After 14 years I stumbled upon an old cartoon I last saw at the age of 8, back in 1965. This is another Russian cartoon edited and dubbed by the syndication dynamic duo, Bill Cayton and Fred Ladd, two men who introduced an entire generation of American kids to Russian and Eastern European animation, from 1955 to the early 1960's.

Here at last is, "The Liu Brothers", created in 1953 by the famous Soviet animation studio, Soyuzmultfilm, of Moscow. "The Liu Brothers" is a Russian adaptation of a very ancient Chinese folk tale of three brothers, each of whom possessed a superpower. 

I'm completely fascinated by the idea that tales of superheroes are so old that the concept predates the invention of writing.

"The Liu Brothers", is a Russian story based on a Chinese tale from the 14th century, but actually goes back to a time before recorded history. This Russian version involves three identical brothers, each wearing a different color of ribbon on their wrists so people could tell them apart.

One brother commanded the power of Fire, making it flare up or go out completely. The second brother had mastery over Water, making entire oceans disappear and then restoring it fully. The third brother could Communicate with All of Nature, and talk to the animals.

The dubbed version from Cayton & Ladd, that I saw in 1965, is not on YouTube, only the Russian language versions are available. The English dubbed version was edited down to 15 minutes by eliminating the long talking baby goat scenes. Russian animators were fascinated by talking animals, I guess. Anyway, I never saw the extended baby goat sequences and it kinda drags down the story, in my opinion.

It's interesting how this animated short from 1953 is more concerned by circumstances than the brothers actually using their superpowers. The other characters seem to show no surprise or interest in what the brothers can do. Other characters also show no interest in what the three brothers can do to them!

All in all, this is an example of how stories about superheroes are as old as humanity itself. Maybe the first comic books were cave paintings!

very, VERY impressive animation for its time, it's always a neat find discovering obscure little oddities like this. it's stuff like this that got me inspired to write articles on things that aren't too obvious or haven't gotten much recognition, giving surprise to readers, and now you've surprised me

Remember from RetroJunk my stories of turning on the family television set at 5am by age six?

It sorta expanded into a key part of my life because I saw stuff that amazed me at the time, cartoons from other countries that kinda hinted that the world is a lot more wonderful than what I was learning in school.

For example, the giant robot from the 1948 French animated short, La Bergère et le Ramoneur, (The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep), first released in 1952.

thankfully with them not being well known it also means they won't be seen in the eyes of filmmakers that see only profit and removing the charm of the original. i never knew about "the magic roundabout" until after the doogal movie came out, but i watched in comparison with the movie and the original show, apparently the U.K. version was better while the U.S. version attempted to make constant movie references and removing certain scenes, and adding different things in, so i only imagined with why it flopped so hard with critics.

Nice little short Edd. The 50's and 60's really were the golden age of animation. The technique and style hadn't yet taken the nose dive it did in the 70's and 80's.

There used to be an old saying, "Fairy Tales are the gateway to Science Fiction".

Without realizing it, that old Russian cartoon introduced me to what must be the oldest folk tale I've ever encountered. When I search beyond the Ming Dynasty, "The Liu Brothers" becomes "The Ten Brothers".

But the actual number of brothers vary with time and region across the history of China. In the case of, "The Ten Brothers", they form a family based Justice League, but this was centuries before actual comic books.