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Molar Mischief

Look out, germs at work! These loveable molar mischief making puppets really dig tooth decay.

Advert 1946 2 mins Silent

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Overview

This post-WWII toothpaste ad feels years ahead of its time, featuring a gang of wacky stop motion puppets that revel in a plaque problem. The set inside the mouth and the germ characters manage to be successfully charming and grotesque at the same time. Animator Edwin Shorter patented his puppet construction process, but failed to make a career from it.

The film is shot in British Tricolour, a three-strip colour process that used a prism in a similar but far less successful way to Technicolor. It was developed by Jack Coote, but later bought by Dufay-Chromex and rebranded as Dufaychrome, but had disappeared by the mid-1950s.

Original title
Molar Mischief (Solidox Advert)
Director
Edwin Shorter
Genres
AdvertAnimation & Artists Moving Image
Released
1946
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English

Subjects

Toothpaste