Springman and the 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. 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. References External links 1946 films 1946 animated films 1946 short films 1940s animated short films 1940s animated superhero films Czechoslovak animated short films Films directed by Jiří Trnka Czech animated short films Superhero comedy films Fictional chimney sweepers Czech resistance to Nazi occupation in film Czech war films Czech superhero films Films based on urban legends Czechoslovak black-and-white films Films directed by Jiří Brdečka Films with screenplays by Jiří Brdečka Czech World War II films Czechoslovak World War II films 1940s Czech films