Springman and the SS

Springman and the SS
Springman and the SS
Directed by	Jiří Trnka; Jiří Brdečka
Written by	Ota Šafránek (story); Jiří Brdečka; Jiří Trnka
Cinematography	Vladimír Novotný
Music by	Jan Rychlík
Production; company	Bratři v triku
Distributed by	Státní půjčovna filmů
Release date	20 December 1946
Running time	14 minutes
Country	Czechoslovakia

Springman and the SS (Czech: Pérák a SS) is a 1946 Czechoslovak animated short film directed by Jiří Trnka featuring Pérák, the Spring Man of Prague. The film is also known as The Chimney Sweep in the United States.^[1] The film competed at 1946 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot[edit]

A chimney sweep disguises as a Spring-heeled Jack-like figure during the Nazi occupation. The heroic and mischievous black-clad "Springer", with a mask fashioned out of a sock and defying the curfew, is capable of performing fantastic leaps due to having couch springs attached to his shoes. He taunts the occupying German army sentries and the Gestapo before escaping in a surrealistic, slapstick chase across the darkened city.

Cultural impact[edit]

Trnka's postwar interpretation of Pérák as a quasi-superhero formed the basis for sporadic revivals of the character in Czech science fiction and comic book stories.

Home release[edit]

Pérák a SS is featured in a DVD anthology of World War II propaganda cartoons, Cartoons for Victory, which was released on 2 May 2006.^[2]

References[edit]

^ Whybray, Adam (2020). The Art of Czech Animation: A History of Political Dissent and Allegory. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 9781350104655.
^ Stanchfield, Steve; Thunderbean Animation, Mackinac Media (2006). Cartoons for victory. Thunderbean Animation ; Distributed exclusively worldwide by Mackinac Media. OCLC 64130677 – via worldcat.

External links[edit]

Springman and the SS at IMDb
The short film Springman and the SS is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.

This article related to a Czech film of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article related to a short animated film of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Whybray, Adam (2020). The Art of Czech Animation: A History of Political Dissent and Allegory. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 9781350104655.

[2] Stanchfield, Steve; Thunderbean Animation, Mackinac Media (2006). Cartoons for victory. Thunderbean Animation ; Distributed exclusively worldwide by Mackinac Media. OCLC 64130677 – via worldcat.

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