Release Date:

October 16, 1937

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A mouse caught in a trap convinces a hungry cat not to eat him by telling him the story of “The Lion and the Mouse”.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. The song “How Could You” played under the opening credits (this is also the first cartoon to credit storymen) which were:

Supervision: I. Freleng

Story: Ted Pierce

Animation: Ken Harris

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

The mouse telling the story to the cat is the same mouse who appears in the story, albeit a different color.

According to a model sheet, the cartoon was originally titled “The Lion and the Mouse”.

This is one of the first Merrie Melodies to not have a song at any point in the cartoon.

The restored print uses the incorrect ending theme.

What I Like About This One:

Whenever the mouse gets one body part free of the mousetrap, another gets stuck in it.

The mouse laughing when the cat douses his belly with mustard (probably because it’s tickling him).

The mouse sliding out of the cat’s sandwich he has made (due to the trap still holding his tail).

The mouse’s voice getting deeper when he describes the lion.

The lion’s (brilliantly voiced by Billy Bletcher) roar being so powerful it rolls up the jungle landscape like a carpet.

The mouse (the same one telling the story) making lion noises through some sort of horn in order to scare away the other animals as a prank, only to be confronted by the lion.

The lion deciding to ignore the mouse once he smells a roast chicken but then discovers that it’s in a bear trap labeled “Frank Cluck Expedition”. He manages to grab the chicken without the trap snapping on him, but a mousetrap pops out of the chicken and snaps on the lion’s nose.

A lamb silently begging the lion to take him home to eat. The lion complies at first but discovers the lamb is attached to a box labeled “Frank Cluck Lion Trap Number 5”. The lamb insists that the lion take him, showing signs like “Mutton Has Body Building Vitamins”, “Will Positively Melt in Your Mouth”, and “Eat Leg of Lamb Says Dr. Knowit”. The lion gives in and is punched by a boxing glove, allowing him to be tied up by a safari hunter.

The lion is put in a circus and the lion tamer receives so much applause that he puts his head in the tamer’s mouth.

The mouse helping the depressed lion out of his cage by gnawing a lion shaped hole (accidentally getting a nail in his mouth at one point).

When the mouse finishes the story, the crying cat lets him go and apologizes. Just before the mouse enters his hole, he says “Sucker!”

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕