Маша и Медведь

June 7, 2013 4:39 AM

Bear has retired from the circus to the Russian woods and now just wants to be left alone to sleep, or pursue his hobbies, or chase after Lady Bear. Unfortunately he has been targeted by Masha, the six-year-old terror of the forest, as her Very Best Friend. Their adventures are chronicled in the computer-animated Russian cartoon series Masha And The Bear. (Make sure to watch past the 2D opening. Although dialogue is in Russian, you don't have to speak it to enjoy these. Click through for episode titles and notes.) 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32

(Thanks for the translation of the title griphus!)

1: "How They Met"

2: "Gone Fishing"

3: "One, Two, Three! Light the Christmas Tree!" (Father Christmas)

4: "Don't Wake 'till Spring!" (I like the ending)

5: "Springtime for Bear" (Introducing Lady Bear and Rival Bear)

6: "Tracks of Unknown Animals" (surprise ending)

7: "Prances with Wolves" (The Ransom of Red Chief Masha)

8: "Call Me Please" (This is the only one that suggests that Masha is anything other than UTTERLY INDESTRUCTABLE)

9: "Jam Day" (Masha proves she's not entirely a selfish brat here)

10: "Holiday on Ice" (Skating with Lady Bear)

11: "First Day of School" (Masha shows off her cloning ability here)

12: "No Trespassing!" (Bear vs. Rabbit)

13: "Hide & Seek is Not for the Weak"

14: "Watch Out!" (Masha & The Bear's take on Rashomon)

15: "Get Well Soon!" (Medicine) (the ambulence wolves, from #7, are great in this one)

16: "Recipe for Disaster" (Porridge)

17: "Little Cousin" (Panda)

18: "Laundry Day" (In which Masha greatly expands her wardrobe, at the expense of Bear's sheets)

19: "The Grand Piano Lesson" (It doesn't seem to be explained where the Piano came from)

20: "Stripes and Whiskers" (Tiger's introduction)

21: "Home Alone" (Christmas Redux)

22: "Hold Your Breath" (Hiccups)

23: "The Foundling" (Penguin) (It's also unexplained how the egg got in the Bear's woods.)

24: "Bon Appétit" (Panda again)

25: "Hocus-Pocus" (This one has an unexpected ending.)

26: "Construction in Progress"

27: "Picture Perfect" (Kind of sweet)

28: "Knights Move" (Chess with Tiger)

29: "Hit Of The Season"

30: "Growth Vitamin" (with a touch of King-Size Canary)

A couple more, I don't know in what order:
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posted by JHarris (26 comments total)

Fantastic! I found an episode of this with my 3 year old son while clicking randomly through Youtube. He absolutely loved it but we immediately lost the link and I couldn't for the life of me remember the name. They are almost endlessly charming. So happy to have found it again.
posted by Jofus at 4:48 AM on June 7, 2013

Russia has been kicking Japan's butt in the Cute Stuff department lately.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:11 AM on June 7, 2013

Somehow, I really want to see these narrated by David Attenborough.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:20 AM on June 7, 2013 [2 favorites]

A Russian friend showed us a couple episodes earlier this year. This is a very good show.
posted by Area Man at 5:32 AM on June 7, 2013

Маша + каша (Masha and porridge).
posted by hat_eater at 5:43 AM on June 7, 2013

Oh. It's been posted as Nr 16. Sorry.
posted by hat_eater at 5:44 AM on June 7, 2013

I adore Russian cartoons. Thanks!
posted by Cash4Lead at 6:12 AM on June 7, 2013

Watching the first one there's a section that reminds me strongly of "The Cat Came Back".
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:45 AM on June 7, 2013

Wonderful stuff! Thanks! The two characters are like an alternate universe version of Sully and Boo from Monsters, Inc.
posted by Bromius at 7:09 AM on June 7, 2013 [3 favorites]

Was expecting something to do with ПРЕВЕД МЕДВЕД.
posted by Kabanos at 7:14 AM on June 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

I should note that the series has an official website, which I got some titles from.
posted by JHarris at 8:27 AM on June 7, 2013

Wow! Episode 2 has a magic fish like in Hungary! These are utterly charming.
posted by Michael Roberts at 10:18 AM on June 7, 2013

I like that the bear has big Leonid Brezhnev eyebrows.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:16 PM on June 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Can't... stop... watching...
posted by Michael Roberts at 2:12 PM on June 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Welcome to my world Michael Roberts, I've seen all of these within the last 24 hours.
posted by JHarris at 2:19 PM on June 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

These are great. I just found it a short while ago and both my 1-year old and 8-year-old love it.

I would also recommend Лунтик and Смешарики, personally. They're good for learners in particular!
posted by volk at 2:33 PM on June 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Since I posted this, some videos have started being flagged to not be watchable in the US. If I had known they would do that, I would not have spent all the time and effort to make this post. Bah.
posted by JHarris at 8:54 PM on June 7, 2013

What a shame I'm not in the US, then.
posted by Michael Roberts at 12:21 AM on June 8, 2013

Dammit, not just the US.
posted by Michael Roberts at 12:34 AM on June 8, 2013

Ah, Bittorrent, how I loooooove you. Routing around censorship since 2001.
posted by Michael Roberts at 12:45 AM on June 8, 2013 [2 favorites]

12 and 13 are barred on YouTube; so far that's it.
posted by Michael Roberts at 12:45 AM on June 8, 2013

Odd. Well, I'm glad you like them Michael Roberts.
posted by JHarris at 1:34 AM on June 8, 2013

Wow. Маша is actually voiced by a child - during the production of the first episodes Alina Kukushkina was 6 years old.
posted by hat_eater at 3:39 AM on June 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

Wow. These are lovely.
posted by dougzilla at 4:45 PM on June 8, 2013

Hocus-Pocus is pretty weird....
posted by Michael Roberts at 3:08 PM on June 9, 2013

I'm in love. I'm going to send this to parents I know...and friends whose inner children will enjoy it as much as mine has. :)
posted by Schadenfreudian at 7:56 PM on June 11, 2013