The Mouse and the Monster (1996)

The heart-burning origin of how Ches and Mo meet, develop a friendship and flee the insane clutches of mad Doctor Wackerstein, the brain of Doc's late favorite pianist, Flatnoteski, and Doc's avant-garde wife, Olga.

Ches and Mo become surrogate parents as well as living play-toys for an irritable 600-pound Baby Pookers left on their doorstep. After eating the carpets and soiling enough diapers to top off a landfill, it becomes clear what the gigantic infant's real purpose is for dropping in on our duo.

Ches and Mo take over burnt-out Sappy the Clown's kid's party entertainment business with disastrous results. In hot pursuit, Doc and Olga crash the party.

In an effort to save a few bucks, Ches elects to bring Mo's head aboard an airplane as carry-on luggage. A demented Doctor Wackerstein barely pilots the air-bus while stewardess Olga preps the passengers on how to save their worthless lives in case of emergency.

A wrong turn from a tour bus leaves our boys stranded at a strange monastery, where there's more monkey business than a barrel of — well, you get the idea.

It's a hot pursuit in the frozen tundra as Doc and Olga chase Ches and Mo to the Antarctic where a batty anthropologist takes a particular interest in Mo. Mush!

Ches and Mo take the sewer route to a high-seas adventure that finds them hired as pirates by an old familiar friend, while Doc, Olga and The Brain give chase aboard a luxury cruise ship. Anchors aweigh!

Ches naps in the park and dreams about himself, Mo, Doc and Olga under the same roof in an old-folks' home. Strained gumballs, anyone?

Tired of constant heartburn from a horrid diet, Mo's heart pops a few stitches in the monster's chest, hops out and decides to see the world, leaving behind a heartless, one-eyed goofball suddenly with no scruples.

Beware ye… goes nowhere near the haunted house with possessed plumbing! Do you think our two idiots heed the warning? Yeah, right.

Ches and Mo are good ol' country hitchhikers as the monster is recruited by town-folk to scare-crow away them ding-dangity parakeets that keep ruinin' the town's prize-winning melons. Good choice — have a melon-head guard your melons.

Mo's under the weather, which yields a trip to the pediatrician. But Ches is the one inadvertently ushered into the examining room and diagnosed as a rare rat-boy, while Mo's detachable body parts entertain kids in the waiting room.

Ches and Mo are abducted, er, recruited as astronauts for Slobovia's backwards space program as Doc and Olga, hot on our boys' trail, also get a taste of 4th-world hospitality.

Hey kids, for good wholesome summer fun, come to Camp Mo, where counselors Ches, Mo, Doc and Olga misguide kiddies through horribly unsafe fun and activities.

Mo's sonic snoring tops a litany of annoyances that prevent Ches from getting a good night's sleep. And when Mo's body goes sleepwalking, an exhausted Ches tows Mo's head along in middle of the night on a city-wide search for the monster's torso.

In this epic tale, Doc Wackerstein's Mo Voodoo doll ends up in the clutches of a toy conglomerate and ultimately into the hands of millions of pin-plunging kids worldwide. Oooch! Ouch! Eech! Yowch!

Man, what these scammers won't do for a free meal! Stowaways Ches and Mo travel to Sweden for a meatball eating contest and wouldn't ya know it, run into good ol' Doc Wackerstein, who's in town for a mad scientist's convention.

There are many odd tales from our duo's crumbling, vermin-infested Thinwall Hotel, and this is just one of the. Episode "lowlights" include a visit from the Eye Gunk Fairy.

Ches turns wrestling promoter and hypes his oversized monster pal as the Masked Masher, a fierce grappler from "parts unknown." Unfortunately, The Mashers career-ending opponent is none other than crowd favorite, Baby Pookers, the 600-pound cranky infant badly in need of a nap. Doc, Olga and The Brain join the bone-crunching fun.

Mo has an identity crisis when a fickle but famous fashion designer rips off his raggedy, tattered clothing style and makes the monster-look all the rage.

Ches sneaks off to take an ill-fated job at a pet shop to earn enough money to buy Mo a birthday present. But Ches is mistaken for merchandise, becomes a pet rat for Olga's cat, then a hostage in Doc's efforts to lure Mo to save his pal.

Our cast and their nightmares are featured in this poetic pause. "Searching with its moonbeam, its glow will find you soon, and once it does you're sure to dream beneath the Green Banana Moon.

Ches and Mo are mistaken for distinguished scientists, but ultimately find themselves the subjects of bizarre behavioral studies. Doc shows up just in time to make matters worse.

In this all-Doc-and-Olga episode, Olga finally snaps when Wackerstein calls her "Igor" for the one-millionth time, sending her packing back home to mama. Doc hires a psychotic temp that gives Wackerstein a taste of his own medicine.