The Devil and Daniel Mouse

October 31, 2024 7:16 PM

Kineko Video presents a restored 16mm film scan of the 1978 animated Halloween television special "The Devil and Daniel Mouse", the second television special produced by the Canadian animation company Nelvana. It is loosely based on the 1936 short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benét and features original songs by John Sebastian.
posted by Catblack (14 comments total)

Technicalities, always technicalities.

also: look where the music can take you.
posted by hearthpig at 7:20 PM on October 31 [1 favorite]

Nice to see this in circulation again. It provided source material for an old Bauhaus b-side.
posted by abraxasaxarba at 7:33 PM on October 31 [10 favorites]

Man some of this animation is so beautiful.
posted by egypturnash at 8:39 PM on October 31 [1 favorite]

Wow. I am pretty certain I saw this when it first aired. Thanks for posting this, I think I will watch it for the second time. I haven't thought about it in decades. Cool!

46 years is a long time between viewings but what the hey.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:44 AM on November 1

When I was a kid, pre-VCR, there were three films you could borrow with a projector from the tiny local library: this, Condorman, and Cloak and Dagger. In my small town, this meant that there was a birthday party film circuit where kids saw these movies probably eight zillion times over the course of about two years.

I've recently rewatched the latter two (Condorman is pretty awful, Cloak and Dagger is surprisingly good), and I'm really looking forward to revisiting this!
posted by Shepherd at 1:45 AM on November 1 [5 favorites]

I know I've seen this -- I assume it was on Nickelodeon in the early days or something. I don't really remember that much about it, other than that weird feeling that it's incredibly familiar for reasons I can't place.

The design and styling is wonderful.

I'm always happy when things like this aren't lost to time.
posted by edencosmic at 6:13 AM on November 1

I recall the inspirational song that they sing at the end as being, uh, not to my taste.

The plot reminds me a little bit of Nelvana's Rock & Rule (1983), which might loosely be described as a remake.
posted by ovvl at 6:16 AM on November 1 [1 favorite]

Thanks! I vividly remember Cosmic Xmas and Rome0 & Julie8 but never saw this. It's amazing how sophisticated a lot of today's student work looks in comparison. I started at Nelvana in the mid 80s on the Star Wars Saturday morning cartoons. A lot of the top talent had moved on after the Rock and Rule debacle, so it was very much a learn-on-the-job situation for many of us.
posted by brachiopod at 6:20 AM on November 1 [1 favorite]

They showed it to us at school at the time.
posted by stevil at 8:43 AM on November 1

I know I saw this when I was very little, I presume on TV, because I absolutely recall being terrified of the devil. There was always something very strange and unsettling about watching a cartoon that I slowly understood was not for children (there's a torture scene in A Man Called Flintstone that ruined my whole week when I was like nine years old), especially if it really looked like it was for kids.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:42 AM on November 1

They sure were obsessed by deals with the devil in the 70's.. Phantom of the Paradise, Oh, God!, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, the deals made with Palpitine in Star Wars. Even the Muppets referenced it. It was hinted at in The Shining during the bar scene, where he'd give his soul for a drink.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia was based on a poem Charlie Daniels read in high school called “The Mountain Whippoorwill” by Stephen Vincent Benét, also famous for “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” Short stories and poems have great reach when they tap into popular mood.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:57 AM on November 1 [1 favorite]

LOL the weasel putting an ice pack on his ass during the contract signing.

Anyone know why the rowboat was called the Walter E?
posted by Mitheral at 10:46 AM on November 1

Oh my gosh, I LOVED this when I was younger. I barely even remembered that it existed, so thank you for sharing this information.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 3:43 PM on November 1

Anyone know why the rowboat was called the Walter E?

In honor of Walter Elias Disney, mayhaps?
posted by retronic at 12:28 PM on November 3