The Mouse That Jack Built (1959)

The Mouse That Jack Built Review

The Mouse That Jack Built is a 1959 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a solid, but overly dated short.

This was pretty much a Merry Melodies version of The Jack Benny Program, even featuring Benny himself both in a voice role and in person during that live-action segment in the finale. Thus, this must have been a very funny cartoon for audiences of the day, but nowadays it lost its comedic appeal. I haven’t seen that program, so I missed most of the jokes here.

With that being said, this is one of the better shorts that riffed on personalities because the overall cat and mouse narrative was solid enough that the final product isn’t too difficult and quaint to understand. The dynamic between the mice was excellent and the husband being a cheapskate produced some amusing moments. The live-action finale is also quite memorable and authentic.

The Mouse That Jack Built is definitely difficult to understand nowadays due to its parodying nature, but the characterization and voice acting are solid regardless.

My Rating – 3.5