''Gena the Crocodile'' (russian: links=no, Крокодил Гена, Krokodil Gena) is a 1969The official website of E. Uspensky
Soviet

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animated film directed by Roman Kachanov in

Soyuzmultfilm Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...

studio. This film introduces the characters

Gena the Crocodile Gena the Crocodile (russian: links=no, Крокодил Гена, Krokodil Gena) is a fictional friendly crocodile in the series of animation films '' Gena the Crocodile'', '' Cheburashka'' and ''Shapoklyak'' by Roman Kachanov (Soyuzmultfilm stu ...

Cheburashka ''Cheburashka'' (russian: links=no, Чебурашка, a=ru-Cheburashka.ogg, p=tɕɪbʊˈraʂkə), also known as ''Topple'' in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 child ...

, and the old lady

Shapoklyak Old lady Shapoklyak (russian: links=no, Шапокляк) is a popular villain from a story about Gena the Crocodile written by Russian writer Eduard Uspensky. Her first appearance in the movie was in the animated film '' Gena the Crocodile'' (1 ...

. The film was based on

Eduard Uspensky Eduard Nikolayevich Uspensky (russian: link=no, Эдуард Николаевич Успенский; 22 December 193714 August 2018) was a Soviet and Russian children's writer and poet, author of over 70 books, as well as a playwright, screenwri ...

's stories about the characters. This film was popular in the Soviet Union and spawned three sequels: ''

'' (1972), ''

'' (1974) and ''

Cheburashka Goes to School ''Cheburashka Goes to School'' (russian: Чебурашка идёт в школу, Cheburashka Idet v Shkolu) is a 1983 Soviet animated film directed by Roman Kachanov. Plot summary Gena the Crocodile finds out that Cheburashka is unable to rea ...

'' (1983).

Plot summary

works as a zoo animal at an urban zoo. Every evening, he returns home to his lonely apartment. Gena gets very tired of playing chess against himself and decides to find some friends to play with. Animals and people respond to advertisements that he posts all around the city. First, a girl named Galya comes with a homeless puppy, who is then followed by

. They decide to build a house for all the lonely citizens of the city, but a mischievous old lady,

, tries to stop them in different ways.

Creators

*Scriptwriters:

, Roman Kachanov *Film director: Roman Kachanov *Art director:

Leonid Shvartsman Leonid Aronovich Shvartsman (born Izrail Aronovich Shvartsman, russian: Израиль Аронович Шварцман; 30 August 1920 – 2 July 2022) was a Soviet and Russian animator and visual artist. He spent most of his creative career ...

*Operator: Iosif Golomb *Composer: Mikhail Ziv *Sound technician: Georgy Martynyuk *Dolls and scenery: Semyon Etlis, Marina Chesnokova, Pavel Lesin, Gennady Lyutinsky, Svetlana Znamenskaya, Oleg Masainov, Valentin Ladygin, Liliana Luetinskaja, V. Kalashnikova, E. Darikovich *Installation: Lidiya Kyaksht

Cast

Vasily Livanov Vasily Borisovich Livanov (russian: link=no, Василий Борисович Ливанов; born 19 July 1935), MBE, is a Soviet and Russian film actor, animation and film director, screenwriter and writer most famous for portraying Sherlock ...

(voice) *

Klara Rumyanova Klara Mikhailovna Rumyanova (russian: link=no, Кла́ра Миха́йловна Румя́нова; 8 December 1929 – 18 September 2004) was a Soviet and Russian actress, voice actress and singer. She was active from 1951 to 1999. Her child ...

(voice) *Vladimir Rautbart as

(voice) *

Vladimir Kenigson Vladimir Vladimirovich Kenigson (russian: Владимир Владимирович Кенигсон; November 7, 1907 – November 17, 1986) was a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1982). Biography and caree ...

as Salesman (voice) *Tamara Dmitrieva as Galya (voice)

References

External links

''Gena the Crocodile''
at Animator.ru *
Gena the Crocodile
' on Russian Film Hub * {{Roman Abelevich Kachanov 1969 films 1960s stop-motion animated films Animated films about crocodilians Films based on works by Eduard Uspensky Films directed by Roman Abelevich Kachanov Russian animated films 1960s Russian-language films Soviet animated films Soyuzmultfilm