In one of the opening scenes of Yankee Doodle Cricket, the character Tucker Mouse narrates: “Manhattan Island wasn’t nearly as pretty in 1775 as it is now. Mainly trees, flowers, and stuff. No first-class garbage. No beer cans or old cheese sandwiches. No class, really.”
Just one example of the snappy humor found in this TV special, produced, written, and directed by Chuck Jones. In 1973, Jones adapted the best-selling children’s book, The Cricket in Times Square by author George Selden, for another special. It told the story of a cricket named Chester (voiced by Les Tremayne) who hops into a picnic basket in Connecticut and soon finds himself in New York City. Here, he is befriended by Harry the Cat (also Tremayne) and Chester the mouse (Mel Blanc).
That same year, Jones produced a Christmas sequel, A Very Merry Cricket, which was followed by another, Yankee Doodle Cricket, in 1975. They both feature the same three characters, and the latter is not only perfect July Fourth viewing but also celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
The special opens with Tucker the Mouse in a library, reading a book titled Oddities of American History. He runs to tell Harry that he found out who really wrote the Declaration of Independence – it was a mouse, a cat helped Paul Revere in his ride, and a cricket wrote the song “Yankee Doodle.”
He has discovered that all of their ancestors played a significant part, alongside the Founding Fathers of our country.
Tucker then relays the story of how all their ancestors did this, starting with his ancestor, T Randolph Mouse, who wrote “The Declaration of Inter-Dependence,” so that mice and cats would get along. He runs it over to have Harry’s ancestor sign it, and on the way, runs into a rattlesnake (hysterically performed by Blanc), who would be perfect on the animal’s flag, which would read: “Don’t Tread on Me.”
As it turns out, ancestor Harry the Cat is Thomas Jefferson’s pet, and Jefferson is having trouble writing the Declaration of Independence. When Harry finds T. Randolph’s Declaration of Inter-dependence, he sneakily leaves it on Jefferson’s desk, and it then inspires the Declaration of Independence.
The cat and mouse discover that the American Colonies are declaring their independence from England and decide that they will help. While scouring the countryside, they encounter Chester cricket’s ancestor, playing music with his wings. They ask if he knows of an anthem they could use, and Chester quickly comes up with “Yankee Doodle,” which he strums on his wings (thanks to renowned violinist Israel Baker).
The three then play it for the entire animal community, including a bald eagle (also voiced by Blanc), whom Chester says he would like to nominate to be the official bird of the nation.
They decide to bring “Yankee Doodle” to Boston, but when they arrive, they discover Paul Revere talking with a cohort about his plan to alert everyone that “The British are Coming,” via lantern – one if by land, two if by sea. But it turns out that the lantern holder is drunk, so the animals quickly take action and recruit two fireflies to act as the lanterns.
Paul Revere is then able to ride and warn everyone. After, T. Randolph laments that they’ll probably never get into the history books.
The special ends with “Yankee Doodle” playing over a flurry of historical images, including patriotic ones, such as the famous “The Spirit of ’76,” painting by artist Archibald Willard. This version now features our cat, mouse, and cricket heroes, alongside the iconic fifer and drummers.
Yankee Doodle Cricket (which aired on ABC on January 16, 1975) is fashioned in the familiar and comfortable “Chuck Jones Style” (with distinct production design by Oscar Dufau) and showcases fluid animation throughout. Of note is the sequence in which Tucker, Harry, and Chester are able to involve other animals in a rousing rendition of “Yankee Doodle.” Also, the events leading up to and including Paul Revere’s ride are handled effectively, with creative use of light and shadow.
Jones’ trademark wit, a part of so many classic Warner Bros. cartoons, is sprinkled throughout nicely. When Patrick Henry declares, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Tucker responds: “Ya know what? He might just have something there.”
And, the two fireflies (voiced by Tremayne and Jones stalwart June Foray) who alert Paul Revere are a funny take on the “John and Marsha” comedy record by Stan Freberg.
In all, Yankee Doodle Cricket is a nice flashback to an era in TV and animation history when prime time specials aired beyond the holiday season, and a time around the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976, when patriotism permeated all corners of our lives.
Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Independence Day!
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
People who weren’t around in the years 1975-76 have no idea of the all-pervasiveness of the Bicentennial celebration. From the nightly Bicentennial Minute on television (“200 years ago today…”) to the daily newspaper comic strips to record albums (“America is 200 Years Old and There’s Still Hope”) to Disneyland (“America on Parade,” “America Sings”) to Boston’s Freedom Trail to store window displays–the whole nation seemed to be caught up in patriotic fervor. Today, all that’s really left of that era are memories. And a few remnants such as this TV special.
“Yankee Doodle Cricket” wasn’t the first time in animation that a mouse was credited with writing the Declaration of Independence. Disney’s “Ben and Me” had used that premise back in the 1950s, based on the book by Robert Lawson. I find it very telling that the dedication at the very end of “Yankee Doodle Cricket” is to Robert Lawson, giving credit where it would appear credit was due. In that earlier cartoon, Benjamin Franklin’s little friend Amos Mouse pens the declaration that is read aloud by Ben in the presence of Thomas Jefferson, who then appropriates the material for his own purpose. The main takeaway from both of these productions seems to be that we humans are just not quite bright enough to think of iconic concepts without the aid of our animal friends. I was actually surprised that Patrick Henry’s speech was not presented as being animal-insprired. But maybe that’s a story that could be told in another TV special!
Happy Fourth of July!
Next year will be the Declaration’s 250th anniversary. As Frederick says, there was a lot of hoopla about the Bicentennial. This time around, nothing. Trump mentioned the upcoming anniversary in a speech several years ago, and that was the first and last time I heard anyone refer to it. I wonder why.
It’s interesting that the 4th of July is the one major US holiday surprisingly short on any other animated TV specials except for this one. The next closest would be the Peanuts “This is America, Charlie Brown” though that isn’t specifically about the 4th and 1970’s Uncle Sam Magoo, though that originally aired in February. The aforementioned Ben and Me isn’t technically a TV special but has been shown several time.
There are lots of cartoons and TV episodes though.
George Selden wrote six sequels to his book The Cricket in Times Square. It seems odd that Jones was allowed to write his own sequels to the same story.
I remember these Jones’ specials. They were kind of his final curtain call and most of them had their moments although at the time I could see the flame wasn’t burning nearly as brightly as it had even a decade before. The two “Jungle Book” specials were the best of the bunch and while the first “Cricket” is pretty good its a bit too Jonesy at times. Likewise the Christmas special although the climax is beautifully done, particularly the graphic design.
While network television holiday specials limped on through the nineties the sixties and early seventies were the golden era. Cable and streaming never came up with anything comparable which is tragic.