City of Mice (1985)

A community of mice is living peacefully when news comes that...a cat has been seen! Everyone scrambles for action, and when they are told a new city for mice has been established, safe for all visitors, they mount an expedition. But as they make their way through the land, the cat is following. It gets closer and closer, and may devour them all before they reach safety...

City of Mice may not be the first film that springs to mind when one thinks of Persian cinema, with the gripping and depressing social dramas that sweep the Oscars seasons. But it's fondly remembered among the youth of yesteryear, and remains a classic to this day.

Despite a thin plot, which basically consists of mice trekking from one place to another, the film is never boring, and moves along at a quick pace. We get comedy bits and musical numbers as the characters mess about. All the while, the villain is an everpresent danger, following the trail left behind.

With a whole town of mice to follow, the trekking party splits in two, leaving us with the kids, who are sent alone with a teacher to go along the longer path while the adults take the shortcut. I couldn't help but think what assholes the parents were for leaving the kids on the own like that! I know the shortcut is technically riskier, but you're still kinda letting your kids be cat bait!

I also wondered how smart of an idea it was to abandon a perfectly good town. I hoped the new city wasn't a trap, or already full up! It won't do the mice any good if there's a refugee crisis, and the sanctuary isn't big enough. A cautionary tale to leave well enough alone...

Despite the number of characters, them only having nicknames, and their being mouse puppets, it might seem hard to keep track of who's who, but the cast does whittle itself down to following only the kids. They have pretty basic personalities, so there'd no real need to memorise.

They are all typical schoolchildren. The funny prologue that will ring true for anyone who's ever tried managing a class of grade schoolers. Despite their naughtiness and jabs at each-other though, they're good kids who go the extra mile. The cast also includes a briefly appearing karate mouse from Japan!

While coming from Iran, the film isn't overly Islamic. A couple of hijabs are visible, but they're not draped over every female character, nor are there any messages about how the Ayatollah demands women stay in the kitchen. Persian characteristics comes through from little behaviours, like their constant use of Dear.

As well as being cute, City of Mice is also known as being scary! The creepiness is balanced well. If you're familiar with the terrifying 80s kids films like The Dark Crystal, Return to Oz, or NeverEnding Story, this isn't quite on that level. The cat provides the lion's share of scares, but the rest of the film is fairly light.

City of Mice is an effects heavy film, with a cast made up entirely of little puppets. They move well, and are never unconvincing. You know they're puppets, but they're not stiff or covered in obvious strings. Their shivering is adorable too! There's also a human performances, courtesy of the cat. Instead of trying to mimic a real feline, it's just a guy in a costume stomping about, which is amusingly different.

The climax has plenty of pyrotechnics on display, which somehow manage not to destroy any puppets or set any actors on fire. The location work is really good too, with a seamless mix of real natural areas, mock-ups, and sets.

Most important is the voice cast. In any film as cutesy as this, particularly with mice as the heroes, you may be expecting high pitched squeak, and sure enough that's the case. There are times here and there where it can get a little annoying, or at least illegible, but for the most part the performers manage to sound cute and mousy enough, for long periods of time, without ever causing the audience's ears to bleed.

The music here is nice enough, with a good score, and a variety of songs with some fun lyrics. They recur a bit, but not annoyingly so

City of Mice is a fun movie, and deservedly a children's classic in its home country. It even got a belated sequel in 2014! I'll have to check that out soon, and hopefully it lives up to the creativity of the first entry...