Max The Mouse who Made the Met

This is an early home-made book by an eighteen year old (or 17) Tom Yakutis, who went on to a highly successful career as an animator. His later credits include Popeye (1978 - 1981), Challenge of the SuperFriends, and many stints as director, designer, or artist on episodes of such beloved cartoons as the Jetsens, the Flintstones, etc. He began his career at Disney and worked at many of the major animation studios subsequently, including Hanna and Barbera, Warner Brothers, etc. Already in this illustrated manuscript we can see the polish of his renderings, with the mice and human characters endowed with real expressiveness. The short text is not really commensurate with the quality of the illustrations, and from the many misspellings we might wonder whether Mr. Yakutis was dyslexic. The story flows crudely, but thankfully, the drawings delight and more than compensate. The setting of this mouse tale at the Met is also interesting. There is an element of humor in the tiny creature living in so grand a place, and then upending it. At the time the Met loomed larger in the American landscape as a temple of high culture, and it was a time when top singers there had a presence in popular culture as well, with singers such as Rise Stevens, Laurence Tibbett, Lily Pons, Jamila Novotna, etc. enjoying significant movie careers in popular movies.