Cheburashka 2 was brought to Belarus. We watched this Russian hit so you wouldn't have to

Photo: still from the trailer

The furry, big-eared Cheburashka was born in the works of the Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky. But several years ago, both he and other heroes of the Gena the Crocodile saga met an unenviable fate.

In 2023, Russian filmmakers released the movie "Cheburashka." They chose the popular live-action format, where cartoon characters are transferred into the real world with the help of computer graphics. Remember, for example, the 2025 film "Lilo & Stitch," where blue Stitch ran through Hawaiian landscapes? This is exactly it.

The creators of the new "Cheburashka" distanced themselves from Uspensky's original characters and the cartoon based on that story from "Soyuzmultfilm." They said that Uspensky's characters only inspired them, that they were not adapting Uspensky's stories, but using new developments.

Of course, they were being cunning. Cheburashka, Gena the Crocodile, Shapoklyak — these are all more than just characters from the original cartoon; they are images that cannot be separated from the original story. And therefore, any attempts to use them in a new format will inevitably be linked to an attempt to recreate the same warm emotions evoked by the original cartoon.

In the modern franchise, Cheburashka is a creature from Spanish orange plantations, swept by a hurricane onto the Black Sea coast. There lives and works a grumpy gardener named Gena, a character so cantankerous that he sometimes almost turns into a crocodile.

Павялічыць

Gena. Photo: still from the trailer

Cheburashka flies into Gena's house. The man grows fond of the animal, teaches it to speak, and lets it live with him, answering other people's questions by saying he has a Belarusian big-eared sheepdog. There is another familiar character in this story — Rima, the head of a local chocolate factory who loves beautiful hats. In her character, the creators of the franchise hid the image of the old Shapoklyak from the Soviet cartoon.

Let us add that the prototype for the original Shapoklyak was Eduard Uspensky's first wife, whose name was indeed Rima.

"Cheburashka 2" begins a year after the events of the first film, where Cheburashka and Gena became friends through shared adventures.

Now Cheburashka has lived with Gena for a year, and it seems everything is fine with him. Gena himself doesn't complain about life and is even expecting a grandchild.

But suddenly, strangers come to his house and say that an amusement park is to be built on the site of that house, so Gena has 24 hours to pack his things and move elsewhere. In despair, the man goes to Rima. It turns out that her chocolate factory is building that park, so Rima orders Gena's house to be saved, and also takes Cheburashka to her daughter's birthday party, who is simply wild about the big-eared creature.

Happy ending? Not at all, because from this moment, an simply indescribable frenzy begins in the film. Rima's daughter unhappily wrinkles her nose at the party — saying everything is wrong. And then decides, along with other children, to go on independent adventures. The story with the house turns out to be far from closed, and all this puts Cheburashka and Gena in great danger.

This film is unbearably slow. The plot twists are very predictable and safe, so don't expect any intrigue from the film. Some suspense will only appear in the last 20 minutes of the film, but it won't fix the situation — the movie will remain very, very boring.

Павялічыць

Photo: still from the trailer

Nevertheless, audiences flocked to it. In Russia, the film has already grossed more than 20 million euros, and Belarus is not far behind. The film is shown in numerous Belarusian cinemas, and the best seats for screenings are sold out in advance, although not as actively as in Russia. It seems the film will not stop there, as its predecessor, "Cheburashka," entered the top 20 highest-grossing films worldwide in 2023.

Why do people watch the film? The answer is simple — nostalgia and an attempt to be in the past, at least for an hour and a half in the cinema. Profiting from nostalgia in cinema is normal; Disney, for example, releases live-action remakes of its cult cartoons, and they gross well. But building an entire franchise on nostalgia is a questionable move both morally and for its prospects, because sooner or later you will still have to say something new.

The creators of the Cheburashka franchise understand this, and at the end of the film, they showed a small spoiler. "Cheburashka 2" won't be the end of it, and for New Year 2027, they promise us a third part of the story, which will show the homeland of all Cheburashkas and, it seems, Cheburashka's beloved.

For a New Year's film with popcorn, this might be enough. For a film that will remain in the memory of generations — definitely not.

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