View source for Ben and Me

{{Short description|1953 Disney short film directed by Hamilton Luske}}
{{about|the short film|the book on which it was based|Ben and Me (book)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Ben and Me
| image          = Bendxd.jpg
| caption        = 1989 VHS artwork
| director       = [[Hamilton Luske]]
| producer       = [[Walt Disney]]
| story          = [[Robert Lawson (author)|Robert Lawson]] (novel)<br /> [[Bill Peet]] (screen story) <br /> [[Winston Hibler]]<br />Del Connell<br />[[Ted Sears]] (adaptation)
| narrator       = [[Sterling Holloway]]
| starring       = [[Sterling Holloway]]<br />[[Charlie Ruggles]]<br />[[Stan Freberg]]<br />[[Hans Conried]]<br />[[Bill Thompson (voice actor)|Bill Thompson]]<br />[[Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)|Jimmy MacDonald]]
| music          = [[Oliver Wallace]]
| animator       = [[Wolfgang Reitherman]]<br />[[John Lounsbery]]<br />Cliff Nordberg<br />Marvin Woodward<br />Hugh Fraser<br />Eric Cleworth<br />[[Ollie Johnston]]<br />Hal King<br />[[Les Clark]] <br />[[Don Lusk]]<br />Harvey Toombs<br />Jerry Hathcook<br />George Rowley (effects)
| layout_artist = Al Zinnen<br />Hugh Hennesy<br />Thor Putnam
| background_artist = Al Dempster<br />Thelma Witmer<br />Dick Anthony
| cinematography = 
| editing        = 
| studio         = [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Productions]]
| distributor    = [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Film Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|1953|11|10}}
| runtime        = 21 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = 
}}

'''''Ben and Me''''' is an American animated two-reel short subject produced by [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Productions]] and released theatrically on November 10, 1953.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |page=153}}</ref> It was adapted from the [[Ben and Me (book)|book of the same name]] written by author/illustrator [[Robert Lawson (author)|Robert Lawson]] and first published in 1939. Though both book and film deal with the relationship between a mouse and American [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] [[Benjamin Franklin]], the book, with illustrations by Lawson, focused more heavily on actual historical events and personages, and included incidents from Franklin's French career at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]].

The short received an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Best Short Subject, Two-reel]].<ref>{{IMDb title|id=45550|title=Ben and Me}}
</ref>

This short was also notable for being the second release on the [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Distribution]] label, with the first being ''[[Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom]]'', released on the same day. On its release, ''Ben and Me'' was packaged with the feature-length ''[[True-Life Adventures]]'' nature documentary film ''[[The Living Desert]]''. When Disney's regular distributor [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]] resisted Disney's idea of releasing a feature-length ''True-Life Adventures'' nature documentary film, Disney formed his own distribution company to handle future Disney releases.<ref>Mosley, Leonard. ''The Disney Films''.  Bonanza Books, 1978, pg. 115.</ref>

A ''[[D-TV]]'' music video was created in which the short was set to [[Stevie Wonder]]'s ''[[For Once in My Life]]''.

==Plot==
At a statue of [[Benjamin Franklin]], a tour group leader is discussing to a group of children Franklin's great impact in American history. At the same time on the Franklin statue's head, the leader of a tour group of young mice reveals the contributions of a mouse named Amos (also immortalized as a statue on Franklin's hat) to Franklin's career, reading from Amos' diary, titled ''Ben and Me''. After describing the exploits of some of his ancestors, which includes one sailing on the [[Mayflower]] to come to America, Amos tells his own story.

The eldest of 26 siblings living in the [[Christ Church, Philadelphia]], Amos sets out on his own in 1745 to find work and help his large family. Having no such luck, he takes shelter in Ben's shop from the bitter cold and snow and befriends the beleaguered printer, who is grave danger of having his press and all he owns repossessed by bill collectors. Amos invents [[bifocals]] for Ben from his two broken pairs of glasses, and inspires him to create the [[Franklin stove]]. Amos also helps Ben turn his dry publication, ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'', into a successful newspaper, the ''[[Pennsylvania Gazette]]''; Amos acts as journalist to gather good stories and helps Ben operate the [[printing press]]. As the years pass, Amos helps Ben advance socially and build his reputation.

Unfortunately, Ben makes Amos an unwitting test subject in his experiments with [[electricity]], culminating in him sending the mouse into the air as part of his [[kite experiment]]. Amos is nearly killed when the kite is struck by lightning and crashes to the ground. Furious, he leaves Ben and moves back in with his family.

Years later, the early stages of the [[American Revolution]] take place. Ben travels to [[England]] to try to reason with [[George III of the United Kingdom|the king]] and persuade an end to the taxes, but this proves a failure. When Amos sees Ben returning in despondence, one part of him has pity and wants to help, while the other part still unforgiving. In 1776, Ben finds Amos' hole at the church and begs him for his help. Amos agrees on the condition that Ben sign a contract agreeing to his terms. As Ben is reading the contract, [[Thomas Jefferson]] comes by, struggling with writing the introduction to the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. The language in Amos' contract inspires Jefferson, and it becomes the Declaration's introduction. Amos accompanies Ben to the signing of the Declaration. The short ends with both tour groups stating how both man and mouse were truly great figures in American history.

==Voice cast==
* [[Sterling Holloway]] as Amos Mouse
* [[Charlie Ruggles]] as [[Benjamin Franklin]]
* [[Stan Freberg]] as mouse guide
* [[Bill Thompson (voice actor)|Bill Thompson]] as [[Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet|Governor Keith]], and as the human tour guide
* [[Hans Conried]] as [[Thomas Jefferson]], and as a criminal
* [[Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)|Jimmy MacDonald]] as miscellaneous men<ref name="CartoonVoices">{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Keith |title=Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 |date=3 October 2022 |publisher=BearManor Media |page=592 |language=en}}</ref>

==Home media==
The short was released on December 6, 2005, on ''[[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Five#|Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s - 1960s DVD Review |url=https://www.dvdizzy.com/disneyrarities.html |website=DVD Dizzy |access-date=14 February 2021}}</ref>

Additional releases include:
* On [[VHS]] under the ''Walt Disney Mini-Classics'' label in 1989.
* On DVD under the ''Disney Generations Collection'' in 2012.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0045550|Ben and Me}}
* {{DisneyAtoZ|title=''Ben and Me''}}
* [https://www.toonopedia.com/benandme.htm ''Ben and Me''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240525203117/https://www.webcitation.org/66fuQFl91?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/benandme.htm Archived] from the original on April 4, 2012.

{{Disney's Short films}}
{{Benjamin Franklin}}
{{Thomas Jefferson}}
{{Hamilton Luske}}

[[Category:Works about Benjamin Franklin]]
[[Category:1950s Disney animated short films]]
[[Category:Animated films about animals]]
[[Category:Animated films about mice]]
[[Category:American Revolutionary War films]]
[[Category:Films set in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Films set in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Films set in the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:1953 children's films]]
[[Category:1950s children's animated films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Hamilton Luske]]
[[Category:Films produced by Walt Disney]]
[[Category:Films scored by Oliver Wallace]]
[[Category:Films set in 1745]]
[[Category:Films set in 1776]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson]]
[[Category:Secret histories]]
[[Category:Animated films based on children's books]]
[[Category:Animation based on real people]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:American animated short films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bill Peet]]
[[Category:English-language short films]]
[[Category:1953 animated short films]]