The Haunted Mouse (1941)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tex Avery

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Release Date:

15 February 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Horror

Plot:

A hungry cat makes his way into a ghost town and finds nothing but a spectral mouse.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Ghost Town | Revenge | Kicked In Butt | Tickling

Cast

Mel Blanc	...	Cat (voice) (uncredited)
Walter Tetley	...	Mouse (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #6441)

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Quotes:

[first lines]
Cat: Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Food!

Movie Connections:

References Blondie (1938)

Soundtrack:

Puddin' Head Jones

Seeing this in the original black and white is best.

While I have not seen a colorized version of this, I understand one does exist. But I hope never to see a colorized version of this, as I would never want to see The Skeleton Dance colorized and for the same reason: the cartoons make excellent use of shadows, light and dark contrasts and visuals which would be severely weakened or destroyed outright by the use of color. The spooky atmosphere of this cartoon makes black and white a perfect fit and Tex Avery and his team use this remarkably well. This excellent, if under-rated and somewhat unjustly overlooked, short deserves more attention than it seems to have gotten. While cartoons like The Skeleton Dance have clearly set the bar high for cartoons that venture into the spooky corners, cartoons like The Haunted Mouse deserve notice. This is a Tex Avery cartoon and as such is very funny, as well as technically interesting, if hardly novel by 1941. Well worth watching, in black and white. Recommended.