The author of “Masyanya” Oleg Kuvaev and his animated series

A criminal case has been opened against the creator of the animated series “Masyanya” Oleg Kuvaev for calls for activities directed against the security of the state (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). About the animator and his main project – in the Kommersant information.

What is Oleg Kuvaev famous for?

Russian-Israeli artist, designer and animator Oleg Kuvaev was born on February 6, 1967 in Leningrad. He studied at a school with in-depth study of the English language, and later at a physics and mathematics school. He entered several institutes (Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation), but did not graduate from any of them. Served in the army.

In 1986, together with Alexander Vasiliev, he participated in the rock group Mitra, which was later transformed into Splin. He played keyboards, flute and clarinet. From 1991 to 1997 he lived in Germany.

Since 1987, he was mainly engaged in painting and sculpture, and in 1997 he came to computer graphics. He worked as a designer in several studios, a 3D animator, and a web designer, in his free time experimenting with various computer technologies, including vector animation.

In 2001 he founded the Mult.ru studio to create the flash animated series Masyanya. The project began with ten short draft cartoons about a big-headed girl from St. Petersburg. The series were made in the then new Flash technology.

Until 2006, Oleg Kuvaev was the art director and owner of Mult.ru. In addition to “Masyanya,” the studio released three more animated series: “Hedgehogs and Petruchio,” “Six and a Half,” and “Bo’s Shop.” Like Masyanya, they could be watched and downloaded for free on the Internet.

In 2006, Oleg Kuvaev had disagreements with the creative group of Mult.ru, as a result of which he decided to leave the studio, leaving behind the rights to the first issues of the series.

In 2006, Oleg Kuvaev moved to Israel, where he began working as a freelancer. A year later, his studio in St. Petersburg closed. Currently lives in the city of Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv.

Who is Masyanya

The first videos featuring Masyanya appeared on the Internet in the fall of 2001. A year later, Masyanya acquired the status of an unofficial face of the Runet. Oleg Kuvaev was not only the author of the script, but also the voice of Masyanya.

Outside the Internet, the project became known and popular thanks to the program “Namedni” by Leonid Parfenov, on air of which the cartoon first appeared on September 8, 2002. In total, about 20 episodes were shown on TV.

In 2004, the first advertising and custom commercial cartoons about Masyanya began to appear. At first these were commercials for the ZyXEL company (more than 40 pieces). Then videos appeared for Greenpeace (recognized as objectionable in Russia), Pepsi, construction company Elite, pharmaceutical company Zambon and others. At the same time, souvenirs with Masyanya’s symbols, printed materials, dolls and DVDs began to be produced.

In October 2008, the first full-fledged computer game about Masyanya in the quest genre – “Masyanya under the yellow press” – was released. In 2009, the arcade game “Masyanya and Beach Troubles” appeared. Two more games were created in 2011.

The release of the animated series was stopped and resumed many times. To date, eight seasons and 170 episodes have been created. In March 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked the site where episodes of “Masyanya” were published. The decision was made at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The reason for blocking was a video containing “unreliable socially significant information about the progress of a special military operation” to discredit the Russian Armed Forces.