Mr Tau at the Mountains

Country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1970

Production year

1969—1970

Premiere

9 April 1971

Runtime

35 min

Category

film

Genre

children, dumbshow

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Pan Tau na horách

Czech title

Pan Tau na horách

English title

Mr Tau at the Mountains

Co-production title

Pan Tau im Schnee / Pan Tau im Schnee

Working title

Pan Tau III

Synopsis

There is a lot of confusion at the bus station, with overcrowded buses leaving every moment to the mountains. It almost seems that Emil, along with his class and their none too sportsmanlike teacher, are not going to go skiing. The last bus is deviously seized by a gang of big boys, taking pretty girls with them instead of Emil's class. That, however, is not liked by a mysterious man wearing a bowler hat who fell out of Emil's backpack as a small puppet. But the puppet has the power to change in an adult man - Mr Tau - and when he swirls his bowler, he can do magic. This time, Mr Tau helps Emil's group. He conjures up a very old bus and the boys and their teacher arrive at the mountain chalet even ahead of the arrogant youngsters. The latter are not pleased by the success of the little ones and begin to set various traps for them. The biggest clash occurs during the downhill races. Thanks to Mr Tau, the little boys as well as their cack-handed podgy teacher ski down the slope in elegant style and meet with the admiration of the girls. The youngsters damage the boys' skis in order to win, and Mr Tau thus has to interfere again. He conjures up trees on the slope, hung with sweets and cakes, and both the teams together clamp down on the sweets instead of competing. The accident also gives their heffalump of a teacher the chance to become friends with the elegant teacher of the youngsters.

Note

The film was distributed to Czech cinemas as part of the series Mr Tau at the Mountains along with the feature film Mr Tau and Sunday and a cartoon film called Give and Take (directed by Zdeněk Seydl and Ludvík Kadleček). This is the only part of the series that does not contain any dialogue; everything is expressed in pantomime.

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

Karel Hábl

učitel-sportovec

Laděna Kumperová

grácie

Jan Vyčítal (2)

vlasatý kluk

Josef Vytasil

kluk-cvalík

Jaroslav Ševčík

pihovatý kluk

Vladimír Horka

kluk

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Vladimír Zelenka

Assistant Director

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

Stanislav Látal (loutková část)

Set Designer

Jan Petrů, Augustin Valko, Jiří Žůček

Costume Designer

Jan Kropáček

Assistant Film Editor

Růžena Hejsková

Sound Designer

Jaromír Svoboda

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Gustav Rohan

Unit Production Manager

Martin Baroch, Karel Prchal, Jan Syrový

Unit Production Manager

Lucie Hertlová

Cooperation

Zorka Chrastinová (klapka)

Music

Music Performed by

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

Singer

Vokální soubor Jiřího Linhy

Production info

Original Title

Pan Tau na horách

Czech Title

Pan Tau na horách

English Title

Mr Tau at the Mountains

Co-production Title

Pan Tau im Schnee / Pan Tau im Schnee

Working Title

Pan Tau III

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children, dumbshow

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1970

Production Year

1969—1970

Production specifications

technical Screenplay approved 11 February 1969
start of filming 28 December 1969
end of filming 14 August 1970
projection approval 10 November 1970
the first film copy approved 10 November 1970

Premiere

premiere 9 April 1971 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 13 May 1971 /suitable for youths/ (kino Hvězda, Praha)

Copyright Holders

Česká televize

Creative Group

Tvůrčí skupina Švabík – Hofman (příprava), Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Erich Švabík (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny a vedoucí výrobní skupiny), Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

35 min

Original length in metres

1 005 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

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 6. mezinárodní festival filmů pro děti a mládež Teherán

1971
Teherán / Iran

Vítěz

Exhibition: 11. celostátní přehlídka československých filmů pro děti Gottwaldov

1971
Zlín / Czechoslovakia