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

The Mouse and His Child
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Swenson Fred Wolf[1]
Written by	Russell Hoban (novel) Carol Monpere
Produced by	Walt deFaria
Starring	Peter Ustinov[2] Cloris Leachman Sally Kellerman Andy Devine
Music by	Roger Kellaway
Production companies	Murakami-Wolf Productions Sanrio DeFaria•Lockhart•Sanrio
Distributed by	Sanrio[3]
Release dates	November 18, 1977 (1977-11-18) (U.S.) December 18, 1980 (1980-12-18) (Australia)
Running time	83 minutes[4]
Country	United States[5]
Language	English
Budget	$1.6 million[6]

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 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 of becoming 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.[10][11]

Cast

• Manny the Rat - Peter Ustinov
• The Elephant - Joan Gerber
• The Seal - Sally Kellerman
• The Frog - Andy Devine
• Crow #2 - Frank Nelson
• Crow #1 - Cliff Norton
• The Clock - Regis Cordic
• The Tramp - John Carradine
• Euterpe - Cloris Leachman
• Iggy - Neville Brand
• Muskrat - Bob Holt
• Jack in the Box - Robert Ridgely
• Starling, Paper People - Iris Rainer
• Starling, Teller - Maitzi Morgan
• Paper People, Bluejay - Charles Woolf
• The Mouse - Alan Barzman[12]
• The Mouse Child - Marcy Swenson
• Ralphie - Mel Leven
• Serpentina - Cliff Osmond

[13]

Home media

The film was first released on RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video on VHS in 1985 [14] and re-released in 1991 [15] in the United States. A DVD version has yet to be released in the United States,[16] but it was released on DVD in Japan.[17]

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".[18]

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."[19]

See also

• Children's literature
• 1977 in film

References

External links

• The Mouse and His Child at IMDb
• The Mouse and His Child at AllMovie
• The Head of Orpheus Fan Page For Russell Hoban

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