From Hand to Mouse (1944) User Reviews

Aesop's Fables

[boblipton · 7/10 · 12 October 2008]

Director Chuck Jones and his best writer, Michael Maltese, produce a typically sardonic, funny and undeniably accurate cartoon version of Aesop's fable of the lion and the mouse, in which the mouse -- definitely a cousin of Hubie from the Hubie and Bertie cartoons -- cons the rather stupid lion into releasing him from danger several times, each time, shouting "Sucker!"

On the good side, we also have Jones' insistence on the consistent and believable psychology of the characters. On the downside, this one has not aged perfectly. There is a reference to wartime rationing in one of the gags, but the inventiveness of the variations on a theme will delight most cartoon fans.

The word "Sucker!" is used more times during FROM HAND TO MOUSE . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 21 September 2017]

. . . than in any other Looney Tune (I'd footnote this, but I cannot figure out how to do superscripts on this page). Though it's the pathologically-lying mouse who continually taunts the slow-witted Leo Lion with that derisive jab throughout FROM HAND TO MOUSE, the wise folks who arrange their lives in This the Twenty-First Century based upon what Warner Bros. always prophetic Animated Shorts Seers division (those unparalleled prognosticators of America's Then Far Future) no doubt are wondering exactly WHO Warner is tagging as "Suckers!" among the current Clear and Present Dangers confronting our gravely imperiled USA Homeland. Can it be those Racist Confederate "Red State" Nazis from whom Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin's White House Sock Puppet Rump has pulled the last hope of life-saving Health Care ("Suckers!"), as well as breathable air and drinkable water ("Suckers!"), not to mention any semblance of a defense against the KGB spies currently running amok all over our once secure nation ("Suckers!")? Hmmmmm!!!

the lion, the snitch, and the earlobe

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 3 August 2019]

One of the one-shot cartoons from Warner Bros. features a gullible lion repeatedly tricked by a manipulative rodent. The racial stereotypes in "From Hand to Mouse" are unpleasant, but the rest of the cartoon is a hoot (including a scene of WWII-era rationing). I looked at the dates of Warner's cartoon releases, and it turns out that we're a few days away from this one's 75th anniversary.

I understand that this cartoon is based on one of Aesop's fables. I unfortunately have not had as much exposure to them as I would like. The ones that I know got depicted - in fractured form - on "Rocky and Bullwinkle". "The Lion and the Mouse" is not one that I've seen from there.

Anyway, it's a funny cartoon. I recommend it.