Mr Tau and the Taxi-Driver

Country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1971

Production year

1969—1971

Premiere

5 May 1972

Runtime

33 min

Category

film

Genre

children

Typology

featuretheatrical distributionmedium

Original title

Pan Tau a taxikář

Czech title

Pan Tau a taxikář

English title

Mr Tau and the Taxi-Driver

Co-production title

Pan Tau fährt Taxi / Pan Tau fährt Taxi

Working title

Claudie a taxikář / Pan Tau 4.

Synopsis

Heavy traffic prevents Claudie's mother from getting to the airport on time to pick up her daughter. Claudie has a little money and so she takes a taxi. The taxi driver is very annoyed because he could have picked up a rich foreigner instead of Claudie, and so at the first opportunity he throws Claudie out of the car. Only little figurine of Mr Tau is still there on the back seat. The taxi man's behaviour doesn't go unpunished: the feathers start jumping out of the upholstery of his car, smoke starts to pour out and in the end the taxi collides with a car taking a bride to her wedding. It is all the work of Mr Tau. To make sure that the bride doesn't suffer for the sins of the furious taxi driver, the little Tau transforms himself into human size and takes the bride to the town hall. The taxi driver now realizes that the lifeless little doll with the bowler hat is responsible for his misfortunes. He throws it out of the window, but only manages to destroy a policeman's booth. His subsequent drastic attempts to destroy the doll fare no better. In the end, he tries to throw it onto hot asphalt or under a steam roller. His car immediately explodes. Just then, the taxi driver gets a glimpse of the weary Claudie. He runs up to her and returns the Tau doll. When he turns round, he sees his car undamaged and Claudie leaving hand in hand with a man who looks exactly like the little doll that had been sitting in his car.

Note

The story Mr Tau and a Taxi Driver was distributed in cinemas in a block with two other stories: Search for Mr Tau and Mr Tau and Thousand Spells.

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

Veronika Renčová

Claudie, Violova vnučka

Karel Mareš

řidič cholerik

Milena Zahrynowská

Claudiina maminka

Vladimír Hrabánek

dopravní policista

Miroslav Moravec

dopravní policista

Jaroslav Moučka

nevěstin otec

Ivo Gübel

pasažér

Karel Zelenka

řidič

Yvona Odehnalová

letuška

Crew and creators

Second Unit Director

Elmar Kloss

Assistant Director

Jiří Potsch, Robert Vacík

Continuity

Pavla Marková

Shooting Script

Jindřich Polák

Director of Photography

Jaroslav Tuzar, Vladimír Malík (loutková část)

Second Unit Photography

Miloš Petrolín

Camera Operator

Stanislav Šťastný

Production Designer

Jiří Hlupý, Miroslav Hrachovec

Art Director

Stanislav Látal (loutková část)

Set Designer

Jan Petrů, Václav Pošta, Jiří Žůček

Costume Designer

Jan Kropáček

Assistant Film Editor

Růžena Hejsková

Sound Designer

Adolf Böhm

Special Effects

Trikový ateliér FSB

Production Manager

Gustav Rohan

Unit Production Manager

Dana Dudová, Jan Syrový, Martin Baroch

Unit Production Manager

Lucie Hertlová

Cooperation

Dagmar Ševčíková (klapka), Josef Vítek (fotograf)

Music

Selected Music

Jacques Offenbach

Music Performed by

FISYO (Music Conducted by František BelfínMilivoj Uzelac)

Production info

Original Title

Pan Tau a taxikář

Czech Title

Pan Tau a taxikář

English Title

Mr Tau and the Taxi-Driver

Co-production Title

Pan Tau fährt Taxi / Pan Tau fährt Taxi

Working Title

Claudie a taxikář / Pan Tau 4.

Category

film

Typology

featuretheatrical distribution

Genre

children

Origin country

Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria

Copyright

1971

Production Year

1969—1971

Production specifications

literary Screenplay approved 4 March 1969
start of filming 28 July 1969
end of filming 26 September 1971
the first film copy approved 15 December 1971
projection approval 18 February 1972
withdrawal from distribution 30 June 1995

Premiere

premiere 5 May 1972 /suitable for youths/ (celostátní)
premiere 11 May 1972 /suitable for youths/ (kino Hvězda, Praha)

Copyright Holders

Česká televize

Creative Group

Dramaturgická skupina Oty Hofmana, Ota Hofman (vedoucí dramaturgické skupiny), Výrobní skupina Ericha Švabíka, Erich Švabík (vedoucí výrobní skupiny)

Technical info

Duration typology

medium length film

Duration in minutes

33 min

Original length in metres

919 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