I bought this little guy years ago from Etsy, after my Russian colleague had told about things in his youth that brought him joy. We helped him get PR in the Netherlands after his mother sent him to Netherlands for university. He did not want to go back, fearing the brutal conditions of military life under the regime. We no longer work together but he still lives here, so that makes me happy. I love youth sentiment, mine are die Sendung mit der Maus, Krteček, Alfred J. Kwak and Moomin. ꉂ(˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)
Cheburashka has quite an interesting story and diminishing it as Soviet’s Mickey Mouse is a gross dishonor to the character and creator. Eduard Uspensky put a lot of love and thought in Cheburashka and we should honor the man for wanting to create a character that makes children happy.
Cheburashka’s first appearance was in Eduard’s children’s book Gena the Crocodile and His Friends, published in 1965. The consequent stop-motion animated films made sure Cheburashka became a national symbol in the former USSR and Russia, while also famous outside of it. Why was he so popular? Because of this message: ‘One’s origin is not as important as one’s kindness.’ Something a lot of people should live by this day, don’t you think? ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
I still haven’t seen these movies nor the live action Cheburashka and Cheburashka 2 that came out in 2026 but it is high on my watchlist. These being Russian productions and with their invasion of Ukraine, which is absolutely horrible, I doubt I will ever see this. But I haven’t checked YouTube yet. I condemn the attack on Ukraine, I have Ukranian friends that suffer daily attacks and I support all help the EU is sending them. But it is not enough, the conflict must end. Slava Ukriani.
According to Eduard, Cheburashka is an ‘animal of unknown origin’ with big ears and the body looking alike to a bear cub who was living in a tropical forest. One day he finds a crate of oranges, crawls in and eats his belly full. Like me he got into an after dinner dip and falls asleep not knowing the crate is going on a journey. The crate is delivered to a grocery store in an unnamed Russian city and from there his adventures start. Better to find Cheburashka than a tarantula or a batch of coke imo. .·°՞(≧ᗜ≦)՞°·.
But Cheburashka came under fire of censors and conservatives. And when that happens it means you created a damn good thing. Soviet censors tried to get the films of the air because they made fun of nitpicking bureaucrats, factory directors, and the Young Pioneers. Cheburashka and Gena could not join the Young Pioneers as they did not know how to start a Pioneers’ bonfire and could not march. They had to add ‘only the best can be on the Pioneers’ to compromise for the controversy.
Even well in 2026 this loveable guy became a target. Russian conservatives called called Cheburashka a lunar demon that caused the downfall of the Soviet Union. But looking at the real causes of the downfall this is an preposterous take.
The economic failure and stagnation happened due to inefficient central planning, failing oil prices, military spending and the war in Afghanistan. Glasnost introduced by Gorbachev allowed public criticism of the government, which exposed decades of corruption, historical mistakes, and government incompetence. The Perestroika decentralized economic controls but were poorly managed during the transition which disrupted traditional supply chains and inflation to go haywire.
Furthermore, Moscow, was loosing its grip on the long-suppressed ethnic groups all over the union and independence movements surged across the 15 Soviet republics.
Hardline communist leaders thought they could reign everything in but failed in an attempted coup in 1991, which destroyed the remaining authority of the central government. People ended the Soviet union, not a childrens’ cuddly character.
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Returning to why I think Cheburashka is the best we look at his creator Eduard Uspensky. Eduard died in 2018 but this statement made in 2014 makes him one of the greatest men to have ever lived. 1. for creating something that makes children happy and 2. for being a decent human being himself. (Quote directly from his wiki page)
In 2014, in an interview with the television channel Rain, he condemned Russian foreign policy towards Ukraine and anti-Ukrainian propaganda on the central television channels.
Television had been convincing Russians for more than a year that there were fascists operating in Ukraine, that Crimea had long been Russian, and therefore we were taking it back, while the Russian-speaking population in Donbas was being subjected to various kinds of repression, that the Russian language was being banned there, and so on. Television showed footage, and viewers were persuaded of this: if they could not convince the husband, they would convince the wife… And it is difficult for Russian people to be alone in a group where everyone thinks differently.
The country was divided into 10% smart people and 90% idiots. I consider myself to be among the 10% smart people, because this whole story with Crimea is outrageous.
Hope this little piece made you into a Cheburashka fan, the guy deserves our love.
Love you all, embrace whimsical, stay weird and fuck AI.
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