Crocodile Gena (Russian: Êðîêîäèë Ãåíà, Krokodil Gena) is a fictional, friendly crocodile in the series of Cheburashka books by Russian writer Eduard Uspenskiy. He also appears in the animated films based on the book series by Soyuzmultfilm studio.
The 50-year-old Gena works as a crocodile in a zoo. He plays the garmon and likes to sing. His two best-known songs are "Pust begut neuklyushe..." (see below) and Goluboy vagon ("Blue Train Car").
Gena is best friends with Cheburashka, the title character in the series.
One rainy day, which happens to be his birthday, Gena sings the song "Ïóñòü áåãóò íåóêëþæå ïåøåõîäû ïî ëóæàì..." (Let the pedestrians run clumsily over puddles...), which contains the famous line: "Such a pity that ones birthday happens only once a year." This song, written by Vladimir Shainsky, has since become known as "Crocodile Genas Song". It continues to be extremely popular among Russophones of various ages and generations.
He is voiced by Vasily Livanov in the animated films.
