The bizarre reason Russia wants to ban Shrek and other beloved animations

Shrek is having a ‘destructive impact’ on children, according to Russian lawmakers.

In a roundtable discussion on Monday, several films, toys and games were accused of being vehicles through which Western countries are ‘indoctrinating’ Russian children.

A slideshow was presented by State Duma deputy Yana Lantratova, which showed ‘good’ Soviet-era children’s films and toys in contrast to characters originating from Western countries, with Shrek, the Grinch and Monsters Inc. mentioned.

‘They don’t seem bad, but they have both physical and personality flaws,’ said Lantratova of Western characters including ogre Shrek, according to a report from the Moscow Times.

‘Gradually, with the infiltration of Western culture, characters began to appear who embodied negative traits but were elevated to the status of positive characters,’ the outlet report one slide read, continuing: ‘The image of the purely positive character began to fade.’

Sergei Mironov, leader of political party A Just Russia, accused the West of waging a ‘hybrid war’ via childrens’ entertainment, citing the adage: ‘If you want to defeat the enemy, raise their children.’

‘Unfortunately, [Western countries] are very actively engaged in indoctrinating our children,’ he said, as per the outlet.

Lantratova, also a member of the minority political party, said unclear laws were stopping authorities from blocking Western-made children’s content.

This comes after Russia passed a bill banning content – which it labelled ‘propaganda’ – promoting child-free ideologies, as Vladimir Putin attempts to encourage women to have children to counteract the country’s dwindling birthrate.

Content violating this rule may face fines up to 400,000 rubles (£3,724) for individuals and up to 5 million rubles ($46,000) for officials and legal entities.

In 2023, Russia ruled that the ‘international LGBT movement’ was an extremist organisation, and passed a law banning so-called ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’.

All these laws are part of the Kremlin’s push towards what it calls ‘traditional’ or ‘pro-family’ values.

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