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''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella by John Steinbeck, which tells the story of George and Lennie, two displaced migrant workers in California during the Great Depression (1929–1939). The story is set on a ranch a few miles from Soledad in the Salinas Valley. Since its initial publication in 1937, it has been frequently referenced in popular culture. == In cartoons and animation == Homages to the characters Lennie and George have been especially popular in American cartoons and animated films. The ''New York Times'' reviewed the 1939 film based on the novella thusly: Theatrical cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s, particularly the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros., are particularly awash with ''Of Mice and Men'' parodies. The reference most often appears in the form of one character asking another, ''à la'' Lennie, "Which way did he go, George; which way did he go?",〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Artist's Corner: Interview with artist 'Joe' )〕 such as the episodes ''Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt'' or ''Falling Hare''.〔(TV.com article on "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" ). Accessed June 17, 2008.〕 The other popular reference draws on Lennie's love of soft furry animals and his underestimation of his strength. In ''The Abominable Snow Rabbit'' (1961), the abominable snowman grabs Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck saying, "I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him" with Mel Blanc doing an unmistakable imitation of Lon Chaney, Jr.'s Lennie. This material was re-used in ''Spaced Out Bunny'' (1980), the last Warner Bros. cartoon in which Bugs Bunny was voiced by Mel Blanc. Tex Avery, who worked as a director on Warner-released cartoons during the 1930s and early 1940s, started the ''Of Mice and Men'' trend with ''Of Fox and Hounds'' (1940) and ''Lonesome Lenny'' (1946) featuring Screwy Squirrel. The formula was so successful that it was used again and again in subsequent shorts, notably Robert McKimson's ''Hoppy Go Lucky'' (1952), ''Cat-Tails for Two'' (1953) and Chuck Jones' ''The Abominable Snow Rabbit'' (1961). Avery himself used it again when he went on to direct several cartoons starring the George and Lennie doppelgangers George and Junior for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the late 1940s. Many more serious animated features use George and Lennie-type characters to serve as comic relief. Other examples in animation include: * The animated series ''American Dad!'' has an episode "Of Ice and Men". * The Warner Bros. cartoon duo Pinky and the Brain (of ''Animaniacs'' fame) are somewhat similar to Lennie and George. *There are two references made in ''Archer''. In the season 2 episode "A Going Concern", Sterling brainwashes ODIN head Len Trexler to despise Mallory, but doing so causes Trexler to lose much of his intelligence. He expresses a simpleton's desire to hold and pet a rabbit nearby, an ode to Slim offering one of his puppies to Lennie, with Sterling asking Cyril, "Can we give Lennie the rabbit?" In the following episode "Blood Test", Trinette tries to get a "baby-crazy" Lana (who is constantly berated for her "man-like" hands) to give back her infant son Seamus, with Gillette interjecting, "Give her the rabbit, Lennie!" and in season 6 Sterling was in the closet with Gort and said Shut Up Lennie! *In the Disney cartoon series ''Bonkers'', the roles of George and Lennie are given to the main antagonists of the episode "Comeback Kid". Here, George is portrayed as a small red toon rooster named Chick; Lennie is portrayed as a large blue toon longhorned steer named Stu. * Two mice play the main characters in "Of Mice and Men", an episode of ''Cat and Girl''. Cat appears to eat one of the mice just after it asks "Tell me about the rabbits, George", but then announces "he got away" in an apparent reference to a desired ending for the story. * The animated series ''The Cleveland Show'' has an episode entitled "Of Lice and Men". * In the movie ''Dragon Hunters'', the two main characters, Lian-Chu and Gwizdo, seem to share a similar relationship to that of Lennie and George. Lian-Chu asks Gwizdo to tell him about the farm they would live in with many sheep in a similar way to Lennie. * In the ''Futurama'' episode "Love and Rocket", Bender plays with the ship's control panel. The ship then says: "Stop it! You're mussing up my trajectory!", as Curley's wife does in the novel.〔http://www.imsdb.com/transcripts/Futurama-Love-And-Rocket.html〕 * The ''Histeria!'' episode "Writers of the Purple Prose" featured a sketch based on the fact that the first draft of ''Of Mice and Men'' was eaten by Steinbeck's dog (played in the sketch by Loud Kiddington's dog, Fetch). In the cover of the book shown in the sketch, Froggo and Lucky Bob are depicted as George and Lennie. * In the ''King of the Hill'' episode "Of Mice and Little Green Men," Bobby and Hank act in a stage production of ''Of Mice and Men''. In the episode "serPUNt," Bobby's pet snake goes down a sewer causing a panic. The snake is killed, but Hank tells his son Bobby that they let it loose on a farm. At the end of the episode, Bobby asks Hank to "tell me about the farm," in the same manner that Lennie asked George. * In an episode of ''Robot Chicken'', a Rocky and Bullwinkle spoof has the duo playing George and Lennie respectively, acting out some of the major moments of the story. * There is at least one ''Roger Ramjet'' episode which features a George/Lennie-based duo, the latter with lines like "tell me about the rabbits". * In the ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' episode "Goof Gas Attack", Bullwinkle, whose inherent stupidity gives him immunity from Boris Badenov's latest weapon, laments that now that every living creature is stupid, there's nobody left to feed him a straight line anymore. Rocky the Flying Squirrel confirms this by pleading, "Tell me about the rabbits, George!", thereby confirming Bullwinkle's concern. * In the ''South Park'' episode "A Million Little Fibers", Oprah Winfrey's vagina (Mingee) and anus (Gary) have a friendship similar to that of George and Lennie - this is most noticeable at the end where, after being shot, Gary asks Mingee to tell him about Paris and much like in the novella, Mingee tells him about it as Gary dies. * In ''The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986), while escaping Galvatron in a spaceship departing Autobot City, Grimlock pleads Kups to, “Tell Grimlock about petro-rabbits again.”〔http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003380/quotes〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Of Mice and Men in popular culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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