''Jabberwocky'' ( cs, Žvahlav aneb šatičky slaměného Huberta) is a 1971 Czechoslovak animated short film written and directed by

Jan Švankmajer Jan Švankmajer (; born 4 September 1934) is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his stop-motion animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Terr ...

, based loosely on the 1871 poem "

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...

" by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

and on a children's book ''Anička skřítek a Slaměný Hubert'' by

Vítězslav Nezval Vítězslav Nezval (; 26 May 1900 – 6 April 1958) was a Czechs, Czech poet, writer and translator. He was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the 20th century and a co-founder of the Surrealism, Surrealist ...

, which is referenced in the Czech title.

Plot

The poem by Lewis Carroll is read as a

wardrobe A wardrobe or armoire or almirah is a standing closet used for storing clothes. The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that separate accomm ...

is shown moving through a forest. The wardrobe opens to reveal a strange playroom inside that is watched over the portrait of a stern old man; the wardrobe itself is now against the far wall of the playroom. A boy's

sailor suit A sailor suit is a uniform traditionally worn by enlisted seamen in a navy or other governmental sea services. It later developed into a popular clothing style for children, especially as dress clothes. Origins and history In the Royal Navy, the ...

escapes the wardrobe to dance around by itself before the room is filled with branches that quickly sprout leaves, bloom, and produce fruit. The fruits fall from the branches and burst on the floor, where they are revealed to be full of worms. A doll is knocked over and other, smaller dolls scramble free of its body. They are in turn cooked and consumed by still larger dolls. Still more small dolls are chased around a table by a flatiron, which presses them into

paper dolls ''Paper Dolls'' is an American primetime television soap opera that aired for 14 episodes on ABC from September 23 to December 25, 1984. Set in New York's fashion industry, the show centered on top modeling agency owner Racine (Morgan Fairchild) ...

. The sailor suit returns to unleash an army of tin soldiers that do battle with a large baby doll that eventually defeats them; the baby doll then opens to reveal the rubber nipple of a

baby bottle A baby bottle, nursing bottle, or feeding bottle is a bottle with an attached ''teat'' (also called a ''nipple'' in the US) on the top opening, on which can be suckled, and from thereby drunk directly. It is typically used by infants and young ...

. A child's lesson book opens and tears out its own leaves to make paper airplanes that fly away through the window. A folding knife with a handle shaped like a woman appears on a table that is covered with a lace

doily A doily (also doiley, doilie, doyly, doyley) is an ornamental mat, typically made of paper or fabric, and variously used for protecting surfaces or binding flowers, in food service presentation, or as a head covering or clothing ornamentatio ...

. The knife unfolds itself and does a short dance while its point tears the doily to tatters. The knife closes itself into its woman-shaped handle and blood pours out of the woman's back, staining the doily's remains. Interspersed between these scenes is a recurring sequence of a child's maze drawn on toy blocks, in which a line struggles to free itself; whenever it hits a dead end, a live-action black cat leaps out and scatters the blocks. In the final sequence, the line reaches the end of the maze and is free to scrawl all over the walls of the playroom. The line pauses to deface the portrait of the old man before fleeing out of the window. The wardrobe opens once more to reveal a man's dark, stodgy suit where the playful sailor suit once hung and the black cat in a cage.

Production

The film was produced by Krátký film Praha for

Weston Woods Studios Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is a production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded area near h ...

Home media

''Jabberwocky'' was included on a DVD Cinema 16: European Short Films, anthology of short films by famous European directors, which was released by the studio Warp Films on June 5, 2006.

References

External links

* * 1971 films 1971 animated films 1971 short films 1970s animated short films Czechoslovak animated short films 1970s Czech-language films Films directed by Jan Švankmajer Czech animated short films Surrealist films Films based on works by Lewis Carroll Jabberwocky 1970s English-language films {{1970s-short-animation-film-stub