New Russian children’s movie Cheburashka raises ethical concerns

04.04.2023

Russian children’s movie Cheburashka has been released in Apollo cinemas in Estonia – much to the dismay of many.

For readers unfamiliar with Soviet-era cartoons, Cheburashka (previously known as ‘Topple’ in some English translations) is a bear-like animal ‘unknown to science’ who ends up in Russia after falling asleep in a crate. On the surface, the new live action adaption for the big screen is a cutesy tale of Cheburashka learning about peace and friendship, and being “more human than most people”.

Yet even many people for whom the cartoon evokes some nostalgia find those messages more than a little problematic given the context.

Several leading members of cast are openly supportive of Russia’s genocidal war in Ukraine, while the trailers and posters for the movie on display abroad feature the logos of EU-sanctioned propaganda channels involved in the creation of the movie. Revenue generated by the film in Estonia and other countries around the world will directly return to Russia where it will benefit Russia’s economy and war machine, raising serious questions about how ethical it is for international distributors like here in Estonia to buy Russian films.

Estonian journalists from Delfi’s Russian-language media outlet questioned Andri Chupin, who is responsible for the distribution of the movie in Estonia.

He pointed out that many Russian-speaking residents complain that they cannot watch Russian movies on the big screen as they had been able to prior to the start of the Russia’s full scale war.

“Russian-speaking people in Estonia are not going anywhere and why should they be punished?,” he said. “It is clear that no one will bring political and war films. But Cheburashka is a children’s film for adults, ”says Chupin.

While this defence sounded more reasonable, Chupin also displayed an inability to understand the concerns of others, responding as if there is no problem only as long as the children’s character doesn’t support the war on screen.

“I have watched it several times, watched every word and even consulted with lawyers. The movie is very kind and should not offend anyone. ” Chupin added that he was sure that even Ukrainian refugees would be happy to watch it.

Propastop wrote in the Russian-language blog in January this year that the movie has been used as part of Russian propaganda attacks against Ukraine – continuing a propaganda tradition from the Soviet era to incorporate cartoon characters.