Merlin the Magic Mouse is an animated cartoon mouse, who starred in five Warner Bros. Looney Tunes shorts late in the series, from 1967 to 1969.[1] The first cartoon was Merlin the Magic Mouse, directed by Alex Lovy.
| Merlin the Magic Mouse and Second Banana | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967) |
| Created by | Alex Lovy |
| Designed by | Jaime Diaz |
| Voiced by | Daws Butler (1967) Larry Storch (1968–1969) JP Karliak (2023–present) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Mouse |
| Gender | Male |
In 1967, Jack L. Warner reorganized the Warner Bros. animation department, and hired Lovy away from Hanna-Barbera Productions to create new characters for Warner Bros. The two that Lovy came up with were Merlin the Magic Mouse and Cool Cat.[2]
History
editMerlin was a nightclub magician (he usually preferred to be called a prestidigitator, though he could never pronounce this correctly) who traveled around for work.[3] Much of the humor of the character derived from the fact that, while he was often regarded as a cheap stage magician, he knew some very real and powerful magic tricks. His magic words were typically "Atascadero Escondido!" Merlin also has a sidekick, appropriately named Second Banana, which is a slang term for a magician's assistant.
Daws Butler provided the voice of Merlin and Second Banana in the first short, Merlin the Magic Mouse; Larry Storch performed the voices for the other four films.[4] Merlin's vocal mannerisms are based on that of W.C. Fields.[4]
He would later be featured in Tiny Toons Looniversity, voiced by J. P. Karliak.[5]
Titles
edit- Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967)
- Hocus Pocus Powwow (1968)
- Feud with a Dude (1968)
- Fistic Mystic (1969)
- Shamrock and Roll (1969)
References
edit- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 104. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (Revised ed.). Plume. p. 276. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
- ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 166. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ a b Merlin the Magic Mouse at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Extra, So Extra". IMDb.
