Directed by Robert McKimson, "The Mouse That Jack Built" is an excellent Warner Bros. cartoon that delightfully parodies the Jack Benny troupe as mice. It was apparently at the personal request of Mr. Benny himself that this cartoon spoof was made, and he & his troupe actually supplied the voices for their respective mice characters. As a mouse, Jack Benny is a star of stage, screen, radio, AND cartoons, believe it or not!
Here are my favorite scenes from "The Mouse That Jack Built" (DON'T read any further if you haven't yet seen this cartoon). The film opens with Jack playing Mendelssohn's famous "Spring Song" very badly on the violin. (While we're on the subject of music, composer/orchestrator Milt Franklyn did a fine arrangement of "Sweet Georgia Brown" in relation to the Kit Kat Klub, where Jack serenades his sweetheart Mary Livingston with "Tea for Two", again very badly.) When Ms. Livingston asks Jack's chauffeur Rochester (Eddie Anderson) for Jack's whereabouts, I love the rhythmic manner in which Rochester answers, "Down in the cheese vault counting out his cheese," and I also dig his humorous singing of "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" just beforehand. And finally, the portly Don Wilson recites some silly Looney Tunes poetry.
Again, "The Mouse That Jack Built" is quite an enjoyable cartoon parody. Even though Jack Benny has been reduced to a mouse, he is still the same lovable cheapskate that we all remember him to be. I also especially admire the mouse characterization of the lovable, humorous Rochester; in our time, it may not be considered a "politically correct" characterization, but at least Rochester is presented in a respectable manner in this cartoon.
Here are my favorite scenes from "The Mouse That Jack Built" (DON'T read any further if you haven't yet seen this cartoon). The film opens with Jack playing Mendelssohn's famous "Spring Song" very badly on the violin. (While we're on the subject of music, composer/orchestrator Milt Franklyn did a fine arrangement of "Sweet Georgia Brown" in relation to the Kit Kat Klub, where Jack serenades his sweetheart Mary Livingston with "Tea for Two", again very badly.) When Ms. Livingston asks Jack's chauffeur Rochester (Eddie Anderson) for Jack's whereabouts, I love the rhythmic manner in which Rochester answers, "Down in the cheese vault counting out his cheese," and I also dig his humorous singing of "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" just beforehand. And finally, the portly Don Wilson recites some silly Looney Tunes poetry.
Again, "The Mouse That Jack Built" is quite an enjoyable cartoon parody. Even though Jack Benny has been reduced to a mouse, he is still the same lovable cheapskate that we all remember him to be. I also especially admire the mouse characterization of the lovable, humorous Rochester; in our time, it may not be considered a "politically correct" characterization, but at least Rochester is presented in a respectable manner in this cartoon.