horse defeating Nightingale the Bandit's building-leveling whistle and they both send him to prison.

The Three Bogatyrs and the Shamakhan Queen or How Not to Rescue a Princess is the fourth film in the animated series and was released December 30, 2010.

The plot develops through various episodes involving the impostors with their bunnies, the Prince of Kiev with the horse Iulii, the bogatyrs' wives with the doubles, the real bogatyrs with the indigenous people and a giant gorilla, and the appearance of some characters from the previous series—Tikhon, babka and the dragon Gorynych.

This type of satirical accent acquires even more weight when followed by shots of nationalist characters, such as the beautiful domes of the village that assume different colors from the reflection of the rising sun.