"Tale of Two Mice" Original Titles Sighted

A recent ebay auction offered a film print of Frank Tashlin's 1945 Merrie Melodie, "A Tale Of Two Mice". Sadly, nobody we know snagged it, and there were no images of the credits. There WAS an image of the title card, though!

The only version of this cartoon available on TV and video in the past has been the Blue Ribbon reissue print, which shows the incorrect opening rings and omits the original title art and credits. Below are the images of the original title card, and a link to the Blue Ribbon version of the film itself.







UPDATE (9/30/10): Here is another original title card that surfaced in a recent eBay auction. Coincidentally, it was from the second (and final) cartoon to star the mouse version of Abbott and Costello: Robert McKimson's "The Mouse-Merized Cat" (1946). The auction was for a 16mm copy of the cartoon in black-and-white (the original cartoon was in color, of course), but it still gives us a rare glimpse of the original title. - JHC