A Mouse Divided
A Mouse Divided is a 1953 Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng.[2] The short was released on January 31, 1953, and stars Sylvester the Cat.[3]
| A Mouse Divided | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Warren Foster[1] |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Arthur Davis Manuel Perez Ken Champin Virgil Ross |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Irv Wyner |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date | January 31, 1953 (USA) |
Running time | 7 minutes |
| Language | English |
The title is a pun on Lincoln's House Divided Speech.
Plot
The episode starts where a drunken stork delivers a baby to the nearest available home. Sylvester's wife, wanting a baby, despite his objections ("And what thanks do I get? I wish I was dead! Boo hoo hoo! Every day it's the same thing - pitter-patter of little feet!"), graciously receives the package. Sylvester is nonetheless excited- until he learns the baby is a mouse, at which point he tries to eat it. His wife quickly stops him, and when she goes out (and is not seen again afterwards), he tries again, but stops after the mouse calls him "Daddy".
Sylvester's attitude toward the mouse changes entirely from this point on and decides to take his son for a walk. Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats are not so enamored of the mouse, forcing Sylvester to run back into the house. Several cats try to steal the mouse, using tactics such as climbing through windows, posing as a vacuum cleaner salesman ("Good day, Sir, I represent the Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company, Walla Walla, Washington and if you watch closely, you'll notice the powerful action of this machine as it removes completely and forever all foreign particles from around the room. I realize that you may not be ready to purchase the Little Giant right now but if you ever do, just remember the Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company, Walla Walla, Washington."), babysitter and Santa disguises, cutting holes in the floor and ramming the door down, only to be foiled by Sylvester, who for once is on the winning end of the same traps by which he usually ends up getting foiled.
The stork, meanwhile, returns (still drunk) under orders to deliver the mouse to its real parents by fishing it out with a piece of cheese. Sylvester, believing it to be another cat, stops the mouse and is pulled up instead with the stork thinking he is the mouse ("Boy [hic!], did that mouse grow!"). A later scene reveals a married mice couple walking a disgruntled Sylvester (dressed as a baby) with the wife telling her husband, "Well, nothing like this ever happened on my side of the family.", before he looks at the audience in bewilderment as the cartoon irises out.
References
- Beck, Jerry (1991). I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 114. ISBN 0-8050-1644-9.
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 244. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 140–142. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.