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Ben and Me

A Special Cartoon

Release Date : November 11, 1953

Running Time : 24:55

Synopsis

A revisionist version of American history as a small mouse comes to live with Benjamin Franklin and turns out to be responsible for many of his ideas; including the beginning of the Declaration of Independance!

Characters

Amos Mouse
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson

Credits

Director
Hamilton Luske
Animation
Wolfgang Reitherman
John Lounsberry
Cliff Nordberg
Marvin Woodward
Hugh Fraser
Eric Cleworth
Ollie Johnson
Hal King
Les Clark
Don Lusk
Harvey Toombs
Jerry Hathcock
Backgrounds
Al Dempster
Thelma Witmer
Dick Anthony
Effects Animation
George Rowley
Layout
Al Zinnen
Hugh Hennesy
Thor Putnam
Story
Bill Peet
Robert Lawson
Winston Hibler
Del Connell
Ted Sears
Music
Oliver Wallace
Narration
Sterling Holloway
Art Director
Ken Anderson
Claude Coats

Awards

Nominated for an Academy Award (Short Subjects - Two Reels)

Video

United States
Walt Disney Mini Classics : Ben and Me
Germany
Micky, Donald und Goofy im Märchenland
France
La Joyeuse Menagerie
Italy
C'era Una Volta un Topo
Ben and Me
C'era Una Volta un Topo

Laserdiscs

United States
Ben and Me / Bongo
Japan
Once Upon a Mouse

DVD

United States
Timeless Tales Volume 3
Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s - 1960s
Germany
Zauberhafte Marchenwelt 3
Italy
Walt Disney Le Fiabe 1
United Kingdom
Walt Disney's Fables : Volume 3

Television

Donald's Quack Attack: Episode 1

Technical Specification

Color Type: Technicolor
Animation Type: Standard animation
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Negative Format: 35mm
Print Format: 35mm
Cinematographic Process: Spherical
Original Language: English

Comments

From Ryan : I remember seeing this cartoon as a kid. Years later, I saw it again on Mouseterpiece Theater. I like this short pretty well. This is a good cartoons for a history teacher to show his/her class. Amos the mouse looked a lot like one of the mice from the movie "Cinderella" and a cat in one scene looked like Lucifer from the same movie.
From Olivia E. : An absolutely heart warming movie. I watched it for the first time in years after having chosen to read the Autobiography of Ben Franklin for my semester project in my English class, and all the people that Ben meets on the street in the movie were actually real people from his life.
From Jeremy Fassler : I haven't seen this short in a while, but from what I remember, I liked it a lot. I used to be a big 1776 era buff when I was about six or seven, and I used to love this short. I like the animation a lot, and I love the concept of how the mouse writes the declaration of independence in the end. I would recommend this cartoon to anyone who is a fan of history, or would like to see a good Disney cartoon.
From Christopher Cruz : I'm 22 years old and came across this cartoon short when I was 7. I saw it again at age 12 after reading the novel (which I must add, is as entertaining as the cartoon). I've always loved history, especially US history. My favorite is the Colonial Era. I haven't seen Ben and Me in a while and would like to find it on video (call me childish.) I think it's entertaining, funny, and as other reviewers have pointed out, a great thing to add to any classroom curriculum.
From Kenneth Colby : I own a copy of the video Ben and Me and use this in school classes with little boys and girs through the Sons of the American Revolution group that I belong too. They seem to relate and remember this more so than trying to talk to them about it.
From Julie Arsenault : I have always loved films (animated and live action) and also theatrical shorts that are based on books, and this was one of my favorite literary short from my childhood, because I've watched it a bunch of times as a kid, and I've even read the book too.

This short has an excellent cast featuring Sterling Holloway (Amos Mouse/Narrator), Charles Ruggles (Ben Franklin), and Hans Conried (Thomas Jefferson),and I also love why they combined paintings and the animated characters in the backgrounds. Excellent work! I recommended this short those who literary shorts and films like me.

From Baruch Weiss : This cartoon focuses on a mouse named Amos and the famous Benjamin Franklin. Amos helps Benjamin with some new inventions and he helps him with the beginning of the Declaration of Independence. This is a fabulous cartoon with nice music and background art and animation. What is more, it is part of our history told with a Disney twist (when it comes to Disney it is always mice). Finally, I enjoyed the scenes where Benjamin plays tricks on Amos.
From Billy Joe : Ben and Me is a very fun tale. It focuses on Benjamin Franklin's history, adding a fun little character, Amos Mouse (voiced by Sterling Holloway). Amos Mouse helped Ben do such things as print newspapers, and even helped him discover electricity. I really enjoyed it when Amos invented the final words for Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of Independence". It all started with a mouse. This short is recommended, and is worth watching (and rewatching too!).

This short is the first featurette produced by Disney. It was also played before the first Disney feature to be distributed by Buena Vista, "The Living Desert".

From Josh Perez : When I first purchased Disney Rarities from the Walt Disney Treasures Line the last thing I expected was to find myself with a short lasting almost 30 minutes. At first I wasn't even sure if I would buy the set, but then I noticed that it contained animated shorts so I quickly bought on the first day of release. The set contained many shorts I hadn't seen since I was a kid, but this was one short I had never seen before. As I watched it for the first time I fell in love with it and actually hoped for it to be longer than what it really was. I would have easily watched it if it was made as a feature-length film. I thought it was great. I only wish that animators now-a-days will put as much thought to their cartoons as they did back then.
From Jen : I am 40 years old. I watched "Ben and Me" in school as a child. It stuck in my head all these years, because I loved it. A great Educational, yet funny movie. For years, I've searched for this movie to buy for my own, but can't find it anywhere. Today, I found it on YouTube!!! I could'nt believe it. It is in 2 parts. I sat and watched it as if I was a kid.

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