108. Country Mouse (1935)

Release date: July 13th, 1935

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Friz Freleng

Starring: Tedd Pierce (Ring Announcer), Addison Richards (Commentators)

The earliest cartoon to get a Blue Ribbon reissue! Blue Ribbon issues are... interesting. As of 1943, Leon Schlesinger averaged about 39 cartoons annually for the previous 4 seasons. WWII raged on, Private Snafu propaganda films were on demand for the signal corps, and Schlesinger was getting up in his years—he died in 1949 at the age of 65, which isn’t that old at all, but the life expectancy for men living in 1949 was 65. It was hard to keep up with the 39 cartoon demand each year. (He would later step down in 1944, passing off producer duties to Eddie Selzer.) Thus, the blue ribbon reissue was born. 279 cartoons were reissued under the blue ribbon... and 160 cartoons lost their original titles. So much beautiful artwork and beautiful music gone like that! That’s why so many animation historians and fans (such as myself) have a particular disdain for the Blue Ribbon reissues. Thankfully, there is an effort to recover the lost titles, but obviously it’s no easy feat.

In terms of synopsis: an aspiring boxer wants to travel to the big city and become the champ, but his rural roots pose as an obstacle.

Porky and Beans make a cameo. They’ll be reunited once more in Gold Diggers of ‘49 with larger roles. A burly mouse sings the title song “Country Mouse” while he goes to town on a punching bag. Beans plays a verse of music on the harmonica, while the rest of the children whistle. Once the number is finished, the congregation of children around him cheer and applaud—who doesn’t want to see someone beat the tar out of a punching bag while singing? Pure family fun! 

The mouse’s grandmother rocks serenely on her rocking chair, smoking on a pipe and knitting. Her seemingly peaceful façade is shattered once she spits at a target—a copper pan with a bullseye painted on the bottom. Some great personality and great juxtaposition as she scratches off another tally on the wall.

A few more bars of "Country Mouse" whistled by the titular country mouse, his parade of eager fans following right behind (save for Porky—there’s an animation error where they accidentally leave him in the foreground and he pans away with the background, returning in the next scene. More amusing than annoying). The mouse goes at it against a scarecrow... and loses. He slugs the scarecrow in the gut, to which the scarecrow reacts and a wooden arm slaps the mouse in the head.

Country mouse’s grandmother isn’t too pleased. She spots his roughhousing and yells “Elmer! Elmer! Now you get yourself a-goin’ with them chores!” Elmer, unscathed, gives a happy salute and yells “Okay, granny!” 

It seems Elmer’s boxing lessons have paid of tremendously. With an ounce of exertion, he uproots a tree and lays it horizontally. Wielding an axe, he “skates” along the tree as the axe sinks into the bark, essentially skinning the tree. Lovely, fun, smooth animation. Granny’s having none of it, though. She demands “Give me that axe! You’re gettin’ to be a derned sissy!” Jesus, harsh! She puts Elmer in his place as granny punches another tree, knocking it down in size with each swing. Giving the final log a good wallop, the bark breaks into a cluster of clothespins, falling into place in an appropriately labeled box. With a roll of the sleeves back down and a final spit for good measure, granny stalks off.

Nevertheless, Elmer is undeterred. He snags his “How to be a Fighter” book, eagerly shoving it in her face and raving about his future as a fighter, that he’s going to be rich and “lick the champ with one hand”.

None of Elmer’s excitement is reciprocated with granny. A display of shadow-boxing does little to woo her. Instead, she grabs Elmer by the ear and drags him inside. Once a country boy, always a country boy, and she’ll be sure he remains as such.

What a beautiful shot! The backgrounds in this cartoon are beautiful. Time marches on and night approaches, where a silhouette of Elmer fills the window. He sneaks out, luggage in hand, admiring his work as he backs into the road. Both Elmer and granny (now that I phrase it like that, these are both the names of future Looney Tunes stars, huh?) have a lot of personality and I find them really entertaining. A nice little display of personality as Elmer smiles giddily while executing his escape. A train whistle blows in the distance, a reminder to Elmer that time’s a-waistin’. Elmer requires no further encouragement as he runs for the hills to carry out his future.

Elmer gets his wish as the next shot opens up to the beginnings of a boxing match. Elmer is credited as the “Hickville Threat”. He’s to take on a menacing bulldog Sam, “the run-some bulldog”. A referee tugs on the tail of a turtle, propelling the turtle’s head up and prompting it to hit a bell.

All of Elmer’s hard work has not paid off. It’s evident he’s no match for Sam, who takes no offense to any of Elmer’s bludgeons. Elmer, meanwhile, gets boxed around like a dummy. Friz Freleng’s knack for musical timing shines brighter than ever in this scene, timing and sound effects snappy, precise, and tactile. Elmer is knocked into the corner, where a pig referee fans him back to consciousness. A lovely gag of Elmer snapping awake and putting up his dukes, shadow boxing against an invisible threat. The pig referee has to knock him out again and revive him once more to save his own pigskin.

A beautifully painted closeup shot of a radio narrating the event. The radio belongs to none other than granny, who’s anxiously chuffing away at her pipe, pacing around nervously as the announcer narrates Elmer’s growing demise. A nice visual as granny paces to the radio, her slumbering cat nonchalantly sliding a stool over for her to sit on. Granny sits, then paces some more, the cat taking back the stool—the cycle continues.

Granny’s had enough. She clicks the radio off and haughtily wraps her shawl around her shoulders. She marches out the door, boards on her bike, and cycles over to the boxing ring. Elmer continues to get the living daylights knocked out of him, a sea of laughter posing as the salt on the wound. Some lovely animation as Sam backs Elmer into the corner and giving him a good punch, the entire ring spinning around.

Just as the beating is getting too brutal, granny rides her bike straight into the crowd. Very amusing. She hops straight up onto the ring and gives Sam the good what fer, knocking him out with a single punch.

Granny is crowned as the winner, where she bathes in the glory. A fatigued, black-eyed Elmer staggers over time his grandmother. Granny greets him warmly by dragging him by the ear, sitting herself down on a stool, bending him over her lap and spanking him for all to see. Iris out.

I really enjoyed this cartoon! It was cute and amusing and full of personality. Granny was hilarious—I love those tough granny archetypes. The title song is catchy, and Freleng’s musical timing really shines bright during the boxing scenes. Backgrounds are lovely and painted beautiful, animation is fluid and crisp. I can’t think of any reasons why to avoid it, so give it a watch! 

Link!