Release Date:

March 27, 1937

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

When his grandchildren fight over a coin for ice cream, J. Field Mouse tells them the story of a greedy mouse whose love of gold got the better of him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

This is the first Merrie Melodie to feature Mel Blanc. He voices the greedy mouse and the butler.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. The title song played over the opening credits, which were as follows:

Supervision: I. Freleng

Animation: Cal Dalton and Ken Harris

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

The original end card was kept in the reissue, but it was then replaced in one of those irritating things called a “dubbed version”. The dubbed versions were 1995 masters of the cartoons in the Associated Artists Productions package that were done around the time Warner Bros. regained the rights to those cartoons. But for some stupid reason, they thought it necessary to replace all of those cartoons’ end cards with one from a random cartoon (either the late 1937-mid 1938 sunburst rings or the 1947-1948 red rings). Not only would this result in some of the ending music being altered, it would also cause the original end cards to be lost for some time (or in some egregious cases, a few ending gags being ruined). Fortunately, the original title card has been found here (recorded from my TV).

What I Like About This One:

The grandchildren mice wolf-whistling after Grandpa tells them that the greedy mouse “broke 100 strings or more” playing his fiddle.

The greedy mouse is first seen pretending to be a blind man playing the fiddle when a robber tries to take advantage of his “blindness” to rob him. But the greedy mouse hits the robber’s hand with his bow.

The greedy mouse’s house looking like a shack from the outside but is revealed to be a luxurious mansion from the inside.

The greedy mouse having a sock that opens like a safe.

When the tax assessor arrives, the greedy mouse has the ability to make his house look like a poor old shack.

After the tax assessor questions, “So you’re a poor guy, eh?”, the greedy mouse notices that he left a coin on the table and quickly hides it.

The tax assessor sitting down on a chair that is on a trick floor that hides the rich chair. The floor flips 360 degrees with the tax assessor on it, before stopping. He then pushes a button that causes all the floors to spin around and briefly reveal the rich items before the tax assessor can properly see them. The tax assessor thinks he’s lost his mind, runs out, and dispenses of his bottle.

The greedy mouse having to make his place look like a shack again after the tax assessor comes back to the door.

When a cat learns of the mouse’s lust for gold, he puts a round mousetrap outside his door, with a coin for bait. However, the mouse is able to get it without any difficulty.

The cat putting a gold crown on his tooth, but the mouse mistakenly taking a regular tooth. The cat tries it again, and this time succeeds in trapping the mouse in his mouth.

The ending reveals that Grandpa has a gold tooth watch fob so whether he’s the same mouse from the story or not remains a mystery.

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½