Changes: Tale of Two Mice

Revision as of 23:22, 16 March 2020

Template:Infobox Shorts wTabs Tale of Two Mice, re-released as A Tale of Two Mice, is a 1945 Looney Tunes short directed by Frank Tashlin.

Plot

Catstello is being chased by a cat rapidly at high speed around the house, yelling "Hey Babbit!" Catstello narrowly escapes into the mousehole, while the cat crashes into a wall. Babbit notices this and asks Catstello for the cheese, which he replied that he hasn't got any because he is scared of the cat. Babbit then chastises Catstello for his cowardice, but when this doesn't get into Catstello's head. Babbit continuously slaps him on the head.

They attempt to steal cheese that is being guarded by a cat. Their schemes include past a sleeping cat, which doesn't go so well as Catstello runs off at first time, a small airplane and a rope and pull system. Finally, Catstello manages to escape the cat with a wedge of Swiss cheese, which unfortunately Babbit doesn't like. Fed-up with Babbit constantly ordering him around, repetitively slapping him as well as his ungratefulness for his efforts, Catstello continuously slaps him and force-feeds Catstello chunks of Swiss cheese. Catstello remarks "Ooohhh, I'm a baaaaaaad boy!"

Availability

DVD - San Antonio (USA 1995 Turner print)
DVD - TCM Spotlight: Errol Flynn Adventures (USA 1995 Turner print)

Censorship

On the now-defunct WB channel, the sequence in which Babbit's states, "If this don't work, then I'll be a jack-ass," followed by Catstello in a crashed toy airplane yelling, "Jack-ass! A jack-ass!" and braying like a donkey was cut.^[1]
- Surprisingly, given that Cartoon Network and Boomerang edited "The Rebel Without Claws" and "I Was a Teenage Thumb" to remove profanity ("damn" in the former cartoon short and "ass" in the latter), the two channels have aired this cartoon uncensored.

Notes

This is the first cartoon where Babbit and Catstello are recast as mice instead of cats as in their debut cartoon "A Tale of Two Kitties" (1942), as well as as the protagonists rather than as antagonists to Tweety. They would later be recast as mice again in "The Mouse-Merized Cat" (1946)
- This is also the first cartoon where Catstello turns against Babbit in the end due to the former fed-up of the latter's constant abuse. This would happen again in "The Mouse-Merized Cat".
Frank Tashlin, the director of this short, is not credited during the opening credits, this is due to him leaving before the cartoon was released into theaters.
When this short was re-released as a Blue Ribbon, it was retitled as A Tale of Two Mice.
The unnamed cat in this cartoon physically resembles Babbit from "A Tale of Two Kitties". It is possible that director Frank Tashlin and the animators of this short designed the cat based on the said character.
This cartoon was re-released into the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies program on January 10, 1953. Because the cartoon was re-released in the 1952-53 animation season, the Lydian "THE END" ending card is present in place of the original ending title card.
- Despite the re-release, the original opening and ending titles, as well as the title card and credits, are known to exist.^[2]

Gallery

References

[1] The Censored Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide (T)

[2] Original titles

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 |image = <tabber>
  |-|Original=[[file:Taleoftwomice.jpg|274px]]
- |-|Blue Ribbon=[[file:Two mice.jpg|274px]]
+ |-|Reissue=[[file:Two mice.jpg|274px]]
 </tabber>
 |Director = [[Frank Tashlin]] (uncredited)
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 |previous = [[A Gruesome Twosome]]
 |next = [[Wagon Heels]]
-|video = [[File:Tale Of Two Mice|center|280px]][[File:Tale of Two Mice (Original Titles)|center|280px]]
+|video = [[File:Looney_Tunes_-_Tale_of_Two_Mice|center|280px]]
+[[File:A Tale of Two Mice (1945)|thumb|center|280px|Blue Ribbon version]]
 |Writer = [[Warren Foster]]
 |Animators = [[Richard Bickenbach]]<br>[[Cal Dalton]]<br>[[Arthur Davis]]<br>[[Izzy Ellis]]<br>[[A.C. Gamer]] (Effects)
@@ Line 19: / Line 20: @@
 |Background-artist = [[Richard H. Thomas]]
 |Sound effects = [[Treg Brown]] (uncredited)
-|Musician = [[Carl W. Stalling]]}}
+|Musician = [[Carl W. Stalling]]
+}}
-'''Tale of Two Mice''' is a 1945 ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon. It was directed by an uncredited [[Frank Tashlin]].  It was reissued as '''A Tale of Two Mice'''.
+'''Tale of Two Mice''', re-released as '''A Tale of Two Mice''', is a [[1945]] ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short directed by [[Frank Tashlin]].
-==Plot==
+== Plot ==
+[[Babbit and Catstello|Catstello]] is being chased by a cat rapidly at high speed around the house, yelling "Hey [[Babbit and Catstello|Babbit]]!" Catstello narrowly escapes into the mousehole, while the cat crashes into a wall. Babbit notices this and asks Catstello for the cheese, which he replied that he hasn't got any because he is scared of the cat. Babbit then chastises Catstello for his cowardice, but when this doesn't get into Catstello's head. Babbit continuously slaps him on the head.
-[[Babbit and Catstello]] from "[[A Tale of Two Kitties]]" return, but this time they're mice.  They attempt to steal cheese that is being guarded by a cat. Their schemes include past a sleeping cat, which doesn't go so well as Catstello runs off at first time, a small airplane and a rope and pull system.
-==Availability==
-*DVD -  ''TCM Spotlight: Errol Flynn Adventures '' (1995 Turner dubbed version,added as a bonus)
+They attempt to steal cheese that is being guarded by a cat. Their schemes include past a sleeping cat, which doesn't go so well as Catstello runs off at first time, a small airplane and a rope and pull system. Finally, Catstello manages to escape the cat with a wedge of Swiss cheese, which unfortunately Babbit doesn't like. Fed-up with Babbit constantly ordering him around, repetitively slapping him as well as his ungratefulness for his efforts, Catstello continuously slaps him and force-feeds Catstello chunks of Swiss cheese. Catstello remarks "Ooohhh, I'm a baaaaaaad boy!"
-==Censorship==
-On the now-defunct WB channel, the sequence in which Babbit's states, "If this don't work, then I'll be a jack-ass," followed by Catstello in a crashed toy airplane (that, to prove Babbit correct in his unflattering self-description, has not been effective in doing what Babbit had wanted), yelling, "Jack-ass! A jack-ass!" and braying like a donkey  was cut.<ref>http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-t.aspx</ref> Surprisingly, given that these channels edited ''[[Rebel Without Claws]]'' and ''[[I Was a Teenage Thumb]]'' to remove profanity ("damn" in the former cartoon short and "ass" in the latter), Cartoon Network and Boomerang have aired this cartoon uncut and uncensored.
-==Gallery==
+== Availability ==
+* DVD - ''San Antonio'' (USA 1995 Turner print)
+* DVD - ''TCM Spotlight: Errol Flynn Adventures'' (USA 1995 Turner print)
+== Censorship ==
+* On the now-defunct WB channel, the sequence in which Babbit's states, "If this don't work, then I'll be a jack-ass," followed by Catstello in a crashed toy airplane yelling, "Jack-ass! A jack-ass!" and braying like a donkey was cut.<ref>[http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-t.aspx The Censored Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide (T)]</ref>
+** Surprisingly, given that [[Cartoon Network]] and [[Boomerang]] edited "[[The Rebel Without Claws]]" and "[[I Was a Teenage Thumb]]" to remove profanity ("damn" in the former cartoon short and "ass" in the latter), the two channels have aired this cartoon uncensored.
+== Notes ==
+* This is the first cartoon where [[Babbit and Catstello]] are recast as mice instead of cats as in their debut cartoon "[[A Tale of Two Kitties]]" (1942), as well as as the protagonists rather than as antagonists to [[Tweety]]. They would later be recast as mice again in "[[The Mouse-Merized Cat]]" (1946)
+** This is also the first cartoon where Catstello turns against Babbit in the end due to the former fed-up of the latter's constant abuse. This would happen again in "[[The Mouse-Merized Cat]]".
+* [[Frank Tashlin]], the director of this short, is not credited during the opening credits, this is due to him leaving before the cartoon was released into theaters.
+* When this short was re-released as a Blue Ribbon, it was retitled as '''A Tale of Two Mice'''.
+* The unnamed cat in this cartoon physically resembles Babbit from "A Tale of Two Kitties". It is possible that director Frank Tashlin and the animators of this short designed the cat based on the said character.
+* This cartoon was re-released into the Blue Ribbon ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' program on January 10, 1953. Because the cartoon was re-released in the 1952-53 animation season, the Lydian "THE END" ending card is present in place of the original ending title card.
+** Despite the re-release, the original opening and ending titles, as well as the title card and credits, are known to exist.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRns1K_QQgQ Original titles]</ref>
+== Gallery ==
 <gallery>
+IMG_2453.png|Original Titles
+IMG_2454.png|Original Titles 2
 Two mice-1-.jpg
+IMG_2456.png|Original Credits
 </gallery>
-==References==
+== References ==
-<references/>
+<references />
+{{-}}
 [[Category:1945]]
 [[Category:Shorts]]
 [[Category:Babbit and Catstello Shorts]]
-[[Category:Cartoons directed by Frank Tashlin]]
 [[Category:Looney Tunes Shorts]]
 [[Category:Blue Ribbon reissues]]
 [[Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster]]
-[[Category:Cartoons animated by Richard Bickenbach]]
-[[Category:Cartoons animated by Cal Dalton]]
-[[Category:Cartoons animated by Arthur Davis]]
-[[Category:Cartoons animated by Izzy Ellis]]
 [[Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas]]
 [[Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling]]
@@ Line 58: / Line 75: @@
 [[Category:Cartoons with layouts by Richard H. Thomas]]
 [[Category:Caricatures of real people]]
-[[Category:1952-53 Reissues]]
 [[Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package]]
+[[Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist]]
+[[Category:Cartoons with uncredited directors]]