Cheburashka (Russian: Чебурашка, IPA: [t͡ɕɪbʊˈraʂkə] ⓘ), also known as Topple in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 children's book Gena the Crocodile and His Friends.

The character subsequently appeared as the protagonist in a series of stop-motion animated films directed by Roman Kachanov for Soyuzmultfilm, the first of which was made in 1969,[1][2][3] with songs composed by Vladimir Shainsky.

According to the creator of the character, Eduard Uspensky, Cheburashka is an "animal unknown to science", with large monkey-like ears and a body resembling that of a cub, who lives in a tropical forest.

The crate is eventually delivered to a grocery store in an unnamed Russian city (hinted to be Moscow), where the rest of the main story unfolds.

The Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language (1882) of Vladimir Dahl gives the meaning of "cheburashka" as another name for the roly-poly toy.

[9] In 2007, the new animation, titled Cheburashka was announced by Ffango Entertoyment[10] of South Korea and TV Tokyo Broadband and Frontier Works of Japan.

Directed by Makoto Nakamura and written by Mikhail Aldashin [ru] and Michiru Shimada, the animation [ja] premiered on 8 December 2010 in Japan.

A full-length film titled Cheburashka, directed by Dmitry Dyachenko, with Central Partnership and Yellow, Black and White producing, was released on 1 January 2023.

[8] For Leonid Katz, an art historian in Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cheburashka represents the "ideal".

[8] After being turned down by the zoo as an "animal unknown to science", Cheburashka gets hired as a window display for a discount store selling factory seconds because he resembles one, residing in a phone booth.

In the tale, he befriends an anthropomorphic crocodile named Gena, who wears a hat, a bow tie, and a coat, and plays the accordion.

Gena's favorite songs are "Such a Pity that One's Birthday Happens Only Once a Year" and "The Blue Train Car", both of which are extremely popular with children.

The refrain of her theme song contains her motto, "One won't ever get famous for good deeds" Russian: Хорошими делами прославиться нельзя.

Leonid Shvartsman, the art director of the animated films, has tried to prove in court that he was the creator of Cheburashka's visual appearance and that this copyright should be separate from the rights for the literary character.

In 2008, the Cheburashka films (as part of the "Ghibli Museum Library") were made available to Japanese cinemas[24] on the same date as Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.