Wash-'em-Clean
About Wash-'em-Clean
At dawn the mice, kittens, ducklings, beetles, and spiders wash. One dirty boy does not, and his things run away from him. The washstand Moydodyr comes out of the bathroom and sends his soldiers, brushes and soap, after the boy. Chased by a washcloth, the boy runs into a crocodile out walking with Totosha and Kokosha. The crocodile swallows the washcloth and tells the boy to wash, or be trampled and eaten. The boy runs home and washes with soap under Moydodyr's eye.
Cast & crew
More about Wash-'em-Clean
Ivan Ivanov-Vano wrote and directed this 1954 color remake of his own 1939 Moydodyr. It is drawn, with rotoscope work, from Korney Chukovsky's poem. Anatoly Savchenko and Mikhail Botov designed it. Nikolay Voinov photographed it. Yuri Levitin wrote the music. Mikhail Ryba voices Moydodyr, Maria Vinogradova the boy, and Vladimir Gribkov the narrator. The Russian title is Moydodyr.
Themes
Making
The 1954 short redoes the 1939 film in color at Soyuzmultfilm. The chase is the washstand's soldiers, then a crocodile who eats the washcloth and sends the boy back.
Look
Nikolay Voinov photographed the color drawings. Rotoscope was used on the boy's movement.
Technique
Ivanov-Vano remade his 1939 black-and-white Moydodyr in color, using rotoscope for the boy.
Music
Yuri Levitin composed the score. Vladimir Gribkov speaks the narration. Mikhail Ryba is the voice of Moydodyr.
Preservation
A color print survives. Gosfilmofond holds the rights. One circulating copy runs 15 minutes and 57 seconds.
Notes
- The Russian title Мойдодыр is the washstand's name, a pun on 'wash to holes.'
- Ivanov-Vano had already filmed the poem in black and white in 1939. This is the color version.
- Yuri Khrzhanovsky voices a bear cub and a badger.
- A circulating copy runs 15 minutes and 57 seconds.
- Gosfilmofond holds the rights.
Scenes
- Every small animal washes at dawn except the boy, and his belongings bolt.
- Moydodyr marches out of the bathroom with brushes and soap.
- The crocodile swallows the washcloth and orders the boy home to wash.
Influenced by
- Korney Chukovsky's poem Moydodyr
- Ivan Ivanov-Vano's Moydodyr (1939)
