Meet Cheburashka, the Soviet answer to Mickey Mouse, reviled by Russian conservative ideologues

The biggest box office hit in Russia is a 2023 film called “Cheburashka,” and its sequel — released this year — is already the second biggest film. It’s the modern revamp of a beloved character from the days of the Soviet Union. But if pro-Putin ideologues are to be believed, he’s too soft for a time of war. The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler learned more from Anna Narinskaya, a Russian journalist and literary critic in exile. She’s been researching Cheburashka at the University of Michigan’s Frankel Center for Judaic Studies.