Cheburashka Celebrates his 50th Anniversary

The Birthday of Cheburashka – the popular character among several generations of Russians – is celebrated on August 20. The first animated film featuring the amusing one-of-a-kindlittle creaturefrom the book by Eduard Uspensky came out in 1969, a tvbrics.com correspondent reports.

The lead character of this well-known Soviet animated film has become one of the symbols of Russia. The whole world recognized Cheburashka after he was presented as the mascotof the Russian Olympic team in 2004 and 2006.

Eduard Uspenskyinvented Cheburashka in 1966. Some say that his prototype was the writer’schildhood toy. The little defected creature was made at a toy factory so badly that it was impossible to tell who it was. The author’s parents joked that it was an unheard-of animal who lived in hot tropical forests. That is why, according tothe plot of the book "Crocodile Gena and His Friends", Cheburashka really is an unknown small tropical animal who got into a box with oranges, fell asleep in it and as a result, got into the big cityalong with the fruit.

For Cheburashka’s birthday, animation studio Soyuzmultfilm presented a premiere of cartoon called "The Move!". It is dedicated to Eduard Uspensky's memory and associated with the studio’s moving into a new building. Its creators integratedfragments of animation and documentary. Cheburashka, Crocodile Gena and Shapoklyak, the main characters of the old cartoon,have been presented in the modern 3D technology.