Answering Phase Phone

Answering Phase Phone

Answering Phase Phone

Cheburashka is one of the most recognized and beloved animated characters in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The small, furry brown creature with big eyes, a round face, and saucer-like ears, has withstood the onslaught of Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Cheburashka, whose name roughly translates as “Topple” or “Tumble” in English, first appeared in a children’s book by Eduard Uspensky, Crocodile Gena and His Friends, published in 1966.

A Creature Unknown to Science

Accidentally trapped in a crate of oranges, Cheburashka is shipped from a tropical forest to a Soviet town where an orange-vendor discovers him. The vendor takes him to the zoo, but he is rejected. The reason? As a creature unknown to science, he could not be classified, and nobody knew where to put him. He ends up living in a phone booth, alone and friendless, but soon finds his place.