The Country Mouse

The Country Mousehttps://archive.org/details/Motionpict19591960librrich0008/page/68/mode/1up?view=theaterhttps://books.google.com/books?id=xVNhAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA425&dq=country+mouse+catalog+1935&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-rLq8tub8AhUWkWoFHfpHDpIQ6AF6BAgFEAM is a 1935 Merrie Melodies short directed by Isadore Freleng. 
== Plot ==
A tough mouse named Elmer is punching a boxing bag, showcasing his skills to a crowd including Beans and Porky. Elmer wants to become the heavyweight champion of the world. He shows his skill to his grandma by punching a scarecrow, but the scarecrow's arm holding a stick bops Elmer in the head. His grandma tells him to do his chore of chopping down wood. Elmer slides through each side of the tree using an axe, but his grandma is not amused and shows off her own strength, which is remarkably greater than his. Elmer states that he wants to be a fighter, but his grandma just drags him into the house by his ear in frustration.
That night, he sneaks off to go to the city to take part in a boxing match. His opponent, the champion, is a bulldog, and Elmer proves to be extremely weak against him, despite landing a few hits at the bulldog's face before the bulldog turns the tables and pulverizes Elmer while the crowd laughs riotously at his misfortune. Back at Elmer's house, his grandma happens to hear the boxing match on the radio, and she goes after him so she can stop him fighting. She cycles to the boxing match, and punches the bulldog and knocks him out, wins the match, and receives a crown. Despite her victory, her work is not done yet; she grabs Elmer's ear and spanks him as punishment for sneaking out of the house, as the audience again laughs riotously at Elmer's situation.
== Availability ==
Golden-Age-of-Looney-Tunes-5-F.jpg|(1997) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 5, Side 4, Musical Madness (USA 1995 dubbed print)
L.T.M.C..jpg|(2012) DVD Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection (USA 1995 dubbed print)
lt mouse chronicles blu.jpg|(2012) Blu-ray Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection (USA 1995 Turner print)
== Notes ==
* When the short was reissued, the title was changed to Country Mouse.
* Beans makes a cameo at the beginning of the short. Porky also makes a cameo to comfort a stunned Elmer after the mouse has been knocked out in the wrestling match.
* In the opening shot, a poster on the wall depicts a boxer named "Battling Freleng", a reference to director Friz Freleng.
* Another poster shows a boxer named “Bugs”, a nickname for director Ben Hardaway. The prototype for Bugs Bunny would not appear until three years later in "Porky's Hare Hunt", directed by Hardaway and Cal Dalton.
* It is the oldest cartoon released to be reissued into the Blue Ribbon program.
* MeTV aired a previously unreleased restored print of the cartoon on Saturday Morning Cartoons.
== References ==
es:Country Mouse
Category:Cartoons directed by Friz Freleng
Category:Porky Pig Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:1935
Category:Mice
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons animated by Don Williams
Category:Cartoons with music by Bernard Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Norman Spencer
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons with missing Leon Schlesinger credits
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Bernard B. Brown
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:One-Shot Cartoons
Category:Boxing Cartoons