Masha and the Bear has become a real sensation in the world since the first episode aired in 2009. The carton is the most successful project of the Russian Animakkord studio. All of the episodes were made in the modern 3D format, which presented all the characters more realistic and alive. The series is known for its outstanding budget, as 1 minute costs the studio fifty thousand dollars, and the total for the first season production was 6.5 million dollars. Since 2012 the series became one of the most popular Russian commercial projects sold for iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon, and three years later it happened to be a Netflix online platform bestseller. Two successful spin-offs were created after the main story became popular: Masha`s Fairy Tales and Masha`s Horror Stories. Both of them are combining 3D graphics and regular animation, and are told from the first person, by Masha in front of her two favorite toys. Both spin-offs received warm critics` reactions.
The main character and protagonist of the story is Masha, a young and cute 6-year old girl, with joyful green eyes, full of optimism and mirth. Masha lives deep in the woods, in a small village house near a railway station. Masha loves the beautiful nature around her, paying too much attention to everyone and everything, and she is always ready to take part in the activities of all the living creatures around her. Masha is surrounded only by animals and most of them maintain human-like life and are able to speak and express various emotions.
The bear is a retired circus artist, who feels bad about their friendship at first. He would prefer some extra hours of sleep and rest instead of taking part in Masha`s adventures. However, soon he becomes more social and enthusiastic because of the little girl`s influence, and Masha learns how to become more kind, caring and loving. In this tale you will find many other animals as well, with bright and interesting personalities, playing vivid roles in the episodes. Though, most of the forest inhabitants pretend to avoid Masha because of her too extravert character, in fact, they truly love her, and are eager to help the girl any time she gets in trouble. In the further seasons, another human appears to create the contrast to Masha`s personality. Dasha, her cousin from Moscow, is a calm and shy girl and she teaches Masha to be more polite and attentive to the feelings of the others.
The series became extremely popular in Italy, Indonesia, Germany, Malaysia. Australia and USA, spreading the Russian culture through the prism of the famous fairy-tale.
The respected Der Spiegel German online journal mentioned that Masha had even become the most popular given name in Indonesia, because this movie was enjoyed by many adults as well. The Associated Press journal explains the international phenomena in the way that Masha is dressed in a long dress and her head is almost always covered, and for this reason she became the most popular female character from the Russian fandom among young girls from the Muslim countries.
Masha and the Bear became one of the top 5 most recognizable cartoons in Europe. According to the Kidz Global Journal Masha and the Bear is loved by 88% of Italian children, 95% of Indonesian, 30% of Chinese.
An interesting fact is that in 2017 in Georgia the Masha and the Bear movie was considered as the most spread source of Russian language popularization. Remarkably, the American Council that opened a large company in Georgia to spread free English language courses in Georgia, appeared to be not so popular, compared with Masha and the Bear.
Many researchers believe that the show became that popular because of the relations between the main heroes. They were often compared by the critics with the compassionate, caring relations between children and parents. On the other hand, the way Masha treats the bear is often criticized by traditional type of educators and psychologists, who are claiming Masha`s behavior to be too active, initiative, and extrovert in her inability to obey everyone`s pleads towards her.
However, this statement should be considered unfair. As the show goes on, Masha grows up; her character becomes more refined and gentle, attentive to the needs of others. In fact, becoming an adult, getting up-bringing that will transform your personality in the better version of yourself, was one of the main ideas of the show. Masha learns something new about our complicated life in every new episode, and the Bear appears to be her caring parent and mentor.
Since Masha and the Bear became one of the most popular symbols of the modern Russian culture, millions of kids all over the world wanted to buy toys and games related to their favorite cartoon. In 2016 the Masha and the Bear trademark took the second place in the Russia in the sphere of the toy retail industry, and, of course, the doll named Masha was the bestseller. The Masha and the Bear brand became popular far away from the show`s creators native lands. According to the recent article in the Promarca Lima Mexico, Masha and the Bear is the most popular brand among the girls aged between 3 and 6.
In St-Petersburg global Trade House you can find a large variety of creative and very special toys. The philosophy of our Trade House lies in a strong belief that toys should educate and help your children to find new horizons of inspiration and ideas. We have various puzzles, magnetic mosaic games, quiz sets and Learn the Alphabet kits. For the smallest kids, we can suggest a large variety or soft, plush toys, depicting your child`s favorite heroes, balloons and Russian Nesting Dolls.