Editing Mighty Mouse (section)

===Super Mouse===
The character originated in 1942 from an idea by animator Isadore Klein at the [[Terrytoons]] studio, who suggested a parody/homage to the popular ''[[Superman]]'' character, making some sketches of a superhero fly. [[Paul Terry (cartoonist)|Paul Terry]], the head of the studio, liked the idea but suggested a mouse rather than an insect.<ref name=terry-ch18>{{cite book |last1=Hamonic |first1=W. Gerald |title=Terrytoons: The Story of Paul Terry and His Classic Cartoon Factory |date=2018 |publisher=John Libbey Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-0861967292 |pages=207–223 |chapter=Here I Come to Save the Day!: The Mouse that Saved a Cartoon Studio, 1942-1945}}</ref>

The character was dubbed "Super Mouse", and his first theatrical short, ''The Mouse of Tomorrow'', debuted on October 16, 1942.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=June 6, 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/110/mode/2up |pages=110–111}}</ref>

In his book ''Of Mice and Magic'', critic [[Leonard Maltin]] describes the character's origin story:

{{Blockquote|Cats of the city have imposed a reign of terror on the rodent community. The mice have barely a chance to live in peace, with endless traps and clever feline footwork sealing their doom. One mouse manages to escape from a particularly hungry cat and runs for shelter into an enormous supermarket. He examines the goods on the long lines of shelves and sets to work on a total transformation: He bathes in Super Soap, swallows Super Soup, munches Super Celery and plunges head first into an enormous piece of Super Cheese -- from which he emerges in a flash as Super Mouse! He's no longer a tiny rodent, but a two-footed, humanized mouse with a massive chest and powerful biceps. His costume is like Superman's, with a flowing red cape, and his powers are similar, too: He can fly through the air and repel bullets with his chest. Super Mouse soars to the rescue of his fellow mice and dispatches the neighborhood cats to the moon. Returning to earth, he is hoisted on the shoulders of his happy comrades, as the narrator declares, "Thus ends the adventure of Super Mouse... he seen his job and he done it!"<ref name=magic>{{cite book|last1=Maltin|first1=Leonard|title=Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons|date=1987|publisher=Plume Books|location=New York|isbn=0-452-25993-2|pages=141–147|edition=Revised}}</ref>}}

The trade journal ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said ''The Mouse of Tomorrow'' "just misses being outstanding, mainly because of faulty narration and too much kidding of Superman. Idea of super-rat conquering prowling beasts of feline world is good, but too closely follows pattern of that super hero."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mouse of Tomorrow |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 2, 1942 |page=8 |url=https://archive.org/details/variety148-1942-12/page/n7/mode/2up |access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref>

Super Mouse (and his later alias, Mighty Mouse) was originally voiced by Roy Halee Sr., a tenor who often sang on radio and first started doing cartoon voices for [[John Randolph Bray|J. R. Bray]]'s studio. In the operatic melodramas to follow, Halee and his quartet provided all of the vocals.<ref name=terry-ch18/>

In Super Mouse's next film, he spoofed the popular [[Universal Monsters]] films (''Frankenstein's Cat'', 1942). In ''Pandora's Box'' (1943), he battled bat-winged cat demons, and his origin story was changed: now he becomes Super Mouse by eating vitamins A through Z.<ref name=terry-ch18/> The hero made seven films in 1942–1943 before his name was changed.