Anyone who was born in the USSR will probably be familiar with such characters as Cheburashka and the crocodile Gena. They first appeared in the story of Eduard Uspensky, “Crocodile Gene and His Friends,” created in 1966. Later, based on this story, the famous cartoons of the director Roman Kachanov were shot.
Short biography of the author
Eduard Uspensky was born on December 22, 1937 in the small town of Yegoryevsk, Moscow Region. He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute with a degree in engineering.
The story of the crocodile Gena and his friends - Cheburashka, Lev Chandra, the old woman Shapoklyak and others - became the official debut in the Assumption literary career. Prior to that, he also created scripts for cartoons.
Then other publications followed: "Uncle Fedor, Dog and Cat", "School of Clowns", "25 professions of Masha Filipenko." Today, these works are considered almost classics of children's literature: more than one generation of young readers has grown on them.
Ouspensky is the owner of many awards and prizes for his achievements in the field of children's literature - the Gaidar Prize, the Korney Chukovsky Prize and others.
Characters
The protagonist, whose name became the name of the story - the crocodile Gena himself. This is a good-natured and responsive crocodile living in a zoo. He wears a red jacket, tie and hat.
The best friend of the crocodile Gena is Cheburashka. He looks like a creature resembling a small bear with big ears. It is not known who Cheburashka really is - initially they wanted to attach him to the zoo, but later an unusual animal ended up in the discount store, where he met Gena.
The main antagonist is the old woman Shapoklyak, who constantly annoys other heroes with her cruel practical jokes.
Other characters appearing in the novel and cartoons are the lion Chandr, the pioneers Galya, Dima and Marusya, the crocodile Valera, the giraffe Anyuta, the puppy Tobik.
Continuation of the story
In 1970-2001, Ouspensky created several works that are a continuation of the story of the crocodile Gene and other characters of the original story.
In subsequent stories, already familiar characters fall into new funny situations. For example, in the story “Crocodile Gene is a police lieutenant”, Gena enters the police service, fights criminals and receives the rank of lieutenant.
In the story "The Crocodile Genes Business," the action takes place in Prostokvashinsk. Gena is confronted with the question of how to use the money earned in the zoo with benefit. Leo Chandr, Cheburashka, Shapoklyak and others offer various options. In parallel, readers are told in a simple form about the fundamentals of the economy.