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         “12 oz. Mouse” is a modern TV series (although it is not a film, the show is strongly Surrealist and congruent with the techniques and goals of many Surrealist films; additionally, Foster writes that "The surrealists, many of whom were avid film spectators, despised impressionism, but they admired lowbrow American serials and slapstick comedies") about a crudely animated green mouse called by many names including Mouse, Fitz, and Butch and his companion Skillet who do odd jobs for a shark (named Shark) in order to be able to buy more beer.  As the show progresses, other bizarre characters (such as a wealthy businessman named Square, a hitman specializing in archery named Pronto, a peanut-shaped police officer more concerned with his drug habit than maintaing law and order, a character capable of morphing between a male and female representation, and several clocks that perpetually display 2:22) are introduced and what first appears to be a meaningless cartoon world is revealed to be a dream world imposed on people represented by these characters through the use of Asprind (what one is led to believe is a mind-erasing drug) and Time Gas (a drug released by the 2:22 clock in order to freeze time at a single instant in the dream world).  Much of the plot is left unresolved as the show was cancelled after 20 episodes and although another episode (released solely on the internet) was made after the cancellation, the writers opted to start a new chapter of the story rather than writing a conclusion to the show.
           “12 oz. Mouse” uses many methods common to Surrealist film in order to establish an ever-changing dream world through hierarchies of knowledge: upon the first viewing, it is slowly revealed that the world of Fitz is in fact a dream world imposed on him by other characters (represented by Shark and Square); on the second viewing, the viewer is able to pick up on what seemed to be simple passing comments and disconnected statements at first, but are actually clues which reveal that this dream world is actually based on the real world that the characters live in; a third viewing reveals even more of the intensely complex plot, as the viewer is now more aware of the nature of this world and able to notice clues that previously one would not have connected to this world on a higher level.  The show very effectively utilizes many of the techniques used by Surrealist film makers: establishing a normative narrative forum which is then interrupted by the characters, thus breaking character identification.  The show forces the viewer to not only interpret what happens in the show, but to rethink these interpretations upon subsequent viewings when the viewer is equipped with more knowledge of the situation.  Furthermore, because much of the plot is unresolved, the viewer is also forced to fill in certain holes and postulate explanations for unexplained elements.  The same techniques that were first used for this purpose in The Seashell and the Clergyman are utilized in “12 oz. Mouse” to create not just a simple dream world, but an experience which requires participation, consideration, and evaluation from the viewers in a manner that one hopes would garner at least the interest of Antonin Artaud.

 

Maiellaro, Matt. "12 oz. Mouse." Atlanta. 19 June 2005.