The Two Brothers

The Two Brothers is an animated short that is based on a tale by the Russian author Evgeny Schwartz. It is part of the anthology series "Animated Tales of the World".

Summary
Not so long ago in a forest, a forester tended the trees in the forest working happily. However, his two brothers, an elder and a junior, do not get along as their father is disappointed with both of them fighting, which makes him very unhappy. During dinner, the brothers' father tells his wife that the two must go to a village in order to get winter supplies while the brothers are instructed to get along with each other. As their parents leave for the village, the two brothers lived happily for two days. However, on the evening of the second day, Elder is irritated with Junior who is curious to know when their parents would come back. Upset when trying to read, Elder angrily sends Junior out of their home thinking that all he wants is peace and quiet. That night, it started getting very cold and Elder thought he would bring his brother back to his house after he finished reading. Meanwhile, Elder noticed that Junior was out of his sight, despite his promises from his parents not to let his brother out of his sight.

As soon as Elder's parents return, his father is very upset that Junior could not be found. As punishment, Elder cannot return to their home until he found his brother Junior who is captured by Great Grandfather Frost. Meanwhile in the woods, Elder knew he cannot return to his parents until he found his brother Junior. While on his way to find Junior, Elder left the part of the forest and he sees the other side that is far from his parents' home. He then brings a squirrel to aide him on his quest to find Junior. As soon as he walked, the snow became thicker in the other part of the forest which is very far from the other part of the forest. On his way to find his brother, Elder finds an ice wizard named Great Grandfather Frost who claims to know where Junior is. He then follows Elder to a huge ice palace where all the rooms are cold and empty, except for one.

Elder then asks Great Grandfather Frost to know where Junior is at, but Great Grandfather Frost tells him not to worry about his brother, since he also likes peace and quiet just like Elder. Great Grandfather Frost shared a similar thing with Elder: he silenced the forest animals that were bothering him ever since he encountered them. As Great Grandfather Frost decides to go to sleep, Elder is then put to work in the castle. As Elder began to work, he felt sad to know that if he could work for a long time or a short time, he could not tell if work time is over or not. All Elder could think of is his brother Junior who is captured in Great Grandfather Frost's castle to know if they could see each other again.

With the help from the squirrel from the forest, he then gives Elder a box of matches that his father gave him to keep himself warm during the cold winter. Elder then uses one of the matches to keep himself warm (not only the box keeps him warm, but also unfreezes the forest animals that were frozen by Great Grandfather Frost). However, Great Grandfather Frost returns to the spot where Elder is at, enraged that fire is not allowed in his castle. Enraged, Elder then uses his ice powers to get rid of the fire that Elder has set in order to keep himself warm. Elder soon starts freezing and some animals help him on his way to find Junior. The squirrel then takes the key on Grandfather Frost's lap and brings it to Elder to help open the door where Junior is captured. The key, however, cannot open the door, since the lock is frozen with ice. Two birds were able to help break the ice so that Elder can open the door. Upon opening the door, Elder found out that Junior was frozen inside this room. He then decides to rescue him by taking him out of the castle to find some place that is warm while Grandfather Frost is surprised that Elder escaped with Junior who is trying to escape the castle. Great Grandfather Frost is then enraged that Elder has escaped the castle with his brother, with the help of some animals who have successfully escaped the castle.

Meanwhile, Frost then starts chasing Elder with his brother Junior and the animals through the forest. Frost then suddenly prevents Elder from escaping as he corners him that if he wanted to be alone just like Grandfather Frost. Elder then refuses to do the same thing with Grandfather Frost and the place where the two are at is the path where the snow ends, bringing in sunlight and this sends Great Grandfather Frost escaping from the melting snow and the sunlight as he returns back to his ice palace where the ice never melts and the winter never ends in his icy domain. Meanwhile at the part where the snow ends, Junior is then restored to his human form and the two brothers are finally reunited and they both get along together. It is then springtime in the forest as the brothers finally return home to see their overjoyed parents. The brothers' parents are happy that the two brothers are finally reunited with each other.

Voice Cast

 * Cyril Shaps - Narrator / Great Grandfather Frost


 * Alexa Kesselaar - Mother / Elder


 * Yuri Stepanov - Father


 * Susan Sheridan - Junior