''The Mouse That Jack Built'' is a 1959

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

'' Merrie Melodie'' cartoon short starring

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

and the regular cast of ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

'' as mice. The short, released on April 4, 1959, was written by

Tedd Pierce Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972) was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. Biography Pierce was the son of a stockbroker, Samue ...

and directed by Robert McKimson.

Plot

Somewhere in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

, in the house of

(a sign out front proclaims, "Star of Stage * Screen * Radio * Television...also cartoons"), a mouse version of Jack is practicing his violin—off-key—and saying to himself, "Who is this guy

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

?" (In real life Benny and Stern were good friends.) Outside Jack's mouse hole, a cat is lying in wait, wearing ear muffs to filter out the discordant sound of Jack's violin. Jack calls his servant, Rochester (portrayed as a dark brown mouse) to get his white suit, which Rochester is wearing at the time. Jack tells the valet that his rental period is up (a week for $5.00, equal to $ today) and he needs the suit because he is taking Mary Livingstone out for her birthday, and, true to character, is looking for a good ''cheap'' restaurant. While waiting for Mary, Jack decides to count his cheese in a basement vault. Using a coin on a string, he opens the lock, which appears to be a coin-operated lock from a pay toilet. As soon as he walks through the door, he takes a cane from a nail on the wall and starts humming " We're in the Money". When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he reaches through a hole and trips a

razor blade A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since before ...

hanging above the passageway like a

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

. He then comes up to a

derringer A derringer is a small handgun that is neither a revolver nor a semi/ fully automatic pistol. It is not to be confused with mini-revolvers or pocket pistols, although some later derringers were manufactured with the pepperbox configuration. ...

and uses the cane to trip the trigger on the derringer. Finally, he comes up to another hole, reaches through with the cane and trips a mousetrap. He then reaches the vault door, opens a combination lock, pulls the door open and numerous sound effects including various alarms, a foghorn and machine gun noises are heard. Ed, the vault guard, asks "Halt! Who goes there?", and then an exchange is heard where Ed, apparently having been in the vault for a long time, asks "We win the war yet?" When Benny assures Ed that the war has been won, thinking that Benny was referring to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Ed says: "Good. What do you think they'll do with the Kaiser?" Mary arrives while Jack is inspecting his cheese vault, and he emerges wondering who has been pilfering his best

gorgonzola Gorgonzola (; ) is a veined blue cheese, originally from Italy, made from unskimmed cow's milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a "bite" from its blue veining. History Historically, gorgonzola has been produced for ...

. A fat rodent version of Don Wilson attempts to deliver a commercial when Jack advises him that this is a movie and not a television program, Don storming off in a huff when Jack refuses to let him do a scene. When Mary suggests a place, Jack's eyes ring up like an old

cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other ...

with a dollar sign ($) and "no sale", they discuss other options (she sarcastically suggests the Monkey House at the

Griffith Park Zoo Griffith Park Zoo, referred to today as the Old Los Angeles Zoo, was a city-owned zoo in Los Angeles, California that opened in 1912 and closed in 1966 with the opening of the new Los Angeles Zoo. The abandoned site of the Griffith Park Zoo, compl ...

). As they discuss their options, the cat writes a message extolling the "Kit Kat Club" ("entertainers admitted ''free''") and sends it to Jack as a paper airplane. Jack and Mary putter off in his Maxwell with

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

behind the wheel until they reach the Kit Kat Club by following the arrows pointing to it. While en route, Mary asks for

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

, while Jack says that he prefers a good " mousecatel". Unbeknownst to them, the "club" is actually the maw of the cat, and as Jack and Mary enter, the cat's mouth closes on them. Jack cries: "Help! Help!" as the camera cuts to the live-action Jack Benny, who wakes up and, breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

, tells the audience: "Gee, what a crazy dream! Imagine, Mary and me as two little mice trapped inside a cat! And I was playing the violin!" At that point, Jack is interrupted by the sound of a discordant "

Rock-a-Bye Baby "Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top" (sometimes "Hush-a-bye baby in the tree top") is a nursery rhyme and lullaby. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2768. Words First publication The rhyme is believed to have first appeared in print in ...

" played on the violin, coming from within Jack's live-action cat. From there, the rodent versions of Jack and Mary emerge unharmed from the live-action cat. Following one last bit of animation (where the rodent Jack and Mary return to their mousehole), the real Jack Benny does one of his famous "takes" as the cartoon fades out.

Voice cast

The cartoon is noticeable to credit all of the voice actors rather than only crediting Mel Blanc. The list of actors includes: *

as Jack/Himself *

Mary Livingstone Mary Livingstone (born Sadya Marcowitz, later known as Sadie Marks; June 25, 1905–June 30, 1983) was an American radio comedienne and actress. She was the wife and radio partner of comedian Jack Benny. Enlisted casually to perform on her h ...

as Mary * Don Wilson as Don *

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester". Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudevi ...

as Rochester * Mel Blanc as the Maxwell / Ed, the vault guard

Production

The cartoon was released on April 4, 1959. Written by

, it is a parody of ''

'' starring the voices of

(in her final public performance), Don Wilson and

as rodent caricatures of their respective radio and television characters, with Mel Blanc reprising his imitation of Benny's

Maxwell automobile Maxwell was an American automobile manufacturer which ran from about 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company was Chrysler (currently, "Stellantis North America"), which acquired the company in 1925. History Maxwell-Briscoe ...

(also assuming the voice of "Ed", Jack's underground vault guard, usually portrayed on radio and TV by

Joseph Kearns Joseph Sherrard Kearns
TV Guide. July 15–21, 1961, Savetheorgan.org; retrieved September 28, 2011.

). The title is a play on the nursery rhyme " This is the House that Jack Built". As revealed on the audio commentary for this short, Benny only supplied his voice, but not his violin playing, as evidenced by the "pre-score" music of the violin soloist attempting to play as badly as Benny did on the radio show.

Home media

''The Mouse That Jack Built'' is available on '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3'', Disc 2.

References

External links

*
''The Mouse That Jack Built''
at

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