If you are looking for this short, try the "Disney Timeless Treasures: Volume 3". It's there along with several other seldom-seen cartoon shorts.
This is the story of a mouse that lived in the Colonies in the 18th century and was a friend to Benjamin Franklin. You'll immediately notice that the mice all look an awful lot like Gus and Jacques from "Cinderella"--which had debuted a few years earlier. Additionally, you'll no-doubt recognize the voice of the narrator. It's Sterling Holloway who was the voice for Winnie the Pooh--and he really did talk like Pooh in real life! Amos the Mouse is a nice fella and friend to Franklin. However, in this version of history, Ben isn't all that bright and it's actually Amos that gives him many of his best ideas--such as the Franklin stove, the volunteer fire department, improving his almanac, the kite experiment about electricity and so forth. However, Ben took advantage of their relationship--prompting Amos to leave. If you think about it, this really is the story that was later re-tooled into "Ratatouille"--about a rat who helped a hopeless aspiring chef to become famous in his craft. And, like in "Ratatouille", Amos does eventually return to help Ben when the Revolution approaches.
All in all, a nice way to teach history to kids--albeit a tad inaccurately. However, as only stupid children will really believe a mouse was responsible for Franklin's successes, I guess there's no harm in it! Well animated, cute and clever--this is a pretty good cartoon that manages to make history fun.
By the way, although you may not recognize them unless you are a fan of old films, the voice of Franklin was done by Charlies Ruggles and Thomas Jefferson was Hans Conreid (who also played Captain Hook in Disney's "Peter Pan").
Oh, and by the way, although the film asserts that Amos helped Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence, it was actually George Mason--whose Virginia Declaration was liberally 'borrowed from' by Jefferson.
This is the story of a mouse that lived in the Colonies in the 18th century and was a friend to Benjamin Franklin. You'll immediately notice that the mice all look an awful lot like Gus and Jacques from "Cinderella"--which had debuted a few years earlier. Additionally, you'll no-doubt recognize the voice of the narrator. It's Sterling Holloway who was the voice for Winnie the Pooh--and he really did talk like Pooh in real life! Amos the Mouse is a nice fella and friend to Franklin. However, in this version of history, Ben isn't all that bright and it's actually Amos that gives him many of his best ideas--such as the Franklin stove, the volunteer fire department, improving his almanac, the kite experiment about electricity and so forth. However, Ben took advantage of their relationship--prompting Amos to leave. If you think about it, this really is the story that was later re-tooled into "Ratatouille"--about a rat who helped a hopeless aspiring chef to become famous in his craft. And, like in "Ratatouille", Amos does eventually return to help Ben when the Revolution approaches.
All in all, a nice way to teach history to kids--albeit a tad inaccurately. However, as only stupid children will really believe a mouse was responsible for Franklin's successes, I guess there's no harm in it! Well animated, cute and clever--this is a pretty good cartoon that manages to make history fun.
By the way, although you may not recognize them unless you are a fan of old films, the voice of Franklin was done by Charlies Ruggles and Thomas Jefferson was Hans Conreid (who also played Captain Hook in Disney's "Peter Pan").
Oh, and by the way, although the film asserts that Amos helped Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence, it was actually George Mason--whose Virginia Declaration was liberally 'borrowed from' by Jefferson.