The Mouse and His Child (film)

The Mouse and His Child
The Mouse and His Child
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Swenson; Fred Wolf
Written by	Russell Hoban (novel); Carol Monpere
Produced by	Walt deFaria
Starring	Peter Ustinov; Cloris Leachman; Sally Kellerman; Andy Devine
Music by	Roger Kellaway
Production; companies	Murakami-Wolf Productions Sanrio; DeFaria-Lockhart-Sanrio;
Distributed by	Sanrio
Release dates	November 18, 1977 (U.S.); December 18, 1980 (Australia);
Running time	83 minutes
Countries	United States; Japan
Language	English
Budget	$1.6 million

The Mouse and His Child is a 1977 animated film^[7]^[8] based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Russell Hoban.^[9]^[10]

Plot

The mouse and his child are two parts of a single small wind-up toy, which must be wound by a key in the father's back. After being unpacked, they discover themselves in a toy shop where they befriend a toy elephant and toy seal. The child mouse proposes staying at the shop to form a family, which the other toys ridicule.

They accidentally fall off the counter and end up in the trash. Once transported to the dump, they become enslaved by Manny the rat, who runs a casino and uses broken wind-up toys as his slave labor force. With the aid of a psychic frog, the mice escape and meet other animals on a quest to become free and independent self-winding toys.

They rediscover the elephant and seal, who are somewhat broken down. Together they manage to form a family and destroy the rat empire.^[11]^[12]

Cast

Character	English^[13]	Japanese
Manny the Rat	Peter Ustinov	Ichirō Zaitsu
The Elephant	Joan Gerber	Masumi Harukawa
The Seal	Sally Kellerman	Shinobu Ôtake
The Frog	Andy Devine	Kinba Sanyûtei
The Crows	Frank Nelson Cliff Norton	Gorō Naya
The Clock	Regis Cordic	Joji Yanami
The Tramp	John Carradine	Unknown
Euterpe	Cloris Leachman	Yukiji Asaoka
Iggy	Neville Brand	Osamu Katō
Muskrat	Bob Holt	Kazuo Kumakura
Jack in the Box	Robert Ridgely	Ichirō Nagai
Starlings	Iris Rainer Maitzi Morgan	Chiyoko Kawashima Yumi Nakatani
Paper People	Iris Rainer Charles Woolf	Fuyumi Shiraishi Makio Inoue
The Mouse	Alan Barzman^[14]	Hiroshi Sakamoto
The Mouse Child	Marcy Swenson	Atsuko Sakamoto
Ralphie	Mel Leven	Shunji Fujimura
Teller	Maitzi Morgan	Keiko Han
Serpentina	Cliff Osmond	Unknown
Bluejay	Charles Woolf	Kaneta Kimotsuki

Home media

The film was first released on RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video on VHS in 1983 ^[15] and re-released in 1985^[16] in the United States. A DVD version has yet to be released in the United States,^[17] but it was released on DVD in Japan.^[18]

Reception

Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised the direction, writing and music score, but criticized the darker elements and stated that "83 minutes is a long time for an adult to think about mice".^[19]

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide rated the movie BOMB (his lowest rating) out of four stars. He says "Boring animated film. Talk, talk, talk, and no action."^[20]

References

^ TCM.com
^ The Mouse And His Child (1977) TV Spots - The Duke Mitchell Film Club on YouTube
^ Sanrio Films Studio Directory-Japanese Studio Title: Kabushikigaisha Sanrio, 株式会社サンリオ|BCDB^{[dead link‍]}
^ Rotten Tomatoes
^ MUBI
^ "Russell Hoban/Forty Years: Essays on His Writings for Children", Alida Allison. "The movie of the novel had an alleged budged of $1,600,000 and was retitled The Extraordinary Adventures of the Mouse and His Child."
^ Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.
^ Don Bluth Goes Independent - AWN.com
^ UCLA Film & Television Archive
^ The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban: moving metaphysics for kids|Books|The Guardian
^ Internet Archive
^ Time Out London
^ Behind The Voice Actors
^ Alan Barzman - 3 Characters|Behind The Voice Actors
^ The Mouse and his child (VHS tape, 1983)-WorldCat.org
^ Amazon.com The Mouse and His Child VHS
^ Top 10 movies starring toys that come alive|Den of Geek
^ The Extraordinary Adventures Of The Mouse and His Child (DVD) (Japan Version)|YesAsia
^ Screen: 'Mouse And Child' - The New York Times
^ "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide", Wikipedia, 2020-04-17, retrieved 2020-10-13

External links

[1] TCM.com

[2] The Mouse And His Child (1977) TV Spots - The Duke Mitchell Film Club on YouTube

[3] Sanrio Films Studio Directory-Japanese Studio Title: Kabushikigaisha Sanrio, 株式会社サンリオ|BCDB^{[dead link‍]}

[4] Rotten Tomatoes

[5] MUBI

[6] "Russell Hoban/Forty Years: Essays on His Writings for Children", Alida Allison. "The movie of the novel had an alleged budged of $1,600,000 and was retitled The Extraordinary Adventures of the Mouse and His Child."

[7] Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.

[donbluthgoesindie-8] Don Bluth Goes Independent - AWN.com

[9] UCLA Film & Television Archive

[10] The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban: moving metaphysics for kids|Books|The Guardian

[11] Internet Archive

[12] Time Out London

[13] Behind The Voice Actors

[14] Alan Barzman - 3 Characters|Behind The Voice Actors

[15] The Mouse and his child (VHS tape, 1983)-WorldCat.org

[16] Amazon.com The Mouse and His Child VHS

[17] Top 10 movies starring toys that come alive|Den of Geek

[18] The Extraordinary Adventures Of The Mouse and His Child (DVD) (Japan Version)|YesAsia

[19] Screen: 'Mouse And Child' - The New York Times

[20] "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide", Wikipedia, 2020-04-17, retrieved 2020-10-13

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