The Mite Makes Right

1948 Animation 8 minutes Directed by Bill Tytla

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About The Mite Makes Right

Tom Thumb hears that he is no use on the farm and runs away with his mouse. At a circus the mouse startles the star elephant. Tom and the mouse rescue the elephant, join the troupe, and the work sends money home to his parents.

Cast & crew

More about The Mite Makes Right

Paramount released this Noveltoon on October 15, 1948. Bill Tytla and George Germanetti are credited as directors. Izzy Klein wrote it, George Germanetti and Steve Muffatti animated, and Anton Loeb painted the backgrounds.

Themes

Making

Gwen Davies voices Tom's mother, Sid Raymond the barker and circus owner, and Isadore Sparber a caterpillar. Winston Sharples wrote the music, including an original song.

Reviews

Bob Lipton, reviewing it on IMDb, called the gags aimed at very small children and singled out an original song in Izzy Klein's script.

Look

Anton Loeb painted the backgrounds. Lipton described Tytla's layouts as Art Moderne.

Music

Winston Sharples composed the score, which includes an original song.

Preservation

Public domain in the United States since 1976. A National Telefilm Associates television print, with a silent opening card, was the source for the 2004 Digiview Cartoon Craze discs.

Notes

  • The title puns on "might makes right.
  • It is the first Noveltoon to use the Paramount logo of 1948–1954.
  • National Telefilm Associates put it out for television with a silent opening card. Hep Cat Symphony and Leprechauns Gold, both 1949, use the same card.
  • The Noveltoon and Famous Studios title cards match the ones used on the Little Audrey cartoons.
  • Cecil Roy speaks Tom Thumb, Jackson Beck his father, and Charles Irving narrates. Jack Mercer does the mouse.
  • Copyright lapsed in the United States in 1976 after NTA missed the renewal.

Scenes

  • Tom rides off on his mouse after he hears he cannot help with the farm work.
  • The mouse startles the circus elephant.
  • Tom and the mouse rescue the elephant and stay with the show.

Influenced by

  • The Tom Thumb folktale

Also available

  • DVD Cartoon Craze, Volume 15: Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (Digiview, 2004)
  • DVD Cartoon Craze, Volume 21: Tweety / Elmer Fudd — A Corny Concerto (Digiview, 2004)
  • DVD 300 Cartoon Classics (Image Entertainment, 2011)

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