“Whoever heard of a mouse pianist?”
Directed by I. Freleng. Released in 1955. (A nice touch: the quotation marks in the title are music notes)
This short, which looks a lot like the shorts U.P.A. was producing, (like Gerald McBoing Boing) stars two animals. They live in the house of John and Vi Jones. Vi claims that not only has a toy piano gone missing, but she keeps hearing it play. If I know anything about mysteries, (and I definitely do.) than the culprit was the lobster! No wait, he’s a percussionist. It was probably that Schroeder kid. But seriously, the thief is a mouse. He sneaks out to get some more sheet music, but the cat of the house takes notice. (Name time! Let’s call the cat, Chauncey and the mouse, Michael.) The mouse loses his glasses in the chase and the cat kicks them under the couch before grabbing the rodent. Then he picks up another pair off the ground. (what?) Now seeing his possible doom in front of him, Michael asks to be spared. After all, he can play piano. (Although, I’m more interested in where he got glasses) Laughing at the absurdity, Chauncey gets the piano and demands a demonstration. Michael provides, but now that he is out of his hole, both of the Jone’s can hear him. In a panic, the cat puts the pianist mouse in the larger piano and mimes playing it. The owners are shocked and call the papers. The cat decides to spare the mouse as long as he plays (get it?) along. Soon they are all set to play for a large audience, including several critics. Things start smoothly, but soon one of the piano keys breaks Michael’s glasses. The resulting music is quite abominable, and the cat is exposed as a fruad much to his and his owner’s shame. Back at their place, the cat chases the mouse again. The resulting chase leads them to a drum set, (who plays those? The piano can at least be seen as decoration, but who keeps drums around unless they play?) While swatting at the rodent, Chauncey discovers that he is quite skilled at the drums. Michael grabs the piano and they form a pretty sweet duet. Vi goes to call again, but John declines against it and the two keep their musical pets a secret to the world. It’s probably for the best. Michael isn’t going to live longer than 3 years.
Personal Rating: 3