The woodman and the serpent

One winter's day on his way home from work a woodman spied a seemingly dead serpent on the ground. Nonetheless he picked up the serpent and cradled it to try and warm it. On reaching home he placed the serpent down in front of the warm hearth. Slowly under the watchful eyes of his children the serpent slowly came to life again. One of the children bent down to stroke it but the serpent reared up and drew it's fangs ready to strike the child, so the woodman drew his axe and cut the serpent in two saying
"No gratitude from the wicked"

This seems the most promising one to anmate so far, but I'm concerned with the changing background and how this is achieved in 3DS max.