One of the great unsung heroes of stop motion animation is the incredible John Clark Matthews, whose behind the scenes video that accompanied the 1985 short Frog and Toad are Friends was one of the two main sparks that ignited my interest in stop motion. (You can see the wondrous BTS short here, but we will give it a Portal update all of its own in the future). Besides the also fantastic Mouse and the Motorcycle film he created in 1986, I would consider Mouse Soup to be his magnum opus as an animated storyteller. When I was a kid we had a low-fi EP version of the film recorded off PBS (where it was made for the underrated ensemble show Long Ago and Far Away). I was delighted to find this MUCH higher quality version had been recently uploaded to YouTube. So here, for your enjoyment, is Mouse Soup. Be on the lookout for my favorite quote, “…aaaaaaand we DON’T have BELLY buttons!”