Mighty Mouse
| Mighty Mouse | |
|---|---|
|
Early Terrytoons Mighty Mouse | |
| First appearance | Mouse of Tomorrow (1942) |
| Last appearance | Cat Alarm (1961) |
| Created by |
Ralph Bakshi Paul Terry |
| Portrayed by |
Roy Halee, Sr. Tom Morrison Allen Swift Alan Oppenheimer Patrick Pinney |
| Information | |
| Species | Mouse |
| Gender | Male |
| Significant other(s) | Pearl Pureheart |
Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character appeared first in 1942 (originally named Super Mouse) and subsequently in 80 theatrical films between 1942 and 1961. These films appeared on American television 1955 through 1967 Saturday mornings on the CBS television network. The character was twice revived, by Filmation Studios in 1979 and in 1987 by animation director Ralph Bakshi, who had worked at the Terrytoons studio during his early career.
Mighty Mouse has also appeared in comics and other media.
History
The character was originally conceived by Paul Terry.[1] Created as a parody of Superman, he first appeared in 1942 in a theatrical animated short titled The Mouse of Tomorrow. Originally named Super Mouse, after seven films 1942-1943, he was renamed Mighty Mouse The Wreck of the Hesperus (1944), after Paul Terry learned that another character named "Super Mouse" was to be published by Marvel Comics.
Beginning in 1945, some Mighty Mouse episodes had operatic dialogue, and he was drawn slightly differently. Both changes attempted to take advantage of the growing popularity of singer and actor Mario Lanza, beginning with "Mighty Mouse and The Pirates". Others included "Gypsy Life" and "The Crackpot King." Mighty Mouse's adventures later focused on Pearl Pureheart and Oilcan Harry; these episodes were always sung by the characters.
- His appearance
Mighty Mouse was first drawn wearing a blue costume with red trunks and cape, similar to Superman. Later, this outfit was changed to a yellow costume with red trunks and cape; in various theatrical shorts, those colors were reversed.[2] Roy Halee, Sr. was the first actor to provide the voice of Mighty Mouse,[3] a role later filled by voice actors Tom Morrison[4] and Allen Swift.[5] In The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle, Alan Oppenheimer provided the voice, and during the run of Mighty Mouse, the New Adventures, Mighty Mouse was voiced by Patrick Pinney.
- His powers
Mighty Mouse's superpowers included flight, super strength, and invulnerability. In some films he used X-ray vision and psychokinesis. He was also able to turn back time in The Johnstown Flood and Krakatoa. Other cartoons showed him leaving a red contrail during flight that he manipulated like a band of solid, flexible matter.
- Recurring characters
Mighty Mouse featured two recurring female leads. In the cartoon shorts, she was a mouse named Pearl Pureheart. In the comics in the 1950s and 1960s, the female lead was named Mitzi. His recurring arch-enemy is a villain cat named Oil Can Harry, who originated as a human in earlier Terrytoons as the enemy of Fanny Zilch.
- Show formulas
The early formula of each story consisted of a crisis needing extraordinary help to resolve. At the decisive moment, Mighty Mouse came to the rescue. In the early films Mighty Mouse would not appear until nearly three quarters through the cartoon. Beginning with A Fight to the Finish (1947), the story line usually begins with Mighty Mouse and Pearl Pureheart already in a desperate situation as though in the next chapter of a serial.
Mighty Mouse cartoons spoofed the cliffhanger serials of silent films as well as the classic operettas of stage still popular at the time.
The characters often sing mock opera arias (e.g., Pearl: "Oil Can Harry, you're a villain!"; Oil Can Harry: "I know it, but it's a lot of fun..."). Mighty Mouse sings tenor, Pearl soprano, Oil Can Harry bass-baritone. Mighty Mouse is also famous for singing "Here I come to save the day!" when flying into action.
In several Mighty Mouse cartoons, whenever he achieves the most impossible physical tasks, the narrator exclaims, first softly, "what a mouse!!!", then loudly, "WHAT A MOUSE!!!".
The early Mighty Mouse cartoons often portray Mighty Mouse as a ruthless fighter. One of his most frequent tactics is to fly under an enemy's chin and let loose a volley of blows, subduing the opponent through sheer physical punishment.
- Villains
While his typical opponents are nondescript cats, Mighty Mouse occasionally battles specific villains, though most appear in only one or two films. Several of the earliest "Super Mouse" films (having been made during World War II), feature the cats as thinly veiled caricatures of the Nazis, hunting down mice and marching them into concentration camp-like traps to what would otherwise be their doom. The Bat-cats, alien cats with bat wings and wheels for feet, appeared in two cartoons; in two others between 1949 and 1950 he faces a huge, dim-witted, but super-strong cat named Julius "Pinhead" Schlabotka (voiced by Dayton Allen) whose strength rivals Mighty Mouse's. In rare moments, he confronts non-feline adversaries, such as human bad guy Bad Bill Bunion and his horse, or the Automatic Mouse Trap, a brontosaur-shaped robotic monster. In The Green Line (1944), the cats and the mice live on either side of a green dividing line down the middle of their town's main street. They agree to keep the peace as long as no one crosses it. An evil entity, a Satan cat, starts the cats and mice fighting. At the end, Mighty Mouse is cheered by mice and cats alike.
At least one episode, Wolf! Wolf! has fallen into Public Domain and is available at the Internet Archive.[6]
Gypsy Life (1945) was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Short Subject (Cartoon).[7]
Mighty Mouse Playhouse
Mighty Mouse had little theatrical impact, but became Terrytoons' most popular character and a cultural icon on television.
CBS purchased the Terrytoons studio from Paul Terry in 1955. The Mighty Mouse Playhouse aired Saturday mornings December 10, 1955 [8] until Sep. 2, 1967, using the existing film library. Only three new cartoons were produced after the sale. The final season included a new feature: The Mighty Heroes.
The show's theme song was credited on some early vinyls to "The Terrytooners, Mitch Miller and Orchestra". However, writer Mark Evanier credits a group called The Sandpipers (not the 1960s easy listening group of the same name).[9]
The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Filmation made television cartoons starring Mighty Mouse and fellow Terrytoon characters Heckle and Jeckle (both voiced by Frank Welker) in a show called The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle. The show introduced two new characters: a vampire duck named Quacula (not to be confused with Count Duckula), and Oil Can Harry's bumbling, large, but swift-running, henchman Swifty. The show premiered in 1979 and lasted two seasons. It spawned a limited theatrical release matinee movie, Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase, released December 10, 1982. In the Filmation series and movie, Mighty Mouse and Oil Can Harry were voiced by veteran voice artist Alan Oppenheimer, Pearl Pureheart by Diane Pershing.
Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures
In 1987 and 1988, animation producer Ralph Bakshi (who began his career at Terrytoons in the late 1950s and worked on the last Mighty Mouse shorts filmed by that company) created a new series of Mighty Mouse cartoons entitled Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures for the CBS Saturday morning children's lineup. In this series, Mighty Mouse has a real identity, Mike Mouse (both identities voiced by Patrick Pinney), and a sidekick, Scrappy Mouse (voiced by actress Dana Hill), the little orphan. Though a children's cartoon, its heavy satirical tone, risque humor and adult jokes made the Bakshi Mighty Mouse series a collector's item for collectors of older television series.
The best-remembered episode of this series featured a crossover with Mighty Mouse and another Baskshi creation, the Mighty Heroes. In this 1988 episode, the Mighty Heroes were middle-aged men (except for Diaper Man, who was in his twenties) and were all lawyers Old Channel for the Cartoon Network UK, Fox Kids, TVRI, and ABC TV.
Later years
Marvel Comics produced a 10-issue comic book series (set in the New Adventures continuity) in 1990 and 1991. Nothing new has been produced using the Mighty Mouse character except for an arcade game by Atari and a 2001 "The power of cheese" television commercial.[10] That commercial shows Mighty Mouse dining calmly on cheese in a restaurant, utterly unconcerned with a scene of chaos and terror visibly unfolding in the street outside. The commercial was hastily withdrawn in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The rights to Mighty Mouse are now divided as a result of the 2006 corporate split of Viacom (the former owner of the Terrytoons franchise) into two separate companies. CBS Operations (a unit of the current CBS Corporation) owns the ancillary rights and trademarks to the character, while Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS Home Entertainment holds home video rights. The first official release of Mighty Mouse material has been announced and what is now CBS Television Distribution has television syndication rights (the shorts are currently out of circulation).
Feature film adaptation
As early as 2004, Paramount Pictures, Omation Animation Studios and Nickelodeon Movies announced their intention to bring Mighty Mouse back to the motion picture screen with a CGI Mighty Mouse feature film and was tentatively scheduled to be released some time in 2013.[11] However, this did not happen as the film is still in development.
Criticism
Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures was the subject of media controversy when one scene was interpreted as a depiction of cocaine use. In the episode "The Littlest Tramp" a poor mouse girl attempts to sell flowers, and is repeatedly harassed by a rich man who crushes her flowers.[12] She runs out of flowers and makes new ones from sundry items she finds, such as tomato slices, but the man crushes these too.[13] Mighty Mouse attempts to purchase the flowers with his chunk of cheese, and to avenge the girl, but she gives Mighty Mouse the crushed flowers and insists that others need help more than she does. After successfully saving several different characters, he is reminded of the girl, and attempts to smell the flowers she gave him (now a pink powder), inhaling them in the process. He then finds the man that has been harassing the girl, and spanks him. The girl is sympathetic to the man, and he is so moved that the two are married.
A family in Kentucky saw the episode and reportedly interpreted the scene as Mighty Mouse snorting cocaine. The family called the American Family Association in Tupelo, Mississippi. The group demanded Bakshi be removed from production of the series.[14] Bakshi and CBS denied the allegations, Bakshi stating the whole incident "smacks of McCarthyism. I'm not going to get into who sniffs what. This is lunacy."[13] To defuse the controversy, Bakshi agreed to cut the 3.5 seconds from the episode. Rev. Donald Wildmon claimed that the editing was a "de facto admission" of cocaine use, though Bakshi maintained that the episode was "totally innocent".[15]
It's because of Fritz that they're going after Mighty Mouse. I grew up in Brownsville in Brooklyn and attended High School for Industrial Arts. I remember teachers who quit. Because of McCarthyism they weren't able to teach what they wanted. This is the same thing. Mighty Mouse was happy after smelling the flowers because it helped him remember the little girl who sold it to him fondly. But even if you're right, their accusations become part of the air we breathe. That's why I cut the scene. I can't have children wondering if Mighty Mouse is using cocaine.— Ralph Bakshi, New York Times
Cultural influences
In the book Astro Boy Essays, author Frederik L. Schodt quotes Japanese animator Osamu Tezuka as saying that Mighty Mouse was the influence that inspired him to name his well-known character Mighty Atom (also known as Astro Boy). He also chose to imitate Mighty Mouse's signature flying pose with one arm stretched ahead with a clenched fist.[16]
Mighty Mouse was featured on famed guitarist Tom Scholz's Les Paul guitar.[17]
The song Astro Man by Jimi Hendrix, a part of the Black Gold (Jimi Hendrix recordings) session, includes a version of the 'Here I come to save the day!' fanfare.
Apple trademark dispute
On August 2, 2005, Apple released the company's first multi-control USB computer mouse. The product was designed by Mitsumi Electric and premiered under the name Apple Mighty Mouse. Apple continued to use the name when the product was redesigned as a Bluetooth device in 2006. Prior to release, CBS licensed the right to use the Mighty Mouse name to Apple. In 2008, Man and Machine, Inc., a company that produces medical grade, chemical-resistant mice and keyboards, sued both Apple and CBS for trademark infringement.[18] Man and Machine claimed that it had used the name since 2004 and that CBS did not have the right to license the name for computer peripherals.[19] In 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of Man and Machine and Apple changed the name of their product to the "Apple Mouse".[20]
Cartoons
Terrytoons theatrical shorts
The first seven films starred the character named Super Mouse. In these early films, the character's costume is much closer in design to that of Superman (blue tunic and tights with red trunks and cape).
| # | Title | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "The Mouse of Tomorrow" | October 16, 1942 |
| In Mouseville, the town's cats capture all the mice except one, who escapes to a Supermarket, where he uses Super Soap, and eats Super Celery and Super Cheese, transforming into Super Mouse, who then vanquishes the cats and saves the mice of Mouseville. | ||
| 02 | "Frankenstein's Cat" | November 27, 1942 |
| Super Mouse must rescue the mice from a monster cat who energizes himself by a strike of lightning. | ||
| 03 | "He Dood It Again" | February 5, 1943 |
| Super Mouse protects a group of mice who like to eat and party at a local diner at night. | ||
| 04 | "Pandora's Box" | June 11, 1943 |
| Greek mythology provides the background as Super Mouse must battle bat-like cats to save a female mouse from the Troubles she unleashes from a box mysteriously dropped from the sky. | ||
| 05 | "Super Mouse Rides Again" | August 6, 1943 |
| Cats battle a group of mice with everything imaginable (including Tommy guns) that only Super Mouse can thwart. Retitled Mighty Mouse Rides Again | ||
| 06 | "Down with Cats" | October 7, 1943 |
| Super Mouse comes to the rescue of some mice enjoying winter sports. The influence of World War II is evident in this film. | ||
| 07 | "The Lion and the Mouse" | November 12, 1943 |
| Aesop's tale is reborn as Super Mouse faces a lion. Only cartoon where the name "Super Mouse" was not edited out for the name "Mighty Mouse" on television prints. | ||
The next 73 films changed the character's name to Mighty Mouse.
| # | Title | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 08 | "The Wreck of the Hesperus" | February 11, 1944 |
| An old captain and his daughter are caught at sea in a hurricane. Mighty Mouse saves the captain, his daughter and the ship's crew and receives a hero's tickertape parade. | ||
| 09 | "The Champion of Justice" | March 17, 1944 |
| An elderly couple dies and leaves their fortune to some mice who had befriended them. Willy the Spender, a distant relative of the couple, vows to get the money away from the mice. (NOTE: The villain in this film is a human, rather than the usual cat. Also, Mighty Mouse uses a gun in the course of fighting the villain.) | ||
| 10 | "Mighty Mouse Meets Jekyll and Hyde Cat" | April 28, 1944 |
| Mighty Mouse rescues a group of mice who sought shelter from a storm but accidentally hid away in the laboratory of Dr. Jekyll, and are threatened by his cat who has taken the Doctor's horrific formula. | ||
| 11 | "Eliza on the Ice" | June 16, 1944 |
| Mighty Mouse has to save Eliza from the clutches of Simon Legree in this story with characters named after those in Uncle Tom's Cabin. | ||
| 12 | "Wolf! Wolf!" | June 22, 1944 |
| in-the-year: 1993 and 2011. Little Bo Peep and her sheep are the victims in this story that tips the hat to the Pied Piper of Hamelin as Mighty Mouse goes up against the wolves with a jazz soundtrack. Only public domain Mighty Mouse cartoon - hollywood cartoon superstars volume 4: * 1. the case of the missing hare (bugs bunny) (1942), 2. porky's railroad (porky pig) (1937), 3. yankee doodle daffy (daffy duck and porky pig) (1943), 4. the wacky wabbit (bugs bunny and elmer fudd) (1942), 5. the friendly ghost (casper) (1945), 6. neptune nonsense (felix the cat) (1936 - Re-Release: 1945) and 7. Wolf Wolf! (Mighty mouse) (1944) | ||
| 13 | "The Green Line" | July 7, 1944 |
| Mice and cats live in relative peace in a town divided in half by a green line until an evil spirit convinces the cats to cross the line. Mighty Mouse puts everything aright again. | ||
| 14 | "Mighty Mouse and the Two Barbers" | September 1, 1944 |
| Terrytown is the setting for this need for Mighty Mouse to rescue the mice who are threatened by a gang of alley cats. | ||
| 15 | "Sultan's Birthday" | October 13, 1944 |
| World War II mixes with the Arabian Nights as Mighty Mouse rescues a sultan's harem girl from the attack of cats on flying carpets. First appearance of the classic yellow suit with red cape and white gloves. | ||
| 16 | "At the Circus" | November 17, 1944 |
| Mighty Mouse flies to the circus this time to rescue the cute highwire performer from the escaped lions. | ||
| 17 | "Mighty Mouse and the Pirates" | January 12, 1945 |
| Pirate cats capture an island mouse princess who Mighty Mouse must rescue. First sung cartoon featuring an operatic soundtrack. | ||
| 18 | "The Port of Missing Mice" | February 2, 1945 |
| More pirate cats, this time in San Francisco as Mighty Mouse battles cats to save a group of sailor mice from their clutches. | ||
| 19 | "Raiding the Raiders" | March 9, 1945 |
| Rabbits are the victims this time, and vultures are the villains that Mighty Mouse must vanquish. | ||
| 20 | "The Kilkenny Cats" | April 13, 1945 |
| City mice are forced to battle a gang of cats with military weapons, until Mighty Mouse arrives to save the day. | ||
| 21 | "The Silver Streak" | June 8, 1945 |
| Mice living in an old shack are safe under the protection of their dog, until the cats capture the dog and leave him on the train tracks as the Silver Streak bears down on him. Only Mighty Mouse can save everyone concerned while teaching the cats a lesson. | ||
| 22 | "Mighty Mouse and the Wolf" | July 20, 1945 |
| Three fairy tales are inverted as the Wolf tries to show how he takes all the blame unjustly. Spoofs Red Riding Hood, Little Bo Peep and the Three Little Pigs just to let Mighty Mouse take out the Wolf three times. | ||
| 23 | "Gypsy Life" | August 3, 1945 |
| The bat-cats are back. This time, they kidnap a gypsy princess who Mighty Mouse must rescue while putting the bat-cats in their place. | ||
| 24 | "Mighty Mouse Meets Bad Bill Bunion" | November 9, 1945 |
| Mighty Mouse must save the saloon gal singer from the clutches of the outlaw Bad Bill Bunion. | ||
| 25 | "Krakatoa" | December 14, 1945 |
| Dancing mouse Krakatoa Katie offends the island volcano which spews lava to punish the mice. A signal for help is received by a scientist, who drinks a potion and changes (a la Jekyll/Hyde) into Mighty Mouse, who must stop the volcano's threat and set the island aright. | ||
| 26 | "Svengali's Cat" | January 8, 1946 |
| A hypnotist cat forces a girl mouse to act as bait to lure other mice to be captured and eaten by the cats until Mighty Mouse comes to the rescue. | ||
| 27 | "The Wicked Wolf" | March 8, 1946 |
| Goldilocks and the Three Bears get mixed in with the Wolf as Mighty Mouse must set everything right. | ||
| 28 | "My Old Kentucky Home" | March 29, 1946 |
| Humans are the recipients of Mighty Mouse's help this time when the Wolf comes to collect the mortgage on the home of The Colonel and Nellie. A jockey promises to win the horse race and use the money to pay the mortgage. The Wolf plans to prevent the jockey from winning, but Mighty Mouse won't let that happen. | ||
| 29 | "Throwing the Bull" | May 3, 1946 |
| A wealthy Spanish merchant offers a reward and marriage to his daughter to anyone who can defeat a bull. All comers fail, until Mighty Mouse enters the ring to win the fight and the merchant's daughter. Another opera cartoon, this one features Mighty signing "Here I come!" for the first time (but not, "to save the day!"). | ||
| 30 | "The Johnstown Flood" | June 28, 1946 |
| In a re-imagining of the Johnstown Flood, mice and dogs are caught in the devastating deluge as Mighty Mouse battles to rescue them while averting further disaster. | ||
| 31 | "The Trojan Horse" | July 26, 1946 |
| A return to mythology, this time Troy (the mouse version) where the unsuspecting rodents take in a horse statue which hides cats within waiting to pounce. Mighty Mouse descends from Mount Olympus to save the day. | ||
| 32 | "Winning the West" | August 16, 1946 |
| American myth sets the stage this time as Mighty Mouse turns up in the old west to battle cats threatening pioneer mice. | ||
| 33 | "The Electronic Mouse Trap" | September 6, 1946 |
| An evil scientist cat invents a robot mouse trap that goes after all the mice in the city. The Atomic Age begins to make its presence known as Mighty Mouse must battle a robot powered by atomic bombs. | ||
| 34 | "The Jail Break" | September 20, 1946 |
| Another story set in the classic American west. This time, Bad Bill Bunion returns to commit crimes until Mighty Mouse defeats him and send him back to prison at Alcatraz Island. | ||
| 35 | "The Crackpot King" | November 15, 1946 |
| Mighty Mouse must battle the insane cat king and his evil wolf wizard to rescue the fair damsel mouse in distress. | ||
| 36 | "Mighty Mouse and the Hep Cat" | December 6, 1946 |
| The fairy tale theme returns as a city of well-to-do suburban mice are lured to their demise by cats using the magic flute of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Mighty Mouse must help the mice who cannot help themselves. | ||
| 37 | "Crying Wolf" | January 10, 1947 |
| A faithful sheepdog cares for the lambs under his care, but it's always the black sheep of the family that causes the problems and needs the help of Mighty Mouse when his practical jokes go awry. Dimwit Dog (from Heckle and Jeckle) appears as the sheepdog. | ||
| 38 | "The Dead End Cats" | February 14, 1947 |
| Mighty Mouse must face down a 1930s-style mob of racketeer cats. | ||
| 39 | "Aladdin's Lamp" | March 28, 1947 |
| The Arabian Nights return as Mighty Mouse becomes involved with rescuing the daughter of Aladdin in this retelling of the story. | ||
| 40 | "The Sky is Falling" | April 25, 1947 |
| Mighty Mouse rescues some barnyard animals who have been tricked by the fox into believing the sky is falling. | ||
| 41 | "Mighty Mouse Meets Deadeye Dick" | May 30, 1947 |
| Back to the American western as the sheriff and the bad guy battle it out until Mighty Mouse arrives to finish the fight. | ||
| 42 | "A Date for Dinner" | August 29, 1947 |
| A game of cat and mouse, until the cat catches the mouse. The mouse makes a promise to deliver an even better mouse if the cat will release him. When the mouse returns, dinner is...Mighty Mouse. | ||
| 43 | "The First Snow" | October 10, 1947 |
| In the winter, the rabbits are enjoying life when a fox shows up. They can handle him for a while, but when the baby bunnies are threatened, only Mighty Mouse can save the day. | ||
| 44 | "A Fight to the Finish" | November 14, 1947 |
| The spoofs of serial cliffhanger films begin as Oil Can Harry threatens Pearl Pureheart and Mighty Mouse must come to the rescue. | ||
| 45 | "Swiss Cheese Family Robinson" | December 19, 1947 |
| Even superheroes need time off, and as the mouse version of The Swiss Family Robinson gets underway Mighty Mouse is enjoying a vacation on a beach somewhere. The Robinsons send a note in a bottle for help, which finds its way to Mighty Mouse and he quickly returns from vacation to save the mice. | ||
| 46 | "Lazy Little Beaver" | December 26, 1947 |
| A young beaver runs away from home but soon discovers the world can be an unsafe place. Fortunately, Mighty Mouse will help him learn a lesson about work and sloth, safely. | ||
| 47 | "Mighty Mouse and the Magician" | March 27, 1948 |
| A mouse village magician's show is interrupted by an invasion of cats. The magician bravely tries to hold off the cats, but they gain his wand and become invisible. Only Mighty Mouse with his powers can rout the cats and save the mice. | ||
| 48 | "The Feudin' Hillbillies" | June 23, 1948 |
| Mighty Mouse must settle a clan feud between the cats and the mice. | ||
| 49 | "The Witch's Cat" | July 15, 1948 |
| A mouse Halloween party attracts a witch and her cat. Mighty Mouse, it seems, can be poisoned, but is revived by the rain to finish the job. Mighty finally sings "Here I come to save the day!" for the first time. | ||
| 50 | "Loves Labor Won" | September 15, 1948 |
| The first operatic cliffhanger serial spoof with Oil Can Harry and Pearl Pureheart. Mighty Mouse appears at the beginning of the cartoon for the first time. | ||
| 51 | "Triple Trouble" | September 30, 1948 |
| Another serial cliffhanger sets the stage as Mighty Mouse faces vultures while Oil Can Harry threatens the Colonel and kidnaps Pearl Pureheart. | ||
| 52 | "The Mysterious Stranger" | 1948 |
| A mortgage is at stake, but this time Oil Can Harry holds the deed to a circus, and wants the hand of Nell, the highwire performer. But everything Harry tries is foiled by a mysterious stranger in a trenchcoat. Who is that masked man? | ||
| 53 | "Magic Slipper" | December 1948 |
| Cinderella is the framework for this retelling, with a wolf who might resemble Oil Can Harry and Pearl Pureheart as Cinderella. Of course, Mighty Mouse will set everything as it should be by the end of the story. | ||
| 54 | "The Racket Buster" | 1949 |
| Gangster cats return to threaten Mighty Mouse and Pearl Pureheart. | ||
| 55 | "A Cold Romance" | April 10, 1949 |
| It's the return of Little Nell this time, with Oil Can Harry as the villain against Mighty Mouse set at the North Pole. | ||
| 56 | "The Catnip Gang" | July 22, 1949 |
| Mighty Mouse battles the Catnip Gang, a group of cats that have escaped from jail. | ||
| 57 | "Perils of Pearl Pureheart" | October 11, 1949 |
| Oil Can Harry and Pearl Pureheart return, with Harry hypnotizing Pearl to sign at his saloon. | ||
| 58 | "Stop, Look and Listen" | 1949 |
| Another operetta, with Oil Can Harry having tied Pearl Pureheart to the horns of a rampaging bull and Mighty Mouse to its tail as they are chased by a locomotive. | ||
| 59 | "Anti-Cats" | March 1950 |
| To avoid a winter storm, a group of mice take refuge in a home with a hungry cat. Mighty Mouse dons his trenchcoat disguise to cause the cat no end of grief. | ||
| 60 | "Law and Order" | June 23, 1950 |
| Mighty Mouse rescues mice being sold as frozen treats by a gang of cats. | ||
| 61 | "Beauty on the Beach" | November 1950 |
| Mighty Mouse faces down Oil Can Harry for the safety of Pearl Pureheart in an amusement park. | ||
| 62 | "Mother Goose's Birthday Party" | December 1950 |
| All of Mother Goose's characters give her a party of honor, but when the Big Bad Wolf appears, only Mighty Mouse can save the party. | ||
| 63 | "Sunny Italy" | March 1951 |
| Mighty Mouse and Oil Can Harry battle all across Italian history and geography for the affections of sweet Pearl Pureheart. | ||
| 64 | "Goons from the Moon" | April 1, 1951 |
| Science fiction arrives with alien cats and bat-cats that want to capture the mice of TerryTown. | ||
| 65 | "Injun Trouble" | June 1951 |
| The Colonel has mortgage trouble again, and sets out to strike it rich in gold to pay it off, but it never works out. Mighty Mouse will again rescue the Colonel. | ||
| 66 | "A Swiss Miss" | August 1951 |
| Another cliffhanger (literally) as Oil Can Harry threatens Pearl Pureheart in the Swiss Alps. | ||
| 67 | "A Cat's Tale" | November 1951 |
| A cat narrates this origin story about Mighty Mouse. | ||
| 68 | "Prehistoric Perils" | 1952 |
| Mighty Mouse, Oil Can Harry, and Pearl Pureheart time travel back to prehistoric times. | ||
| 69 | "Hansel and Gretel" | June 1952 |
| Mighty Mouse battles the witch and her cat to save mouse versions of Hansel and Gretel. | ||
| 70 | "Happy Holland" | November 1952 |
| Oil Can Harry and Pearl Pureheart meet Mighty Mouse in Holland this time. | ||
| 71 | "Hero for a Day" | April 1953 |
| A humble mouse dreams of being Mighty Mouse so he can impress the girl of his dreams, but the cats know the difference. | ||
| 72 | "Hot Rods" | June 1953 |
| Teenage mice driving their hot rods get into trouble that only Mighty Mouse can fix. | ||
| 73 | "When Mousehood was in Flower" | July 1953 |
| Taxes are at the heart of the troubles for the nobleman and his daughter, Pearl Pureheart. The Black Night, Oil Can Harry, wants the daughter's hand in marriage, and only Mighty Mouse can set things in order. | ||
| 74 | "A Soapy Opera" | 1953 |
| Pearl Pureheart is the laundry maid beholden to Oil Can Harry, and only Mighty Mouse can rescue her. | ||
| 75 | "The Helpless Hippo" | March 1954 |
| Mighty Mouse meets his match when he tries to rescue a baby hippo and discovers that every baby animal in the jungle wants him as their babysitter. | ||
| 76 | "Reformed Wolf" | October 1954 |
| Mighty Mouse convinces a wolf that carrots are preferable to mutton. | ||
| 77 | "Spare the Rod" | 1954 |
| Mighty Mouse must teach respect to a group of unruly mice children. The last theatrical Mighty Mouse cartoon. | ||
| 78 | "Outer Space Visitor" | November 1959 |
| Cheeseville is invaded by an infant, robot-like alien. Everyone thinks it's cute, until they learn that its parent plans to wipe out Cheeseville. First of three made for television shorts sold with the theatrical package of cartoons. | ||
| 79 | "The Mysterious Package" | December 15, 1961 |
| A mechanical monster is kidnapping the children of Mouseville. Mighty Mouse must go to the alien world to bring them back. | ||
| 80 | "Cat Alarm" | December 31, 1961 |
| The cats use Mighty Mouse to capture the mice of Cheeseville by making him believe the dam has burst and threatens the town. While trying to warn them, he sends the mice into the waiting clutches of the cats. The last made for TV Mighty Mouse cartoon to be packaged with the original theatrical series. | ||
Comics
Mighty Mouse's first comic book appearance was in Terry-Toons Comics #38 (November 1945), published by Timely Comics. Mighty Mouse was featured in:
- Terry-Toons Comics #38-85 (1945-1951)
- Paul Terry's Comics #86-125 (1951-1955)
Mighty Mouse was also featured in two main titles by several different publishers: Mighty Mouse and The Adventures of Mighty Mouse.
Mighty Mouse
- Timely Comics #1-4 (1946)
- St. John Publications #5-67 (1947–1955)
- Pines Comics #68-83 (1956–1959)
The Adventures of Mighty Mouse (renaming of Paul Terry's Comics, where Mighty Mouse appeared)
- St. John Publications #126-128 (1955)
- Pines Comics #129-144 (1956–1959)
- Dell Comics #145-155 (1959–1961)
- Gold Key Comics #156-160 (1962–1963)
- Dell Comics #161-172 (1964–1968)
Mighty Mouse, Marvel Comics, #1-10 (1990), based on the Ralph Bakshi version (Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures)
Other appearances
- The Movie Orgy (1968): Some brief clips, as well as a commercial featuring Mighty Mouse.
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1996): In the Episode, "Bad Medicine", Tim and Brodie are watching a black and white 'Mighty Mouse' cartoon episode in Tim's living room after Brodie moves in as a temporary roommate.
- South Park's Imaginationland (2007): Mighty Mouse appears in Imagination Land.
- Confessions of a Superhero (2007): Mighty Mouse Toy Seen
- Robot Chicken (2009): In the Episode, "We Are a Humble Factory", Mighty Mouse tricks another mouse into a mousetrap.
- NCIS: Los Ángeles: Callen, G (2010): Mighty Mouse is on the TV as Sam and Kensi enter the house.
- MAD (2011)
DVD releases
- Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, the first official release of Mighty Mouse material, was released on January 5, 2010.[21]
- The animated short "Wolf Wolf", the only Mighty Mouse cartoon in the public domain, has been released on low-budget DVDs and VHS tapes numerous times.
Hollywood Cartoon SuperStars - Volume 4
- 1. the case of the missing hare (bugs bunny) (1942), 2. porky's railroad (porky pig) (1937), 3. yankee doodle daffy (daffy duck and porky pig) (1943), 4. the wacky wabbit (bugs bunny and elmer fudd) (1942), 5. the friendly ghost (casper) (1945), 6. neptune nonsense (felix the cat) (1936 - Re-Release: 1945) and 7. Wolf Wolf! (Mighty mouse) (1944)
Video games
- In October 2008, CR Terry Toons - Mighty Mouse (ＣＲテリーテューンズマイティマウス CR Terīte~yūnzu Maiti Mausu) a series of two pachinko games has been released in Japan by Fuji Shogi.
- In February 22, 2012, a video game titled MIGHTY MOUSE my Hero was released for iOS, having also an exclusive version for iPad named MIGHTY MOUSE My Hero HD.
Further reading
- The Animated Movie Guide by Jerry Beck, Chicago Review Press, October 2005, ISBN 978-1-55652-591-9
- Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi, Universe, April 2008, ISBN 978-0-7893-1684-4
- Castle Films: a hobbyists's guide by Scott MacGillivray, iUniverse, Inc., ISBN 978-0-595-32491-0
- The Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars: From a to (Almost Z), by John Cawley and Jim Korkis, Pioneer Books, November 1990, ISBN 978-1-55698-269-9
- Who's Who in Animated Cartoons, by Jeff Lenburg, Applause Books, June 1, 2006, ISBN 1-55783-671-X
- Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm, by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Bruce Timm, TwoMorrows Publishing, June 1, 2004, ISBN 978-1-893905-30-6
- Truth and Rumors: The Reality Behind TV's Most Famous Myths, by Bill Brioux, Praeger, December 30, 2007, ISBN 978-0-275-99247-7
- American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era: A Study of Social Commentary in Films And Television Programs, 1961-1973, Christopher P. Lehman, McFarland & Company, October 27, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7864-2818-2
References
- ↑ Misiroglu, Gina (2004). "Funny Animal Heroes". The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Visible Ink Press. p. 746. ISBN 978-1-57859-154-1. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ↑ Mighty Mouse in his yellow/red costume
- ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of mice and magic : a history of American animated cartoons (Rev. ed.). New York: New American Library. p. 144. ISBN 978-0452259935. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Fischer, Stuart (1983). Kids' TV: The First 25 Years. New York, NY: Facts on File Publ. ISBN 978-0871967954. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ "American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Summer 2010" (PDF). sagaftra.org. p. 15. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ "Mighty Mouse: Wolf! Wolf!". Internet Archive. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ↑ "18th Academy Awards". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 1946. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ↑ Rodriguez, Robert (2006). The 1950s' most wanted the top 10 book of rock & roll rebels, Cold War crises, and all-American oddities (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-61234-030-2. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ↑ Evanier, Mark (January 18, 2004). "Sandpiper Stuff". News from Me (Archive). Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ↑ "The Power of Cheese, Mighty Mouse". America's Dairy Farmers. 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ↑ Beck, Jerry (2010-04-16). "Mighty Mouse on again at Paramount". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ↑ "Did Mighty Mouse Snort or Just Sniff the Flowers?". The Deseret News. June 10, 1988. p. A3. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- 1 2 "Minister says cocaine made mouse mighty". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. June 10, 1988. p. 1. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ↑ Wolff, Craig (July 26, 1988). "Mighty Mouse Flying High On Flowers?". New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ↑ "Mighty Mouse's flowers clipped". Boca Raton News. Associated Press. July 26, 1988. p. 2A. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ↑ Schodt, Frederik L. (2007). The Astro Boy essays : Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the manga/anime revolution. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-933330-54-9. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
- ↑ "Tom Scholz's Mighty Mouse guitar.". Celebrity Guitars. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
- ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/05/19/daily34.html
- ↑ Jane McEntegart (May 21, 2008). "Company Sues Apple and CBS For Mighty Mouse Copyright Infringements". Tom's Guide. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
- ↑ Siegler, MG (October 7, 2009). "Apple's Mighty Mouse Never Lived Up To Its Name. And Now It Can't.". Techcrunch. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
- ↑ Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures official site
External links
- Mighty Mouse at the Internet Movie Database
- Mighty Mouse at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Mighty Mouse at TV.com
- Mighty Mouse at TVShowsOnDVD.com
- Terrytoons - The TV Series at Toontracker
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