First full-length animated movie from the Soviet Union.
This movie had to be remade in 1976 because it was in bad shape and nothing could be done to restore it.
Filmed on the tale of the same name (1834) by Pyotr Ershov.
The film was praised by Walt Disney, who showed it to his artists.
In the film, all three peasant sons go on patrol at the same time. In the original, they guard the field in turn, with the first of them scared of bad weather, and the second of cold.