Mouse Hunt is a 1997 American slapstick black comedy film written by Adam Rifkin and directed by Gore Verbinski in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken. The film follows two Laurel and Hardy-like brothers in their struggle against one small but crafty house mouse for possession of a mansion which was willed to them by their father. While the film is set in the late 20th century, styles range humorously from the 1940s to the 1990s.
It used real live mice, along with occasional computer-generated imagery and animatronic robot mice, and was the first family film to be released by DreamWorks Pictures. They released it in the United States on December 19, 1997, to mixed reviews, but it was a commercial success, earning $125.4 million on the box office against a budget of $38 million. The film features one of William Hickey's final roles. The film was dedicated to his memory.
Plot
String magnate Rudolph Smuntz dies, bequeathing his financially cash-strapped factory and a dilapidated Victorian mansion to his sons Ernie and Lars. Following the will reading, both brothers suffer setbacks in their lives—Ernie, who shunned the family business to become a chef, accidentally loses his restaurant when a cockroach hidden in a box of cigars he inherited from his father's estate contaminates a meal he is serving to the mayor, causing the mayor to suffer a fatal heart attack, while Lars is thrown out by his greedy wife April, after he honored a promise to his late father to refuse letting a rival company, Zeppco International, buy the factory. Lars and Ernie reunite in a diner and learn of each other's misfortunes, leading them to spend the night in the mansion they inherited.
The brothers find themselves unable to sleep because of a mouse making noise, but in trying to catch him, they discover blueprints of the property. Through these, they discover the mansion was built in 1876 and is a fabled missing design by the architect Charles Lyle LaRue and would be worth a fortune if restored. Alexander Falko, a wealthy collector of LaRue artifacts, offers to buy the mansion, but they decide to auction the mansion, thinking it would be more profitable. Later that night, Ernie spots the mouse and informs Lars they must get rid of him, fearing a repeat of the cockroach incident. Several attempts are made, but the mouse, proving to be remarkably intelligent, manages to outwit them every time.
Their situation becomes further complicated when Ernie borrows against the house to pay for renovations and the bank threatens to evict them in two days, unless they resume mortgage payments. After the factory workers go on strike upon learning they cannot be paid when Lars attempts to run operations on his own, Ernie goes behind his back to secretly meet the Zeppco representatives over their buyout offer upon finding the business card they left. The meeting fails to happen after he is hit by a bus while flirting with some women but is surprised when Lars reveals April will provide the cash, having learnt of the brothers' recent discovery. After more failed attempts to kill the mouse, including adopting a vicious cat named Catzilla and hiring an exterminator named Caesar, the brothers overhear a voicemail message from Zeppco withdrawing their offer, leading them to argue against each other. Their argument unwittingly leads to Lars throwing an orange at Ernie but instead hitting the mouse. Unable to finish it off, the brothers decide to mail him in a box to Cuba to be rid of it.
Ernie and Lars reconcile, and finish renovating the house for auction. However, on the night it is to begin, Lars discovers the box had been mailed back due to insufficient postage and realizes that the mouse is back in the house. As the auction gets underway, the brothers attempt to flush the mouse out with a garden hose but fail miserably when their actions cause the house to be flooded, washing everyone outside, before the mansion collapses. April leaves with a wealthy bidder, and the brothers, having lost everything again, spend the night in the factory. The mouse, surviving the collapse, follows them, whereupon it takes pity on their situation and uses the factory machinery to convert a block of cheese into a ball of string cheese. Inspired, the brothers end their war with the mouse, renovating the factory to produce string cheese, with Lars managing the business and Ernie managing the products. As a token of gratitude, they hire the little mouse to be their official taste tester and spokesperson.
Cast Nathan Lane as Ernie Smuntz, a man who refused heirdom to his father's string factory to become a chef. Lee Evans as Lars Smuntz, Ernie's younger brother and the heir to their father's string factory. Vicki Lewis as April Smuntz, Lars' gold-digging former wife. Maury Chaykin as Alexander Falko, a wealthy LaRue collector. William Hickey as Rudolf Smuntz, a string magnate and the late father of Ernie and Lars. Christopher Walken as Caesar, an odd and eccentric exterminator hired by the Smuntz brothers to rid them of the mouse. Eric Christmas as Ernie and Lars' lawyer. This was Christmas' final acting performance before he died on July 22, 2000. Michael Jeter as Quincy Thorpe, a LaRue historian. Ian Abercrombie as the auctioneer. Annabelle Gurwitch as Roxanne Atkins, a photographer. Eric Poppick as Theodore Plumb, the banker. Ernie Sabella as Maury, a worker at the cat shelter. Cliff Emmich as Mayor McKrinkle. Susan Blommaert as Ms. Park Avenue Carmen Filpi as Pallbearer #4 Jack Angeles as Kennel Employee Thom Barry as a doctor (scenes deleted) Sarah Dampf as a crying girl
Production
Background The film was the third overall release by DreamWorks Pictures; after political thriller The Peacemaker, released in September 1997, and historical drama Amistad, released earlier in December 1997. Two years after first forming as a company, DreamWorks had no live-action films in production, which was a serious concern for financiers. DreamWorks' original goal was to have three movies released by the end of 1996, but a variety of factors delayed the company. Among them were co-founder Steven Spielberg's commitment to fulfilling all his outside obligations, including directing The Lost World: Jurassic Park, a film which wasn't tied to DreamWorks. Spielberg's workload around that time was more than his DreamWorks colleagues had expected. The initial live-action scripts DreamWorks had in development were The Peacemaker, Amistad, Mouse Hunt and family film Paulie (which wasn't released until April 1998). The company's animation division DreamWorks Animation was handled more closely by co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, and also had two films in development, Antz and The Prince of Egypt. Both of these animated films wouldn't be released until 1998, partly due to the long nature of animated film production. Among the initial live-action scripts in development, The Peacemaker was the one that was closest to shooting readiness. In a 1997 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Katzenberg said competition in the live-action arena made it more difficult to put films together. He pointed out that during the last three years, studios went from making 110 to 120 movies a year to 160 to 170, and conceded that with DreamWorks' movie operation it had "gone a little bit slower in terms of how long it's taken for the development.”
Mouse Hunt'''s script was written by Adam Rifkin and it was directed by Gore Verbinski in his feature directorial debut. Verbinski was then known for his work on commercials, such as the 1995 Budweiser Frogs campaign that aired during Super Bowl XXIX. He was chosen by Spielberg, who also chose first time feature director Mimi Leder to direct The Peacemaker. Rifkin and Verbinski were both inspired by Coen Brothers films like The Hudsucker Proxy, as well as Terry Gilliam's Brazil.Linear notes for Mouse Hunt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Deluxe Edition), 2023. Verbinski was insistent that the film stay faithful to Rifkin's original script, with Rifkin saying in 2023 that Verbinski wanted the film "to be dystopian and in its own universe of weirdness". Rifkin described he and Verbinski as being a perfect match, and said that Spielberg trusted them to both carry out the vision they saw for the movie.
Casting and filming Mouse Hunt would be shot between March 3 and July 3, 1997, in various locations across California.Mouse Hunt at TCM database. It was shot around the same time as Amistad, which Spielberg directed on the east coast of the United States. Verbinski played a role in selecting cast members for Mouse Hunt. One of the film's actors, William Hickey, died on June 29, 1997, just days before shooting wrapped.
The outdoor scenes have depictions of snow and the majority of them were shot in Central and Northern California, particularly around Fresno and the Yosemite region. Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills was used for exterior shots representing the upscale restaurant. Additionally, Raleigh Studios in Hollywood was where many of the mansion's interior shots were constructed and filmed. In a 1997 interview, Verbinski said that the flood scene towards the end of the film was a collaborative effort between special effects leader Michael Lantieri and the film's stunt team. In this same interview, Verbinski reflected on the shooting, saying that "we weren't anywhere near anything sane during the entire shooting of the movie. Especially with Nathan and Lee, they sort of promote insanity."
Mice casting Verbinski sought real mice for the film since this realism contrasted with the absurd nature of the film's two leads. The casting process for the mice was detailed in a December 1997 news article titled "Mouse Hunt: Hollywood's hunt for the perfect set of... ears". Regarding the ideal type of mouse he wanted, Verbinski said in this article "I did not want a cigar-smoking, bow-tied mouse. I wanted a really harmless kind of mouse. A lot of mice are too beady-eyed, too ratlike." Verbinski eventually turned to professional animal trainer Boone Narr to find the right mouse for the film. Narr presented various mice based on color and size specifications, and Verbinski selected two that closely matched his vision — though he requested a lighter underbelly to better evoke the image of a "church mouse" with expressive charm. According to Narr, Verbinski sought a mouse that could not only perform but also connect emotionally with audiences. To fulfill this unique casting challenge, Narr turned to online outreach, posting a call for mice fitting Verbinski's precise criteria. The search yielded an overwhelming response — with over 8,000 submissions, which Narr jokingly referred to as 'rodent head shots'.