Springman and the SS

Springman and the SS
Directed by Jiří Brdečka
Jiří Trnka
Written by Jiří Brdečka
Eduard Hofman
Ota Safránek (story)
Jiří Trnka
Music by Jan Rychlík
Release dates
 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 Brdečka and Jiří Trnka featuring Pérák, the Spring Man of Prague. The film is also known as The Chimney Sweep in the USA.

Plot

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.

Soundtrack

Cultural impact

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.

DVD releases

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

External links