The Cock Crows at Midnight
About The Cock Crows at Midnight
Landlord Zhou Bapi does not want to pay the hired hands when their term is up. At midnight he hides by the chicken coop, stretches his neck, and crows, then pokes the roost with a stick until the real birds answer. The hands are pulled out of bed to work. Young laborer Xiao Bao hides behind a cart and watches him do it. The hands catch on and turn the trick back on Zhou.
Cast & crew
More about The Cock Crows at Midnight
You Lei directed this color puppet short for the Shanghai Animation Film Studio in 1964, from an episode in Gao Yubao's autobiographical novel. Zhang Songlin and Yu Hejing wrote the script. Zhong Liren photographed it. Xie Hongbin designed the puppets. Cheng Zhongyue designed the backgrounds. You Lei, Guo Yan, and Cai Yuanlan operated the puppets.
Themes
Making
The studio built a small yard, a coop, and a cart so Xiao Bao could watch Zhou from hiding. The crow is a man's voice, then the puppets' roosters.
Look
Zhong Liren photographed the puppet yard and the coop.
Music
Chen Zhongju wrote the score. The Shanghai Film Orchestra played it, conducted by Gong Wanli.
Notes
- The midnight-crowing episode was a primary-school Chinese lesson in the People's Education Press textbook, including the 1988 eighth volume.
- The episode is not a folk tale about a rooster who thinks he owns the sunrise.
- Qiu Yuefeng and Pan Woyuan speak the puppet roles.
Awards
- Second prize, National Children's Literary and Artistic Creation Award (1980)
Scenes
- Zhou Bapi crows beside the coop and then stirs the roost with a stick.
- Xiao Bao watches from behind the cart.
- The hands, once they have seen it, set a trap of their own.
Influenced by
- Gao Yubao's autobiographical novel