A History of Fictional Cartoon Rodents

Throughout the last few centuries, fictional cartoon rodents have become a huge part of mass culture. This page will be examining the rise to prominence, history and success of some of the most famous rodents in fictional media.

Stuart Little (Stuart Little)
In 1945, E.B White wrote his historical book, Stuart Little. This book follows the tale of a mouse named Stuart Little who lives in a human household. Compared to other fictional rodents, Stuart Little is actually fairly mouse-like in appearance. Stuart Little evolves from regular rodents in a variety ways, such as his ability to speak English. These abilities are followed up on in the trilogy of films about Stuart by M. Night Shymalan, where he skateboards and flies a plane, among other things. I think that these inclusions decrease Stuart's value as rodent representation, so I'd stick to the book.


 * Rodent Representation: 4/10. His book version is fairly mouse like, but when considering the later parts of the book and the movies, he is basically just a tiny human.
 * Threat Level: 2/10. Stuart is basically just a regular mouse in size and strength, so you could probably flick him and his heart would stop. That being said, he has a strong evasive game, and can usually flee rather than fight.
 * Ability: 7/10 Stuart is pretty impressive in this regard, having motor skills and the ability to teach, among other things.
 * Overall: 13/30

Mouse (If you give a Mouse a Cookie)
In 1985, Felicia Bond wrote her historical book, If you give a Mouse a Cookie. Despite my general gripes with Stuart, this Mouse is far worse. He is a disgrace to the rodent name. First of all, if you tried to give a real mouse a cookie, it would probably bite your knuckles and run, rather than causing a cyclical series of events involving milk. After getting the cookie, the mouse proceeds to ask for milk, a straw, a mirror, nail scissors, a broom, a nap, a story to be read to him, paper, drawing utensils, and finally another cookie. This mouse is literally indoctrinating the human into eternal slavery, causing a never ending cycle of torment. His mind is beyond our comprehension, and all we can do is watch in shock and awe.


 * Rodent Representation: 1/10. This "mouse" fucking disgusts me. He neither stays true to his species or his legacy, instead being more human-like.
 * Threat Level: 3/10. Physically he is even weaker than Stuart, and can easily be lured into a trap with baked goods. That being said, we still don't know the extent of his mental and psychological trickery.
 * Ability: 1/10. This coward needs a human to get everything for him, rather than foraging for himself like any self respecting mouse would. He shows no ability, no talent, and no class.
 * Overall: 5/30

Remy (Ratatouille)
In 2007, Pixar released the hit animated film Ratatouille. This movie stars Remy the rat as it's main character, and he actually serves as decent representation. Remy starts out living with the rest of his clan, avoiding rat poison and consuming garbage. This all changes when Remy, who loves to cook, gets sent to Paris after wacky hijinks, and gets his chance to become a great chef. Remy manages to befriend humans, and even impresses a hard boiled food critic who is known for scathing reviews. Despite the restaurant that Remy works in closing down due to health concerns, he and his friends manage to make a new, more successful restaurant, closing the movie.


 * Rodent Representation: