Cricket in Times Square Collection
A series of television specials about Chester C. Cricket, Harry the Cat, and Tucker the Mouse. Directed by Chuck Jones and based on the children's books by George Selden.
A Cricket in Times Square (1973)
24 April, 1973
Chester Cricket gets trapped inside a picnic basket and transported from his home in Connecticut to the middle of New York City. Alone and lost, he meets up with Harry and Tucker, a cat and mouse that have somehow become friends, and with Mario, a young boy who works with his father at a Times Square newsstand. When it's discovered that Chester can play songs he hears from the radio just by rubbing his legs, people begin to come from all around to listen. Though Chester is happy with his new-found friends, he will eventually have to say good-bye and return to his home.
A Very Merry Cricket (1973)
14 December, 1973
A sequel to "A Cricket in Times Square," in this feature a musical cricket returns to his New York City home and his friends, a cat and a mouse, to discover the meaning of Christmas.
Yankee Doodle Cricket (1975)
16 January, 1975
The War of Independence has begun, and Tucker the Mouse, Harry the Cat and Chester C. Cricket are indispensable to the American colonies' effort to free themselves from the rule of the despotic English king. Harry and Tucker help Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. Chester creates the tune for "Yankee Doodle Dandy." And all the animals--including John and Marsha, the lightning bugs--help Paul Revere spread the message that the British are coming. [Plot summary written by J. Spurlin.]