Seven Blind Mice

Ably narrated by B.D. Wong, Seven Blind Mice is an animated adaptation of Ed Young's 1992 picture book, which—in turn—is based on a tale from India called “The Six Blind Men & the Elephant.” While the six men have been changed to seven mice, the plot remains the same: namely, the title characters come upon an unknown object and try to determine what it might be. Here, each of the seven mice takes a shot at solving the mystery on successive days of the week, suggesting that the strange “something” by their pond is a pillar, snake, cliff, spear, fan, and rope, before the seventh mouse (who takes the time to travel the length and breadth of the visitor) informs the other rodents that it's an elephant. Featuring a fine Eastern-inflected soundtrack by Ernest V. Troost, this simply animated story reminds young viewers that “wisdom comes from seeing the whole.” In an interesting bonus interview, Young talks about the flak he received for having the white mouse figure out the puzzle, while noting that no one took exception to the fact that the smart mouse was the only female in the group. Recommended. Aud: K, P. (R. Pitman)