Ben and Me
Amos, a poor church mouse, sets out to find work, since his family of 26 is starving. He’s rejected by several places and takes refuge in the run-down print shop of Ben Franklin. Quickly, he gives Ben the ideas for the Franklin stove, bifocal lenses, and the newspaper the Pennsylvania Gazette as Ben’s creditors are threatening to shut him down in 24 hours. The paper is an instant hit and Ben prospers. With Amos hidden in his hat prompting him, Ben seems much brighter than he is. However, when Amos is attached to Ben’s kite and gets hit by lighting, he leaves. Later, in the summer of 1776, Ben is desperate and begs Amos to return. He agrees but only if Ben will sign a contract. The next day, as they are beginning their talks, Thomas Jefferson drops by for help with the wording the opening of the Declaration of Independence, and as Ben reads the opening words of the contract, Jefferson says, “That’s it!”
A twenty-minute featurette in which a church mouse claims to have supplied Benjamin Franklin with every one of his good ideas. Narrated by Sterling Holloway, it was a staple of American classrooms for decades — history smuggled in as farce. The conceit that a small unnoticed creature invented the Enlightenment is a surprisingly durable joke, and children love that the mouse is the one who is competent.