Brothers Liu
About Brothers Liu
Three brothers named Liu are so alike that their mother tells them apart by the colored ribbons on their wrists. One commands fire, one can drink the sea and put the water back, and one understands birds, animals, and fish. They land from a boat and meet an old man who has dropped his rice money into the sea. A mandarin later tries to execute them. The brothers trade places, and neither the fire nor the water kills them.
Cast & crew
More about Brothers Liu
Dmitry Babichenko directed the drawn short in 1953 from a Chinese folk tale. Nikolai Erdman wrote it. Nikolay Voinov photographed it. Klimenty Korchmaryov wrote the music. Soyuzmultfilm released it at 27 minutes. The Russian title is Братья Лю.
Themes
Making
Babichenko made the folk tale as a Soyuzmultfilm short, with Erdman on the script and Korchmaryov on the score.
Look
Nikolay Voinov is the cameraman on the 27-minute cartoon.
Music
Klimenty Korchmaryov composed the music.
Notes
- The ribbons are on the wrists, not in the hair.
- The water brother's trick is to swallow a whole sea and then return it.
- The old man's lost coin was meant to buy rice for himself and his wife.
- The mandarin changes the method of execution, and the brothers still walk out of both fire and water.
- Erdman, a playwright banned from the live stage in the 1930s, is the credited writer.
Scenes
- Their mother uses colored wrist ribbons to tell the brothers apart.
- An old man says his rice coin has fallen into the sea.
- The brothers substitute for one another and come through fire and water.
Influenced by
- A Chinese folk tale of the Liu brothers
