In the UK, the Russian-made children's series Masha and the Bear is at the centre of a political controversy over claims of soft power and propaganda. Some MPs are demanding a review of the show's streaming on digital platforms. Producer Animaccord stated that the work is purely for entertainment and does not contain any political message.
MPs critical of the show claim that Masha and the Bear is one of Russia's soft power tools and presents a positive image of Russia to children. They base this on the main character wearing Soviet-style military hats and costumes in some episodes and the show's global reach.
Cartoons and the history of propaganda
According to experts, animation has long been seen not just as children's entertainment, but as a soft power element that shapes a country's image and transmits values. In the West, sensitivity towards Russian cultural products has grown since the Russia-Ukraine war, and even productions with no overt political messaging are subject to similar scrutiny.
The animation front in World War II
The use of cartoons for political purposes is not new. During World War II, governments realised that animation reached the masses more effectively than official discourse. In the US, Disney produced films such as 'Der Fuehrer's Face,' which mocked Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, and 'Education for Death,' which criticised the Nazi education system. Japan also encouraged children to support the military and the emperor with the animation 'Momotaro: Sacred Sailors.'
Ideological rivalry in the Cold War
After the war, cartoons became part of the ideological struggle between the US and the Soviet Union. According to CIA documents declassified in the 1990s, the animated adaptation of George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' was secretly financed by the CIA in 1954, and the novel's pessimistic ending was changed to a more optimistic finale. The film ends with the animals rising again, and the aim of this alteration was to encourage resistance against communist regimes.
The Soviet Union, through its largest animation studio Soyuzmultfilm, produced dozens of films that celebrated collective work, loyalty to the state and cooperation. While these productions were often not overtly anti-Western, they aimed to instil socialist values by portraying the model Soviet citizen.
Political readings today
Today, cartoons can become subject to political interpretation even when their creators had no ideological intent. Disney's 'Zootopia' is seen by many viewers as a metaphor for institutional racism and discrimination, while the 1990s cult classic 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' was accused by some conservative circles of engaging in anti-capitalist environmental propaganda.
The Masha and the Bear controversy that has flared up in the UK is considered one of the latest examples of this shift. Experts note that cartoons once directly used as state propaganda tools can now acquire meanings unforeseen by their creators when viewed through the lens of geopolitical and cultural conflicts.
