Cheburashka
A kind creature unknown to science, beloved across generations.
Cheburashka is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 children's book Gena the Crocodile and His Friends. The character became the protagonist of a series of stop-motion animated films directed by Roman Kachanov for Soyuzmultfilm, beginning in 1969, with songs by Vladimir Shainsky. Often called the 'Soviet Mickey Mouse,' Cheburashka remains a national symbol in the former USSR and Russia, known for stories that emphasize kindness over origin.
Quick Facts
- Creator
- Eduard Uspensky
- Designer
- Eduard Uspensky
- Roman Kachanov & his companions
- Makoto Nakamura
- Dmitry Dyachenko & his equipes
- Alias
- Somikmovska
- Occupation
- Himself
- Pet
- Pupil
- Family
- Gena the Crocodile (his comrade)
Facts from the source article.
History
Cheburashka is a famous Russian cartoon character who later became a staple of Russian jokes, often appearing with his friend Gena the Crocodile. His creator, Eduard Uspensky, described him as an "animal unknown to science," with large ears like a monkey and a body like a cub, originally living in a tropical forest. The character accidentally climbs into a crate of oranges, eats until full, and falls asleep. The crate is delivered to a grocery store in a Russian city that is implied to be Moscow. When the store manager opens the crate and finds the creature, he places him on a table. Because his paws are numb from being in the crate so long, he tumbles from the table to a chair and then to the floor. This fall gives the manager the idea for the name Cheburashka. The word's root was archaic in Russian, but Uspensky revived it. Vladimir Dahl's 1882 dictionary lists "cheburashka" as another name for a roly-poly toy. Soviet censors tried to suppress the Cheburashka films because they mocked fussy bureaucrats, factory directors, and the Young Pioneers. In the story, Cheburashka and Gena cannot join the Pioneers because they cannot start a bonfire or march properly. A compromise added the line "only the best can be on the Pioneers." In 2026, Russian conservatives targeted Cheburashka. Politician Andrey Makarov claimed the character was "Jewish" before the release of Cheburashka 2. Aleksandr Dugin called Cheburashka a "lunar demon" responsible for the Soviet Union's collapse. Sergey Sosedov wrote in Pravda that the film "teaches disrespect for elders." During Duma hearings, politicians labeled it a "harmful cinema product that corrupts our children."
Follow-ups
A Japanese studio called GoHands produced a 26-episode series, Cheburashka Arere?, with each episode lasting two minutes, airing from 2009 to 2010. Nozomi Ōhashi voiced Cheburashka, Hiroshi Tsuchida voiced Gena, and Chō voiced Shapoklyak. In 2007, a new animated project titled Cheburashka was announced by South Korea's Ffango Entertoyment alongside Japan's TV Tokyo Broadband and Frontier Works. Directed by Makoto Nakamura and written by Mikhail Aldashin and Michiru Shimada, this 2010 animation debuted in Japan on 8 December 2010 and consisted of four shorts. One short, "Hello Cheburashka," is a full remake of the original Gena the Crocodile cartoon, while the other three—"Cheburashka and the Circus" and two episodes of "Shapoklyak's Consultation Center"—feature original stories. A Russian-language compilation of these Japanese shorts, also called Cheburashka, premiered in Russia on 5 June 2014, but its distribution was briefly revoked due to a copyright dispute with Eduard Uspensky; the certificate was later restored. The Russian episodes are titled "Cheburashka and the Circus," "Cheburashka Goes to the Zoo," and "Advices of Shapoklyak." A full-length live-action and animated Russian comedy, Cheburashka, directed by Dmitry Dyachenko and produced by Central Partnership and Yellow, Black and White, was released on 1 January 2023, becoming the highest-grossing film in Russian box office history. Olga Kuzmina voiced Cheburashka, and Sergei Garmash played Gena as a gardener. A sequel, Cheburashka 2, was released in 2026. In the 1970s, Swedish media featured characters Drutten and crocodile Jena, based on Cheburashka and Gena dolls bought by Sten Carlberg in the Soviet Union; "Drutten" means "one who has tumbled down."
Characters
Cheburashka is male, with a bear-like body about the size of a 5-year-old child, huge round ears that droop when discouraged, feet without legs, big black eyes, and a snub nose; his voice is high-pitched and childlike. He is an optimist who sees the best in people. Animation historian Sergey Kapkov described Cheburashka as 'absolutely useless and hopeless,' a stranger who only wants to make friends and have others make friends. Art historian Leonid Katz said Cheburashka represents the 'ideal,' completely innocent and representing what was lost and dreamed of. After being turned down by the zoo as an 'animal unknown to science,' Cheburashka gets hired as a window display for a discount store and resides in a phone booth. He befriends an anthropomorphic crocodile named Gena, who wears a hat, bow tie, and coat, plays the accordion, and works in a zoo; Gena's favorite songs are 'Such a Pity that One's Birthday Happens Only Once a Year' and 'The Blue Train Car,' both popular with children. Their adventures are complicated by 'Old Lady Shapoklyak,' a mischievous old lady who is tall and thin, wears a chapeau claque hat and dark dress, and carries a pet rat named Lariska in her purse to help play pranks; near the end of some stories she helps the protagonists. Her motto is 'One won't ever get famous for good deeds.'
Cheburashka in culture
Cheburashka is a staple of Russian cartoons, with licensed products including joke books and stuffed toys, and is one of the few Russian animation characters to be the subject of numerous jokes and riddles. The word 'Cheburashka' is used figuratively for objects resembling the creature, such as the An-72 aircraft (which from the front resembles the character's head) or a colloquial name for a small bottle of lemonade; there is also a rocket launcher called Cheburashka used during the Russo-Ukrainian war. In the 1990 satirical claymation film Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood by Garri Bardin, Grey Wolf eats Gena and Cheburashka along with other fantasy characters. Cheburashka was chosen as the official mascot for the Russian Olympic Team in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin (with white fur), 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (with red fur), and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (with blue fur). He became popular in Japan after an animated film series shown in 15 cinemas was watched by about 700,000 between summer 2001 and spring 2002; in 2008, the Cheburashka films were made available to Japanese cinemas on the same date as Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. An English-dubbed edition of the first three animated films was released in 1987 as The Adventures of Charlie and Cubby. During the 2018 Armenian protests, Cheburashka was used by protesters to mock Serzh Sargsyan due to their similar appearances; one protester masqueraded as Cheburashka urged Sargsyan to resign, while another lit his on fire.
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