Mouse-Warming

Mouse warming uncensored scene.png|The scene where Claude is shot in the face was censored on both ABC and Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends
Mw movers1.png
Mw movers2.png|Possible cameo by Hubie
Mw lovey.png
Mw butcher.png
Mw claudedefeat.png
Mw ending.png
MouseWarmingRestored.jpg|Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration
Mouse Warming is a 1952 Looney Tunes short directed by Charles M. Jones.
== Plot ==
In a garden, a wind-up toy truck labelled ACME Moving Co. pulls up to a mousehole door, and two moving mice move the contents of the van into the hole. Afterwards, a young girl mouse and her parents move in. The girl mousesoon sees a boy mouse driving a motorized hot rod toy into his garage and walking up to his own mousehole. When he sees her, the boy mouse instantly falls head-over-heels in love. He quickly empties his sugar bowl of the one sugar cube in it and takes the empty bowl over to the girl mouse's home. However, Claude Cat sees him and tries to eat the boy mouse, but he escapes back to his mousehole. Claude tries to grab him but ends up getting his hand caught in a mousetrap.
Later, the boy mouse tries using a pipeline to sneak past Claude, but the cat takes a dollhouse door, puts it over his own mouth, and places himself at the end of the pipeline. The mouse, with an empty jug in hand, unknowingly enters and travels down into Claude's stomach, where he lights a match. The flame causes Claude to jump in pain and the mouse to escape simultaneously.
Later, Claude observes the two lovers and gets an idea to entrap the boy mouse. Claude forges a letter to the boy mouse that reads, "Dear mister mouse, I am in my teens - sixteen months - and deemed not unattractive by my friends. Can you meet me at eight tonight under the garbage disposal? Yours (?) Alice (the girl across the way)" and sprays some "Desire No.5" perfume on it for good measure. Claude sends the fake letter to the boy mouse who, upon reading it, falls over in lust. By 7:55pm, the boy mouse drives to the trash can in the kitchen, where he meets what he thinks is the girl mouse but is really a hand puppet being used by Claude to ensnare him. Upon seeing Claude, the boy mouse escapes with the puppet and knocks Claude out with the trash can lid.
As the boy mouse sadly sighs over both his failure and being deceived with the puppet, Claude writes another forged letter, this time sending it to the girl mouse's father. The letter itself delivers a nasty warning, apparently from the boy mouse, that reads, "Look you! I saw that apartment first, so get out - because I'm moving in!! The mouse across the way - P.S., or else!!" The father mouse promptly grabs a revolver, while outside, Claude puts out a sign that reads, "Boarder Wanted", and draws the boy mouse's attention to it. Upon seeing it, the boy mouse packs his things and heads into the hole. Claude positions himself so that he catches the fleeing boy mouse in his mouth, but his plan not only succeeds when the boy mouse runs into his mouth, but also backfires when the father mouse shoots him in the face, allowing the boy mouse to escape.
Not wanting Claude to get the better of him again, the boy mouse writes a forged letter of his own before sending it to him. The letter this time reads, "Dear cat (pal), I've decided to give up my evil ways and be nice to you. Yours in friendship, the dog - P.S. How's about coming over for a game of Canasta?" Claude falls for it and brings playing cards, lemonade, and a fold-away card table. Claude receives a huge beating from Butcher the Bulldog, sending the cat staggering off in the moonlight, dizzily dealing out cards. 
With Claude out of the way, the two young mice sneak into the fridge and sip an ice-cold soda with hearts bubbling up from it as they stare at each other, with the cartoon closing out with a heart-shaped iris-out.
== Availability ==
Lt vs13.jpg|(1984) VHS The Looney Tunes Video Show, Volume 13
ClassicCollection.jpg|(1995) VHS Classic Collection (WHSmith Exclusive Video)
L.T.M.C..jpg|(2012) DVD Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, Disc 2 (bonus feature, unrestored)
Lt mouse chronicles blu.jpg|(2012) Blu-ray Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, Disc 2 (bonus feature, unrestored)
=== Streaming ===
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2024 - ) (restored)
== Censorship ==
* When this cartoon aired on ABC and Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends, the scene where Alice Mouse's father shoots Claude in the face was cut. While ABC cut the entire scene, the latter version just replaced Claude getting shot with Alice Mouse looking out the window. ABC also edited out the scene of Claude licking his face after being shot by the father mouse for continuity reasons.https://web.archive.org/web/20240224055653/http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-m.aspx
== Goofs ==
* Lloyd Vaughan's last name is misspelled as "Vaughn" on the opening credits.
== Notes ==
* This is Claude Cat's only solo cartoon.
* Beginning with this cartoon, Chuck Jones began to recast Claude Cat as a silent villain while still possessing his full set of neuroses, though this iteration of Claude Cat was present in the cartoons where Claude Cat tries to get rid of Frisky the Puppy.
* This was the final cartoon to use the "MPPDA" circle during the credits. The cartoon released before this (Friz Freleng's "A Bird in a Guilty Cage") started using a new version of the circle with the words "MPAA" inside of it to reflect the company name change in 1947 (even though Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, including this one, continued to use the MPPDA version of the circle by 1952 at the latest).
* This is the first time Claude has purple eyes. He had them again in "Feline Frame-Up".
* One of the ACME Mover Co. movers mice (the tall, thin one) that briefly appears at the beginning bears a striking resemblance to Hubie the Mouse from Chuck Jones' popular mice duo Hubie and Bertie, whom both have been retired the previous year in "Cheese Chasers".
* This short marks the debut of Butcher the Bulldog, a muscular grey bulldog resembling Hector, who would later appear in "To Itch His Own".
== Gallery ==
MouseWarmingCredits1.png
MouseWarmingCredits2.png
Screenshot 2021-01-16 at 11.37.20 AM.png|Title card layout art
MouseWarmingLC2.JPG|Lobby card
MouseWarmingLC.JPG|Lobby card
Mouse-Warming (1952) - Home Sweet Home.jpg
659-MS1.png|Model sheet
== References ==
es:Mouse-Warming
Category:1952
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:Claude Cat Cartoons
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Philip DeGuard
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with no dialogue