Pérák, the Spring Man of Prague

A 14-minute 1946 Czechoslovak animated cartoon Pérák a SS (Springman and the SS, also released in English-speaking markets as The Chimney Sweep) was created by the renowned Czech animator Jiří Trnka and film-maker Jiří Brdečka. It portrayed Pérák as a heroic and mischievous black-clad chimney sweep, with a mask fashioned out of a sock. He was capable of performing fantastic leaps due to having couch springs attached to his shoes. Pérák taunted German Army sentries, the Gestapo and, particularly, a Hitleresque Nazi collaborator before escaping in a surrealistic, slapstick chase across the darkened city, ultimately freeing a number of incarcerated citizens of Prague.

Trnka's postwar interpretation of Pérák as a quasi-superhero, defying the curfew and the authority of the German occupying forces, formed the basis for sporadic revivals of the character in Czech science fiction and comic book stories.

In 2013, the first short feature film Pérák (Pérák: Gott mit uns) was directed by Pavel Soukup ml. It is in the noir/mystery genre.

In 2016, Marek Berger created an animated film Pérák: Stín nad Prahou (Pérák: The Shadow over Prague). The film has won 2 awards at International Student Film Festival in Opava - for best animated film and absolute best film.[3][4][5]

In Petr Stančík's fiction, the Libeň gasholder serves as a base for Pérák

In 1948, the figure was used in a newspaper propaganda comics in Haló noviny. It was visually based on Trnka's animated film. Fifteen pages were published.

In 1961, Pérák was featured as a heroic character in the story "Pérový muž" ("The Spring-Man"), which was written by Czech science fiction writer Jan Weiss and published as part of a collection of short stories entitled Bianka Braselli, A Two-Headed Lady. In his 1997 biographical essay on Weiss, Vilém Kmuníček speculated that the inspiration for this story was in response to Nazi propaganda:[6]

In 1968, the issue of the Mladý svět magazine, published after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, included a four-strip comics titled Pérák and the USSR.

In 1986, Czech science fiction writer Ondřej Neff also portrayed Pérák as a heroic figure in Pérák – Toho dne byla mlha (Perak - There was fog that day). In 2001, he created a humorous satirical comic strip titled Pérák kontra Globeman (Pérák versus Globalman) which conflates the figures of the Springer and the Razor Blade Man and pits him against a villain called Globalman, who bears a strong resemblance to McDonald's mascot Ronald McDonald.[7]

In 2002, the cartoonist Adolf Lachman, in cooperation with scriptwriters Monge and Morten, intended to produce a new series of comic strips about Pérák. But only the introductory chapter came out as part of the KomiksFest! Revue 03 magazine.

Ethnologist Petr Janeček was since 2004 dedicated to scientific research of Pérák, he collected a considerable amount of stories from witnesses. In 2017, he issued a comprehensive publication Mýtus o Pérákovi. Městská legenda mezi folklorem a populární kulturou (Myth of Pérák. Urban legend between folklore and popular culture).

The right to use the name Pérák was in 2006 ensured by Petr Stančík. First, he wrote a screenplay to movie, but in 2008 only a book with its fictionalized version was published by the author, portraying him as a World War II-era costumed superhero who battles the Gestapo with the aid of various weapons and mechanical spring-powered boots. In 2019, the book was translated into German and published as: Pérák. Der Superheld aus Prag.[8]

Since spring 2018, comics about Pérák have been published in the Czech ABC magazine, its authors are artist Petr Kopl and screenwriter Petr Macek. Their portrayal of Pérák follows the character's appearance in their comics magazine Dechberoucí Zázrak 09 (Breathtaking Miracle 09). In May 2019, the collected and extended edition of the series, originally published in ABC magazine, was released as a separate book Pérák: Oko budoucnosti (Pérák: Eye of the future).[9]

Since 2011, the Vosto5 Theater in Prague has been presenting an action historical fiction called Pérák - na jméně nezáleží, rozhodují činy!. The plot is placed in the real historical context of the period from the arrival of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich to Prague, until his assassination. In this production, Vosto5 combines elements of martial arts and extreme sports with a typical theater poetics and its verbal humor.