The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale is an animated TV special produced and directed by Michael Sporn and written by Maxine Fisher, adapted by Tish Rabe. Produced by Michael Sporn Animation, Random House and HBO,[4] it aired on December 8, 1993 as part as the HBO Storybook Musicals series.[5] As the title implies, the story is an adaptation of the Aesop fable, where it was set around Christmastime. The special's two main characters, Emily and Alexander, were voiced respectively by Crystal Gayle and John Lithgow.
| The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation Drama Family |
| Based on | The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse by Aesop |
| Teleplay by | Maxine Fisher |
| Directed by | Michael Sporn |
| Starring | John Lithgow Crystal Gayle |
| Theme music composer | David Evans |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Michael Sporn |
| Running time | 25 min. |
| Production companies | Random House[1] HBO[2] |
| Budget | $265,000[3] |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | December 8, 1993 |
| Related | |
| The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures | |
In 1994, Random House Children's Media published a children's book titled The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: Christmas Is Where the Heart Is, which was based on the animated special. The book was written by Maxine Fisher and illustrated by Jerry Smath.
The main characters would later appear in the second iteration of Cinar's animated series, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures, which also aired on HBO.
Synopsis
editAt the Johnson's farm in the country, a female mouse named Emily, whose existence is known to the two children named Patty and her little brother, Kevin living there, decides to go into the city to visit her cousin Alexander for Christmas. However, the chef the restaurant Alexander lives in has set a variety of anti-mice precautions, thus scaring the two cousins out of the restaurant. The two mice return to the country house to celebrate Christmas together.
References
edit- ^ Ithaca College Quarterly, 2003/No.1
- ^ "Country Mouse Credits". Michael Sporn Animation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Michael Sporn: An Interview - Deneroff.com
- ^ "Pay TV Programming" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. July 26, 1993. p. 74. Retrieved September 4, 2020 – via American Radio History.
- ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 77–78. ISBN 9781476672939.
External links
edit- The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale at IMDb
- The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale at the TCM Movie Database
- The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale at AllMovie
- Review at The New York Times
- Overview at Creighton University
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