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The Devil and Daniel Mouse

The Characters:
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Daniel: Just your average struggling, honest musician mouse.
Jan: Daniel's girlfriend, who makes a deal with the devil to become "Funky Jan," the biggest rockstar on Earth.
B.L. ZeBub: Shifty record producer who makes Jan an offer she can't refuse.
Wheez Weasel: B.L.'s assistant, a weasel.
Rabbit Delight: Guitar-playing rabbit with cotton-candy-esque hair.
Boom Boom Beaver: Beaver who plays the drums.
Pray Mantis: Insect who plays a double-necked guitar.

The Story:
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Daniel and his girlfriend Jan are two struggling mouse musicians. When they are fired from their latest gig, Daniel goes to pawn his guitar in order to buy groceries. Jan wanders off on her own and encounters a shifty-looking red dragon guy in a white pimp suit who introduces himself as B.L. ZeBub, a record producer. He offers her fame and fortune in exchange for signing a contract in blood. Jan, proving to be either really stupid or really desperate or both, doesn't read the fine print and trusts B.L., signing herself over to his record production company. Little does she suspect that B.L. is none other than Satan himself, and at the height of her fame he will return to collect her soul! She doesn't even find it odd when B.L.'s shifty assistant, Wheez Weasel, summons forth a trio of musicians from literally nowhere (Rabbit Delight, Boom Boom Beaver and Pray Mantis) to be her band members. Although never explicitly said, these three are presumably lost souls or something.

As "Funky Jan," Jan is soon the most popular rock star on the planet. But when B.L. comes for her soul and she realizes what she has done, Jan tries to seek help from her bandmates who merely tell her she "signed the contract" and that there is nothing she can do. If you're wondering where the hell Daniel has been during all of this, well, Jan pretty much gave him the boot when she became rich and famous and all of his efforts to see her have been blocked. Nevertheless, after failing to find sympathy from her band, Jan goes running to Daniel because he is the only friend she has left. Luckily for her, he's the most forgiving boyfriend in history. A trial is held over Jan's soul, with Wheez as the judge and Daniel acting as Jan's attorney. Daniel aims to prove that if he can play a song and make it good without any help from Satan, then B.L. will have to let her go, but if he fails, then B.L. will get his soul along with Jan's.

Although pretty short, not even clocking in at even an hour, The Devil and Daniel Mouse is a fun little modern (for its time) retelling of The Devil and Daniel Webster. The animation is, as befitting the time it was made, pretty surreal and trippy, and I could've done without the Wheez character (I think he's annoying), but overall I was pretty impressed with it. The one loose end is Jan's bandmates. Are they lost souls from Hell? They're summoned forth from thin air, and when Jan tries to get them to help her, they are unwilling to assist her and totally unsympathetic to her plight, but then towards the end they do a complete 1-80 and help Daniel with his song. And when Satan is defeated (c'mon, you didn't think he'd win did ya?), they don't return to Hell with him and remain with Jan and Daniel. Odd. The script could've been a little clearer on their origins and motivations.

When I saw the title of this thread, I didn't even have to look for the author.  :wink:

I rediscovered this short film as an extra on my "Rock & Rule" DVD.  Soon as I read the plot, it set off all sorts of lights in my brain.  I had seen it as a child and remembered some parts vividly, like Satan coming to collect on his part of the pact with Jan.  It seems so simple now that I'm an adult, but I really liked watching it again.  The animation even has a interesting style to it.

One of these days I am going to review "Rock & Rule."  How can you not dig a film with a villain who looks like a cross between Mick Jagger and David Bowie?

What's that supposed to mean?  :twirl:

The Devil and Daniel Mouse still stands as one of the best things Nelvana ever did.

Daniel: Whoa, Jan.  Uh, what have you been up to?
Jan: I sold my soul to the Devil!
Daniel: Wow ... uh ... that's pretty heavy.

I recognized the title and knew it was an animation with anthropomorphic animals.  With both the "Bucky O'Hare" and "Darkwing Duck" work you have done lately, I immediately thought that this would be a title you would find of interest.

Oh definitely. I adore stories told using anthro animals. :)