Marconi Mice is the 33rd episode of the series The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures that aired on March 27, 1999. The setting in this episode is Canada.
Summary[]
Alexander and Emily ride on a seagull in Canada to join cousin Sophia, who had invited them to view a special experiment. Inventor Guglielmo Marconi is on a boat bound to send and receive the first radio message from across the Atlantic Ocean. They reach the boat, where Sophia and and her friend Gina are waiting for them. When it is time to jump off the seagull, Emily is hesitant at first, but they parachute down and greet Sophia. Gina is Marconi's niece. Alexander is interested in learning more about Marconi, but first, Gina decides to take the mice out of the cold weather.
Meanwhile, a man by the name of Paulo replaces the ship's map with another one, which he claims should slow them down. Suddenly Marconi and the captain come in, Paulo tells them that he was just checking everything. Back to the mice, Gina tells them about her uncle's invention, and believes it will work despite contrary belief. It is also said that the signal will be received from England today, and they must get to Newfoundland in time. Gina shows them an antenna that will receive the message, which will be sent in Morse code. Alexander knows some Morse code. Sophia taps the globe that he is standing on, and Alexander receives three dots, which is "S". Suddenly, a cat appears on the globe, causing Alexander to fly out a window.
Fortunately, right when the boat gets rickety, he saves himself and climbs back up. The boat is driving right into an area with icebergs. Gina runs into the captain's control room to warn the captain, who is aware. Marconi questions why is he steering them into trouble, as they are supposed to be steered clear of it, and the captain says that they are going in circles, which is what the map says. Sophia inspects it, and states that they aren't going to Newfoundland after all as someone had changed the directions. The captain says that he knows a different route, and they manage to get shore. Alexander, Emily, and Sophia too agree to keep an eye just in case the person who did this does worse. Marconi tells Paulo to check the mast, and tells a reporter that his invention could be a success after being asked if it will so. Sophia shows them how the experiment will happen, particularly using the antenna on the mast. Paulo says that the mast is fine, and he launches a weather balloon to check the wind which is high, but Marconi is sure that their equipment can handle high winds. The mast then collapses. Sophia is sure something strange is happening, so the mice inspect. Alexander sees that the bolt had been sawed through, and Emily finds a button left at the scene.
Inside the lighthouse where Marconi sets things up, Sophia says to Gina that she has an idea to bring the antenna up, She doodled that a kite could pull it up, and it really will work as she planned everything out precisely. In one room where they set up the kite, Alexander climbs up the table to find the suspect's button, and sure enough he finds Paulo's who matches. To find more evidence that he is sabotaging the experiment, they go into his room and look around, eventually making their way into his pockets. Sophia finds a bolt in it, which also matches the piece they found on the mast, and they find the real map. The mice get ready to tell Gina, when the bolt rolls under a dresser and the cat reappears. To shorten it, they trap the cat with a rope and they make their escape, going to tell Gina what is happening with Paulo ruining this experiment.
Gina and the mice go into the basement, where she says he went into. Thinking there is no sign of Paulo, he appears and tells her that the kite won't hold the antenna for 5 minutes. The reason why he is trying to sabotage the experiment is because he claims that Marconi had stolen his ideas, but Gina says that he had credited him too. Paulo still plans to ruin Marconi, so Gina tells him that she'll tattle although she ends up getting locked in. Gina worries that her uncle's experiment will be a failure, but when she sees that the key is in the keyhole on the other side of the door, Emily tells her to use her pencil to poke it out, but then tells her not to yet as the key will fall and it will be impossible to get. Alexander decides to squeeze through the vent to get to the other side, but he is too hefty, so Emily squeezes in. Unfortunately, the cat appears, so Alexander teases it and tosses his hat. They make their escape, and because they can't get across at the boat was taken, the mice use the weather balloon to fly across to the kite that is now in the air. They jump to the kite and Alexander uses his suspenders to repair one of the ropes. Sophia hears the noise of the signal, so they slide down, and Gina crosses the water when the tide gets low. The experiment ends up being a success, much to Paulo's shock. Gina makes it, and tells Marconi that Paulo had tried to ruin the experiment, and if it weren't for the cat who tripped him, he would've gotten away. Back at home, Alexander reads the wireless invention is a success in the newspaper. Alexander says that he had been practicing his Morse code, and claps his hands to make "IDR" which stands for "Is dinner ready?". Emily claps back with "YTTC" saying "Your turn to cook".
Trivia[]
- This is the third episode that takes place in Canada. The first episode was Mice on Ice, and the second episode was Klondike Mice.
- For one split second in the episode, this strange production card can be briefly seen.