Mighty Mouse just a mouse click away

March 24, 2008 10:03 pm

— Every once in a while I find myself sitting at the computer with a little spare time on my hands. Such as, oh, every day between 9 a.m. and midnight.
Occasionally, I’ll pass the time by free-associating with my search engine. I’ll just type the first thing that pops into my head, hit the “go” button, and see what turns up. It’s always interesting and occasionally, instructive. For example, did you know that the Phillips or crosshead screw was named for Portland industrialist Henry F. Phillips (1890-1958), who patented the design in 1934 and ‘36, but lost the patent in ‘49?
Hey, I said instructive. I didn’t say useful.
Anyway, I was playing this game the other day when I free-associated the words “Mighty Mouse” into the search engine. I landed at YouTube, where I soon was watching Mighty Mouse cartoons.
It was almost like traveling through time.
Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for 1961. It’s a Saturday morning on Gilmore Road, where Mike and his brother P.D. bask in the bluish glow of the family’s old Zenith television set, plowing through heaping bowls of Cheerios and drinking large glasses of tap-water-temperature Tang while watching the Rodent Of Tomorrow.
The cartoon is one that will make a deep and lasting impression. Entitled “Krakatoa,” it is the story of island mice living a blissful existence in the shadow of a menacing volcano. The volcano erupts and Mighty Mouse saves the day by rescuing the mice and then tying off the mouth of the volcano with the contrail that follows him as he flies (a trick Superman doesn’t seem to have in his super-arsenal.)
Of course, there’s a girl mouse to be rescued — Krakatoa Katie, who makes her appearance early in the cartoon, dancing to her theme song — “Krakatoa Katie, she ain’t no lady, when she starts to shake her sarong.”
(Did I say deep and lasting impression? I hadn’t seen the cartoon in 40-some years and I still knew all the words to the song.)
The boys’ father walks into the room. He wants them to help him mow the yard. Then he catches a glimpse of what’s on TV and sits down to watch, and we have one of those charming scenes right out of Norman Rockwell, the Dad and his boys enjoying some television together, until Mom comes in, says something sharp, shuts off the set and shoos them all out of the house.
OK, Sherman. Back to the present. What did we learn? Watching “Krakatoa” again after 40-some years, I know why Dad sat down to watch. Katie is, to put it bluntly, a well-built little cartoon mouse. She is also what we might call minimally dressed. And when she goes into her dance, it becomes apparent that the artists at Terrytoons have been to the burlesque a time or two. Va-va-voom.
Which also explains why Mom reacted as she did.
But the knowledge, I am afraid, comes with a price. That song about Katie shaking her sarong has been in my head for the last two days and so far, nothing — NOTHING — has gotten it out. But I have hopes. I just opened up the search engine and free-associated “Milton The Monster” — Six drops of the essence of terror, five drops of sinister sauce ...”
And if that doesn’t work, I’ll just take the computer apart. With a screwdriver. A Phillips.
© 2008 Mike Redmond. All Rights Reserved.

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