History YMMV / Mousehunt

* MagnificentBastard: [[KillerRabbit The Mouse]] is a sentient, mischievous animal who has made his home in a dilapidated mansion which it fiercely defends against new arrivals. When the Smuntz brothers move in after inheriting it from their late father and discover it to potentially be worth millions, the Mouse [[ItCanThink repeatedly and effortlessly outwits the Smuntz's efforts to kill it]], even disposing of a psychotic cat and a seasoned exterminator whom it tortures into insanity. After the house is destroyed, it decides to make peace with the Smuntzes and helps them restore their father's string factory to produce cheese products.

* AngstWhatAngst:
** The mayor's two daughters don't seem particularly distressed that their dad just passed out from shock after eating a cockroach; in fact, they're busy ''twirling the yellow tape while their mother is sobbing her eyes out!'' [[spoiler:Worse still, he doesn't pull through.]]
** [[spoiler:The destruction of the mansion, right before the brothers could sell it, making all their work for naught. They don't even take joy in the apparent death of the mouse,]] they just drive away to their factory in quiet despair.

* HilariousInHindsight: During Ernie and Lars's big fight, Ernie (Nathan Lane) gives a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheProducers'' when he yells "DOUBLE! DOUBLE!" Four years later, Lane would star in the ScreenToStageAdaptation of the film referenced as the character who says that line (it's altogether possible that the show's earliest planning stages were occurring while this movie was being filmed).

* SpiritualAdaptation: Could be considered a better ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' movie than the [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie actual movie]].

* HilariousInHindsight: As mentioned under ActorAllusion, during Ernie and Lars's big fight, Ernie (Nathan Lane) gives a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheProducers'' when he yells "DOUBLE! DOUBLE!" Four years later, Lane would star in the ScreenToStageAdaptation of the film referenced as the character who says that line (it's altogether possible that the show's earliest planning stages were occurring while this movie was being filmed).

*** For those who don't get it, the "raisins" were the mouse's droppings.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: If one pays closer attention to the bug bomb explosion, you can tell that it was actually [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8I5_zsRI4Zo/maxresdefault.jpg 4 separate explosions in the form of a square]] rather than just one large one, which makes no sense whatsoever.

** The destruction of the mansion, right before the brothers could sell it, making all their work for naught. They don't even take joy in the apparent death of the mouse, they just drive away to their factory in quiet despair.

* AngstWhatAngst: The mayor's two daughters don't seem particularly distressed that their dad just passed out from shock after eating a cockroach; in fact, they're busy ''twirling the yellow tape while their mother is sobbing her eyes out!'' [[spoiler:Worse still, he doesn't pull through.]]

** The destruction of the mansion, right before the brothers could sell it, making all their work for naught. They don't even take joy in the apparent death of the mouse, they just drive away to their factory in quiet despair.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:1997 film]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:2008 game]]
* AnticlimaxBoss: Certain mice are easy to catch and yield enormous rewards of points and gold, but getting into position to catch them is very difficult and requires a lot of time and expensive cheese.
** The Eclipse Mouse, if you have the right weapon. With a description stating that it is [[DarkIsEvil darkness and fear itself]], it sure doesn't put up much of a fight if you wield [[spoiler: forgotten traps]]. In fact, his difficulty rating is "Effortless" is you do so -- the lowest possible.
** The [[ChessMotifs Mystic King, Technic King, and Chessmaster]] mice are much easier to capture than the respective Mystic/Technic Rooks or Queens, just like a real chess game.
* ArchivePanic: There are over seven hundred different mice to catch, not counting limited edition or Special Event mice. Happy hunting!
* DemonicSpiders:
** [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies Harpy Mice]] in the Lagoon. Players would've most likely brought either a Physical, Tactical or Hydro trap, while their main weakness is Shadow, and their mouse power is very high. The Harpy's description even {{Lampshades}} this:
--> "Hunter's lore describes these mice as a curse, bringing bad luck and fruitless hunts. Hunters lament at the eerie caw of a Harpy mouse descending from the clouds, knowing that escape is impossible. Harpy mice exist to torture Mousehunters by constantly stealing their cheese and raiding their supplies. Their swift wings bring a dark plague of frustration to any hunter unfortunate enough to encounter them"
** [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]] mice in the Mousoleum and the Catacombs. They give you very little gold and points compared to the other mice there. If they happen to steal your gold, they steal a lot more than the other mice.
** Some mice are even meant to deter players from encountering them! Missing the [[HumanoidAbomination Shadow Stalker mice]] in the Labyrinth/Zokor or catching/missing the [[BatteringRam Battering]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Ram mice]] in Fort Rox will result in penalties to your progress in their respective areas. You can arm specific cheeses to avoid them completely though.
** The Portal Paladin and Portal Pursuer in the Bristle Woods Rift are tough to catch can even make you lose progress when you miss them.
* FridgeHorror: The Warmonger mouse sends in the [[NewMeat new recruits]] on the first wave before sending in the more experienced soldiers on the next two. In short, the inexperienced mice who wanted to join (or were forced to join) his army are literally being sent to an early death!
** Justified for the new scouts, as they are "trained" by being [[TrainingFromHell thrown directly into the first wave of the battle instead of spending months on the training grounds]].
** The whole concept of catching and killing thousands of sentient living beings. Some of those traps are horrifyingly cruel.
* GameBreaker:
** Many Limited Edition traps have respectable Power and stupidly high Luck. Luck ''also'' determines whether or not you succeed in catching a mouse, and the effectiveness of luck rises exponentially. Of note are the Partybot (Physical), Chrome Deathbot/Drillbot (Physical), Giant Speaker/2010 Blastoff/Rewer's Riposte (Tactical), and Kraken Chaos/Double Diamond Adventure (Hydro)
** The 3 Fiery Warpath traps, the Oasis Water Node trap, the Sphynx Wrath and ''especially'' the Sandstorm Monstrobot trump all of these. However, if you want those three traps, you will have to EarnYourFun.
** The Phantasmic Oasis trap, Grand Arcanum trap and the Clockwork Portal trap also count.
** The Sunken City brings the ultimate hydro trap, the School of Sharks trap at a whopping base cost of 29,000,000 gold, excluding the trap parts needed to purchase it.
** The Labyrinth/Zokor introduces the best base in the game, the Minotaur Base. It also brings the most powerful forgotten, arcane and shadow traps; the Infinite Labyrinth trap, the Event Horizon trap and the Temporal Turbine trap. Much like the Fiery Warpath traps, you need to EarnYourFun to obtain these.
** Some of these top tier traps even have event-only upgrades!
** Charms like the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Ultimate charm]] or the cheese conserving Baitkeep charms fit this trope perfectly.
* ScrappyMechanic: '''Cursed City Minigame.''' It requires the player to actively switch between 3 charms after each successful catch to dispel 3 curses to allow another mouse with better loot to be attracted, but Corrupt mice can waltz in at anytime and reset all the curses, even if he's caught. After successfully dispelling all 3 curses, you are given a grace period of 3 hunts where Corrupt can not be attracted, but after that, Corrupt will reset all your work when attracted. Some take days to even manage dispelling all 3 curses.
** Made worse when you're hunting for the Dark Magi boss. He can only be attracted after dispelling all 3 curses and equipping a charm, and that charm will also cause only one other mouse to be attracted: The Corrupt.
* TearJerker: Greedy Al is an embittered Jerkass by the time you confront him during the Great Winter Hunt, but the letters to Santa he wrote when he was young and disappointed by empty stockings are heartbreaking.
* ThatOneBoss:
** The Acolyte mouse. The Dragon, Big Bad Burroughs, and Silth are starting to give it competition, though.
** The BBB is not so bad. At least the mice in the area where its found in cannot steal anything from you. The others...
* ThatOneLevel:
** Depending on whether the "Devs Hate U", each run in the [[ChessMotifs Zugzwang's Tower]] can be a big failure, or success, or anywhere in between.
** The Dreaded Horde in the Jungle of Dread are made to be especially hard. Even with the best traps for that location (such as the Cackle Lantern and the Clockapult of Time), you will fail to catch them over half the time.
** The Fiery Warpath and the Labyrinth/Zokor are this if you seek the [[LuckBasedMission rare trap loot]] the bosses drop. Many hunters are stuck in these areas hoping the next run finally brings the trap parts.
* UglyCute: The Itty-Bitty Burroughs mouse.
[[/folder]]

* NightmareFuel:
** The painting of their father is moody throughout the film, but then magically changes to a grin, when the sons finally work together for real. In intention, a beautiful event to show the father being proud of his sons even after death, but ''the goddamn painting changes through supernatural forces''. Not intentionally scary, but if you think about it, it's chilling.
*** And as proof of YMMV, this same moment can also come across as intended, as a wonderful SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Particularly when paired with the [[AnAesop recurring theme]] of "teamwork and sharing are good things", Ernie [[WellDoneSonGuy finally earning his father's pride]], and the ArcWords "A world without string is chaos."
** A more chilling example is when the brothers enter the city pound to find a cat, and there's a little girl being dragged out by her mother screaming about her kitty being left behind... The kitten is taken inside, and the room fills with smoke ''hopefully'' for decontamination... It doesn't help that a great deal of the imagery, music, and visual cues are [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything reminiscent of the Nazi death camps]], surely intentionally so.

[[folder:The Game]]

[[folder:The Film]]
* AngstWhatAngst: The mayor's two daughters don't seem particularly distressed that their dad just passed out from shock after eating a cockroach; in fact, they're busy ''twirling the yellow tape while their mother is sobbing her eyes out!'' [[spoiler:Worse still, he doesn't pull through.]]
* CrossesTheLineTwice:
** The opening, where the handle breaks on their father's coffin causing the other bearers to drop it and it slides down the church steps, hits a limo, and the father's corpse flips into the air and straight down an open manhole cover into the sewers.
** Imagine if slapstick actually hurt and left you bruised and slightly bloodied. That's a good idea of this movie's humor.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Creator/WilliamHickey, who plays PosthumousCharacter Mr. Smuntz, died before the film's release. The film was consequently dedicated to his memory.
* HilariousInHindsight: As mentioned under ActorAllusion, during Ernie and Lars's big fight, Ernie (Nathan Lane) gives a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheProducers'' when he yells "DOUBLE! DOUBLE!" Four years later, Lane would star in the ScreenToStageAdaptation of the film referenced as the character who says that line (it's altogether possible that the show's earliest planning stages were occurring while this movie was being filmed).
* JerkassWoobie: There's no denying that Ernie is the more abrasive and cynical of the brothers who is the most eager to kill off the titular mouse and has little to no respect for both the memory of his and Lars' father and their family's string business. However, it's also easy to feel sorry for Ernie when it's made clear that his bitterness is a result of old Rudolf seemingly not giving a rat's ass about his son's talent as a chef (no matter how hard Ernie tried to impress him with it) and expected him to continue running the string factory with Lars after he died even when Ernie had his own responsibilities to his restaurant. Then Ernie loses his beloved establishment over a circumstance he had no control over and is painted as the one responsible for the mayor's death by the press, and when he realizes the presence of the mouse in the manor that can catapult him back to fame, he's paranoid that he will lose his chance of regaining all that he lost from the cockroach fiasco.
* NightmareFuel:
** The painting of their father is moody throughout the film, but then magically changes to a grin, when the sons finally work together for real. In intention, a beautiful event to show the father being proud of his sons even after death, but ''the goddamn painting changes through supernatural forces''. Not intentionally scary, but if you think about it, it's chilling.
*** And as proof of YMMV, this same moment can also come across as intended, as a wonderful SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Particularly when paired with the [[AnAesop recurring theme]] of "teamwork and sharing are good things", Ernie [[WellDoneSonGuy finally earning his father's pride]], and the ArcWords "A world without string is chaos."
** A more chilling example is when the brothers enter the city pound to find a cat, and there's a little girl being dragged out by her mother screaming about her kitty being left behind... The kitten is taken inside, and the room fills with smoke ''hopefully'' for decontamination... It doesn't help that a great deal of the imagery, music, and visual cues are [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything reminiscent of the Nazi death camps]], surely intentionally so.
* OneSceneWonder: Creator/ChristopherWalken has an extended cameo as an expert exterminator, who, of course, fails to take down the mouse. This being Walken, it goes without saying that the character is an eccentric LargeHam who takes to pest control like a member of a SWAT team.
* {{Squick}}:
** The mayor eating the cockroach.
** Right before the big finale...
--->'''Lady''': The raisins are a nice touch.\\
'''Ernie''': (Smiling) They're good, aren't they? (Takes two steps, and stops.) ''Raisins?''
*** For those who don't get it, the "raisins" were the mouse's droppings.
** Caesar voluntarily EATS one of the mouse's feces!
---> '''Caesar''': Slight calcium deficiency.
*** After which even the mouse gives a weirded out [[AsideGlance look to the audience]] [[NoFourthWall through the camera]].
* SoOkayItsAverage: It’s generally agreed the movie had great ideas, but mediocre execution.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: If one pays closer attention to the bug bomb explosion, you can tell that it was actually [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8I5_zsRI4Zo/maxresdefault.jpg 4 separate explosions in the form of a square]] rather than just one large one, which makes no sense whatsoever.
* SpiritualAdaptation: Could be considered a better ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' movie than the [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie actual movie]].
** The destruction of the mansion, right before the brothers could sell it, making all their work for naught. They don't even take joy in the apparent death of the mouse, they just drive away to their factory in quiet despair.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The film contains a cute little mouse and plays out like a live-action Tom and Jerry cartoon, but there are some curse words, a person who dies from choking on a bug, another whose corpse is thrown into the sewer, sexual references, and A LOT of black comedy. What makes this worse is that The Hub (now Discovery Family), a family channel, aired this movie! And even better is the reviews on the VHS box that say it's "fun for the whole family".
[[/folder]]

* HilariousInHindsight: As mentioned under ActorAllusion, during Ernie and Lars's big fight, Ernie (Nathan Lane) gives a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheProducers'' when he yells "DOUBLE! DOUBLE! DOUBLE!" Four years later, Lane would star in the ScreenToStageAdaptation of the film referenced as the character who says that line (it's altogether possible that the show's earliest planning stages were occurring while this movie was being filmed).

* SpiritualAdaptation: Could be considered a better ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' movie than [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie the Tom and Jerry movie]].
* {{Tearjerker}}:
** The death of Rudolf Smuntz. Lars is understandably despondent and struggling to stay optimistic, while Ernie is bitter over his many unresolved issues with his father due to their differences over his aspirations.
** Catzilla's demise at the hands of the mouse. We never see if he survived his ordeal, but as terrifying a creature as he was it doesn't make the suffering of an animal any less upsetting.
** The little girl being forcefully separated from her kitten by her mother, with the innocent animal being taken into a gas-filled room to face a highly uncertain fate. You know you despised the woman for putting them both through that.
** The death of the mayor at Ernie's restaurant. BlackComedy was firmly in effect with this one, but he was still an innocent man who during an innocent family dinner saw his own heart give out, leaving behind his wife and young daughters. Worse still, Ernie takes the fall for what was an honest, albeit careless mistake and loses everything he's worked for as he's villified by the public.
*** Doubly so is the fact that Mr. Smuntz's actor, William Hickey, died before production ended. The film was subsequently dedicated to his memory.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The main reason the film didn’t do so well. The mouse and the brothers are both sympathetic in concept -- the mouse had its home destroyed by accident as the brothers do their renovations, and the brothers have had their lives fall apart due to circumstances they have little control over -- but the three are also terrible people and take destroying each other's lives like a personal mission. Everyone else in the movie is also a {{Jerkass}} to some degree, and the amount of physical and emotional abuse going around makes for a BlackComedy that is very heavy on the black. Even with the mouse and the brothers both getting a happy ending eventually, it takes a lot of suffering and punishment for them to get to that point.

* NightmareFuel: The painting of their father is moody throughout the film, but then magically changes to a grin, when the sons finally work together for real. In intention, a beautiful event to show the father being proud of his sons even after death, but ''the goddamn painting changes through supernatural forces''. Not intentionally scary, but if you think about it, it's chilling.
** And as proof of YMMV, this same moment can also come across as intended, as a wonderful SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Particularly when paired with the [[AnAesop recurring theme]] of "teamwork and sharing are good things", Ernie [[WellDoneSonGuy finally earning his father's pride]], and the ArcWords "A world without string is chaos."

* {{Squick}}: Eating the cockroach.

* {{Tearjerker}}: The death of Rudolf Smuntz. Lars is understandably despondent and struggling to stay optimistic, while Ernie is bitter over his many unresolved issues with his father due to their differences over his aspirations.

** Doubly so is the fact that Mr. Smuntz's actor, William Hickey, died before production ended. The film was subsequently dedicated to his memory.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The film contains a cute little mouse and plays out like a live-action Tom and Jerry cartoon, but there are some curse words, a person who dies from choking on a bug, another whose corpse is thrown into the sewer, sexual references, and A LOT of black comedy. What makes this worse is that The Hub (now Discovery Family), a family channel, aired this movie! And even better is the reviews on the VHS box that say it's "...fun for the whole family".

*** After which even the mouse gives an weirded out [[AsideGlance look to the audience]] [[NoFourthWall through the camera]].

** A more chilling example is when the brothers enter the city pound to find a cat, and there's a little girl being dragged out by her mother screaming about her kitty being left behind...the kitten is taken inside, and the room fills with smoke ''hopefully'' for decontamination... It doesn't help that a great deal of the imagery, music, and visual cues are [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything reminiscent of the Nazi death camps]], surely intentionally so.

-->'''Lady''': The raisins are a nice touch.\\

*** After which the mouse gives an OhCrap look [[NoFourthWall to the audience through the camera]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: William Hickey, who plays PosthumousCharacter Mr. Smuntz, died before the film's release. The film was consequently dedicated to his memory.

* SpiritualLicensee: Could be considered a better ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' movie than [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie the Tom and Jerry movie]].

* JerkassWoobie: There's no denying that Ernie is the more abrasive and cynical of the brothers who is the most eager to kill off the titular mouse and has little to no respect for both the memory of his and Lars' father and their family's string business. However, it's also easy to feel sorry for Ernie when it's made clear that his bitterness was a result of old Rudolf seemingly not giving a rat's ass about his son's talent as a chef (no matter how hard Ernie tried to impress him with it) and expected him to continue running the string factory with Lars after he died even when Ernie had his own responsibilities to his restaurant. Then, after Rudolf dies, Ernie loses his beloved establishment over a circumstance he had no control over and is painted as the bad guy by the press, and when he realizes the presence of the mouse in the manor that can catapult him back to fame he's paranoid that he will lose the chance of regaining all that he lost from the cockroach fiasco.

* JerkassWoobie:

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The main reason the film didn’t do so well. The mouse and the brothers are both sympathetic in concept -- the mouse had its home destroyed by accident as the brothers do their renovations, and the brothers have had their lives fall apart due to circumstances they have little control over -- but the three are also terrible people and take destroying each other's lives like a personal mission. Everyone else in the movie is also a {{Jerkass}} to some degree, and the amount of physical abuse going around makes for a BlackComdy that is very heavy on the black. Even with the mouse and the brothers both getting a happy ending eventually, it takes a lot of suffering and punishment for them to get to that point.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The main reason the film didn’t do so well. The fact the brothers and the mouse are both simultaneously sympathetic and ruthless really made audiences question who they are supposed to be rooting for. Adding to the fact that nearly everyone else in the movie is a {{Jerkass}} makes this a surprisingly nihilistic comedy. Eased somewhat by the HappyEnding with both sides getting [[ThrowTheDogABone Thrown A Bone]].

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Imagine if slapstick actually hurt and left you bruised and slightly bloodied. That's a good idea of this movie's humor.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The main reason the film didn’t do so well. The fact the brothers and the mouse are both simultaneously sympathetic and ruthless really made audiences question who they are supposed to be rooting for. Adding to the fact that nearly everyone else in the movie is a {{Jerkass}} makes this a surprisingly nihilistic comedy.