Cheburashka and Buratino Spark Russian Culture War

The 2026 New Year holidays in the Russian box office followed a predictable and seemingly triumphant script. A trio of family blockbusters — Cheburashka 2, Buratino, and Prostokvashino — collectively earned over 9 billion rubles (approx. $100 million at current rates). Cinemas were packed, tickets sold out in advance, and the news was filled with talk of a «victory for domestic cinema» and «the audience»s return to theaters«.

The picture looked flawless — until deputies of the State Duma (Russia«s lower house of parliament) returned from their break. A session of the Duma»s Committee on Culture became the turning point. The tone of the discussion was unexpectedly harsh: deputies began criticizing the very films that just days earlier had been presented as flagships of cultural policy. Accusations were leveled of sloppy work, derivativeness, «corrupting children»s minds«, parasitizing on Soviet heritage, and using »well-known names« for guaranteed box office revenue.

However, in a market where major competitors have been removed from distribution, even a blatantly weak film becomes a hit. This is not an artistic victory, but the work of a well-oiled administrative machine. And the deputies know this perfectly well. Incidentally, the State Duma is currently discussing a new bill that would expand the powers of the Ministry of Culture in determining priorities for state support. Perhaps then, Russian audiences will be treated to something beyond endless fairy tales. MSK1.RU spoke with experts about this.

A Matter of Taste

People«s Artist of Russia, director Andrei Zhitinkin takes a conciliatory view of the situation: »In fact, the right of the founder — in this case, the Ministry of Culture — is indeed to set priorities and schedule releases. Deputies are concerned about what remains in the viewers« minds, but this is an eternal question. Business often does not align with taste preferences. This is not legally formalized in any way: the deputies» emotional attitude cannot be the basis for decisions. Some like it, some don«t — as in the acting world. Society must have tolerance.»

Will They Ban Everything?

The opinion of film critic and scholar Alexander Shpagin was much harsher. In his view, «if deputies are to control cultural policy in the country, they will ban everything.»

According to Shpagin, it is precisely these family remakes, which have suddenly (and completely unreasonably) come under fire in the Duma, that have become the main unifying trend: «These films create family values, connect the past and the present. Young people watch Cheburashka and become interested in the past. Finally, we»ve found a film format. Thanks to such films, cinemas are opening again, families and elderly people are going there again. Now, going to the cinema has become prestigious.«

Naturally, a key question arises: can box office revenue be considered the main criterion? According to calculations by Kinopoisk, the current «New Year blockbuster battle» turned out to be the most record-breaking in history. Over the New Year holidays, more than 19 million tickets were sold (the previous record was in 2019 — less than 16 million tickets).

However, one reason for the record was a sharp rise in ticket prices: they now cost 534 rubles (last year it was 480 rubles, meaning the price increase far outpaced official inflation).

And the list of record-breakers for last year, as always, mainly included fairy tale films (the very ones opposed by the deputies): The Wizard of the Emerald City, Gorynych, Alice in Wonderland. But among them was also the patriotic film August about the Great Patriotic War (World War II), which earned nearly 1.6 billion rubles (approx. $17.8 million) — precisely the kind of film deputies seem to want promoted.

«August is a wonderful, complex, and ambiguous film, with pauses, not upbeat, but rather suspenseful, like a thriller,» says Alexander Shpagin. He reminds us that culture always balances between the dictate of taste and the dictate of the market, but it never becomes fully manageable: «Sometimes the viewer is an ally, and sometimes a terrible opponent. A huge amount of obvious trash collected giant box office in the 2010s. That is, we practically almost jumped into Bollywood. But in the case of the Cheburashka films, everything came together: artistry, correctness, and audience success. Everyone is satisfied, everyone is happy. And the deputies want to ban this?! Banning this today means destroying the last popular format that actually works. And what do they want to permit?! I personally don»t understand.«

According to Shpagin, the deputies« desire to control cinema is understandable because it is »the most important of the arts,« the most popular, the most mainstream, and the most effective, not only entertaining, like pop songs, but also providing pictures of life and, accordingly, creating social narratives, art.

«How many attempts have there been to create cinemas for Russian films and not allow American pictures there. All cinemas for Russian films turned into cinemas for American films within two months. Just like state-supported documentary film theaters — they all closed anyway. If the people don»t want to watch something, they won«t watch it!»