The Mice War

Movie review by Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media
The Mice War Movie Poster

Common Sense says

age 6+

Animated allegory about war; some violence, peril.

NR 2017 78 minutes
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Parents say

age 6+

Based on 4 reviews

Kids say

age 4+

Based on 1 review

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  • The Mouse War Scene 1
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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Mice War is a 2017 animated allegory about the foolishness of war, with a target audience of younger kids. A jazzy, sometimes atonal score accompanies much of the narration and dialogue, which may not go down easy on young ears. The message promotes using words over fighting in moments of conflict, but also introduces the cynical idea that people go to war for no good reason except to line the coffers of the wealthy. Exposing the cynicism of old generals who send young soldiers to war just to fill the pockets of already rich industrialists may go over the heads of this movie's most likely viewers. A mouse general threatens war against peace-loving mice. He builds giant mousetraps that will, as described in a song, cut the heads off of enemy mice. Peace-lovers are forced into the army to fight. Huge cats round up marauding mice. Kids may think the cats are eating the mice, but it's later revealed that they just catch and jail them.

Community Reviews

LG90
LG90 Adult
April 24, 2022
age 6+
Great move, highly recommend. This is the only movie that address the issue of conflict resolution via peaceful terms. And kids love the animation and music!

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
pdin74
pdin74 Adult
April 13, 2022
age 5+

A beautiful animated film that teaches kids how to resolve conflict without violence.

This is a great animated film that brings a very important message to kids of all ages (and adults as well) that war is not the answer, that we can and should have a conversation and come up with a peaceful solution. The music in this film is refreshing and a great opportunity for young children to be exposed to different sounds, modern music and it is very imaginative. The animation is fun, very colorful and captivating. The kids were glued to the screen from beginning to end and the most special for me was to see that it sparked conversation between them. The Blue mice decide to go to war with the red mice in fear that they would some day be forced to eat the same cheese that the red mice ate. A silly excuse to create a battle. The young mouse Albert is drafted and after protesting strongly against the war he is sent to battle. Aboard their ship the blue mice face many adventures at sea until arriving at their destination, the red mice island but for their surprise the red mice don't respond to the call for war, instead their king is open to have a conversation about their differences! I don't want to spoil the story but I would invite every parent and every teacher to watch this beautiful film with their kids and have this important conversation about how to resolve conflicts.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE MICE WAR, the blue mice general wants to make rich blue mice even richer, so he makes up a reason for an economy-boosting war. Once he decides the blue mice "need" a war, he has to figure out who it can be against and why. He settles on attacking red mice who live across the world, on the false pretext that they are planning to attack the blue mice and force them to abandon their beloved pink cheese for the red mice's favored yellow cheese. Anti-war blue mice protestors are tossed in jail and then forced to join the army and fight overseas. Ultimately, peaceful dialogue is victorious over warfare.

Is It Any Good?

The Mice War begins as a supposed explanation for why cheese is yellow, but the question is never answered, and it's downhill from there. The mushy thinking begins with ignoring a fact many kids may point out: Not all cheese is yellow. This fairy tale does try to answer a question no one has asked: Why do mice allegedly eat yellow cheese -- something that mice, in fact, don't do unless they've broken into someone's fridge full of gouda?

Also troubling is a reference to a once-upon-a-time "when mice ruled the earth," yet the story poses a different reality, where cats are also pretty powerful, as are sea monsters and crocodiles. Then, out of nowhere, a sea monster who wants to be a Hollywood movie star appears. She sings in a wispy Marilyn Monroe voice, "I cannot cook / but take a look / I'm as pretty as can be," a puzzling irrelevancy to the story at hand. Writer and director David Chesky seems to be momentarily lost here. He also wrote and orchestrated the music, and a more screechy, cacophonous collection of sounds would be hard to find. The actors were clearly directed to speak e-ver-so-slow-ly to match the music's tempo. If they'd read their lines at a normal pace, the movie would be a good hour shorter, which would not be a bad thing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what the message is. Does the general who wants to go to war over the color of cheese win or lose?

  • How does the king who refuses to fight over cheese get his message across? Which do you think is a better way to solve problems: talking or fighting? Why?

  • Why do you think everyone talks so slowly? Do you think speaking to the rhythm of music helps the movie or makes it seem awkward?

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