Cheburashka is one of the most recognized and beloved animated characters in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The small, furry brown creature with big eyes, a round face, and saucer-like ears, has withstood the onslaught of Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Cheburashka, whose name roughly translates as “Topple” or “Tumble” in English, first appeared in a children’s book by Eduard Uspensky, Crocodile Gena and His Friends, published in 1966.
A Creature Unknown to Science
Accidentally trapped in a crate of oranges, Cheburashka is shipped from a tropical forest to a Soviet town where an orange-vendor discovers him. The vendor takes him to the zoo, but he is rejected. The reason? As a creature unknown to science, he could not be classified, and nobody knew where to put him. He ends up living in a phone booth, alone and friendless, but soon finds his place.
Soviet Cheburashka films
The first stop-motion animated film, created by Soyuzmultfilm and directed by Roman Kachanov, came out in 1969 followed by three more in 1971, 1974 and 1983. An artist at Soyuzmultfilm, Leonid Shvartsman created his image.
Crocodile Gena (1969). The original film focuses on the theme of friendship and introduces the main characters:
- Crocodile Gena, a chess-playing, pipe-smoking, accordion-playing crocodile who becomes Cheburashka’s closest friend. He works in the zoo as a crocodile.
- Old Lady Shapoklyak, a nasty old woman whose motto is “he who helps people is wasting his time.” She spends her time playing tricks on people but has moments of goodness. Her name is derived from a type of hat.
- Lariska, Shapoklyak’s pet rat.
Cheburashka (1971). It’s Crocodile Gena’s birthday. Cheburashka and Gena do good deeds in order to become accepted by group of Pioneers (a Soviet version of scouts). A very popular children’s song, “Too Bad Birthdays Only Come Once a Year” appears in this film.
Old Lady Shapoklyak (1974). Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka try to take a train to the seaside in Yalta but are thwarted by Old Lady Shapoklyak. They battle poachers and polluters and end up reconciling with Shapoklyak. The famous song “Little Blue Train Car” appears at the end of the film.
Cheburashka Goes to School (1983). Gena finds out Cheburashka cannot read and tries to enroll him in school.
Fun Facts About Cheburashka
- Russian Olympic mascot. In 2004, Cheburashka became the mascot of the Russian Olympic team for the summer games in Greece. He has since appeared, in different colors, in Turin, China and Vancouver.
- Fame in Japan. Cheburashka is famous not only within the former Soviet Union, but also in Japan. The original films were shown there in 2001 and became popular, leading to a new series launched in 2009. A new Cheburashka film, directed by Makoto Nakamura, was released in December 2010.
- Nickname for Antonov AN-72 airplane. The AN-72, a freight plane built in Ukraine, is nicknamed “Chiburashka” because the plane’s two engines resemble Cheburashka’s ears when viewed from the front.
- Facebook. Cheburashka has a Facebook page with more than 70,000 “likes.”
Sources
- Film "Cheburashka" duplicates Russian heat in Japan: Interview with director Makoto Nakamura, Japan Anime News, December 13, 2010.
- Who Owns Little Cheburashka? The St. Peterburg Times, January 15, 2002.
- The History of Cheburashka
David Lawrence - I have been working in development for nearly 20 years, mainly in the former Soviet Union, but also in Indonesia (Aceh) and Mongolia. For ...
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