By Word of Mouse

By Word of Mouse
Lobby card.
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	October 2, 1954
Run time	7:55
Starring	Mel Blanc Stan Freberg
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Milt Franklyn
Story by	Warren Foster
Animation	Ben Washam Ted Bonnicksen Arthur Davis Gerry Chiniquy
Director(s)	I. Freleng
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By Word of Mouse is a three hundred and forty-second Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on October 2, 1954. It was written by Warren Foster, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Friz Freleng.

Hans, a mouse from Germany, recounts the tale of how met his cousin in the United States, and how they got educated on free market capitalism.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Sylvester	Mel Blanc

Locations

• Earth
  • Germany
    • Knöckwurst-on-der-Rye
  • United States
    • Upper New York Bay
      • Liberty Island
        • Statue of Liberty
    • New York
      • Stacy's Department Store
      • Rival Department Store
      • Putnell University

Production

Development

This is the first of three Warner Bros. cartoons underwritten by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and is followed by Heir-Conditioned (1955) and the Merrie Melodies short Yankee Dood It (1956).

Music

The music was composed by Milt Franklyn.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: October 2, 1954 in theaters

Behind the scenes

• The title is a play on "word of mouth." You're welcome.
• The German town's name, Knöckwurst-on-der-Rye, is a play on knackwurst (a type of sausage from the northern region of Germany) and rye bread.
• Putnell University is a parody of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
• Upon seeing Sylvester, Hans says "Ich taw Ich taw ein pussycat," a semi-German translation of Tweety's catchphrase, "I tawt I taw a puddy tat."

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6