9558725379Masha and the Bear (Russian: Ма́ша и Медве́дь, romanized: Masha i Medved; Russian pronunciation: [ˈmaʂə i mʲɪdˈvʲetʲ]) is a Russian animated television series created by Oleg Kuzovkov and co-produced by Soyuzmultfilm and Animaccord Animation Studio (Moscow, the Russian Federation), loosely based on the oral children's folk story of the same name. The show focuses on the adventures of a little girl named Masha and a fatherly bear that always keeps her safe from disasters. The first episode was released in 2009.[1] The series has been translated into 25 languages and was broadcast in more than 100 countries.[2] The series was released on Netflix and through NBCUniversal.[3] Treehouse TV acquired Masha and the Bear as well from 2016–present and then has been formerly acquired on Teletoon too. Many of the episodes have been successful on YouTube. In particular, the Russian-language version of the episode "Маша плюс каша" ("Recipe for Disaster") has more than 4.3 billion views as of June 2020, making it the site's fifth most viewed video of all time, and the most viewed video on YouTube that is not a music video.[4] The remaining top ten most viewed Masha and the Bear videos are: "Bon Appétit", with over 1.3 billion views; "Laundry Day", with over 1.1 billion views; "The Foundling", with over 800 million views; "La Dolce Vita", with over 740 million views; "Hocus-Pocus", with over 680 million views; "One, Two, Three! Light the Christmas Tree!", with over 670 million views; "Two Much", with over 500 million views; "Little Cousin", with over 480 million views; and "Home-Grown Ninjas", with over 370 million views. The show consists of three full seasons, with 26 episodes each. The first thirteen episodes of the fourth season have been launched already. For the first season in English, Elsie Fisher – the voice of Agnes, the youngest of the three girls in the Despicable Me films – was chosen to dub the voice of Masha.[3]
Plot Masha is a Russian girl who lives in the forest with her pig, goat, and dog. In the first episode, it is shown that all the animals in the forest are afraid of her, as she is constantly forcing them to play with her. Then Masha sees a butterfly and inadvertently follows it inside the home of the Bear, who has gone fishing. While playing there, she makes a big mess. When he returns, he sees the disaster caused by Masha. The Bear tries to get rid of Masha, but he is unsuccessful, and he and Masha become friends.[5] In each episode of the show, Masha is portrayed as a smart, kind, but mischievous little girl who is exploring the world around her. This leads to many funny and entertaining situations. The kind-hearted Bear is always trying to keep Masha out of trouble, but often ends up the unintended victim of her mischief. There are several supporting characters in the series, including Masha's cousin Dasha, a penguin adopted by the Bear, a young panda cub from China, who is the Bear's cousin, two wolves who live in an old UAZ ambulance car, a tiger that used to work with the Bear in the circus, and a Female Bear that is the object of the bear's affections. Characters also include a hare, squirrels and hedgehogs, a pig called Rosie, a goat, and a dog who all live in Masha's front yard.[6]
