© Sputnik / Igor Russak
Personally, I'm not a big fan of Masha and the Bear.
As a parent, I think that Masha is too much of a rascal, a troublemaker, and a bad influence for kids. Speaking of bad influence, what can we learn from the British press whipping up hysteria about an expansionist threat posed by a Russian cartoon girl?
It's not Masha's mischievousness that makes the British so outraged. By modern standards of parenting, she is a real goody two-shoes. (My own standards are those of a typical Armenian family, with 11 people living under the same roof, which means that it's not just myself who has to be satisfied with my children's behavior, but also my mother-in-law, among others.)
Instead, what troubles the British press is the fact that Masha is Russian. That she is "Putinesque." That the titular bear is so positive and nice that he could make British children stop hating Russia.Had Masha been "made" in Hollywood - or any other place, for that matter - the cartoon would have got a standing ovation. This only goes to show that some minds are simply incapable of shaking off their centuries-old xenophobia.
Comment: See also: The latest instrument of Russian meddling, according to the times: Masha and the Bear