The runaway success Russian cartoon Masha and the Bear has been ranked in the top three most popular children's entertainment brands in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, according to the Kidz Global international research agency.

"Masha and the Bear entered the Top 3 most favourite entertainment brands for children in Europe, the Middle East and Africa among children 0-6 years old," the Tass press service said, referring to the results of an online interview conducted in November 2020 at the Animaccord Animation Studio during the Open Russian Animated Film Festival in Suzdal.

The show that features the antics of the little girl Masha who lives with her friend the bear has been a smash hit around the world, and the fact that it used to be exclusively in Russian didn't stymie the growth of the show’s viewers around the world, mostly via YouTube. As the dialogue is minimal and the comedy largely slapstick the lack of other language versions has made it a big hit, especially to young children.

Masha and the Bear is a Russian animated television series. The first episode was released in 2009. Since then the series has been translated into 42 languages and is the only Russian animation project that is included in the top 5 most sought-after children's shows in the world (Parrot Analytics, 2021). To date, the Russian cartoon has been awarded five Youtube Diamond Play Buttons.

The show’s Russian origin has caused it some problems. As bne IntelliNews reported in “Masha and the spy”, The Times ran a piece in November 2018 entitled “Children’s show is propaganda for Putin, say critics” that accused Masha of being a nationalist and a vehicle for Russia’s soft power ambitions.

“Rubbish,” retorted Dmitry Loveyko, the CEO of the Animaccord Animation Studio, the maker of Masha and the Bear, in an exclusive interview with bne IntelliNews at the time. “What do you mean by propaganda? Is Mr Bean propaganda pushing the British lifestyle overseas? There is a better argument to say that the Beatles were Western propaganda used to fight the Soviet Union during the cold war with their jeans and the hippies.”