Merlin the Magic Mouse

Towards the end of the classic era of Looney Tunes, during the Warner Bros-Seven Arts period, WB tried to come up with new characters that would catch on with audiences and replace the older characters who had arguably become passé. To this end they created turds like Cool Cat and this gem, Merlin the Magic Mouse. Merlin is a mouse that also happens to be a magician and he sounds like W.C. Fields and has a sidekick named Second Banana. All of those things sound like WB was really in tune with the audiences of the late 1960s, right? This first cartoon in the mercifully short series has Merlin trying to put on his magic routine without tipping off his sole audience member, a cat, that he's a mouse. He does this by putting on...sigh...putting on a fake mustache. This bit is annoying enough but it's made worse by the sidekick character spelling out the "joke" for the audience of presumably bored viewers.

Like other WB cartoons from this period, the quality of the craftsmanship is poor. The animation, writing, music, sound effects are all subpar even for TV of the time. The only thing remotely good about it is the voice work of legend Daws Butler, but he can only do so much. I especially hate the music, which is stock crap and grates on your nerves within the first minute.

In 1967, after having the DePatie-Freleng production team make their cartoons for the last 4 years, the Warner Bros. cartoon studio reopened though instead of bringing back their classic characters-other then Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzalas-they created new ones. This one marked the debut of the title character with the W.C. Fields-like voice which is impersonated here by Daws Butler, not Larry Storch like subsequent ones. Butler also voices Second Banana and a cat. Anyway, the theater that Merlin and S.B. are playing has just that cat in the audience so the magician puts on a big mustache to disguise himself. Okay, that's pretty lame but it fools the cat for awhile. Now, other than a wheel with gloved hands on each spoke making "appaluse" sounds, there isn't anything even amusing in this short. The whole thing has the feel of really lame Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon product which was the quality of the actual thing at this time which shouldn't be surprising since one of that company's directors, Alex Lovy, helmed this one. So on that note, Merlin the Magic Mouse is definitely not recommended.

Have always been a huge fan of Looney Tunes, which in their prime were beautifully made, scored and hilarious cartoons with some of the most iconic characters in animation.

None of these are present in 'Merlin the Magic Mouse'. Alternatively, 'Merlin the Magic Mouse' is a classic example of how badly the decline in quality was. It's even worse than the worst of the Daffy/Speedy cartoons and the worst of Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote, and also on the same level of 'Pre-Hysterical Hare' and 'Devil's Feud Cake'.

Sure there are more inept cartoons than this, where looking for a redeeming merit is impossible. Oddly, 'Merlin the Magic Mouse' is redeemed by the spirited voice work of Daws Butler, who always gave his all even when the material was beneath him (which it certainly was here).

On the other hand, the animation clearly suffers from smaller budgets and tighter deadlines. Everything looks so flat, scrappy and rushed, none of the colour, liveliness and fluidity seen with Looney Tunes at its best. Have also rarely been a fan of the stock/canned music that Bill Lava adopted, and 'Merlin the Magic Mouse' contains some of his cheapest-sounding, annoying and ill-fitting.

The writing is incredibly lazy, nothing sticks out as remotely amusing let alone hilarious and there's nothing endearing or anything that sticks out. The story is tired and disjointed, Looney Tunes at their best are some of the zaniest, wildest, wittiest and liveliest cartoons ever. 'Merlin the Magic Mouse' is an extremely pale shadow of all that, and actually doesn't feel like Looney Tunes, actually feeling a rejected and very low-budget Hanna-Barbera effort.

While one doesn't expect the iconic Looney Tunes to stick around forever, surely they could have come up with more memorable, interesting, likable and funnier characters than the characters here. Was especially irritated by the sidekick character.

Overall, a classic example of Looney Tunes in decline. Apart from Daws Butler, nothing works. 2/10 Bethany Cox