Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Sister Alenushka & brother Ivanushka" is a Soviet 10-minute animated short film that has almost too much for such a short runtime. A boy gets transformed into a little goat, is abducted by an evil old woman, while a young man falls in love with the sister of the boy, a girl, who is in danger of drowning. And as all of these Soviet animated short films, there are many animals in here: horses, mice, goats and crows. The animation style is very traditional, very innocent compared to what kind of cartoons were made in the USA at this point in time. Director Khodatayeva and writer Danilov worked on several more animated films. I thought this one here was a decent watch, the ending is not really logical, but then again it's all fantasy and taking everything into account, the good outweighs the bad. Recommended.
