Merlin the Magic Mouse


Merlin the Magic Mouse is an animated cartoon mouse, who starred in five Warner Bros. Looney Tunes shorts late in the series, from 1967 to 1969. The first cartoon was Merlin the Magic Mouse, directed by Alex Lovy.
In 1967, Jack L. Warner reorganized the Warner Bros. animation department, and hired Lovy away from Hanna-Barbera Productions to create new characters for Warners. The two that Lovy came up with were Merlin the Magic Mouse and Cool Cat.

History

Merlin was a nightclub magician who traveled around for work. Much of the humour of the character derived from the fact that, while he was often regarded as a cheap stage magician, he knew some very real and powerful magic tricks. His magic words were typically "Atascadero Escondido!" Merlin also has a sidekick, appropriately named Second Banana, which is a slang term for a magician's assistant.
Daws Butler provided the voice of Merlin and Second Banana in the first short, Merlin the Magic Mouse; Larry Storch performed the voices for the other four films. Merlin's vocal mannerisms are based on that W.C. Fields.

Titles