Holiday Memories: The Mouse on the Mayflower

 

Rankin/Bass began their tradition of holiday specials with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964; it was followed in 1967 by the much less well-known Cricket on the Hearth, one of Charles Dickens’ more obscure Christmas stories. The Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) came next and was the first animated TV special dedicated to the November holiday. Rankin/Bass produced it, but it was animated overseas by the Japanese studio Toei Animation, with key animation by (surprise!) Hayao Miyazaki. It came out the same year as The Little Drummer Boy.

The story is what one might expect. The Pilgrims leave Europe to find a place where they can practice their religion without government oversight. They have a tough crossing, a tough winter, and with the help from their neighboring indigenous people learn to adapt to the land, and then together in autumn they celebrate a bountiful harvest.

There are, of course, ‘festoonings’. As a framing device, everything is narrated by a mouse, William Mouse, Esq. (voiced by Tennessee Ernie Ford), whose ancestor, Willum Churchmouse, came over on the Mayflower and left a record of the same. Willum, of course, is a hero forgotten by time, as when he points out a scheme to shore up a breaking timber on the Mayflower with a printing press. The same sort of framing device of a mouse-eye view was used in Disney’s Ben and Me (1958), the adaptation of Robert Lawson’s 1939 book. The same sort of influence can be seen in the design of a grizzly bear, who looks almost exactly like Baloo, all the way down to his fur color.

Further ‘festoonings’ are Quizler and Scurve, two villainous sailors who are after ‘the pilgrims’ gold’ and work to sabotage the voyage. Once landed they join up with Smiling Buzzard and his pet Big Wheeze to foment trouble between the Pilgrims and Indians but are foiled by Willum and his native counterpart Thunder. Another complication is ‘The Courtship of Miles Standish’, with the brash commander (voiced by Eddie Albert) in pursuit of Priscilla Mullins, who sings a very ‘Disney princess’ song about her preferred beau, John Alden. This stops the hour-long special dead in its tracks for what seemed like forever to a kid. Eventually all is well and Thanksgiving happens, a happy ending … for now.

I’m fairly sure I saw the premiere of the show, though I must have been 5 at the time. I remember the circumstances of another year (1970?) much better. That’s because the special came on in the middle of Thanksgiving Day, and it had just started when we had to voyage to San Marcos for dinner at Nanny’s (my mother’s mother, and perhaps the worst cook in the family; Mom learned all her skills from her Aunt Marzee). We did arrive in time to catch the ending at her house while she finished preparing the meal, which was some consolation.

So, how good was it? Well, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. An entertainment that was struggling for something but didn’t quite manage to gel. Perhaps it was just too long. It kind of faded out over time; I don’t think it was shown locally past the early Seventies. Tons of talent involved; Romeo Muller (writer), Paul Frees and June Foray (voices), Maury Laws (Music) and Jules Bass (Lyrics). Check out the songs sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford. “MAY … Fla-a-r! MAY … Fla-a-r!”