Gena the Crocodile and Cheburashka decide to go to the sea on vacation. Shapoklyak steals their train tickets, so they are kicked off the train. On their way home, the duo, with Shapoklyak's help, stops hikers from poaching and a factory from polluting a river.
Practical Effects
Kachanov's stop-motion puppets have more soul than most CGI blockbusters.
Director
Roman Kachanov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cheburashka became an unofficial Soviet mascot; plushies were smuggled across Iron Curtain borders. Japan later remade this in 2010 with full CGI and it was... a choice.
Director Roman Kachanov used his own hands in shots whenever puppets needed 'human' gestures—the river-cleaning scene is literally auteur theory in practice.
SU
