Springman and the SS

{{Infobox film

| name = Springman and the SS

| image =

| caption =

| director = Jiří Trnka
Jiří Brdečka

| producer =

| writer = Ota Šafránek (story)
Jiří Brdečka
Jiří Trnka

| starring =

| music = Jan Rychlík

| cinematography = Vladimír Novotný

| editing =

| studio = Bratři v triku

| distributor = Státní půjčovna filmů

| released = {{Film date|1946|12|20|df=yes}}

| runtime = 14 minutes

| country = Czechoslovakia

| language =

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Springman and the SS ({{langx|cs|Pérák a SS}}) is a 1946 Czechoslovak superhero 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.{{cite book |last1=Whybray |first1=Adam |title=The Art of Czech Animation: A History of Political Dissent and Allegory |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781350104655 |page=45}} The film competed at 1946 Cannes Film Festival.

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.

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.

Home release

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.{{cite book |last1=Stanchfield |first1=Steve |last2=Thunderbean Animation |first2=Mackinac Media |title=Cartoons for victory |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64130677 |via=worldcat |publisher=Thunderbean Animation ; Distributed exclusively worldwide by Mackinac Media |date=2006|oclc=64130677 }}