Outer Space Visitor
- Studio
- TerryToon Cartoons
- Distributor
- 20th Century Fox
Synopsis
The mice of Cheeseville, who are farmers, are having a Saturday night barn dance. They receive a visit from a little mechanical creature (complete with diapers!) from outer space who looks and sounds harmless (they think he's funny and cute)- until one of their scientists translates the little character's language, and finds out that his father is planning to invade the earth and destroy Cheeseville. When the creature's father comes looking for him, he is 40 feet tall and breathing fire. An urgent call is sent to Mighty Mouse, who flies down and sends the evil aliens back to their own solar system, though even he has his hands full at first.
Characters
Mighty Mouse, Baby Robot Alien, Father Robot Alien, Scientist, Farmer Mice
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Dave Tendlar
Producing
- Producer
- Gene Deitch
Writing
- Writer
- John Foster
Voices
- Voice
- Tom Morrison (Mighty Mouse)
Music
- Music
- Philip A. Scheib
Production notes
One of three shorts produced for inclusion in CBS-TV's Mighty Mouse Playhouse.
Created by I. (Izzy) Klein in the spring of 1940, this character was originally designed as a fly. Paul Terry liked the concept, and green-lighted the project after changing the fly to a mouse called, "Supermouse."
After two years on the screen, the Supermouse name was changed to Mighty Mouse. Some reports are that the threat of a lawsuit from DC Comics was behind this name change. Others insist that Terry did not want to compete against a character of the same name that an ex-TerryToons employee drew for Coo Coo Comics.
In any case, in 1944, the character's name was changed, and the Supermouse cartoons were retitled to the new name.
Created by I. (Izzy) Klein in the spring of 1940, this character was originally designed as a fly. Paul Terry liked the concept, and green-lighted the project after changing the fly to a mouse called, "Supermouse."
After two years on the screen, the Supermouse name was changed to Mighty Mouse. Some reports are that the threat of a lawsuit from DC Comics was behind this name change. Others insist that Terry did not want to compete against a character of the same name that an ex-TerryToons employee drew for Coo Coo Comics.
In any case, in 1944, the character's name was changed, and the Supermouse cartoons were retitled to the new name.
Pictures
Reviews
Outer Space Visitor
In late 1959, Mighty Mouse re-appeared on CBS in a kind of updated version of himself (he put on a little weight...just a little)in this cartoon! It was the first time with The Outer Space Visitor that you were able to see the opening credits of any Mighty Mouse cartoon! I was born in November 1959, the very same month that this cartoon was released, and I remember seeing it probably during 1965-1967. The Outer Space Visitor was about a young robot (hope I remember this correctly) who was found by a group of mice, and they took him to see a professor, who had a machine to make sense of what the young visitor was saying; since it spoke in jibberish language. As the professor turned the machine on, the words of what the "baby robot" became clear..."Just wait till my father gets here", it replied! The mice all said..."HIS FATHER?" His so-called father was a "BIGGER THAN LIFE SIZE" of the baby robot, which breathed fire, and destroyed houses, trees, you name it. As the mice all began to run in panic, the professor said, "Send for Mighty Mouse!" As one of the young mice dived into a telegraph office door window and began to wire our hero. Dit-Dit-Dit-Dash-Dash went the sound of the telgraph machine! I just love the music in this part of the cartoon as the sound of a trumpet leads the narrator to say..."The call reaches..."Mighty Mouse!" Mighty Mouse is dosing for a brief second when he suddenly wakes up and replies..."That spells real trouble!" And he zooms throught the night sky at the speed of light! Now, The Outer Space Visitor, and the other two Mighty Mouse Cartoons that were done in 1961 were the last of the CBS Films Cartoons done with Mighty Mouse as a theatrical subject, as he went into retirement until 1980, when CBS had Filmation do a number of episodes. When Outer Space Visitor, The Mysterious Package, and Cat Alarm were done, critics called the animation of these cartoons weak and poor! Also, the music was different too...but I just loved them! :^) And yes, as I mentioned earlier, I do have an attachment to this group of Mighty Mouse cartoons because they were done during my first 5 years of life! And I still remember sitting in front of the television watching not only those cartoon titles, but the older ones as well. I remember too that one of my cousins had a Mighty Mouse In Outer Space Poster in her bedroom, and I wanted one just like it! :^) My one wish right now is that whoever owns the rights to the characters now would please consider putting them on DVD or Video. My next review will be on The Mysterious Package and Cat Alarm. I may have missed some key features of Outer Space Visitor, but I'm now in my forties, and well...I'm getting up in age now too! This year marks the 60th Birthday of our hero, and wouldn't it be nice for one of the channels (perhaps CBS) to mark it by showing a Saturday Morning of his cartoons? :^) I doubt very seriously that Cartoon Network would even try putting it on TV. How about TV Land on Saturday Mornings?