Cheburashka (TM) is one of the main characters in writer Eduard Uspensky’s 1966 book (USSR, Russia), Crocodile Gena and His Friends (and its sequels). After the release of Roman Kachanov’s 1969 cartoon, “Crocodile Gena,” based on this book, the character became widely known.
In the original version of the book, it was a clumsy creature with large (according to other sources, large oblong) ears and brown fur, walking on its hind legs. In 1968, the artist-sculptor of the puppet theater in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Margarita Skripova-Yasinskaya, created a doll with large ears for performances.
The good-natured image of Cheburashka, known today with big ears and big eyes, first appeared in 1969 in the cartoon “Crocodile Gena” and was created with the direct participation of the film’s production designer, Leonid Shvartsman.
After the film’s release, it was initially translated into foreign languages: Topple (“Tople”), German, Kullerchen (“Kullerchen”) and Plumps (“Plumps”), Swedish, Drutten (“Drutten”), Finnish, Muksis (“Muksis”).
