Tamara Dmitrieva, Vladimir Kenigson, Irina Mazing, Vladimir Rautbart, Vladimir Ferapontov
Director: Roman Kachanov
Writers: Eduard Uspensky, Roman Kachanov
Operators: Teodor Bunimovich, Joseph Golomb, Vladimir Sidorov
Composers: Mikhail Ziv, Vladimir Shainsky
Painters: Leonid Shvartsman, Olga Bogolyubova
Year: 1969-1983
Series: 4
Cheburashka! Everyone knows this cute touching creature with radiant eyes and huge ears! Over the entire period of its existence, Cheburashka managed to become not only the character of four famous cartoons, the hero of many children's educational games, cultural and social projects, numerous parodies, but even made his way to the world level, becoming the mascot of the Russian Olympic team.
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
Cheburashka owes his birth to the children's writer Eduard Uspensky. It was he who in 1966 wrote the first book about the adventures of this animal unknown to science. As stated in the preface to the book itself, the name of the hero appeared thanks to Ouspensky's children's toy: either a teddy bear or a hare with giant ears, large yellow eyes and a short tail.
The boy's parents, in all seriousness, claimed that this was an unexplored breed of a tropical animal. Therefore, in his work, Eduard Uspensky described Cheburashka precisely as an unknown tropical animal that climbed into a box of oranges, fell asleep there, and as a result ended up in a big city along with a box. The director of the store that accepted oranges gave him the name "Cheburashka", because the animal that had eaten oranges did not stand on its feet and constantly fell (cheburah).
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
And the image of Cheburashka known to us today was created by the animator Leonid Shvartsman. The old woman Shapoklyak also turned out to be an interesting story. As you know, the word "shapoklyak" in French means "folding cylinder".
Therefore, initially Leonid Shvartsman painted Shapoklyak as a thin young lady, in dark clothes, with a long nose and a gray tuft of hair on her head. However, something was missing ... Once the artist remembered his mother-in-law and added mother-in-law's cheeks and surprised big eyes to the old woman Shapoklyak. Then he added a lace frill, cuffs and a hat - it turned out to be the spitting image of the artist's mother-in-law.
Song of Cheburashka
Blue carriage
The Artistic Council was delighted - the wonderful old woman Shapoklyak turned out! It was easier with Crocodile Gena. Yet the crocodile, as they say - and in Africa the crocodile. By the way, upon closer examination, scientists recognized in the image of Crocodile Gena not a crocodile at all, but ... an alligator!
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
Do you know what? The first cartoon "Crocodile Gena" was rejected by the editorial board of Soyuzmultfilm, which was associated with the KGB. In the construction of the house of friends, she saw an analogy with the construction of the CMEA and the cartoon was assigned the third, lowest category of rental. As a result, the creative team of animators did not receive a single award for the picture, and the film itself was not recommended for wide release.
When presenting the second cartoon - "Cheburashka", the editorial board again saw sedition. This series, in their opinion, "discredited the pioneer organization." The director of the picture, Roman Kachanov, had to urgently insert a replica into the cartoon: “The pioneers take the best.”
Despite the fact that after the release of the first cartoon about Cheburashka, the character became very popular among the Soviet people, they tried to ban the cartoon.
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
One of the newspapers came out with a "damaging" article, the headline of which read: "Who will adopt Cheburashka?" It popularly explained that Cheburashka is a homeless child who has no homeland!
Yes, and the crocodile Gena is also not a role model, you see, he is looking for friends through ads, and everyone knows that the Soviet person is looking for them in the team! Cheburashka is very much loved not only here, but also in Japan. No wonder, because he looks like a typical Japanese hero: huge eyes, small mouth. The Japanese affectionately call it the "Russian miracle" Chebi.
In addition, Gena the Crocodile's song was also translated into Finnish, as well as into English, Swedish, German, Bulgarian, Polish and other languages. Cartoons by Roman Kachanov "Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka" and "Shapoklyak" appeared on the screens of each of these countries at different times. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he was chosen as the mascot of the Russian Olympic team.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Cheburashka, the symbol of the Russian Team, changed into white winter fur. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Cheburashka was "dressed" in red fur. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Cheburashka the mascot won blue fur.
Lithuanian kids call Cheburashka - Kulverstukas, and Swedish - Drutten. This is how the name of the hero is translated into their native languages. In 2005, in connection with a charity event for orphans "Cheburashka's Birthday", Eduard Nikolaevich Uspensky announced that August 20 is considered Cheburashka's birthday.
Soviet cinema gave the world unusual heroes. While famous directors were working on films for an adult audience, the animators were thinking about how to surprise the little octobers and pioneers. The creators of the cartoons used the plots of the books and created authentic stories that were later embodied on the screen. , The Wolf and the Hare from "Well, wait a minute!", You can list the characters loved by children for a long time. The first mythical hero of the Soviet cartoon business was Cheburashka, an unknown creature of unknown origin.
Cheburashka is the name of a character in a book written by a children's author. Based on the work "Crocodile Gena and his friends" in 1969, the director made a film. The hero of the book gained fame after the release of the tape.
Cheburashka is an unusual creature. He has two huge round ears, his body is covered with brown hair and it is not clear whether this animal has a feminine or masculine gender. His birth was due to the production designer, Leonid Shvartsman. After the cartoon was translated for display in other countries, children in all corners of the planet recognized Cheburashka. In English his name was Topl, in German Kullerchen or Plumps, Drytten in Swedish and Muksis in Finnish. At the same time, the children did not know who the creator of the character was.
Despite the legend about the appearance of Cheburashka published in the preface, Eduard Uspensky assured readers that it was not at all a child's toy. In an interview with a Nizhny Novgorod newspaper, the writer admitted that he somehow watched a friend's little daughter. The girl constantly fell, dressed up in someone else's long fur coat.
Her father, noticing these actions, commented on what was happening with the word “cheburahna”. A curious word cut into Ouspensky's memory. Later, the author learned that in the dictionary "cheburashka" is a synonym for "roly-poly", he is also a roly-poly. Cheburashkas were called small wooden floats made by anglers to lure their catch.
Based on the preface of Ouspensky's book, it becomes clear that the author had a defective toy with a similar name as a child. She looked like a strange animal with round eyes, large ears, a small body and a short tail. Parents assured the boy that Cheburashka lives in the tropical jungle. The animal feeds on oranges, and one day, climbing into a fruit box to feast, the baby fell asleep in it. The box was closed and taken to a grocery store in a large city.
Cheburashka's name appeared at the moment when he was discovered by the store director. The well-fed animal was constantly falling - cheburahalsya, according to others. Due to the fact that he could not sit still without falling, he was given a funny nickname. The character of the hero is soft. The kid is sweet and friendly, naive, friendly and curious. A diminutive name describes his nature. Sometimes awkward, but charming hero evokes tenderness of the audience and characters of the cartoon.
According to the plot, they try to arrange a strange animal in a zoological garden in order to settle with other animals from the tropics. But the zoo did not know which animals to let in an unknown creature. He was passed from hand to hand until Cheburashka ended up in a thrift store. Here he found it. He worked at the zoo and was lonely. In search of friends, Gena was posting ads and came across Cheburashka. Now the animal duo is looking for company. It will include the lion Chandr, the puppy Tobik and the girl Galya. The negative character of the work is the owner of the hand rat Larisa.
In the period from 1966 to 2008, Eduard Uspensky, in collaboration with production designers, created eight plays about the adventures of Cheburashka and friends. In the 1970s, several children's television and radio programs were broadcast in Sweden at once. Audio records with fairy tales about Cheburashka and Gena and children's magazines were popular. The characters ended up abroad along with dolls, which a tourist brought from a trip to the Soviet Union. Cheburashka was dubbed Drutten. In Swedish, this word is translated as “stumble”, “fall”, which was characteristic of the hero.
An interesting nuance: on Soviet television, cartoon characters were puppets, and on Swedish television they were puppets. The characters sang and talked about life, but the dialogue was very different from the authentic ones. Even Cheburashka's song sounded quite different. Today, Drutten is a full-fledged character in Swedish animation. Modern children do not know the history of its origin.
In 2001, the Japanese discovered the cartoon character, and in 2003 they bought the rights to distribute this image from Soyuzmultfilm for 20 years. The animated cartoon "Cheburashka Arere" has been broadcast in Tokyo since 2009. In 2010, the character was accompanied by friends based on Ouspensky's book. On TV, they started showing puppet cartoons on the theme of the hero's adventures. Today in Japan, the cartoons "Crocodile Gena", "Soviet Shapoklyak", "Cheburashka and the Circus" are broadcast.
Works of Soviet cinema and animation are famous for quotes that the audience loves. Soulful humorous remarks sink into the soul and have been passed from mouth to mouth for many years. Phrases from the book, migrated to the cartoon, create a special atmosphere, involving the young audience in the plot.
"A young crocodile in his fifties wants to make friends."
This quote raises questions: is the age of a crocodile comparable to human years? Can crocodiles want to be friends? Why is the image of a crocodile associated with an adult? Cheburashka asks Gene a reasonable question about age, and little viewers learn that crocodiles can live up to three hundred years.
A series of cartoons about the adventures of Cheburashka has a moralistic background. Recommendations and advice to children are presented with the help of the main characters. Kindness is the main value for the characters. At the same time, the old woman Shapoklyak assures:
“He who helps people is just wasting his time. You can't be famous for good deeds."
The old woman's wrong is clear at first sight, and the kids understand that it is worth helping each other. Good deeds are certainly connected with the main goal of all the children of the Soviet Union - with enrollment in the pioneers. Gena and Cheburashka are no exception:
“You have to do a lot of good things to get into the pioneers,” Gena says, motivating Cheburashka, and at the same time the audience on the other side of the screen.
Despite the characteristic features of Soviet animation skills, children's films about Cheburashka are of interest to modern children. They attract curious kids and nostalgic adults to the screens.
Cheburashka is a character invented by the children's writer Eduard Uspensky, a cute furry animal with big ears, resembling either a hare or a bear cub.
No matter how ridiculous the animal Cheburashka is, absolutely everyone loves him - both children and adults. Indeed, it is simply impossible not to love a cute, shy and harmless animal with huge and ridiculous ears. Moreover, Cheburashka wants to be protected and protected from dangers, and it is precisely this, participation in his difficult fate, that his main friend, Crocodile Gena, is doing.
The history of Cheburashka began in 1966, it was then that the children's writer Eduard Uspensky first came up with his hero. How exactly the writer came up with the fantasy to create such a ridiculous beast is unknown, but there are several versions. So, according to one of them, in childhood, Uspensky had an old defective toy, which his parents called "a beast unknown to science that lives in hot tropical forests." According to another version, thoughts about a strange animal came to him visiting friends, whose little daughter walked around the house in a huge fluffy fur coat, constantly stumbling and falling. Her father commented on her fall as "cheburahna again."
Be that as it may, there is still a hint that Cheburashka is a tropical animal, because according to the plot of the book and cartoon, he first appears in a box with oranges, which probably arrived from a distant tropical country.
Everyone called him Cheburashka for the same reason as a play on words - the animal could not sit still and "cheburah" all the time. The manager of the store, which received the oranges, tried to attach a strange animal to the zoo, but they could not find a place for him, he did not fit
what kind of animal, and therefore, as a result, the unfortunate Cheburashka ended up on the shelf of a discount store. By the way, this is what is sung about in the famous song "I was once a strange nameless toy, which no one approached in the store ..."
However, in the future, fate turned out to be more favorable to Cheburashka - he met the Best Friend of His Life - Crocodile Gena. I must say that Gena, who "worked at the zoo as a crocodile," was endlessly lonely, and it was loneliness that made him put up ads with the words "A young crocodile wants to make friends."
So the shy furry creature with huge ears ended up on the threshold of Gena the crocodile's house with the words "It's me, Cheburashka."
As a result, Gena and Cheburashka became great friends, and just as a couple - Gena and Cheburashka - Russian children of several generations learned and fell in love with these heroes.
It is not known whether Cheburashka would have expected such a resounding success if not for a very successful screen image. Cartoons about Cheburashka and Gena were created by the talented director Roman Kachanov, the first cartoon was released in 1969. The production designer was Leonid Shvartsman.
Then came Cheburashka (1971), Shapoklyak (1974), and later, already in 1983, Cheburashka Goes to School.
Surprisingly, it was Cheburashka who became a very famous hero outside our country. So, he was especially loved in Japan, where they not only showed Soviet cartoons, but made their remakes, and also filmed several
How many own projects like "Cheburashka Arere?".
In Sweden, Cheburashka is known and called Drutten (Swedish "drutta" - to fall, stumble), and the plots of their cartoons are completely independent. In general, Cheburashka got into the cartoons of many countries - German viewers know him as Kullerchen ("Kullerchen") or Plumps ("Plumps"), in Finland Cheburashka is called Muksis ("Muksis"), and Lithuanian children know him as Kulverstukas.
In 2008, the Cheburashka Museum even opened in Moscow, among the exhibits of which there is an old typewriter, on which Uspensky first created the image of this cute animal. And Cheburashka has already become the mascot of the country's Olympic team several times.
By the way, in 2005, Eduard Uspensky himself announced that the official birthday of Cheburashka was August 20.
It is known that already in the 2000s, Eduard Uspensky repeatedly tried to defend his copyright in the image of Cheburashka, but lost several times. At the same time, Leonid Shvartsman also claimed the image of Cheburashka - despite the fact that his writer came up with it, it was the image of Cheburashka drawn by Shvartsman that the audience liked so much, and it was thanks to the cartoon that Cheburashka became so popular.
However, whatever the litigation of the creators, millions of Russian children continue to grow up with good cartoons about Cheburashka and his friends.
Infinitely charming, charmingly defenseless and kind Cheburashka is simply impossible not to love.
Soon forever young Cheburashka will celebrate his 50th birthday.
Cheburashka is one of those cartoon characters that we continue to feel sympathy for, even as adults. We will not retell in detail the work itself “Crocodile Gena and his friends” (he is his hero), but we will find out the following point: why Cheburashka was called Cheburashka.
There can be no discrepancies in the answer to this question: the character appeared from the pen of the Soviet and Russian writer, screenwriter, author of children's books Eduard Uspensky. It happened in 1966. At the same time, another of his works was published - “Down the Magic River”. Ouspensky became popular. To the answer to the question: "Why was Cheburashka called Cheburashka?" - we will turn a little lower.
The birthplace of the writer is the city of Yegorievsk (Moscow region). After graduating from school, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute. In the same period, his first literary works appeared in print.
To date, the writer's place of residence is also the Moscow region. The author's works continue to be published by Samovar publishing house. We hope that there are no difficulties with the answer to the question: "Who wrote Cheburashka?" - readers of this material will not.
The character himself became famous after the cartoon about the crocodile Gena and his friends (1969) was released.
The original version of the book introduced readers to a clumsy, unsightly creature. Small ears, brown hair - this was how his appearance was described in general terms. The appearance of the good-natured image of Cheburashka, which is distinguished by big ears and big eyes, we owe to the production designer
By the way, in the period of 1990-2000s, the writer had to participate in disputes regarding the authorship of this image. It was about its use in the names of various children's institutions, in different goods (this was a common practice in the Soviet period).
We remembered who wrote Cheburashka. Next, let's list the options for the name of the character.
There is a version that in childhood, the future writer played with a soft toy, apparently not of the best quality. She was strange-looking: with big ears and equally big eyes. It was not possible to understand to which order of animals of the world it belongs. Then the fantasy of the parents suggested the name of the animal - Cheburashka. Hot countries were chosen as the place of his residence. So far, we have given one version of why Cheburashka was called Cheburashka.
Ouspensky himself gives an explanation for this name of a fictional character in one of his interviews. A little daughter grew up in the family of the writer's acquaintances. One of the purchases that her parents decided to please her with was a small fur coat. It was a warm summer outside. The fitting of new clothes took place under Eduard Uspensky. The girl was dragging a large fur coat across the floor, it was inconvenient for her to walk. After she stumbled and fell again, her father said: “Cheburahna again!” Ouspensky became interested in the meaning of an unusual word. A friend explained to him the meaning of the word “cheburah”. It means "to fall".
You can also learn about the origin of the word from the dictionary of V.I. Dahl. It also gives the meaning that we have already given, and such as “crash”, “stretch”. Dal also mentions the word "cheburashka". Various dialects define it as "a checker of a burlatsky strap, it is hung on the tail" or as "a roly-poly, a chrysalis, she rises to her feet herself, no matter how she is thrown." The word also has figurative meanings.
In order to understand another option why Cheburashka was called Cheburashka, let's recall the plot of the book itself. So, the favorite food of an animal unknown to science, who lived somewhere in the south, were oranges. On one of the hot days, he climbed into a box with adored fruits found on the shore. Eat well and sleep well. Then the boarded up box ended up in our country and was delivered to the store. After opening the box, instead of the expected fruit, a plump furry creature appeared before the store director. Having no idea what to do with him, the director decided to put the animal on a box. The animal could not resist and fell. The director burst out the phrase: “Fu you, what a Cheburashka!” And so this name was assigned to the character.
Our story about Cheburashka comes to an end. I would like to add some interesting facts to it.
To date, many monuments and sculptural compositions have been erected to this hero and his friends. You can meet them in such settlements as the village of Gaspra (Yalta, Crimea), the city of Ramenskoye near Moscow, the city of Khabarovsk, the city of Kremenchug, the city of Dnipro.
Since 2003, Muscovites have been holding a charity event "Cheburashka's Birthday" every August weekend. It is aimed at helping orphans.
In Moscow, in kindergarten No. 2550 (Eastern Administrative District) in 2008, the opening of the Cheburashka Museum took place. It has a typewriter. It was on it that the story of a character beloved by both children and their parents was created.
As Eduard Uspensky said, the image of Cheburashka was born thanks to a picture he once saw: “I was visiting my friend and saw a little girl dressed in a thick fur coat with a large collar. The fur coat was big for the girl, and she constantly fell - she would take a step and fall. My friend said: "Oh, cheburahna!" So I heard this word for the first time.According to the Explanatory Dictionary of Vladimir Dahl, the word "cheburashka" meant "doll, roly-poly, who himself got up on his feet, no matter how you throw him." The verbs "cheburahat" and "cheburahnut" were used in the meaning of "throw, throw, overturn with thunder, bang, slap."
Thanks to the efforts of the artist Leonid Aronovich Shvartsman, Cheburashka became one of the most beloved cartoon characters of the USSR. “In the process of making the film, the tail fell off. The animated Cheburashka has eyes like a human child. He got big ears, a frame around his face. And, of course, a charm came, which is not in the drawings of other artists,” notes Shvartsman.
The word "cheburashka" has existed for a long time, and, contrary to popular belief, it was not the writer Eduard Uspensky who invented it. In the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language", compiled by V.I. Dalem, it is reported that "a cheburashka is an old toy, a doll, a roly-poly, which, no matter how you throw it, will still get on its feet."
Another scientist - lexicographer S.I. Ozhegov in his Dictionary of the Russian Language cites two words used in common parlance - cheburahnut and cheburahnut, close to the meaning of "throw, fall or hit with noise."
It is known that in the old circus, acrobat clowns were called cheburashki. In order to make the audience laugh, they cheburahalis on the arena, ie. with a squeal, screams fell into the sawdust and floundered in them, trying to kill the audience with laughter.
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