The Mouse That Jack Built (1959)

Director:

Robert McKimson

Writer:

Tedd Pierce (story)

Release Date:

4 April 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Short | Comedy

Plot:

In this spoof of "The Jack Benny Program", a mouse with Jack Benny's personality and poor violin playing ability lives...

Plot Keywords:

Surrealism | Based On Radio Show | Cat Versus Mouse | Merrie Melodies | Part Live Action

Cast

Jack Benny	...	Jack (voice)
Mary Livingstone	...	Mary (voice)
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Rochester (voice) (as Rochester)
Don Wilson	...	Don (voice)
Mel Blanc	...	The Maxwell / Ed the Vault Guard (voice)

Directed by
Robert McKimson

Writing credits
Tedd Pierce		(story)

Produced by
John W. Burton	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Milt Franklyn

Film Editing by
Treg Brown

Sound Department
Treg Brown	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Animation Department
Warren Batchelder	....	animator
Ted Bonnicksen	....	animator
George Grandpré	....	animator
Robert Gribbroek	....	layout artist
Tom Ray	....	animator
Bob Singer	....	background artist

Music Department
Milt Franklyn	....	musical director (uncredited)
Milt Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Dan Luby	....	musician: violin (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

A good friend of Jack Benny and a regular performer on his radio and TV shows, Mel Blanc not only provided the sounds of Benny's Maxwell automobile on the latter's radio show, but also such characters as Benny's continually flustered violin teacher, Professor LeBlanc, faux-Latino musician Cy, shy-guy Stanley Gropf, and the train station announcer who always said that the next train was leaving for "Anaheim, Azuza, and Cuc.....amonga."

Quotes:

Ed, the Vault Guard: Halt! Who goes there?
Jack: It's me, Ed.
Ed, the Vault Guard: Oh, hello, Mr. Benny. How are things on the outside? We win the war yet?
Jack: Oh, uh... yes. Yes, we did.
Ed, the Vault Guard: That's good. What do you think they'll do with the Kaiser?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "The Jack Benny Program" (1950)

Soundtrack:

Tea for Two

time may not treat these old-school entertainers nicely, but I still recommend the cartoon

I learned about Jack Benny through his bit part in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Later on, I learned about his overall career. And now, here's another addition to his career: "The Mouse That Jack Built" is a cartoon version of Benny's TV show (which I've never seen). In this case, Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (also an "IAMMMMW" cast member) and Don Wilson provide the voices of mice with their respective names and personalities; Mel Blanc voices vault watcher Maxwell...and he's been watching the vault for a VERY long time! Anyway, after Jack has played the violin - though not equaling Isaac Stern - he makes Rochester return a white vest, as he's about to take Mary out for her birthday. The only thing is, the Kit Kat Klub is in fact a real cat! I've always liked how the Termite Terrace crowd kept finding new things to do in cartoons. The obvious problem with a cartoon like this one is that people in the 21st century might not know who Jack Benny was and the whole premise will go over everyone's heads. But if we just watch what happens, we can surely get a kick out of the cartoon. I certainly recommend it.