Adaptation Displacement: Outside of its native Russia, very few people know the folk tale on which the show was based.
Fridge Horror: In the episode "Growing Potion", Masha feeds Rosie the pig with sausages from the Bear's fridge (which is full of pork meat products, by the way).
Genius Bonus: Various antics appear absurd but are correct for the situation. When teaching class Bear has portraits of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy and other famous Russian authors. To teach piano Bear uses proper fingering for C major scale; the first one taught. When Masha forces Bear to incubate a random egg she find, it MUST be between his knees. The egg hatches a penguin, and penguins do warm their eggs on top of their feet between their knees.
The series became a huge hit in Italy. Rai YoYo broadcasts it seven times per week.
It's also one of the few works of Eastern European animation to become a crossover hit in America (compare again Nu, Pogodi!, which has a small cult following in America but is otherwise considered "too foreign" to catch on).
It's also popular in many countries with a majority of Muslim populations, due to Masha being one of the few non-Muslim female main characters who dresses appropriately by their standards (hair and legs covered, most of the time anyway).
Memetic Mutation: Bear Chasing Person Down Hall Explanation A video from TikTok user egorquiet, where they are chased by a person in the Bear's suit. The video was given comparison to Five Nights at Freddy's (a horror series which also stars a bear), and edited to have Bear chasing other characters.
Moe: Masha. It's impossible not to love her with her mischievous personality and adorable design.
In the first episode, when the Bear finally manages get Masha out from his house, he realizes that it is already dark, and the episode cuts to a Imagine Spot of the Bear thinking something bad could happen to Masha now that she's alone in the woods at night.
Masha's toys struggling in the blizzard and possibly dying on it in the episode "Christmas Carol".
Obscure Popularity: It's the biggest worldwide hit of Russian animation ever made and the most watched Preschool Show in the world ahead of genre juggernaut Peppa Pig, and yet it's not talked about as much as the latter and countless examples of pre-schooler Western Animation that draw considerably less viewing. The episode "Recipe for Disaster" on YouTube has 4.5 billion views as of this writing, putting it well ahead of Gangnam Style despite the latter being far more culturally acknowledged (it also ended up the most watched non-music video ever on the website).
Periphery Demographic: Outside of its main target audience (preschool demographics), the show is enjoyed by by animation enthusiasts who love the intricate details, the wonderfully colorful animation and some good Slapstick. After a while, the YouTube channel started adding "Cartoon for kids of all ages".
Seasonal Rot: A decline in quality was noticeable near the end of Season 2, but since the first episode of Season 3 (after the Series Fauxnale and when Masha's voice actress changed) it became really steep. The episodes became much more fast-paced and even more cartoony. While the first seasons were never exactly realistic, they were quite down-to-earth, unlike the later ones, which feature surreal magic in every episode. Taken up to eleven in Season 4, every episode of which is based around a song about a country, with Disney Acid Sequence visuals and loads of national stereotypes.
The English dubbed version has been negatively received by fans of the Russian original. This is due to the fact that many of Masha's dubbed English lines do not seem to make sense, rarely match the character's mouth movements, and, due to a combination of the dub actress's poor voice acting and the English script, rarely correspond with Masha's age. Masha is a 3-year old toddler in the original Russian series, but in the dubbed version, she often talks and sounds like a 10-year old girl.
The same happens with the Latin American Spanish dub, partly because it was dubbed from the English dub by proxy, and partly due of Masha's accent, since she speaks with a slight Russian accent.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: This show is full of them. Many episodes contain pleasant, comforting and wholesome moments that can make people very happy.
