Even Mice Belong in Heaven (Czech: Myši patří do nebe) is a 2021 stop-motion animated film directed by Jan Bubeníček and Denisa Grimmová. It is an international co-production between the Czech Republic, France, Poland, and Slovakia and based on the 2011 children’s book of the same name by Iva Procházková. It originally debuted at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2021 and was released in Czech theaters on October 7 that same year.
Despite her nervousness, a mouse named Whizzy aspires to be as brave as her father, who took fur off a dangerous fox. Her attempt to replicate that feat ends in disaster and Whizzy ends up in Heaven as a result. It isn’t long before she finds Whitetail, the same fox she encountered moments before her death, in heaven with her. After overcoming her doubts about him, Whizzy befriends Whitetail and as they journey through the afterlife together, they must confront the flaws that have haunted them in their previously mortal lives.
Even Tropes Belong in Heaven
- Affectionate Nickname: Whizzy gives Whitetail 'fangy face' as one, after initially being meant as an insult.
- Amusement Park: Animal Heaven features an amusement park that the main characters visit. Park attendees are given a card with a symbol on it and are told that it’s the recommended ride to go on in order to get a movie ticket.
- Animal Jingoism: When she was alive, Whizzy has been taught to believe that all foxes are liars. While she gets over that mindset thanks to hanging out with Whitebelly in the afterlife, Muzzle firmly insists to Whitebelly once he meets him again that mice are meant to be eaten and not something to befriend.
- Bad Ol' Badger: One of the animals that Whizzy and Whitetail encounter in the amusement park is an aggressive badger playing Whack-A-Mole. Whizzy encounters the badger again while in the Forest of Forests, this time terrorizing a small rabbit before the badger gets taken away for being too violent.
- Creative Closing Credits: A variety of animals are floating upwards as the closing credits plays.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Whitebelly’s parents were shot by hunters when he was young. He is later forced to undergo a series of brutal training lessons by Muzzle and was taunted by other foxes for being weak. All of this contributed to his crippling self-esteem.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book the film was based on, Whizzy ended up falling to her death before ending up in heaven. Here, she gets hit by a car while trying to escape from Whitebelly.
- Fire-Forged Friends: It takes some time for Whizzy and Whitebelly to get along with each other due to Whizzy’s initial dislike of foxes, but once they get along with each other, their friendship remains strong.
- Foil: Whizzy’s father and Muzzle are this to each other, being parental figures who shaped the lives of Whizzy and Whitebelly respectively. Whizzy’s father was there for her from the beginning and his words about being brave was something Whizzy took to heart while Muzzle replaced Whitebelly’s parents when they were killed and forcibly tried to make Whitebelly something the latter didn’t want to be.
- Foul Fox: Muzzle, who took in Whitebelly when the latter’s parents were killed by hunters, is responsible not just for many of Whitebelly’s issues, but for the death of Whizzy’s father.
- Interspecies Friendship: Whizzy, a mouse, learns to overcome her initial prejudice of foxes to befriend Whitebelly while the two are in heaven. Prior to her death, she had a glasses-wearing mole as a friend who she later reunites with at the amusement park.
- Look Both Ways: As Whitebelly is chasing Whizzy at the start of the film, the two end up on a street road and get run over by a car. They end up in heaven shortly afterwards.
- Movie-Theater Episode: Towards the end of the movie, Whizzy and Whitebelly get their movie tickets and go to a movie theater, which is inside a whale. Once the duo arrive, they and the other participants that are there watch individual movies that recap their own lives prior to their deaths.
- Nice Mice: Whizzy’s father was a kind and heroic mouse who was respected by others for his bravery after his death. Whizzy aims to take after her father and despite some difficulties along the way, she becomes just as friendly as he was especially when she tries to help Whitebelly in the Forest of Forests.
- Only One Afterlife: Animal Heaven is where much of the film takes place and is where all animals end up once they die, regardless of what their behavior was like when they were previously alive.
- "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: After the reincarnated Whizzy and Whitebelly reunite with each other, the camera pans up to the sky with the words “The End” appearing. It’s followed by “...?” being added to those aforementioned words.
- Predator-Prey Friendship: The primary focus of the movie is about Whizzy and Whitebelly, a mouse and a fox respectively, befriending each other in heaven after having previously spent their mortal lives believing that such creatures can’t get along with each other.
- Reincarnation: After animals in the afterlife watch their movie, they are able to reincarnate into another animal. Whizzy and Whitebelly are among those that are able to do so and in their case, they reincarnate into a fox and a mouse respectively.
- Speech Impediment: Whitebelly has a stutter that occurs throughout almost all of his dialogue.
- The End: When Whizzy and Whitebelly watch their life stories, these exact words appear once their respective movies finish. The film itself also closes with these words, but with a “...?” being added to it.
- Toilet Humor: Jokes about mice pooping pellets happen a few times during the film. The first is when Whizzy’s classmates tease her over such an action that she did when the book they’re reading mentions it, the second happens after a mouse is violently shaken by Whitebelly at the theme park, and the third is mentioned by Whizzy’s father when talking about his initial confrontation with Muzzle when she reunites with him.
