Mr Tau Goes to School

Country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1969

Production year

1969

Premiere

30 April 1971

Runtime

36 min

Category

film

Genre

children

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Pan Tau jde do školy

Czech title

Pan Tau jde do školy

English title

Mr Tau Goes to School

Co-production title

Pan Tau geht in die Schule / Pan Tau geht in die Schule

Working title

Pan Tau I / Pan Tau ve škole

Synopsis

The pupil Emil excels at school. No one knows that he is helped by the puppet of Mr Tau who solves everything for him, including homework. Even during the lesson of physical training, Emil is the only one in the class able to climb up to the ceiling on a rope. The puppet, however, falls out of his pocket during the climb and the teacher confiscates it till the end of the school year. The puppet, however, doesn't fit into drawer thus he takes it home. The teacher is a short, bald man and a cactus enthusiast. Mr Tau wants to make him happy and begins to fulfil his wishes. First, he conjures up a new car right in the midst of his flat. Moreover, new hair begins to grow on the teacher's head. One of the cactuses gets enveloped, too, but that is just because the teacher, by mistake, watered it with his hair-growth tonic. The schoolmaster is a cactus lover, too, and the teacher invites him for a visit. The car, however, is in the way and the teacher cannot let the visitor in, using an illness as an excuse. He rather goes to bed, hoping that everything will return to the beaten path in the morning and that it all was just a dream.

Note

The film was distributed to Czech cinemas as part of the series Mr Tau Goes to School along with the feature film Mr Tau and Cold! and the cartoon film Puzzle (1970; directed by Zdeněk Seydl and Ludvík Kadleček).

The first (I.) series of thirteen medium-length films about Mr Tau was created in the years 1969–1972. It was first launched in cinemas, in series composed of two parts and accompanied by a cartoon movie (1. Mr Tau Arrives, 2. Mr Tau Gives Presents, 3. Mr Tau at the Mountains, 4. Mr Tau and Sunday, 5. Mr Tau Goes to School, 6. Mr Tau and Cold!, 7. Mr Tau and Claudia, 8. Mr Tau Will Handle It, 9. Mr Tau and Trip around the World, 10. Mr Tau in Circus, 11. Mr Tau and the Taxi Driver, 12. Mr Tau Wanted, 13. Mr Tau and a Thousand Miracles). In the Czechoslovak Television, the series was first introduced in December 1972. Due to its success, another thirteen parts (II.) were filmed in 1973–1975, this time intended exclusively for television (1. Mr Tau Returns, 2. Mr Tau and Robinson, 3. Mr Tau and Too Big Balloon, 4. Mr Tau and Dog Goaty-Dog, 5. Mr Tau and Family Celebration, 6. Mr Tau Goes to Work, 7. Mr Tau and Five Pears and Three Apples, 8. Mr Tau and Black Umbrella, 9. Mr Tau and Big Dog, 10. Mr Tau and Tree-Frog. 11. Mr Tau and Alladin Lamp, 12. Mr Tau and Golden Suitcase, 13. Mr Tau Leaves). The third (III.) and last (seven-part) series was filmed in the years 1977 and 1978 (1. Alert in the Sky, 2. Elephant Hunt, 3. Night at Safari, 4. Mr Tau and Woman-Magician, 5. Mr Tau at Pioneer Camp, 6. Mr Tau – And Which Is the Right One?, 7. No Magic from Tomorrow). On TV, the third series was introduced as a series in the original form and was edited for the film distribution into two feature films Alert in the Sky and No Magic from Tomorrow. The popular bowlered hero last appeared in the feature film Mr Tau, created by a German-Czechoslovak co-production in 1988.

Cast

Václav Štekl

třídní učitel

Vladimír Hlavatý

ředitel školy

Karel Hábl

učitel-sportovec

Josef Vytasil

kluk-cvalík

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Vladimír Zelenka

Assistant Director

Marta Křesinová, Vilém Kijonka

Continuity

Pavla Marková

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Tuzar, Vladimír Malík (loutková část)

Second Unit Photography

Miloš Petrolín

Camera Operator

Jiří Knotek

Production Designer

Jiří Hlupý, Miroslav Hrachovec

Art Director

Stanislava Procházková (loutková část)

Set Designer

Václav Pošta, Jan Petrů, Procházková Stanislava /lout.č., Augustin Valko

Costume Designer

Jan Kropáček

Sound Designer

Jaromír Svoboda

Production Manager

Gustav Rohan

Unit Production Manager

Jan Syrový, Karel Prchal, Martin Baroch

Unit Production Manager

Lucie Hertlová

Cooperation

Zorka Chrastinová (klapka)

Music

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František Belfín), Orchestr Karla Vlacha

Singer

Vokální soubor Jiřího Linhy

Choreographer

Bedřich Füsseger

Production info

Original Title

Pan Tau jde do školy

Czech Title

Pan Tau jde do školy

English Title

Mr Tau Goes to School

Co-production Title

Pan Tau geht in die Schule / Pan Tau geht in die Schule

Working Title

Pan Tau I / Pan Tau ve škole

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1969

Production Year

1969

Production specifications

start of filming 1 April 1969
projection approval 29 December 1969
the first film copy approved 29 December 1969
end of filming 30 December 1969
withdrawal from distribution 1992

Premiere

premiere 30 April 1971 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 28 October 1971 /suitable for youths/ (kino Tatra, Praha)
renewed premiere 1 July 1989 /suitable for youths/

Copyright Holders

Česká televize

Studio

Barrandov

Distribution

Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1971 a obnovená 1989)

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Hofman, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

36 min

Original length in metres

1 025 meters

Distribution carrier

16mm, 35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech