Max, the 2000-Year-Old Mouse

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| runtime = 5.5 minutes

| creator =

| company = {{Plainlist|

}}

| narrated = Bernard Cowan

| director = Shamus Culhane

| producer = Steve Krantz

| executive_producer =

| country = Canada

| network = ITV
CBC

| first_aired = {{start date|1967}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1992}}

| num_seasons =

| num_episodes = 104

| list_episodes =

}}

Max, the 2000-Year-Old Mouse is a 1967 Canadian animated television series produced by Steve Krantz, which originally aired on Canadian Broadcast Corporation in Canada in 1967 and became popular in several parts of the world, most notably the United States, where it was syndicated on both local and PBS stations between 1969 and 1979,{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/180/mode/2up |access-date=14 March 2020 |page=180}} and also the United Kingdom, where it was repeated numerous times on the ITV network between its original transmission in 1969 and its last showing to date in 1992.

Overview

The series was an educational show, aimed at children, in which still pictures and limited animations told stories about important figures and key events in Western history.{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |page=383}} 104 episodes were made in total, each running at five and a half minutes in length.

The episodes were filmed quickly and cheaply, and the premise of the show was simple. An episode typically begins in a room in a museum, with artifacts on display while the unseen and unnamed narrator (Bernard Cowan) introduces the era and historical person(s) to be featured. Key figures whose biographies were explored in the series included Paul Revere, Buffalo Bill, and Daniel Boone, among many others, with Max dubiously claiming to have helped all of them over the course of his very long life.{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |page=534}}

A few years later, Krantz reused the general format (and voice cast) for the similar series Professor Kitzel. The show's theme music was also later used by Siskel and Ebert's movie review series for PBS, Sneak Previews.

Max

Max, voiced by Paul Soles, is a pink mouse who lived in the museum, essentially served as comic relief and also helped with the narration, while repeatedly claiming to have been a witness of and/or participant in various historical events. Footage of Max, set in the past or present, typically shows him as comically clumsy with contemporary tools and weapons like Mister Peabody.

Episodes

References

External links

{{IMDb title|300803}}

Category:1960s Canadian animated television series

Category:1970s Canadian animated television series

Category:1980s Canadian animated television series

Category:1990s Canadian animated television series

Category:1960s Canadian children's television series

Category:1970s Canadian children's television series

Category:1980s Canadian children's television series

Category:1990s Canadian children's television series

Category:1967 Canadian television series debuts

Category:1992 Canadian television series endings

Category:Animated television series about mice and rats

Category:Canadian children's animated education television series

Category:Television series by Grantray-Lawrence Animation

Category:Children's television series about talking animals