The Russian state animation study, Soyuzmultfilm, requested to register the ‘Chebubu’ brand patent, a fusion between the popular Chinese toys ‘Labubu’ and the Soviet animation character ‘Cheburaurashka’, Yuliana Slasheva, directive of the film company, said Monday.
“Soyuzmultfilm made the decision to register the ‘Chebubu’ brand to protect ‘Cheburashka’ as part of the fight against possible falsifications and prevent other companies from throwing similar toys,” Slasheva told the Tass agency.
The president of the Board of Directors states that this year the study will present her own collection of keychain toys designed with the characters of Soyuzmultfilm, a company founded in 1936 to bring together Soviet animation studies.
The Russian Intellectual Property Agency, Rappa, received the request to register the ‘Chebubu’ brand last Friday.
However, this idea has not been well received in the Russian State Duma, where the president of the Family and Childhood Committee, Tatiana Bútskaya, has described it as inappropriate and not very original.
You may be interested: One hundred years of ‘The Gold Rush’, the film for which Chaplin wanted to be remembered
Labubu is a creation of Hongkonese illustrator Kasing Lunk
According to the parliamentarian, “it is completely inappropriate that we adapt to global trends in this way” using a character “with which generations of children have grown.”
“I think it is not exactly the direction in which we should work. We should not admire those who have already done something and repeat it, but that our task must be their own, that everyone admires,” he said.
‘Cheburashka’, a small and hairy character, is one of the protagonists of children’s literature written by Eduard Uspenski in the second half of the twentieth century, when a few years later he moved to the screen appearing in several animated short films directed in Soyuzmultfilm studies.
Labubu is a creation of the Hongkonese illustrator Kasing Lunk that began to produce the Chinese company Pop Mart in the form of a teddy keychain.
Although they have produced since 2019, its popularity took off worldwide in 2024 and has become a collection and trend object in social networks.
With EFE information.
Do you like photos and news? Follow us on our Instagram
