A specter is haunting the West: the specter of a cartoon bear and no-less-cartoon hyperactive little girl.

You might be tempted to click away from a piece that unironically analyzes the “Masha and the Bear” scandal while so many matters of life and death are happening in the world. But bear with me here.

The scandal encapsulates several important trends. On its surface, it is an all-around idiot plot about a silly cartoon and sillier British politicians. But on deeper examination, it showcases how different perceptions of soft power and culture shape European politics and what Europeans might be allowed to watch.

Let’s briefly look at the timeline. Early last month, Netflix acquired streaming rights for two new seasons of “Masha and the Bear,” the popular preschool animated show based on a Russian folk tale. The series has over 100 billion views on YouTube and has been a hit with children all around the world, including in the Middle East and Indonesia in part because the titular character covers her hair. In 2024, it was the second most popular show for preschoolers in the world, trailing only SpongeBob. 

Taking this popularity into account it is unsurprising that Netflix streamed the show about an unruly girl pulling pranks on the bewildered bear for a decade before the latest controversy. 

The news was picked up by Ukrainian state-funded platforms the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) and United24, which accused the U.S. streaming giant of platforming Russian propaganda. The show’s missteps include: Masha once and briefly wearing a Soviet Border Guard cap and a generic tanker’s hat; the duo being chummy with a panda (no doubt, a stand-in for Communist China); and, worst of all, Masha being annoying. 

“The main character constantly misbehaves, damages property, ignores refusals, and causes suffering to others, yet receives encouragement instead of consequences or lessons,” as United24 put it.

Above all, the problem with the show seems to be that it is promoting Russia by virtue of being Russian. 

As an aside, the original folktale is somewhat dark, although it is in no way as twisted as the original Grimm's fairytales. The lost little girl Masha survives her encounter with a talking bear by tricking the beast into carrying her in a basket all the way back to her village, while the bear thinks he is carrying goods for Masha’s grandparents. One........

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