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.[1] The first cartoon was Merlin the Magic Mouse, directed by Alex Lovy.
| Merlin the Magic Mouse and Second Banana | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967) |
| Created by | Alex Lovy |
| Designed by | Jaime Diaz |
| Voiced by | Daws Butler (1967) Larry Storch (1968–1969) JP Karliak (2023–present) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Mouse |
| Gender | Male |
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.[2]
History
Merlin was a nightclub magician (he usually preferred to be called a prestidigitator, though he could never pronounce this correctly) who traveled around for work.[3] 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.[4] Merlin's vocal mannerisms are based on that of W.C. Fields.[4]
He would later be featured in Tiny Toons Looniversity, voiced by JP Karliak.[5]
Titles
- Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967)
- Hocus Pocus Powwow (1968)
- Feud with a Dude (1968)
- Fistic Mystic (1969)
- Shamrock and Roll (1969)
