12 oz. Mouse is an American adult animated television series created by Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The series revolves around Mouse Fitzgerald, nicknamed "Fitz" (voiced by Maiellaro), an alcoholic mouse who performs odd jobs so he can buy more beer. Together with his chinchilla companion Skillet, Fitz begins to recover suppressed memories that he once had a wife and a child who have now vanished. This leads him to seek answers about his past and the shadowy forces that seem to be manipulating his world.
In producing the series, Maiellaro crudely designed the characters as a cost-cutting measure; the series was originally animated by Radical Axis. He intended for the series to lack continuity starting from the pilot but established a serial format after starting the second episode. He had constructed an ending for the series as well as a detailed map of characters; however, the series finale concluded differently from planned. Maiellaro cast people around his office for the characters, starring himself as the protagonist and Nine Pound Hammer vocalist Scott Luallen as the voice of Roostre; the band also performs the opening theme.
The pilot episode for 12 oz. Mouse, "Hired", premiered on June 19, 2005. The series became a regular staple of Adult Swim's lineup on October 23 of that year and originally ended on December 17, 2006. A stand-alone webisode was released online on May 16, 2007. Critical reception was mixed; some praised the series' experimental nature, while others felt confounded by it.
In 2018, a double-length special, entitled "Invictus", aired on October 14 and it was announced that 12 oz. Mouse was also revived as a series. The third season, consisting of 11 episodes, premiered on July 20, 2020, and ended on July 31. The ending credits of both "Invictus" and the season 3 episodes feature a song by Amaranthe and animation by Awesome Inc.
In February 2021, it was revealed that the show would not be picked up for a fourth season.
Premise
The show revolves around a mouse named Mouse Fitzgerald (voiced by Matt Maiellaro), nicknamed "Fitz", who is fond of beer and caught in a world of espionage, love, and the delights of odd jobs. The show employs a serial format, and its ongoing storyline developed from absurdist comedy to include mystery and thriller elements. Fitz begins to recover suppressed memories that he once had a wife and a child who have now vanished. This leads him to seek answers about his past and the shadowy forces that seem to be manipulating his world.
Fitz suspects there is a sinister conspiracy involving fields of "asprind" pills beneath the city, and Shark (Adam Reed), Clock, and Rectangular Businessman's (Kurt Soccolich) attempt to control the nature of time and reality. Fitz and Skillet receive help from Liquor (Matt Harrigan), Roostre (Scott Luallen), Peanut Cop (Nick Weidenfeld) and others as they engage in gun battles, blow things up, and try to understand cryptic hints. The show also sometimes contains surreal "subliminal" images that flash across the screen during key plot moments, including skulls, mustached snake beasts and people screaming.
The series concludes with the revelation that Fitz has been kidnapped and placed into a simulation by the Shadowy Figure. He is about to be killed by Shark and the Rectangular Businessman, in their true forms outside the simulation, when he is rescued by the true form of Peanut Cop and a nurse who works in the simulation chamber. They kill Shark and Rectangle Businessman, but it is unknown if they are truly dead because the simulation in which most of the show takes place is probably taking place in another simulation. One of the purposes of the simulation seen in most of the show was to extract information from Fitz. The conclusion to episode 20 is ambiguous as to whether or not it is actually the end of the series, as some aspects of the plot remain unresolved – Golden Joe says "I thought this was done," to which Fitz replies, "I thought so too. I guess we're not."
One webisode was made in 2007, showing Fitz and his friends escaping the city to live in a desert. Golden Joe is carried away by birds, while later one night, Peanut Cop mysteriously disappears. Fitz and Skillet later meet a woman, Lee, who turns out to be a werewolf. Their fate at the end of the episode was unknown.