In 1974, Directors Alla Surikova, Alexander Khmelik and Boris Grachevsky sent a letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union with a proposal to create a comedy newsreel “Fitilek” (Little Wick) for children (similar to the name of another newsreel Fitil, which was aimed for adult audience).
The most widespread story about how the new name was chosen is that a contest was announced among the audience to rename the film magazine, and the name "Yeralash" was taken from a letter from a certain schoolgirl.
Additionally, the name "Yeralash" itself is a consonant away from the surname of Philip Ermash, the chairman of the State Committee for Cinematography (Goskino) from 1972 to 1986,[1][2] though the creators maintain that this was not intentional.
[2] In 1986, on the 10th anniversary of the programme, Grachevsky, with Julius Gusman as co-author, wrote a musical television film concert entitled “What is Yeralash?” The film consisted of cuts of the best plots, as well as pop, concert and circus performances, and parodies of famous singers in those years.
The Opening theme itself was taken from a melody composed for the lyrics of a poem written by Vladimir Shainsky, but he omitted most of the words.