The Mouse and His Child (film)
| The Mouse and His Child | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by |
Charles Swenson Fred Wolf |
| Produced by | Walt deFaria |
| Written by | Carol Monpere |
| Based on | The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban |
| Starring |
Peter Ustinov Cloris Leachman Sally Kellerman Andy Devine |
| Music by | Roger Kellaway |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sanrio |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country |
United States Japan |
| Language | English |
The Mouse and His Child (also known as The Extraordinary Adventures of the Mouse and His Child in the United States) is a 1977 American-Japanese animated adventure film co-directed by Charles Swenson and Fred Wolf, and based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Russell Hoban.
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 out of a window and land in 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 animal characters 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.
Cast
- Peter Ustinov as Manny
- Joan Gerber as the Elephant
- Sally Kellerman as the Seal
- Andy Devine as the Frog
- Frank Nelson as the Crow
- Regis Cordic as the Clock
- John Carradine as a Tramp
- Cloris Leachman as Euterpe
- Neville Brand as Iggy
- Bob Holt as Muskrat
- Robert Ridgely as Jack in the Box
- Iris Rainer as Starling / Paper People
- Alan Barzman as the Mouse
- Marcy Swenson as the Mouse Child
- Mel Leven as Ralphie
- Maitzi Morgan as Teller / Starling
- Cliff Osmond as Serpentina
- Charles Woolf as Bluejay / Paper People
- Cliff Norton as the Crow
Uncredited
- Candy Candido - Various
Releases
The film was first released on RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video on VHS and Betamax in 1983, then re-released on VHS in 1985 in the United States. A DVD version has yet to be released in the United States, but it was released on DVD in Japan.