Sampson the cat and the church mice up to their usual tricks
The Church Mice are a series of children's picture books by English author Graham Oakley.
They detail the trials and tribulations of Arthur, Humphrey and all of the other mice who inhabit Wortlethorpe church, along with their faithful companion, the long-suffering church cat Sampson, who has taken a vow of peace and does his best to look after the mice.
Twelve books were written between 1972 and 2000:
- The Church Mouse - Lonely church mouse Arthur invites the Wortlethorpe town mice to stay with him under the protection of Sampson the cat.
- The Church Cat Abroad - Funds are desperately needed to mend the church roof so the mice plan to have Sampson earn the money doing commercials.
- The Church Mice and the Moon - Arthur and Humphrey are kidnapped by the Wortlethorpe space programme with the intention of being the first mice on the moon.
- The Church Mice Spread Their Wings - The mice decide it's time for a summer holiday and embark on a worldwide tour, much to Sampson's chagrin.
- The Church Mice Adrift - Sampson and the mice are evicted from the vestry by some evil rats and must find a way to outsmart them.
- The Church Mice at Bay - The kindly vicar is replaced by a young and trendy curate, and his idea of how to run the church does not go down well...
- The Church Mice at Christmas - The mice want to have a Christmas party but will need to come up with some fund-raising ideas first.
- The Church Mice in Action - Sampson attracts the unwanted attention of the vicar's sister, who promptly lavishes him with attention. Arthur and Humphrey have designs on his new look however...
- The Diary of a Church Mouse - Humphrey catalogues a year in the life of the Wortlethorpe church mice.
- The Church Mice and the Ring - The mice show charity to an abandoned dog whom they allow to live with them. However, they hadn't counted on his voracious appetite and soon a mission to find the dog a new home is underway.
- Humphrey Hits the Jackpot - Humphrey finds a winning lottery ticket whilst out blackberrying.
- The Church Mice Take a Break - Sampson and the mice sneak into the vicar's car with the idea of getting a free holiday, but when the vicar returns home without them they're left to fend for themselves.
This work contains examples of:
- The Alleged Car: The trendy hippy curate drives what looks to be an ancient Austin painted with flowers yet constantly belching out clouds of noxious smoke.
- Black Comedy Animal Cruelty:
- Arthur and Humphrey are subjected to some astronaut training after being captured by WOMUMP.
- The animal "shelter" Sampson finds himself imprisoned in, run by Dr. Charlie Pavlov, features such therapeutic treatments as "starve until friendly".
- Cut-and-Paste Note: Sampson's kidnappers demand a ransom of all of Sampson's prize winnings using one of these. The text lampshades the trope with the mice saying they're glad the note was done properly "like in the movies".
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: As one of their psychological warfare stunts, the mice literally spell out DOOM in front of the petrified curate.
- Epic Fail:
- Sampson's kidnappers attempts at pretty much everything. They put their names and addresses on the ransom note, they incinerate the paltry money they receive as ransom, and disturb a wasp's nest when trying to take revenge on Sampson.
- Wortlethorpe Rodent Control Bureau make a complete hash of capturing the mice, managing to gas themselves, trap themselves in the construction of a sewer and accidentally assault a police officer.
- Food Porn: As well as their regular cheeses, there's many other lovingly depicted foodstuffs that the mice always manage to end up eating.
- For Science!: The only conceivable reason why a small borough council is set on running their own moon programme for mice.
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": Arthur and Humphrey arrive in the middle of their own funeral, with terrified mourners thinking they're ghosts.
- Funny Background Event: Thanks to the sumptuous artwork, a wry sense of humour and a cast of hundreds, almost all of the illustrations have several sight gags going on in the background.
- Ghibli Hills: Whenever the setting strayed away from the town centre (or of close-ups of the churchyard).
- Hurricane of Puns: Many of the miniscule details in the images contain these. For instance, the high street tobacconist is run by a Mr. Hacker selling "Wyll's Wheezes" cigars and Caries chocolate.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Humphrey the schoolmouse considers himself highly educated.
- Lethal Chef: The Riverside Rat-au-rant offers such delights as cock-a-roachy soup and smoked salmonella.
- Mad Scientist: You'll need a couple of these if your goal is for a small parish town to land two mice on the Moon.
- Meaningful Name: Who on Earth would name a rocket Icarus?
- Naked People Are Funny: ...especially when they cause a multiple-car pile-up involving the Mayor.
- Scenery Porn: The artwork is exquisite and incredibly detailed.
- Shout-Out: Many are hidden in the detail of the artwork (are we spotting a theme yet?):
- One picture shows a row of houses, one with an immaculately manicured garden, and the neighbour's is full of hens, pigs, goats and vegetables, mirroring the setup from The Good Life.
- Strawman News Media: The local newspaper brands the rocket scientists the "cream of civilised man" one day and "dregs of society" the next.
- Thieving Magpie: A jackdaw rather than a magpie steals a ring (and is revealed to have a huge stash of gems in the church gutters).
- Trademark Favourite Food: The mice get free cheese from the vicar for holding up their end of the deal and it's treated with appropriately holy reverence.
- The Vicar: The mice live in an English church, so one of these is to be expected. He's kind enough to allow the mice to stay in his church as long as they help look after the place, and also doles out a weekly cheese ration.
- The replacement curate in The Church Mice at Bay has a phobia of mice as well as atrocious taste in art and music, so the entire book is spent trying to get rid of him.
- Visual Pun: Many examples.
- When the first footage from the Moon landing is shown, the image seen is of a choirboy bending over.
- The rats are forced to flee from a pub called Ye Olde Ship Inn which is being demolished. The picture shows the ship of the pub sign, half-submerged in a puddle, with the rats running away - rats leaving a sinking ship.
- Worst News Judgment Ever: Many of the newspaper articles visible in the pictures are stuffed with these.
- Ye Olde Butchered English: As well as the aforementioned Ye Olde Ship Inn, Wortlethorpe also has branches of Ye Tudor Hamburger and Ye Olde Espresso Shoppe.
- You Dirty Rat!: The invasive rats that throw the mice out of the vestry are nothing short of revolting.
