A litte piece of Russian culture has entered our house recently, in the form of the hilarious animation series 'Masha and the bear'. I spotted little Masha and her friend the bear for the first time when travelling to Ukraine in June. Merchandising was everywhere, especially in Kiev airport. And cute she is, as you can see on the dvd cover here.
Then last week - in the supermarket around the corner - there she was again. The dvd's of 'Masha and the bear' made it even to the Dutch-language market. I could not resist.
The dvd's were certainly worth their money. My daughters (6 and 4 years old) howl with laughter when they watch the adventures of Masha and the bear. That is mainly because Masha is not so cute as you might initially think. She is a 'little, annoying thing' who drives her friend the bear often to despair.
Which makes this animation series fun to watch for parents as well. So many scenes are familiar to me, and I guess to many parents: she does not give in when she has set her mind on something, she is not able to sit still for more than a second, she wants all attention of her friend the bear (who tries to escape sometimes but cannot say 'no' to her either),... This reminds a bit of the books and animation series of 'The little princess' of Tony Ross. The interaction with the bear on the other hand is more Looney Tunes style. Meep meep.
And while writing this, my daughters burst out laughing again! Masha, you have two fans! :-)