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12 oz. Mouse is an American animated television series on the American channel Cartoon Network as part of the Adult Swim late night programming block. The show centers on the antisocial actions of an alcoholic mouse known as "Mouse Fitzgerald", "Fitz," "Butch," or simply "Mouse". The show was created by Matt Maiellaro, co-creator of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and produced by Williams Street for Adult Swim. The series is drawn in the style of a crude children's drawing with limited motion. The usage of firearms, drinking alcohol to excess, and indifferent homicidal acts are common activities of the anarchic lead character Mouse. During the premiere, an Adult Swim bump hinted that Matt Maiellaro had been intoxicated when he came up with the idea for the show, which is how the crude art reminiscent of "a 4-year-old on drugs" made its way into the show. The humor of "12 oz. Mouse" is surreal and often only make sense when viewed objectively. Arguably more than any other series on Adult Swim's lineup, much of "12 oz. Mouse"'s humor comes at the expense of the viewer, particularly in the second season. A few examples of this are is one episode, Star Wars VII, begins with an action packed sequence of Fitz blowing up Rooster's house and flying into out space, only to segue into an extended sequence of the Rectangular Businessman and Shark alternately trying to restart their car/buying a solid gold harmonica (neither of which happen by the end of the episode). Another episode is composed of an opening theme sequence which takes up most of the episode. The plot revolves around a bizarre conspiracy which is constantly building on itself, and going into nonsensical twists and turns. The plot, however, may be yet another surreal joke, as nothing is ever explained, and the twists seldom turn out to have any relevance (The Eye, for example, has a twin, however that has not affected anything as of yet). The crude art and strange storyline is a source of much division among viewers, and the series remains one of Adult Swim's most controversial programs. However, it must be noted that many series on Adult Swim could be considered controversial for the same reasons. The second season is currently airing on Adult Swim, scheduled to run from September to December of 2006.
Characters Listed below are some of the characters found in the dangerous world of 12 oz. Mouse: Plot
Episodes The pilot episode for 12 oz. Mouse, "Hired", premiered on June 19, 2005 and became a regular series in the Adult Swim lineup in October 2005. An Adult Swim bump shown with the sixth installment claimed that twenty additional episodes were being produced and taunted viewers who had complained they couldn't understand the absurdist series. On December 31, 2005 the "12 oz. New Year Marathon" aired, replaying all six episodes followed by the premiere of the then unfinished seventh episode "Adventure Mouse." The second season began airing on September 25, 2006. Production notes In early airings, the show was also known as "oz.Mo". In the title sequence, the "camera" was so close to the "12 oz. Mouse" title card that only the characters "oz. Mo" were visible. However, it was later discovered that "Ozmo" is the name of an educational cartoon produced by the BBC. To avoid a potential lawsuit, the producers changed the show's opening to display the entire "12 oz. Mouse" title card. Some theorize that this is symbolic for the show's format - having a larger storyline, but closing in on the smaller events as to obscure the larger picture. The animation for the character Shark originates from the Sealab 2020 cartoon that was repurposed into the Sealab 2021 show on Adult Swim. The shark animation first appeared on Adult Swim on the show Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which referred to him as "Old Kentucky Shark". The shark later appeared towards the end of an Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode entitled "Escape From Leprauchpolis." Maiellaro commissioned Lexington, Kentucky semi-professional cowpunk band Nine Pound Hammer to write and perform the opening theme song. Scott Luallen, the voice of Roostre, is also the lead singer of Nine Pound Hammer. The song played by the New Guy / Ghost is called "Princess Cruiser", performed by Tongo Hiti. 12 oz. Mouse is referred to as "12 inch Mouse" in one Adult Swim commercial using hand puppets (flying shark & flying crocodile) to disseminate new show times (however, the on-screen text still read "12 oz. Mouse"). Reaction and influence The hip hop duo DANGERDOOM (who specialize in making rap songs inspired by Adult Swim shows and is occasionally heavily marketed during Adult Swim bumps) has a song inspired by 12 oz. Mouse entitled "Korn Dogz" from their downloadable EP "Occult Hymn". The song uses audio clips from the episode "Rooster", with the line "Corn dogs for the pickin'" being recited by Danger Doom's MC MF DOOM and Mouse Fitzgerald. See also | ||||||||||
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