Masha and the Bear

Masha and the Bear (Russian: Маша и Медведь, Masha i Medved') is an animated television series based loosely on the Russian folk tale, "Masha and the Bear".^[1] The series focuses on the adventures of a girl named Masha and an anthropomorphic bear.

Masha is depicted as a precocious, happy, kind, and mischievous little girl, while the bear is a grandfatherly retired circus performer that tries to keep Masha out of trouble but often ends up the unintended victim of her mischief. There are a number of supporting characters in the series, including Masha's cousin, a penguin adopted by the Bear, a tiger that worked with the bear in the circus, and a female bear that is the object of the bear's affections, along with a rabbit, a squirrel, and two wolves who live near the bear's house.

Masha, her cousin and Father Frost are the only characters who speak. The others communicate through pantomime or wordless sounds.

Plot

Television series

Masha is a Russian girl who lives in the forest with her pig, goat and dog. All the animals in the forest are afraid of her as she forces them to play with her.

One morning, Masha sees a butterfly and inadvertently follows it inside the home of a bear who has gone fishing. While playing there, she makes a big mess. When the bear 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.

Original folk tale

In the original folk tale, Masha gets lost in the woods and takes refuge in a bear's hut. When he comes home, she held by the bear as his servant. One day, Masha comes up with a trick to escape: she asks the bear if she can leave in order to bring her grandparents some pies. The bear refuses, worried that she might get lost, but offers to take the large basket of pies to the grandparents' home himself. Masha agrees and tells him not to open the basket and not to eat any of the pies, as she will watch out for him from the top of a tall tree. When the bear is not looking, Masha climbs into the basket herself. Unaware, the bear carries her through the woods. When he sits down to rest and is tempted to eat one of Masha's pies, she calls out from her basket: "I see you, I see you. Don't sit on the stump, and don't eat my pie, but take it to Grandma and Grandpa, say I." Impressed by Masha's ability to see and hear him from afar, the bear obliges and carries on. When they arrive at the grandparents' village, the bear is chased away by watch dogs, and Masha's grandparents find her sitting in the basket.

Episodes

Characters

Masha: A funny, silly and nice 3-year-old little girl. She lives in an old Trans-Siberian railway station. A path leads to the Bear's house. She likes him a lot. Her parents don't appear in the series.

The Bear: A big bear who lives in a wooden house. He's Masha's best friend.

Masha's pets: A dog, a goat, a pig, and, in the first episode, chickens, too. They live outside Masha's house.

The wild animals: A squirrel, a rabbit, and wolves etc.

The Female Bear: A female bear. The bear is enamored of her.

Dasha: Masha's cousin from Moscow. She looks like Masha, but she wears blue glasses and an orange dress. She is afraid of the Bear and calls him a "Monster". Her real name's Paula Dasha Bell, and she's French. She only appears in the episode Comedy of Errors.

Panda: The bear's nephew from China, a panda.

Tiger: The bear's best friend. He's a tiger that worked in the same circus as the Bear.

The Black Bear: He is the Bear's worst enemy and the Bear's chief rival for the attentions of the female bear. He has an arrogant and unsportsmanlike personality, cheating to win against Masha in a tennis game, and laughing at her when she grows gigantic.

Penguin: The penguin first appears in "The Foundling", as an egg that Masha finds and makes the Bear hatch.

Father Frost: A Santa Claus-like character from Russia, Father Frost appears in holiday-themed shows.

References

1. ↑ "Masha and the bear". Russian Crafts. Retrieved 2015-03-19. 

External links

• Official site
• Маша и Медведь Official YouTube channel
• Masha and the Bear at the Internet Movie Database