The image of Cheburashka known today was created by cartoonist Leonid Shvartsman.
Origin
According to the preface to the book “Crocodile Gena and His Friends,” Cheburashka was the name given to a defective toy that the author had in childhood, depicting a strange animal: either a bear cub or a hare with big ears. His eyes were large and yellow, like those of an eagle owl, his head was round, hare-shaped, and his tail was short and fluffy, such as is usually the case with small bear cubs. The boy's parents claimed that this was an animal unknown to science that lives in hot tropical forests. Therefore, in the main text, the heroes of which are allegedly the children's toys of Eduard Uspensky, Cheburashka is really an unknown tropical animal that climbed into a box of oranges, fell asleep there, and as a result, together with the box, ended up in Big city. The director of the store where the box was opened called it “Cheburashka”, since the animal, which had gorged itself on oranges, was constantly falling (cheburashka):
He sat and sat and looked around, and then suddenly fell off the table and onto the chair. But he couldn’t sit on the chair for long - he fell over again. On the floor.
- Wow, what a Cheburashka! - the store director said about him, - He can’t sit still at all!
This is how our little animal found out that its name is Cheburashka...
Stories and plays about Cheburashka were written by Eduard Uspensky (plays together with Roman Kachanov):
“Crocodile Gena and his friends” (1966) - story
“Cheburashka and his friends” (1970) - play (together with R. Kachanov)
“Gena the Crocodile’s Vacation” (1974) - play (together with R. Kachanov)
“The Business of Gena the Crocodile” (1992) - story (together with I. E. Agron)
"Gena the Crocodile - Police Lieutenant"
"Cheburashka goes to the people"
"The abduction of Cheburashka"
Based on the book, director Roman Kachanov created four cartoons:
"Crocodile Gena" (1969)
"Cheburashka" (1971)
"Shapoklyak" (1974)
“Cheburashka goes to school” (1983)
After the release of the first series of cartoons, Cheburashka became very popular in the USSR. Since then, Cheburashka has been the hero of many Russian jokes. In 2001, Cheburashka gained great popularity in Japan.
On summer Olympic Games 2004 in Athens he was chosen as the mascot of the Russian Olympic team. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, the symbol of the Russian Team, Cheburashka, changed into white winter fur. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Cheburashka was “dressed” in red fur.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Cheburashka mascot became the owner of blue fur.
In the 1990s and 2000s, disputes erupted around the copyright of the image of Cheburashka. They concerned the use of the image of Cheburashka in various products, names of kindergartens, children's variety studios and clubs (which was common practice in Soviet time), as well as the authorship of the very image of Cheburashka, which, according to Eduard Uspensky, belongs entirely to him, while his opponents claim that the one known today characteristic image Cheburashka with big ears was created by Leonid Shvartsman. In the 1990s, Eduard Uspensky also acquired the rights to the Cheburashka trademark, which had previously been used in products such as candy and children's cosmetics. The use of the name became the subject of a dispute between the writer and the Red October confectionery factory. In particular, in February 2008, the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Film Fund of the Soyuzmultfilm Film Studio (the owner of the rights to the image) expressed its intention to demand compensation from the creators of the film “The Most best movie"for using the image of Cheburashka without permission.
Origin of the word "Cheburashka"
Uspensky rejects the version about the defective toy, set out in the introduction to his book, as composed specifically for children. In an interview with a Nizhny Novgorod newspaper, Eduard Uspensky says:
I came to visit a friend, and his little daughter was trying on a fluffy fur coat that was dragging along the floor,<…>The girl constantly fell, tripping over her fur coat. And her father, after another fall, exclaimed: “Oh, I screwed up again!” This word was etched in my memory, I asked its meaning. It turned out that “cheburahnutsya” means “to fall.” This is how the name of my hero appeared.
IN " Explanatory dictionary living Great Russian language" by V. I. Dal is described both the word "Cheburakhnutsya" in the meaning of "fall", "crash", "stretch out", and the word "Cheburashka", which he defines in various dialects as "a saber of a Burlatsky strap hung on the tail ”, or as “Vanta-Vstanka, a doll that, no matter how you throw it, gets to its feet on its own.” According to etymological dictionary Vasmera “cheburakhnut” is derived from the words chuburok, chapurok, cheburakh - “a wooden ball at the end of a burlatsk tow”, of Turkic origin. Another related word is “chebyrka” - a whip with a ball on the end of the hair.
The origin of the word “Cheburashka”, in the sense of a tumbler toy, described by Dahl, is due to the fact that many fishermen made such toys from wooden balls, which were floats for fishing nets, and were also called Cheburashka.
Tamara Dmitrieva, Vladimir Kenigson, Irina Masing, Vladimir Rautbart, Vladimir Ferapontov
Director: Roman Kachanov
Screenwriters: Eduard Uspensky, Roman Kachanov
Operators: Teodor Bunimovich, Joseph Golomb, Vladimir Sidorov
Composers: Mikhail Ziv, Vladimir Shainsky
Artists: Leonid Shvartsman, Olga Bogolyubova
Year: 1969-1983
Series: 4
Cheburashka! This cute, touching creature with radiant eyes and huge ears is known to everyone! Throughout its existence, Cheburashka managed to become not only a character in four famous cartoons, but also the hero of many children's educational games, cultural and social projects, numerous parodies, but even made it to the world level, becoming the mascot of the Russian Olympic team.
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
Cheburashka owes his birth to children's writer Eduard Uspensky. It was he who, in 1966, wrote the first book about the adventures of this unknown to science animal. As stated in the preface to the book itself, the hero’s name appeared thanks to Uspensky’s children’s toy: either a bear cub or a hare with giant ears, large yellow eyes and a short tail.
The boy's parents argued in all seriousness that this was an as yet unstudied breed of 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 the box. The director of the store that accepted oranges gave him the name “Cheburashka” because the animal, which had eaten too much oranges, could not stand on its feet and constantly fell (Cheburashka).
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
And the image of Cheburashka we know today was created by animator Leonid Shvartsman. It worked out with the old woman Shapoklyak too interesting story. As you know, the word “shapoklyak” translated from 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... One day the artist remembered his mother-in-law and drew the old woman Shapoklyak’s mother-in-law’s cheeks and surprised big eyes. 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.
Cheburashka's song
Blue carriage
The Arts Council was delighted - the old woman Shapoklyak turned out to be wonderful! It was easier with Crocodile Gena. Still, a crocodile, as they say, is a crocodile in Africa. By the way, upon closer examination, scientists recognized Gena’s Crocodile image as 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 her friends' house, she saw an analogy with the construction of the CMEA and the cartoon was assigned the third, lowest rental category. Resulting in creative Group the animators did not receive a single award for the film, 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, “defamed the pioneer organization.” The director of the film, Roman Kachanov, urgently had to insert a line into the cartoon: “They take the best as pioneers.”
Despite the fact that after the release of the first cartoon about Cheburashka, the character became very popular among Soviet people, they tried to ban the cartoon.
"Crocodile Gena", "Cheburashka"
One of the newspapers published an “accusatory” 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 advertisements, and everyone knows that soviet man looking for them in the team! Cheburashka is very popular not only here, but also in Japan. Of course, he looks like a typical Japanese hero: huge eyes, small mouth. The Japanese affectionately call him the “Russian miracle” Chebi.
In addition, Crocodile Gena's song was also translated into Finnish language, as well as in English, Swedish, German, Bulgarian, Polish and other languages. Cartoons by Roman Kachanov “Crocodile Gena”, “Cheburashka” and “Shapoklyak” in different time were released on screens in each of these countries. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens he was chosen as the mascot of the Russian Olympic team.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, the symbol of the Russian Team, Cheburashka, changed into white winter fur. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Cheburashka was “dressed” in red fur. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Cheburashka mascot became the owner of blue fur.
Lithuanian children call Cheburashka Kulverstukas, and Swedish children call it Drutten. This is how the hero's name is translated into their native languages. In 2005, in connection with the charity event for orphans “Cheburashka’s Birthday,” Eduard Nikolaevich Uspensky announced that August 20 was considered Cheburashka’s 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 “Crocodile Gena and His Friends” (he is its hero), but let’s find out the following point: why Cheburashka was called Cheburashka.
And who is the author?
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. This happened in 1966. At the same time, another of his works was published - “Down the Magic River”. Uspensky became popular. To answer the question: “Why was Cheburashka called Cheburashka?” - we'll look a little lower.
The writer’s homeland is the city of Yegoryevsk (Moscow region). After graduating from school, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute. During the same period, his first literary works appeared in print.
Today, the writer’s place of residence is also the Moscow region. The author's works continue to be published in the Samovar publishing house. We hope that there will be no difficulties in answering the question: “Who wrote Cheburashka?” - from readers of this material will not be.
The character himself became famous after the cartoon about the crocodile Gena and his friends was released (1969).
The original version of the book introduced readers to a clumsy, unsightly creature. Small ears, brown fur - so in general outline his appearance was described. We owe the appearance of the good-natured image of Cheburashka, who is distinguished by big ears and big eyes, to the production designer
By the way, in the period 1990-2000, the writer had to participate in disputes regarding authorship on this image. We were talking about its use in the names of various children's institutions, in various products (this was a common practice in the Soviet period).
We remembered who wrote Cheburashka. Next, let's list the character name options.
Animal from hot countries
There is a version that in his childhood the future writer played with soft toy, apparently not the most best quality. She had a strange appearance: with big ears and the same big eyes. It was impossible to understand exactly which order of animals of the world it belongs to. Then the parents' imagination suggested the animal's name - Cheburashka. Hot countries were chosen as his place of residence. We have given so far one version of why Cheburashka was called Cheburashka.
Summer, girl, fur coat
Explanation of this name fictional character Uspensky himself cites in one of his interviews. A little daughter grew up in a family of acquaintances of the writer. 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 dragged her large fur coat along the floor; it was uncomfortable for her to walk. After she once again tripped and fell, her father said: “I screwed up again!” Uspensky became interested in the meaning of the unusual word. A friend explained to him the meaning of the word “cheburahnutsya.” It means "to fall."
You can also find out about the origin of the word from V.I.’s dictionary. Dalia. It also contains the meaning that we have already given, and such as “crash”, “stretch”. Dahl also mentions the word “Cheburashka”. Various dialects define it as “a saber of a barge strap, it hangs on its tail” or as “a roly-poly, a doll, it rises to its feet on its own, no matter how it is thrown.” The word also has figurative interpretations.
Book version of the title
In order to understand another option why Cheburashka was called Cheburashka, let's remember the plot of the book itself. So, the favorite food of an animal unknown to science that lived somewhere in the south was oranges. One hot day, he climbed into a box with his favorite fruits found on the shore. I ate well and fell asleep. 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 it, the director decided to put the animal on a box. The animal could not resist and fell. The director burst out with the phrase: “Ugh, what a Cheburashka!” This is how this name stuck with the character.
Our story about Cheburashka is coming to an end. I would like to supplement it with some interesting facts.
Today, many monuments have been erected to this hero and his friends. sculptural compositions. You can meet them in such populated areas, like the village of Gaspra (Yalta, Crimea), the city of Ramenskoye near Moscow, the city of Khabarovsk, the city of Kremenchug, the city of Dnepr.
Since 2003, Muscovites have held a charity event “Cheburashka’s Birthday” every August weekend. It is aimed at helping orphans.
In Moscow, in kindergarten No. 2550 (Eastern Administrative District), the Cheburashka Museum was opened in 2008. The typewriter is stored in it. It was on it that the story of a character beloved by both children and their parents was created.
