Talk:List of fictional mice and rats

Comments from 2003[edit]

Err... weren't Willard and Ben -->RATS<--- ? -- Someone else 23:45 Mar 25, 2003 (UTC)

Yes, they were. Sorry.

I was just about to make the same point about Algernon, even though I added him to the list myself. List of fictional rats, anyone? ;-) -- JohnOwens 23:46 Mar 25, 2003 (UTC)

Yes, let's do it!

Good Idea, but are you SURE about Algernon???? I thought he was a mouse -- Someone else 23:53 Mar 25, 2003 (UTC)

I kind of thought mouse too, but then I checked the link to Flowers for Algernon after I'd made it, and it says rat. -- JohnOwens 23:56 Mar 25, 2003 (UTC)

I think it's a matter that a lot of people don't take much care about. For what it's worth, Google on "Algernon flowers rat" gets 1280 hits, and "Algernon flowers mouse" gets 2510. A question that can probably only be settled by reference to the actual in-print story. -- Someone else 00:13 Mar 26, 2003 (UTC)

This was added in later, but I think I may insert that Algernon was a mouse. The page said rat by mistake, it has now been fixed. And yes, I'm SURE he was a mouse. I have the book in front of me. HereToHelp 01:11, 20 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Many people confuse (counfound?) rats and mice. Anyway, let's change the page to List of fictional rodents so we can include the rats from the Pied Piper, as well as the rat from Charlotte's Web, voiced so amusingly by Paul Lynde. --Uncle Ed

Templeton. Rhymeless

Funny Ed, I was going to suggest the exact same thing for a different reason. I wanted to add my favorite fictional capybaras. ;) -- goatasaur

Well, at least keep 'em in separate categories on the page! Are there no fictional hamsters? (This would also seems to create an opening for Secret Squirrel and any number of beavers.... --- Someone else 00:26 Mar 26, 2003 (UTC)

The only fictional hamsters that come to mind are from Hamtaro Rhymeless 04:05, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Conflate might be the word you're looking for, Ed. Seems to me rodents would be too broad a category, given how many there are of all kinds in cartoons and such. Maybe List of fictional mice and rats instead? Or something else more moderate. -- JohnOwens 00:36 Mar 26, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks on two counts, John: (1) I always conflate confound and confuse. (2) Let's move this article from List of fictional mice to either (A) List of fictional mice and rats; or (B) List of fictional rodents, with some way to distinguish those cute little mousies from the rats, squirrels, etc. which we also adore. --Uncle Ed

"the mice from The Secret of NIMH": This is just fine and dandy, but I would've already added it myself if I had turned anything up in my Wikipedia search a couple of days ago for NIMH besides the National Institute of Mental Health or whatever it is. Got any names for them, so we can alphabetize them properly? Or are there too many of them to name individually? If so, do we alphabetize as "NIMH" or as "Secret"? -- John Owens 11:35 Mar 28, 2003 (UTC)

The mice (in the book, anyway) are Jonathan, Mrs, Martin, Teresa, Cynthia, and Timothy Frisby. So they probably get alphabetized as "Frisby". (There's one more mouse who isn't a Frisby, but I'm not sure of his name.) The rats I would alphabetize as "Rats of NIMH", since that's the collective name they use for themselves.

-- Paul A 04:49 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

How about the Three Blind Mice and the three singing mice from the Babe movies? Chadloder 08:08 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

The Clangers[edit]

Is there really any need to state "The Clangers resemble mice, but are apparently much bigger."? It's seems to me to be more sensible to just include them in the list with the other mice. I'm sure many of the characters on the list are bigger on screen then their real life counterparts would be. Saul Taylor

The thing is that they don't belong "with the other mice", because they're not mice; they're alien beings from a distant planet that happen to look a bit like mice. That's the really significant point; the size matters only in as much as they appear mouse-sized on the TV screen, which increases the resemblance. —Paul A 02:47, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)

So why haven't we made this List of fictional rodents? There aren't many listed in the "other species" list, and I don't see how this list could get overcrowded. It would make it much easier to find several of these characters -- LGagnon

Bearing in mind that I have not read The Green Mile, only seen the film - I believe the mouse wasn't called Delacroix (he's a human character) but Mr Jingles. (Sounds like Jangles to me, but it's likely just the accents, and it says Jingles in the credits). I've changed it accordingly, though didn't know if he should go under the Js or the Ms... --Suitov 14:11, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

"Mr. Jingles" it definitely was. A strict alphabetizer would put that under "J" ("Jingles, Mr."), but a computer scientist would probably put it under "M". My wife and I have a lot of debates like this.

> So why haven't we made this List of fictional rodents?

Are you sure it wouldn't grow to be a List Of Unusual Size?

Atlant 13:41, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Ratatouille[edit]

Pixar has an upcoming film about a rat. There's already a wikipedia article so it should probably make this list. -PK9 22:29, 23 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merger proposal[edit]

It has been proposed that we merge List of fictional rats into this article. I fully support this idea. Are there any objections? -Thibbs (talk) 22:05, 27 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Seeing as there have been no objections to the idea of a merger since June when the idea was proposed, I have gone ahead and performed the merge. I believe it makes the most sense and should reduce unwanted duplication. -Thibbs (talk) 12:56, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Elephants not afraid of mice?[edit]

I think the line 'Another common stereotype that is also not true in reality is that elephants are afraid of mice' is too easy. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_mice#Elephants_and_mice , http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_elephants_afraid_of_mice and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpTSA_25wGE as well as the currently cited source, http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/elephant.asp . All these sources are more nuanced than the blunt statement currently in the Misconceptions section. Reportersnotebook (talk) 17:25, 10 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Since there are no responses, I went ahead and nuanced the line. Any revisions welcome. Reportersnotebook (talk) 04:02, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

== The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett Rats: Darktan, Peaches, Hamnpork, Dangerous Beans, etc. Maurice is a cat. 96.231.230.96 (talk) 03:04, 10 May 2011 (UTC)Tamar ==[reply]