Synopsis
Alesha Popovich and Tugarin the Dragon (2004) is the Russian animated fantasy you can watch online on iFILM. This comedy from the Melnitsa studio kicked off the bogatyr saga that grew into the country's longest-running animated franchise.
A priest's son named Alesha grows up in Rostov into a mighty warrior — and botches his very first heroic deed. When Tugarin the Dragon's horde demands tribute, the townsfolk pile up a mountain of gold, and Alesha promptly loses it and flattens half the city in the process. With nothing left to do, he sets off to chase Tugarin down and bring the loot home. He doesn't travel alone: old Tikhon who raised him, the spirited beauty Lyubava, her grandmother, a donkey named Moses, and a talking horse called Julius — a cowardly chatterbox with an opinion on absolutely everything.
Director Konstantin Bronzit reworks the old folk epic into a family comedy, stacking grown-up gags on top of a kids' adventure and handing Julius most of the best lines. The voice cast is a heavyweight lineup, from Sergei Makovetsky to Ivan Krasko. It's that rare hero cartoon that lands with parents and children in the same room. Stream Alesha Popovich and Tugarin the Dragon (2004) online on iFILM.
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