The Mice Will Play is a 1938 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery.
When the laboratory of Dr. I.M Nutts is closed for the night, a group of mice come out of their mouse hole, and, after learning that the lab is empty, begin playing with the equipment: checking out bacteria samples under the microscope, listening with a stethoscope, looking an eye chart through glasses, and nearly needling their leader Johnny in the rear end (only to be stopped by a man in the audience). As all this is going on, in the next room, white mouse Susie, who is set to be used for an experiment in the morning, desperately tries to get help. When her cries (and her note) are answered by Johnny, he saves her, and ends up getting more than gratitude from her. Throughout the cartoon, the mice are unknowningly stalked by a cat who, after tying on a napkin and grabbing a knife and fork, prepares to pounce on the group, but a comment from Susie makes him decide to be patient.
Tropes appearing in this cartoon:
- Babies Ever After: Susie implies she and Johnny will have lots of kids.
- Born in the Theatre: Some mice were about to prank Johnny by stabbing his butt with a syringe, a silhouette of an audience member stands up and yells, "Don't do that!", so the mice sourly abandon their prank.
- Cardboard Prison: Johnny's opens Susie's cage door the same way someone opens a window shutter, it wasn't even locked.
- Cardiovascular Love: Susie shows an X-ray of her heart that's a Valentine's Day heart that reads, "I love you".
- Happily Married: Johnny and Susie at the end of the cartoon.
- Living Shadow: Johnny's shadow hits it's head on a pipe when their first sneaking in.
- Mouse Hole: The mice make plenty of them by chewing through the walls, though their more circular rather then arch shaped. At one point while checking if the place was empty, they all chew through the wall, each forming an individual letter that creates the message, "Gone with the Wind".
- Pragmatic Villainy: At the end of the cartoon, when the cat was about to pounce, he hears Susie says that eventually there will be lots of little, fat mice. The prospect of an even bigger meal convinced him to wait.
- Punny Name: The lab belongs to Dr. I.M. Nutts.
- Rescue Romance: Susie instantly falls for Johnny after he saves her.
- Species Surname: Susie signs her rescue note, "Susie Mouse".
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: When Johnny reads Susie's rescue note, he comments, "Gee, she must be in trouble", to which extra writing instantly appears on the paper that reads, "P.S. you said it, Big Boy!"
