Meet Cheburashka

Horrible weather today, so didn't get out this morning to take any photos, and was working through in Livingston this evening, so it's a late one today. This wee guy has been on my list of potential blips pretty much since I started, so this is probably overdue!

Cheburashka is one of the stars of a Soviet children's book by Eduard Uspensky and cartoon series, which has also been very popular in Japan. In taking this picture he was living up to his name (which comes from the Russian for falling over). See the beginning of his story here, where he arrives in Russia in an orange crate from his home somewhere in the tropics and then meets his best friend Gena, a crocodile who works at the zoo (as a crocodile, of course). The song talks about how he used to be lonely and didn't have any friends, no-one wanted to buy him in the toy shop, no-one even came to his birthday party, but now he has Gena and also lots of stray dogs who offer him a paw when he walks past. The sounds goes a wee bit towards the end, with some odd syllables missing, but it's a nice wee intro to the character. There are some fantastic songs in the cartoons, including the standard Birthday song, but I've not posted that link as it is only Gena singing, not Cheburashka.

He's something of cult figure, and appears in a lot of jokes, and pretty much anywhere else you can think of. I particularly enjoyed Che-Burashka

In his free time from being a children's star, Cheburashka has had quite a career as an Olympic mascot, sometimes in his own fur, sometimes in red, white and blue disguises, but it is Cheburashka. I especially recommend having a look at the red picture, as Dmitry Medvedev looks less than convinced by Cheburashka's colour change.

Hope my wee friend has entertained you even a little! As I type he is still standing on the couch and looking rather forlornly at the huge camera on a tripod. True to history he's not tumbled over once he found his feet!