Max, the 2000-Year-Old Mouse
Encyclopedia
Max, the 2000-Year-Old Mouse was a Canadian animated television series produced by the late Steve Krantz
, which originally aired in Canada in 1967 and became popular in several parts of the world, most notably the United States, where it was syndicated on both local and PBS stations between 1970 and 1979, and also the United Kingdom, where it was repeated numerous times on the ITV network between its original transmission in 1969 and its last showing to date in 1992.
The series was an educational show, aimed at children, in which still pictures and limited animations told the stories about important figures and key events in Western history. 104 episodes were made in total, each running at five and a half minutes in length.
The episodes were filmed quickly and cheaply, and the premise of the show was simple. An episode typically begins in a room in a museum, with artifacts on display while the unseen and unnamed narrator (Bernard Cowan
) introduces the era and historical person(s) to be featured. The title character, Max, a pink mouse who lived in the museum (voiced by Paul Soles
), essentially served as comic relief and also helped with the narration, while repeatedly claiming to have been a witness of and/or participant in the historical events. Footage of Max, set in the past or present, typically shows him as comically clumsy with the contemporary tools and weapons. Key figures whose biographies were explored in the series included Paul Revere
, Buffalo Bill
, Davey Crockett, Daniel Boone
, Chief Crazy Horse and Johnny Appleseed
, among many others, with Max dubiously claiming to have helped all of them over the course of his very long life.
The show's theme music was also later used by Siskel and Ebert's movie review series for PBS, Sneak Previews
.
Steve Krantz
Stephen Falk Krantz was a film producer and writer who was most active from 1966 to 1996.- Career :Born in Brooklyn, New York, Steve Krantz graduated from Columbia University and went on to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces in the Pacific during World War II as a second lieutenant.He worked as a...
, which originally aired in Canada in 1967 and became popular in several parts of the world, most notably the United States, where it was syndicated on both local and PBS stations between 1970 and 1979, and also the United Kingdom, where it was repeated numerous times on the ITV network between its original transmission in 1969 and its last showing to date in 1992.
The series was an educational show, aimed at children, in which still pictures and limited animations told the stories about important figures and key events in Western history. 104 episodes were made in total, each running at five and a half minutes in length.
The episodes were filmed quickly and cheaply, and the premise of the show was simple. An episode typically begins in a room in a museum, with artifacts on display while the unseen and unnamed narrator (Bernard Cowan
Bernard Cowan
Bernard Cowan was a Canadian actor, announcer and writer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario. He was occasionally credited under his nickname, Bunny Cowan, such as on the production Willy McBean and his Magic Machine....
) introduces the era and historical person(s) to be featured. The title character, Max, a pink mouse who lived in the museum (voiced by Paul Soles
Paul Soles
Paul Robert Soles is a Canadian actor and television personality.-Acting roles:He is best known as the voice of Hermie the misfit elf in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964....
), essentially served as comic relief and also helped with the narration, while repeatedly claiming to have been a witness of and/or participant in the historical events. Footage of Max, set in the past or present, typically shows him as comically clumsy with the contemporary tools and weapons. Key figures whose biographies were explored in the series included Paul Revere
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
, Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
, Davey Crockett, Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
, Chief Crazy Horse and Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed , born John Chapman, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
, among many others, with Max dubiously claiming to have helped all of them over the course of his very long life.
The show's theme music was also later used by Siskel and Ebert's movie review series for PBS, Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews was an American film review show, running for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service . It was created by WTTW, a PBS affiliate in Chicago, Illinois. It premiered on September 4, 1975 as a monthly local-only show called Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, and was renamed in...
.
Voices
- Paul SolesPaul SolesPaul Robert Soles is a Canadian actor and television personality.-Acting roles:He is best known as the voice of Hermie the misfit elf in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964....
- Max - Bernard CowanBernard CowanBernard Cowan was a Canadian actor, announcer and writer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario. He was occasionally credited under his nickname, Bunny Cowan, such as on the production Willy McBean and his Magic Machine....
- Narrator