EBay is showing me endless stuffed animals designed to be as sweet and boring as marshmallows. But once in a while comes one that perks up your ears––sometimes simply because it's from another country.
Russian toys, for instance.
I just discovered Cheburashka---an animal of no known species. His name means tumbled or toppled, because he got into a crate of oranges in his unnamed home country, ate a bunch, fell asleep, and when a workman opened the crate up in Moscow, the little animal was so startled he tumbled to the floor.
This is a drawing of Cheburashka [Wikipeida] from the original book (1966):
There are many, many toy and media versions of Cheburashka, and he is often depicted with oranges:
I finally realized I did know this character---Russia used a marshmallow-ified bear-like version as an Olympic mascot.
Russian toys, for instance.
I just discovered Cheburashka---an animal of no known species. His name means tumbled or toppled, because he got into a crate of oranges in his unnamed home country, ate a bunch, fell asleep, and when a workman opened the crate up in Moscow, the little animal was so startled he tumbled to the floor.
This is a drawing of Cheburashka [Wikipeida] from the original book (1966):
There are many, many toy and media versions of Cheburashka, and he is often depicted with oranges:
I finally realized I did know this character---Russia used a marshmallow-ified bear-like version as an Olympic mascot.
What an appealing creature! Much better than finding a mouse or rat in your food. :)
ReplyDeleteOf course I thought of Orange Crate Art... :)
ReplyDelete