Moydodyr () is a 1923 fairy tale poem for children about a magical creature of the same name by Korney Chukovsky. The name "Moy do dyr" is literally translated as "Wash 'til Holes"; the common English translation is "Wash 'Em Clean".
Plot summary The poem is about a little boy who does not want to wash. He gets so dirty that all his toys, clothes and other possessions decide to magically leave him. Suddenly, from the boy's mother's bedroom appears Moydodyr—an anthropomorphic washstand. He claims to be the chief of all washstands, soap bars, and sponges. He scolds the boy and calls his soap bars and sponges to wash him. The boy tries to run away, chased by a vicious sponge. The chase is described as happening on Petrograd streets. Finally they meet Crocodile, who swallows the sponge and becomes angry with the boy for being so dirty. Scolded by Crocodile, the boy goes back to Moydodyr and washes himself. The poem ends with a moralistic note to children on the virtue of hygiene.
Adaptations : a 9-minute stop-motion film directed by Mariya Benderskaya.. In January 2026 a copy of the film with Czech intertitles was digitized by Gosfilmofond upon a request of Lost Media Wiki and uploaded to YouTube.Мойдодыр (мультфильм, 1927), a Lost Media Wiki publication an animated short film directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano produced by Soyuzmultfilm . an animated opera film also directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano And it was produced by the same company Who did the 1939 Adaptation. The opera score music of the film, was composed by Yuri Levitin and then was released on vinyl by record company Melodiya in 1988.
Influence in culture
There are statues of Moydodyr in Sokolniki Park, Moscow (2012)№145 МОЙДОДЫРУ (), its twin in Kazan (2013),Памятник Мойдодыру в Казани in Novopolotsk, Belarus (), in Noginsk. In 2008 a monument to Moydodyr-mommy with Moydodyr-baby was installed in Novgorod.Памятник Мойдодыру в Великом НовгородеПамятник семейству Мойдодыров установили в Великом Новгороде
Gallery
References
External links Nikolay Kalashnikov. Two Moydodyrs. On the 1939 and 1954 cartoons "Moydodyr" drawn by same artist Ivan Ivanov-Vano. Part 1, part 2. The English translation of the book on Web Archive The 1927 movie, digitized in 2026 by Gosfilmofond.