THE MOUSE AND HIS CHILD

US, 1977, 83 minutes, Colour.
Voices: Peter Ustinov, Cloris Leachman, Sally Kellerman, Andy Devine, Neville Brand.
Directed by Fred Wolf, Charles Swenson.

The Mouse and His Child is an animated entertainment for children. While it has many delightful animal creatures, it is a didactic entertainment, full of points about modern society and contemporary issues, adapted for the children's audience ? but may be difficult for many of the children. The same production company made a similar film, The Point.

The film has excellent credentials, especially the range of stars to do the voices of the animals. It also has a number of songs: Scat Rat, Much in Little, Tell My Name.

1. An entertaining story? Delightful animation and song? The treatment of contemporary themes?

2. The quality of the animation? The design of the characters? Their characteristics and behaviour? The range of backgrounds? Delight, humour, frightening aspects? The editing and pace? The musical score and the insertion of the songs?

3. The focus of the title? The world of the mice, the toys? The adventures and the dangers of the mouse and his child?

4. The opening and the atmosphere: the tramp and the dog watching the toys in the shop window. the delight with the range of toys and their behaviour? The nature of the toys and their being wound up? Midnight and the clock coming alive, the range of the toys coming alive, beginning of the adventure? The difficulty of the toys having to be wound up? The epilogue and the atmosphere of the happy ending as the tramp and the dog look on at the wedding, and the toys living happily ever after?

5. The focus on the mice. their being wound up, coming alive, the dancing, the accident, their breaking, their being thrown out, the rubbish tip? The tramp coming to the rescue? The beginning of the dangers? The mice becoming slave-labour toys? The prophecy about the mice winning and the rat falling? The mice looking for the seal, the encounter with the war, the battle scenes? The experience of the play, the engineer, the possibility of making the mice self-winding? The discovery of themselves in the reflection on the tin? Manny's destroying them, their being made self-winding? The fulfilment of the prophecy? The child-mouse giving Manny the good luck coin? The wedding of the father mouse and the pink elephant?

6. Manny the rat as the villain? With Peter Ustinov's voice and mannerisms? His slave togs? His servant Ralphie, the search for the treacle brittle? The encounter with the frog and the prophecy? Ralphie's death? Manny's stealing the brittle from the squirrels? Manny and his persecuting the mice? His breaking them to bits? Their attacking his party? His defeat? His receiving a good luck coin? A portrait of a villain?

7. The supporting animal characters and the actors and actresses giving them character: Sally Kellerman as the pink seal, Cloris Leachman as Euterpe, her putting on the play. the satire on the actress with her Mae West style? The frog with Andy Devine's voice, his prophecy? Muskrat the engineer and his helping the mice?

8. The comedy sequences, the humorous adventures? The contrast with the serious adventures? The war experience? The slavery of the mice, the depths of the sewer and the rubbish tip?

9. The ending and its message? happiness, reconciliation? Forgiveness?

10. How effective are comic allegories like this for their intended audience? Children's response? Adult response?