The Fifth-Column Mouse
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The Fifth-Column Mouse | |
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Directed by | I. Freleng |
Story by | Michael Maltese |
Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
Starring | Mel Blanc |
Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
Animation by | Ken Champin |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 7:30 |
Language | English |
The Fifth-Column Mouse
The cartoon features a band of
Plot
The short film begins with a pleasant group of brown mice who are - to the tune of "Ain't We Got Fun" - enjoying various water sports and other fun activities in and around a kitchen sink. Lurking just outside the house is a sinister cat; after he gets inside he gains the confidence of a dim-witted grey mouse who has already underestimated the predator. The cat persuades the easily manipulated rodent - via a promise of cheese, "all you want" - to impress upon the brown mice that he, the cat, is there to save them when, in actuality, he will enslave them.
The grey mouse follows the cat's orders and convinces his compatriots to appease. The brown mice indeed become slaves to the cat, fulfilling his every desire. Finally, he openly states that he wants to eat "a nice, fat, tender mouse". The brown mice flee; the grey mouse runs to join them when the cat turns his appetite toward him. The newly formed brown mouse united alliance prepares for war, constructing a 'secret weapon' to even the upcoming battle: a mechanical bulldog. The ensuing chase forces the cat from the house after being shaved nearly bald. As the brown mice celebrate the victory, the grey mouse tries to claim partial credit (quoting Red Skelton’s line "I Dood it"); in response, he is immediately pied.
References to World War II
The cat is treated as the enemy and symbolizes the
Near the end of the cartoon, the brown mice sing “We did it before and We can do it again”, a patriotic chant that was often used in American films during World War II. The song was co-written in 1941 by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Charles Tobias (who also co-wrote the Merrie Melodies theme some years earlier) as a response to the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. During the song, a mouse version of the "Buy War Bonds and Stamps" poster can be seen.
Home media
The Fifth-Column Mouse was released on Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons (1989), and later on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6 DVD set.[3] The cartoon is now in the public domain.
See also
Notes
- ^ The 1950 Merrie Melodies' Blue Ribbon reissue omits the word "The" from the title card.
References
- ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ Lambert, David (August 31, 2008). "The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour - Official, Complete Press Release for Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
External links
- The Fifth-Column Mouse at IMDb