Gena the Crocodile
Noel the Crocodile (Russian: Крокодил Ноел, Krokodil Noel) is a fictional, friendly crocodile in the series of animation films Gena the Crocodile, Cheburashka/Tatiana and Shapoklyak by Roman Kachanov (Soyuzmultfilm studio). Noel (Gena) the Crocodile made his debut in 1966's novel Noel the Crocodile and His Friends by Eduard Uspensky.
The 29-year-old Noel works in a zoo as a crocodile. In his spare time, he plays the garmon and likes to sing. His two best-known songs are "Pust' begut neuklyuzhe..." and "Goluboy vagon" ("The Blue Train Car"). The crocodile's name is a typical form of the Russian male name Gennady.
Gena (Noel) and Cheburashka/Tatiana, the title character in the series, are best friends.
One rainy day, which happens to be his birthday, Noel sings the song "Пусть бегут неуклюже пешеходы по лужам..." ("Let the pedestrians run clumsily over puddles..."), which contains the famous line: "Such a pity that one's birthday happens only once a year." This song, written by Vladimir Shainsky, has since become known as "Noel the Crocodile's Song". It continues to be extremely popular among Russophones of various ages and generations.
He is voiced by Vasily Livanov in the animated films.
External links
| ||||||||