STUART LITTLE from Stuart Little (1999)
JAQ, GUS, SUZY, AND CO. from Cinderella (1950)
TEMPLETON from Charlotte's Web (1973)
SCABBERS from The Harry Potter movies
BIANCA AND BERNARD from The Rescuers (1977)
MRS. BRISBY AND CO. from The Secret of NIMH (1982)
MASTER SPLINTER from TMNT (2007)
MICKEY MOUSE from Fantasia (1940)
FIEVEL from An American Tail (1986)
BEN from Ben (1972)
BASIL OF BAKER STREET from The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
RODDY AND RITA from Flushed Away (2006)
Many of you who know me know that I love mice. I have been since childhood, it became a nickname, I collect these little Charming Tail figurines… but anyways, I like mice. Especially fictional rodents, be they cute or funny.
So in reviewing the EW list, I see many movies I enjoy. The Secret of NIMH is probably my favorite on the list, with An American Tale, The Rescuers and The Great Mouse Detective to follow.
I never liked Stuart Little—I find the computer animation of his face to be creepy looking. And honestly, I could live without Scabbers, Master Splinter (especially from the 2007 TMNT version), Ben and Roddy & Rita.
Anyways, do I have a point? Indeed I do. I did notice some vacancies on the list that surprised me. I realized that they were speaking of film rodents only, so that disqualifies any television or literary characters.
Still, I was at a loss that they didn’t include The Chipmunks. I mean come on, what about 1987’s The Chipmunk Adventure? How cool is that movie?!
And yes, I admit, I do own it on DVD. Maybe it’s just a childhood nostalgia thing for me, but the Chipmunks (and Chipettes) in general are largely known characters in pop-culture. And they’ve appeared on film, so they should’ve made the list!
However, the other character the list lacked was the most shocking to me. I mean, really, how do you not list Rizzo the Rat? He’s been a character in all of the Muppets' feature films. He was co-narrator in 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Rizzo and his family had some great scenes in the diner in 1984’s The Muppets Take Manhattan. Does Entertainment Weekly not remember this scene?
So who’s with me on this one? Thoughts, comments, opinions? Is there anybody out there? *Squeak* Okay, I’ll just go eat my string cheese in the corner.
3 comments:
I'm 100% behind you with Rizzo the Rat. He is, in my book, the quintessential movie rodent. I can almost guarantee that he is better than any charcter in Ratatouille (but I'm biased because I have no interest in that film).
The Chipmunks are also incredibly important to pop culture. I can't think of anyone I grew up with in the 80s that didn't know who they were. (And hello, what about the "Hula Hoop" song at Christmas?) I would agree with you there.
Side gripe: I don't care for any movie that has a title that is so "difficult" that they have to tell you how to pronounce it in their advertising. We'll take the film at hand. Disney has been advertising it as "Ratatouille: Rat-a-too-ee." Sure, cute title given the content, but if your audience can't say it on their own, it's probably not a good title.
Nice post. It is so easy to forget what a major role mice have played in pop culture history. I loved The Rescuers and An American Tail growing up.
I do have a favorite mouse character that has yet to be mentioned, although to be fair he was a book and television mouse rather than movies. The mouse was Ralph from the Beverly Cleary books.
Two of the stories were later adapted to television for ABC Weekend Specials. They were The Mouse and the Motorcycle in 1986 and then in 1988 Runaway Ralph which featured the acting talents of Fred Savage, Kellie Martin and Sara Gilbert.
Ralph was definitely one of the ones I was thinking of, other than Jerry from Tom & Jerry, Mighty Mouse...I could've kept going, but I had to stick with only film since that's what the list entailed.
Post a Comment