History Film / MouseHunt

* MalevolentMice: The titular mouse serves as the brothers' biggest problem, outsmarting them and even retaliating on a few occasions.

* BlackComedy: Examples include Lars and Ernie's father being flung into a sewer during his funeral, the mayor choking to death on a cockroach and a cat being sent to the gas chamber.

* HiddenDepths: Additionally, the fact the movie seemingly takes place in the 1940s allows for some interesting parody and social commentary on the period, if one pays close attention to the subtext.

* ShoutOut:
** If the whole plot wasn't reference enough, the Catzilla scene is basically a live-action WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry cartoon, even sporting some of the slapstick from there. Notably [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn making chase tunes as they run around inside a piano]].
*** Also, when Catzilla smashes out of his box, he roars like Franchise/{{Godzilla}}. Rather apropos, given the cat's name.
** "I know some people who used a mouse as a spokesperson. It turned out pretty well." Doubly funny when you realize that this movie was one of [=DreamWorks=]' first films, [[TakeThat and they're one of Disney's main competitors]].
** The mouse [[Film/CapeFear clinging to the bottom of the brothers' car as a scare chord plays]].
** The portrait of Rudolph Smuntz magically changes from a dour expression to smiling when his descendants make a significant change in their behavior, just like the portrait of [[Film/YoungFrankenstein Viktor Frankenstein]].
** During the auction scene, Ernie greets one of his guests with Hakuna Matata. Nathan Lane [[ActorAllusion voiced]] Timon in ''Franchise/TheLionKing''.
*** For bonus points, Ernie Sabella (the voice of Pumbaa) had a cameo earlier in the film as the owner of the pound.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Mayor [=McKrinkle=] dies at the beginning of the movie from eating half of a cockroach at Ernie's restaurant.

[[caption-width-right:300:''"[[{{Tagline}} Who's hunting]] [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted Who?]]"'']]

* TheAce: The mouse is such a genius that he manages to run circles around the brothers and counter everything they throw at him.

* AllClothUnravels: Lars ends up {{naked|PeopleAreFunny}} when he tries to run the family string factory singlehandedly (and breaks the fuse box by pulling one of the two fuses out). For the practical effect to work, the clothing unraveling had to be knit, and knit upside down. See [[http://www.knittingtipsbyjudy.com/cel2.html here]] for pictures.

* AmplifiedAnimalAptitude: The mouse is almost as clever and capable as [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry Jerry]] -- it's the whole premise of the movie. Lars initially lampshades this, which Ernie promptly mocks, though he later agrees.
--> "I don't think we're dealing with an ordinary mouse."

* AxCrazy:
** Catzilla is portrayed as being such a good mouse hunter because he's psychotic.
** The brothers ultimately become this after too many plans turn on them, destroying a fair chunk of the house they were trying to save.
* BadassAdorable:
** The eponymous rodent is as cute as a mouse can be, and clever beyond anything in the animal realm.
** Catzilla may be a bit monstrous in behavior, but... It's still a cat.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: It's possible that the mouse helps Ernie and Lars make a huge breakthrough by inventing string cheese because they didn't kill him when they had the chance.
* BerserkButton: When Lars mocks Ernie for being unable to cook, Ernie understandably gets upset since he used to be a well-known chef.

* ButtMonkey: Ernie, Lars and Caesar. Catzilla probably counts too.
* CatsAreMean: Catzilla is the pet of your nightmares. He's apparently unkillable (they tried gassing him at least once in the animal shelter), permanently kept in a sealed container because he's so vicious and is portrayed as a Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-like monster from the mouse's perspective. In fact, when Ernie puts the box down Catzilla's paws punch through the wood with ease and walk around with Catzilla still inside, just so he can hide outside the mousehole. When the mouse investigates, he breaks out of his container, and ''roars'' like Godzilla. Making it all the more impressive when the mouse proceeds to BreakTheBadass.
* [[GodzillaThreshold Catzilla Threshold]]: After failing numerous times to catch or kill the mouse, Ernie [[SanitySlippage has a breakdown]] and opts to just shoot the mouse with a double barreled shotgun, with no regard for the structural damage he's inflicting on the house. And then later tries to flush out the mouse by flooding the house with water, [[GoneHorriblyWrong which doesn't really work out]].

* CollectorOfTheStrange: Alexander Falko is an EccentricMillionaire who is the world’s most famous collector of items relating to Charles Lyle [=LaRue=], who proudly boasts that he possesses the man’s books, is sure that [=LaRue=] would have liked his shoes, and wants to make the building Lars and Ernie have just found his forty-third [=LaRue=] house.
* ConsolationBackfire: At the climax, the Smuntz's last attempts to drive the mouse away result in the house getting flooded and several walls being destroyed. And this happens in the middle of the auction to sell the house. All the would-be buyers start to leave...
-->'''Ernie Smuntz:''' Hey! Don't go! ''[waves an arm at the flooded house]'' It's just a demonstration of how durable a [=LaRue=] really is! [[TemptingFate Now you know this house will last]] '''[[TemptingFate forever]]'''!\\
''[As if on cue, the house collapses.]''

* ClothingDamage: Turned up to 11 with Lars in the factory, when his clothing is ripped off completely, leaving him naked.
* CreepyChangingPainting: The portrait Rudolf Smuntz will change his expression in some scenes.

* DistractedByTheSexy: While waiting for the opposing string company investors in the park, Ernie sees the Belgium models smiling at him and goes over to chat, only for his hat to blow off into the busy street, where he goes after it. Cue incoming bus.
* DownerBeginning: The movie starts with the Smuntz brothers accidentally dropping their father's corpse down a sewer drain on the day of his funeral. [[FromBadToWorse It goes downhill from there, and that's all before they even meet the infamous mouse.]]
* TheDutifulSon: Lars.
* EccentricMillionaire: Not only is Alexander Falko a CollectorOfTheStrange (see above), but he also has such interesting dietary tastes as a taste for cucumbers as a snack and demanding a glass of rainwater.
* EccentricExterminator: Caesar, played by Creator/ChristopherWalken of all people. He has an almost supernatural intuition to pests, and maintains an overly dramatic log report about his work. [[spoiler:Eventually, he gets DrivenToMadness by the mouse he's trying to catch.]]

* EvilLaugh: A rare "good guy" example: Ernie does this every time he chases the mouse or when he thinks he has got him.
* FatAndSkinny:
** Ernie and Lars. While Ernie's not exactly fat, he's quite larger than the thin and lanky Lars.
** Also the Belgium model sisters Ernie meets, both of whom he's happy to flirt with.

* GoldDigger: Lars' wife April. She leaves him after learning his late father left him nothing but a string factory in his will and that Lars didn't want to sell the place. But she returns and seduces him after learning about the house auction. [[spoiler:In the end though, she runs off with a wealthy Texan with at least 22 million dollars kicking around (which she learns from his bidding).]]

* HateSink: April is a borderline example of such, clearly expecting more from her husband due to his once-lucrative inheritance and being more concerned with herself than with his own well-being. She even had the gall to chew out Ernie for not seizing the opportunity for more money on the house at the auction while Mr. Falco, who was betting hugely on the house was choking right in front of her. You’ll likely be laughing with Ernie when she ends up choking herself.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: After the house is completely destroyed, [[ThrowTheDogABone the mouse helps set the brothers off on a new future in making cheese string]].]]
* HenpeckedHusband: Lars.
* HeroicBSOD: Caesar after his run in with the mouse.
--> '''Ernie:''' Caesar, what happened? Did you catch the mouse?\\
'''Cesar:''' [[NonSequiturThud What's that? Horse? Fiendish!!! I WON'T EAT IT!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!]] -chatters like a mouse-
* HiddenDepths:
** There are hints throughout the film that not only is the mouse very old but also more than just a trickster. Notably, Ernie comments on his culinary expertise in properly toasting a sandwich (thinking Caesar had made it).
** Additionally, the fact the movie seemingly takes place in the 1940s allows for some interesting parody and social commentary on the period, if one pays close attention to the subtext.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Lars doesn't make the connection between [[GoldDigger April]] showing up at the factory in nothing but lingerie around the same time he and Ernie are putting up the mansion for auction. Ernie is quick to point this 'coincidence' out to him.

* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: ''Oh'' yes.

** Caesar doesn't think twice about eating mouse droppings as his way of tracking his prey.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Lars' wife April, who outright states that she is not content being "middle class" and angrily tosses Lars out of the house when he refuses an offer for his father's string factory. She only comes back to him upon learning of the auction for the valuable house he's staying at, having the audacity to cuss out Ernie when the house nearly sells for ''eight million'' just before the bid goes up; she ultimately makes off with one of the millionaires, not giving a second thought of Lars.

* KarmicTrickster: When left to his own devices, the mouse doesn't really bother the brothers beyond stealing their food, and most of the mishaps in the film are the brothers' own faults. As they start trying harder, though, the mouse starts getting ''mean'' in retaliation. At one point it turns on the gas and hands one of the unwitting brothers a match.
* KillerRabbit: The mouse. The last owner of the house before Rudolf Smuntz was found dead locked in a trunk in the attic. Later, the ambulance picks up Caesar the exterminator halfway through the film. He was found the same way, except it's implied this time ''the mouse'' called 911. Not to mention the rest of the stuff he does to Caesar and the Smuntz brothers.
* LargeHam:
** Caesar the exterminator (being played by Creator/ChristopherWalken, this shouldn't be a surprise).
** The brothers also ham up every time they get excited chasing the mouse.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Ernie, smarting from years of having his culinary pursuits dismissed by his father and learning the old man's will has left him with only a ruined mansion and an only slightly-more-valuable string factory, storms out, taking only his father's old cigar box. It's from this box that [[spoiler:the cockroach comes]], ruining his restaurant and setting off the whole plot.

** Catzilla qualifies as well. Maury offhandedly mentions how Catzilla had ''already'' been gassed at one point.
* MisplacedAccent: The Belgian sisters, Ingrid and Hilde, who sound nothing like Dutch or Belgian.

* MsFanservice: April in her corset that she wears under her coat to seduce an already naked Lars, with her hair loose and [[NiceHat a little hat]] which she keeps on her head. And it's seen for only a few seconds.
-->''(Lars has had all of his clothes ripped off by the string factory, and after covering himself with the balls of the string that used to be his clothes, enters the office naked)''
-->'''April:''' ''(sexily)'' Careful, Lars, you might catch a cold.
-->''(Lars turns around to see her)''
-->'''Lars:''' April!
-->'''April:''' ''(dropping her coat to reveal her sexy corset while jazzy music plays)'' You look like you could use some warming up.
-->''(Lars [[{{Visual Innuendo}} drops his balls]] as April looks on)''

* NeverGivenAName: The mouse doesn't seem to have a name.

* NiceGuy: Lars, who is the more approachable and mild-mannered of the brothers and is determined to keep Rudolf Smuntz's legacy alive while also wanting to be a good husband for April.
* NiceMice: [[spoiler:But not until the very end of the movie.]]
* NoIndoorVoice: Ernie's prone to yelling, even when he's excited. Nathan Lane's voice actor in Brazil said the movie was his hardest work ever because Ernie yells so much he barely had a voice after each day recording the dubbing.

* NonSequiturThud: This happens to Caesar after the mouse made a fool of him, sending him careening through the house and effectively [[DrivenToMadness driving him to madness]]. He is then being taken out on a hospital stretcher when the brothers return to check up on things.
-->'''Ernie:''' Caesar, what happened? Did you catch the mouse?\\
'''Caesar:''' What's that? Horse!? FIENDISH!!! I WON'T EAT IT!! AAAGH! ''(makes chattering noises like a mouse)''

* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: The mouse evades all of the brothers' traps and even a mass explosion that takes out a large chunk of the house fails to faze it. As the brothers argue over their losses however, Lars throws an orange at Ernie, which instead hits the mouse, knocking it out cold.

* PosthumousCharacter: Rudolf Smuntz is already dead by the time the movie begins. There's a flashback from when he was alive.

* ScarilyCompetentTracker: The exterminator. It still doesn't help.

* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Lars screams in a very high pitched tone.
* SelfMadeMan: Rudolf Smuntz.

* SniffSniffNom: The mouse exterminator character mentioned above does this with some droppings to judge the dietary habits of the mouse.
* StrippingSnag: Happens when Lars' knitted clothing gets caught in the string machine, which removes all of his clothes, leaving him completely naked running around the factory.

* ThirdActMisunderstanding: When Lars finds out about Ernie's intentions for the factory. Contributes to the above [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "Reason You Suck" speech]].

* WellDoneSonGuy: Ernie views his relationship with his father as such, never managing to gain much approval for his cooking profession, outside the string that ties the food together of course.

Don't confuse it with the Website/{{Facebook}} [[VideoGame/MouseHunt app]].

-->''(Lars [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar drops his balls]] as April looks on)''

* CollectorOfTheStrange: Alexander Falko is an EccentricMillionare who is the world’s most famous collector of items relating to Charles Lyle [=LaRue=], who proudly boasts that he possesses the man’s books, is sure that [=LaRue=] would have liked his shoes, and wants to make the building Lars and Ernie have just found his forty-third [=LaRue=] house.

* EccentricMillionare: Not only is Alexander Falko a CollectorOfTheStrange (see above), but he also has such interesting dietary tastes as a taste for cucumbers as a snack and demanding a glass of rainwater.

'''Lars:''' Look, this is how accidents happen! Come on, Ernie. ''(Ernie laughs maniacally)'' put the gun down, cone on--\\

* HateSink: April is a borderline example of such, clearly expecting more from her husband due to his once-lucrative inheritance and being more concerned with herself than with his own well-being. She even had the gall to chew out Ernie for not seizing the opportunity for more money on the house at the auction while Mr. Falco, who was betting hugely on the house was choking right in front of her.

* AshFace: Ernie and Lars after the former accidentally shot Caesar's bug bomb and caused a massive explosion.
** Actually, this first ensued when the mouse tricks them into lighting a match during a gas leak which propels Ernie out of the chimney like a rocket and blows Lars backwards into a cabinet of dishes and glasses.

** During the auction scene, Ernie greets one of his guests with Hakuna Matata. Nathan Lane [[ActorAllusion voiced]] Timon in ''Disney/TheLionKing''.