Great series, HORRIBLE English version
This is a really fun Russian animated series, and our 3 year old can't get enough. In fact, our daughter's antics reminds us of Masha all too often!
You don't need to know Russian as the series generally keeps dialogue to a minimum. All the episodes are presented FREE on YouTube by the company that makes the show, so it's easy to give it a go and see if you'll like it. Some of the episodes are real classics and a crack up to watch.
The only downside is the recent English version. It's horrible. Masha is only about 3 or 4 years old in the show, but the English dialogue makes her sound like she's 8 years old. All the charm is lost, the English dialogue is just too mature and poorly written -- it does not suit an innocent three year old. Not only that, but the voice acting isn't great and sounds stilted. Although that could be a result of the poor lines. Now Masha sounds more like an annoying school-age kid in a Disney movie.
Some of the Russian episodes have English subtitles, and even they are more charming to read than watching the botched English version.
Occasionally Masha sings a Russian song, and again the English translation is a real mess, they could've done a much better job translating the lyrics.
Bottom line: Don't let the English version taint your experience, go see the original episodes. Your young children will love it.
You don't need to know Russian as the series generally keeps dialogue to a minimum. All the episodes are presented FREE on YouTube by the company that makes the show, so it's easy to give it a go and see if you'll like it. Some of the episodes are real classics and a crack up to watch.
The only downside is the recent English version. It's horrible. Masha is only about 3 or 4 years old in the show, but the English dialogue makes her sound like she's 8 years old. All the charm is lost, the English dialogue is just too mature and poorly written -- it does not suit an innocent three year old. Not only that, but the voice acting isn't great and sounds stilted. Although that could be a result of the poor lines. Now Masha sounds more like an annoying school-age kid in a Disney movie.
Some of the Russian episodes have English subtitles, and even they are more charming to read than watching the botched English version.
Occasionally Masha sings a Russian song, and again the English translation is a real mess, they could've done a much better job translating the lyrics.
Bottom line: Don't let the English version taint your experience, go see the original episodes. Your young children will love it.
- prizm4
- 10 may 2014