In London’s The Times, one political scientist characterized Masha as a Putinesque. In recent years, there has been no shortage of attempts to provide a political assessment of Masha’s global influence. Of course, summaries like this are playing into the hands of Russian trolls. If we treat everything that originates from Russia as propaganda, we dilute the meaning of the word. But by the end of the episode, everything is resolved: the kind bear and the mischievous little girl love each other, order is restored. Masha goes looking for her friend, the bear, in his treehouse deep in the woods. Masha also made it into the Guinness Book of Records when one of her seemingly endless adventures alongside the patient Bear racked up more than four billion views on YouTube, making it the most viewed content that year.Īs with every children’s TV series, the stories always follow the same pattern. Little girls in Indonesia are named Masha and across the world there are probably many more Masha dolls than magic wands gathering dust in the wardrobes of children’s bedrooms. There have been 14 seasons so far (aimed at children aged 3 to 5), and the program is shown in 150 countries and more than 40 languages.Īmong series for young children, only “Paw Patrol” and “Peppa Pig” have a similar reach. No one can honestly deny that the series – which started on the Russian internet in 2009 and is produced by the Moscow-based Animaccord Studio, which receives no state funding – is a cultural export in the same way as ballerinas and piano maestros, synonymous with Russia like vodka or Kalashnikovs.
And if we then decide that, given the mass killings committed by Russia in Ukraine, her rightful place is on the list of boycotted Russian cultural offerings, alongside the opera singer Anna Netrebko. At least, if we view the little girl in her traditional Russian smock, who lives in a gatekeeper’s cabin between the steppe and the woods in an unnamed part of today’s Russia, as part of the long arm of the Russian propaganda machine. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.īecause we must treat Masha with caution.
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