The Mice Will Play

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MiceWillPlayRESTORED.jpeg|Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration
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The Mice Will Play is a 1938 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.
== Title ==
The title is part of the proverb "when the cat's away, the mice will play."
== Plot ==
Inside Dr. I.M. Nutts' building, is a small mouse hole at the side. The mice slowly open the hole and take a peek, and upon seeing nobody around, they slowly creep from the hole and sneak around the room until they decide to test their luck by shouting, then hurriedly run back into just made mouse holes. When they get no response, everyone comes out to play and have some fun. They play with the medical equipment located around the room, such as looking at bacteria slides through a microscope, playing with a stethoscope, finding out the results of taking heart pills, and various other things.
Unknown to the mice, however, a very hungry cat has been spying on them. They also do not hear the poor cries of a girl mouse on the other side of a nearby door and continue playing as the cat creeps into the room.
The mice continue to play, with one mouse checking out an eye chart while another looks through an X-ray machine. Eventually, the mice sneak up on the lead mouse of the group, preparing to prick him with a big needle right in the butt as he is distracted, but an audience member stops them. Annoyed, the mice toss the injection aside while grumbling and storm off.
The cat, meanwhile, is preparing to eat the girl mouse inside the cage. She quickly writes a letter to the others in hopes of them finding her. She throws it through the opened window of the door and right to the main mouse, who sees it and impulsively rushes into the room to save her. With ease, he frees her from the cage, and when she attempts to embrace and kiss him, he forces her off as she thanks him for help. Unknown to the both of them, the cat is sneaking back up.
As they make their way to be with the other mice, Susie tries to tell the main mouse, Johnny, how she feels but he only thinks she is being weird and asks her what her problem is. When Susie reveals her feelings to him, he happily reciprocates, and the two mice decide to wed. The cat continues to sneak up on all of the mice as the two of them share a kiss, and Susie goes on to reveal her plans to have a lot of little baby mice. The cat overhears this, and he decides he will wait, rather than eat them now.
== Availability ==
Golden-Age-of-Looney-Tunes-5-F.jpg|(1997) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 5, Side 2, Early Avery (1995 Turner dubbed version)
lt jezebel dvd.jpg|(2006) DVD Jezebel (1995 Turner dubbed version)
L.T.M.C..jpg|(2012) DVD Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection (1995 Turner dubbed version)
lt mouse chronicles blu.jpg|(2012) Blu-ray Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection (USA 1995 Turner print)
lt jezebel.jpg|(2019) Blu-ray Jezebel
=== Streaming ===
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2023) (restored)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2023 - 2024) (restored)
== Notes ==
* Dr. I.M Nutts is a play on "I am nuts", or "I'm nuts".
* The carving the mice make into the wood, "Gone with the Wind", is a reference to the book and film of the same name.
* The eye chart contains the lines “FHA, WPA, CCC”. The Federal Housing Administration was a program begun by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps were programs in FDR's New Deal package, providing financial relief during the Depression.
* In 2004, a nitrate fragment of the original opening title once belonging to Tex Avery himself was auctioned on eBay.
** As Warner Bros. does not restore fragments or non-35mm prints, the Blue Ribbon titles were restored instead.
* The original title card depicts a cat chasing a mouse. However, the cat in this cartoon did not chase the mice at all.
* This was Irven Spence's last cartoon before he moved to MGM.
* On HBO Max, this cartoon is labeled as "Mice Will Play," dropping the article.
== Gallery ==
Screen Shot 2012-12-19 at 09.47.43.png|BR reissue
WB31p.jpg|Original titles
10370427 277401319099999 4471261694511660041 n.jpg|Lobby card
The Mice Will Play (1938) - Germs.jpg
The Mice Will Play (1938) - Piano.jpg
The Mice Will Play (1938) - Music.jpg
The Mice Will Play (1938) - Trumpets.jpg
== References ==
es:The Mice Will Play
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Tex Avery
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Shorts
Category:1938
Category:Mice
Category:Cartoons animated by Sid Sutherland
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Berneice Hansell
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons with missing Leon Schlesinger credits
Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist
Category:One-Shot Cartoons