Rodents in Children's Literature and Audiovisual Fairy Talesa Book-to-Film Adaptation Approach

Resumo

Scurrying in and out of sight, mice and rats have been part of fairy tales for quite a long time. From Aesop to Mickey Mouse as well as Tom and Jerry, whether living in a town or country house, running up or down the clock, these small, almost insignificant creatures have been protagonists and helpers (Propp 105–106) in many of the stories we have read and seen in books through illustrations and on screen. These rodents have helped human protagonists in their struggle to overcome evil and find long-lasting bliss. Among our selection as child readers, we have chosen (and still choose) books about dragons, treasures, trolls, gnomes, princes and princesses, but mice do not seem to be, in general, our first choice. And yet, mice and rats abound in Children’s Literature being quite often relegated to the role of secondary characters. This paper will review some of these old, loved fairy tales to analyze how the role of rodents has varied across time and format, jumping and climbing from the printed page onto the audiovisual media, to answer the question: are mice still among our apparently invisible, tiny fairy tale characters that are less likely to be cast in main heroic roles after all?