Cheburashka is a fictional character from children's book by a soviet writer Eduard Uspensky, which later became a whole series of Soviet cartoons. While the character was invented by Eduard Uspensky, his actual image was created by an animation artist Leonid Shvartsman. Now Cheburashka has become a very popular Russian toy.

       This character is an animal of some unknown species that came from Africa and easily found friends thanks to his friendly and open nature. He is a creature with huge ears, big eyes, brown fur and an open childlike face. He has a friend (Crocodile Gena). Cheburashka's main purpose in life is to find friends. The name Cheburashka derived from the Russian colloquial verb “cheburahtatsya” ( чебурахтаться) which means “fall down, fall flat”. The creature got his name when a store manager found him in a box and couldn't make him sit still at one spot because the creature was falling down.

       The character's birthday is considered to be on the 20th of August. He even has his own song and his own monuments in several Russian cities. This creature has a lot of admirers who grew up during the Soviet period. It became a warm and fuzzy Russian toy – a symbol of childhood for many Soviet kids. In 2004 this Russian toy even became a symbol of Russian Olympic team.