Mousehunt (1997) on Netflix
Brothers Ernie and Lars Smuntz inherit a failing string factory and a crumbling Victorian mansion when their father dies. Out of options, they move in and find a mouse already living there.
- Netflix2.7/5
- IMDb6.5/1064,272 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes44%
Trailer
Plot summary
Rudolph Smuntz dies and leaves his two sons a failing string factory and a dilapidated Victorian mansion. Ernie, a chef, loses his restaurant when a cockroach from his father's cigar box contaminates a dinner he serves. Lars, who turned down Zeppco International's offer for the factory as he had promised his father, is thrown out by his wife April. The brothers meet again and spend a night in the mansion, where a mouse keeps them awake. Chasing it, they find blueprints showing the house was built in 1876 to a lost design by Charles Lyle LaRue, and that restoring it would make it valuable. A collector, Alexander Falko, offers to buy the property, but the brothers prefer an auction. Every attempt to catch the mouse fails.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Mousehunt (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To cast the mouse, trainer Boone Narr posted an online call for mice and received over 8,000 submissions, which he jokingly called 'rodent head shots'.
- Because only four of the first mice evaluated met the requirements, Boone Narr bred the two mice Gore Verbinski selected into a colony of 60, with one principal mouse for close-ups and 59 trained for stunts.
- Filming the live mice sometimes required up to 130 takes to get the required action, only 18 fewer than the Guinness World Record set by a scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining.
- Mouse Hunt was the first family film released by DreamWorks Pictures, arriving as the studio's third overall release after The Peacemaker and Amistad.
- An animatronic robot mouse built by Stan Winston Studio was used for some close-ups and expressive moments, with remote-controlled facial features and internal bladders to simulate breathing.
- The flood scene near the end of the film was a collaboration between special effects leader Michael Lantieri and the film's stunt team, according to director Gore Verbinski.
