All this has happened before, and it will all happen again. But this time, it happened in London. It happened on a quiet street in Bloomsbury. That corner house over there is the home of the Watson family, and Fievel Mousekewitz chose this particular house because there were people and animals here who believed in him. There was Mrs. Watson.
In the bathroom of the corner house, there was an English woman with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a yellow safari gown, matching pumps and black boots. Her name was Jane Porter. And she was busy fixing her hair in front of the mirror for a ball.
"Shang dear, do hurry," Jane called out. "We mustn't be late for the party, you know."
Mrs. Watson believed that Fievel Mousekewitz was the spirit of youth. But Mr. Watson...
In the bedroom, there was a Chinese man with tan skin, black hair tied back in topknot with red cloth and amber eyes, wearing a white shirt and grey pants under black Chinese armor that contains black legs guards, and gauntlets, and shoes. His name was Shang, Jane's husband. And he was looking for his gold cuff links through some drawers.
"Jane, unless I find my wrist bands, we don't go to the party," Shang called back. "And if we don't go to the party, I can never show my face in the army again. And if I can never--"
Unfortunately, he got cut off by bumping his head on the open top drawer.
"OUCH!" cried Shang, as he hopped around, holding his head.
Well, Mr. Watson was a practical man. The animal boys, however, Bambi and Gideon, who were Shang and Jane's adopted sons, believed Fievel was a real animal and made him the hero of all their nursery games.
In the nursery, we see two shadows fighting each other with toy swords. One has one in its left hand and a hanger in its right while the other has another in its right hand.
One of the shadows belonged to a 10-year-old deer with brown fur, red hair, a black nose, white spots, and brown eyes, wearing a purple two-piece pajama set with blue stripes consisting of a jacket with snaps and pants, white socks, brown slippers, matching glasses, and a red top hat. His name was Bambi, Shang and Jane's adoptive. And he was the one with the hanger in his right hoof and the toy sword in his left.
The other shadow belonged to a crimson cat with green eyes, wearing a yellow pajama jacket, matching pants, a purple nightcap, and matching slippers. His name was Gideon the Cat, Bambi's little brother and Shang and Jane's other adoptive son. And he was the one with the sword in his right hand.
"Blast you, Fievel Mousekewitz!" Bambi said in a scary voice.
Gideon bonked his brother on the head twice with his sword. "Take that!" he cried. Then he and Bambi blocked their toy swords together. "Give up, Captain Cat R. Waul?" he smirked, "Give up?"
"Never!" called Bambi. Then he opened a drawer that was underneath Gideon's slipper-clad paws with the hanger, and he fell in as Bambi yelled, "I'll teach you to cut off me paw!"
Just about then, an 8-year-old Native American mouse with peach fur, black hair tied in two braids, brown eyes, a dark red nose, curvy pink ears and a small bucktooth walked in. She was wearing yellow nightshirt with long sleeves with brown patterns and a matching collar. Her name was Princess Cholena, Shang and Jane's adoptive daughter, Bambi's little sister, and Gideon's big sister. She was also carrying a jug.
"Oh no, Bambi," Cholena giggled. "It was the left paw."
"Oh, yes. Thank you, Cholena." said Bambi, as he switched the hanger from his right hoof to his left and the sword from his left hoof to his right.
Princess Cholena, the middle child and adopted daughter of Shang and Jane, not only believed. She was the supreme authority on Fievel Mousekewitz and all his marvelous adventures.
While Cholena was in the hallway, she sighed as she talked to someone, "Oh, Fifi. Must we always take that nasty tonic?"
That someone walked out to reveal a giant brown peke dog with a cream underbelly, furry ears, a black nose and sharp, white teeth named Fifi. Fifi was carrying a tray of three spoons and a bottle of tonic for Cholena, Bambi, and Gideon.
Fifi the butler, being a dog, kept her opinions to herself.
Fifi walked over a pillow.
And viewed the whole affair with a certain tolerance.
Fifi put the tray on a small table. Then he went over to the pillow to pick it up while Bambi and Gideon were still playing.
"Take that!" Gideon called.
Bambi and Gideon played around, hopping around the beds. "Insolent mouse, I'll slash you to ribbons!" Bambi yelled.
Fifi went to the bed, placed the pillow there, and fixed up the sheets and blanket up. "And I'll cut you to pieces! Aha!" Gideon called.
As he hit Bambi, the older buck yelped in pain. "Ouch! Careful, Gideon, my glasses!"
"I'm sorry, Bambi." Gideon said.
Then Fifi picked up two blocks and went to the other blocks. Bambi and Gideon hopped back to the bed, messing it up again. "Ah! You'll never leave this ship alive!" Bambi shouted.
So both of them bounced up and down as the pillow fell off again. "Oh yes, I will," Gideon shouted back. "Take that!"
When Fifi placed the ABC on the top, he quickly turned as he realized that Fifi had made a mistake. He got them to BAC. So he took the A block, moved the B block, and placed it to the first. He smiled and walked to the tonic for the kids.
"Scuttle me bones, mouse! I'll slit your gizzard!" Bambi yelled, as he stabbed as his wooden sword. It ripped through the sheets.
Then Fifi poured on the spoons. "Oh, no, you won't," Gideon cried. "Back! Back! Back, you villain!" As they moved through the sheets, he pushed his wooden sword against Bambi's.
"Insolent pup!" Bambi snarled.
Fifi heard that as he turned, only to get the tonic on his paw. He put it down. "Wicked pussy cat!" Gideon cried.
"Aha! I got you!" Bambi shouted.
"You didn't either. You never touched me!" Gideon smirked. When Fifi licked it off, he was grossed out by the taste. "Take that! And that! And that!" When Gideon thrust his sword at Bambi, he got it under his arm as if he made it look like he got him.
Pretending he was dead, Bambi placed a hand over his chest, groaned a fake death groan, and collapsed to the floor. That's when Shang came into the nursery.
"Boys, boys. Less noise, please." Shang said, without looking where he was going. He knocked the blocks down as Fifi heard that, and he had to get them back together as he frowned in annoyance.
Bambi saw him. "Oh, hello, dad." he said in a normal voice. But Gideon was still playing.
"You old pussy cat!" Gideon cried out.
Then Shang heard that and was insulted. "Wha- wha-what? Now see here, Gideon!"
"Oh, not you, dad. You see, he's Norman Frierson." Bambi told him.
"And Bambi's Captain Cat R. Waul." Gideon added.
"Yes, yes, of course. Er, have you seen my cuff links?" Shang asked before he bumped Fifi, knocking the blocks down again. "Oh, Fifi, for goodness' sake!" Shang shouted, walking past the annoyed dog, "Where are those cuff links?" Fifi smashed the last blocks that were standing with his paw.
"Cuff links, dad?" asked Bambi.
"Yes. The gold ones." Shang answered, still looking around.
"Gideon, the buried treasure," Bambi whispered to his brother. "Where is it?"
"I don't know, Bambi." Gideon said in an innocent way.
"The map then… Where's the treasure map?" Bambi whispered.
"It got lost." Gideon said.
While Shang was looking around the bed, he then spotted something under the covers, he was shocked as he shouted, "Good heavens! My shirt front!" He grabbed his shirt front.
"Hurray! You found it! You found it!" Gideon cheered.
Shang put it on, as he turned. He didn't know that it got chalk all over his shirt front, the one that looked like the lost map. "Yes, so I have. And hereafter..." As then, Gideon came and pulled his shirt front "Don't paw me, Gideon! This is my last clean..." It was loose as he has saw something shocking and horrifying. He saw a lost map. "No..." He can't say something, only he covered his shirt front shouting, "NO!"
Jane, who now had her hair in an up-do, was wearing a gold tiara, necklace, and earrings decorated with green and white gems. She came in and said, "Shang dear, we really must hurry or we'll be late."
"Jane! Look!" Shang said, showing Jane his shirt front.
Jane saw that and was shocked. "Shang!"
"It's only chalk, father." Gideon said.
"Why, Gideon..." Jane was about to say something when Bambi cut in.
"It's not his fault," said Bambi. "It's in the story. And Cholena said..."
When Shang heard what Bambi said, he now knew what was up. "Cholena? Story? I might have known." He walked to the door as he called out, "CHOLENA?" He crossed his arms and called out even louder. "CHOLENA!"
Cholena heard him, walked in, and asked, "Yes, father?"
"Would you kindly expl-" Shang was about to say something. But Cholena walked by him when she saw the radiance of Jane's dress.
"Oh, mother! You look simply lovely!" Cholena said.
"Thank you, dear." Jane smiled.
Shang turned to her in annoyance and said, "Cholena..."
"Just my old gown made over but it did turn out right. And I-" Jane was about to say.
"Jane, if you don't mind, I'd..." Shang said, as Cholena turned and saw his shirt front.
"Why, father! What have you done to your shirt?" Cholena asked.
Shang couldn't believe what she was saying. "What have I...?" He then turned and screamed in shame. "AAAAAOOOOOOOHHHHHH!"
Jane walked to him with a damp washcloth. "Now, Shang, really. It comes right off." She washed off the chalk on his shirt front.
"That's no excuse!" He frowned while Cholena, Bambi, and Gideon were putting the toys away. "Cholena, haven't I warned you? Stuffing the boys' heads with a lot of silly stories."
"Oh, but they aren't!" Cholena protested.
"I say they are! Captain Catso! Fievel Thug!" Shang said.
"Fievel Mousekewitz, father." Cholena told him.
"Mousekewitz, thug," Shang shouted, trying to put on a collar around his neck. "Nonsense!"
"Oh no, father."
"Father, have you ever-"
"You don't understand." The children tried to tell him.
"ABSOLUTE POPPYCOCK!" Shang shouted, finally getting the collar together. "And let me tell you, this ridiculous..."
"Now, Shang..." Jane said, about to put on his red cape with a leaf in the front.
"Now, Shang! Now, Shang!" He repeated of what Jane said, while Fifi was almost done putting the blocks back up. But he stopped to listen. "WELL, 'NOW, SHANG' WILL HAVE HIS SAY!" He put the cape on himself, but he put it on backwards.
"Please, dear." Jane said, turning his cape around and adjusting it neatly.
"Jane, when we adopted Bambi to part of our family when he was orphaned, he's growing up," As when Fifi picked up two more blocks, he listened very carefully. "It's high time he had a room of his own!" He pointed at the hall as it shocked them all.
"Father!" Cholena gasped.
"Shang!" Jane gasped.
"What?!" Bambi gasped.
"No!" Gideon gasped.
Fifi dropped all the blocks while he gasped in shock and couldn't believe what they were hearing and what Shang was doing. "I mean it! Young man, this is your last night in the nursery!" he said, as Bambi lowered his head. He felt insulted. "And that's my last word on the matter!" He walked away, only to nearly stomp on Fifi and tried to get out of the way. Shang couldn't move around and was ready to fall. And he was losing his steps!
Fifi moved away, as she fully stopped, but they nearly knocked the blocks again because Shang bumped into her and knocked them down. Now he must move away before it happens. But Fifi stepped the wagon, rolled back, and fell as Shang stepped on it and rolled around here. "NO!" And when Fifi were rolling by, the wagon made a tear in the rug, and Shang was sent flying as he yelled, "NO!" And with a large crash, he fell into the dresser, knocking the toys down. Cholena, Bambi, Gideon, and Jane were shocked that Fifi was against the wall.
As for Shang, he was on the floor in pain, and last of the toys fell on his head, the last was the jack-in-the-box, and up popped the jack, as it stood on his head, which made Shang mad and annoyed.
"Oh!" Cholena, Bambi, Gideon, and Jane all said together. Shang heard them, and knew that they saw him get hurt, and caring of him. So he closed his eyes and waited for them. But suddenly, they ran past him, which made Shang open his widened eyes in shock. As they ran to Fifi, but Shang.
"Poor Fifi!" they said together again.
Shang couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Poor Fifi?" Now he was very angry as he hopped up on his feet when he stomped up and shouted, "This is the last straw!" He pointed his finger out the door shouting, "OUT! OUT, I SAY!"
Gideon was hugging Fifi. "No, father, no!" Gideon pleaded.
Shang grabbed Fifi by the collar and shouted, "OH, YES! There'll be no more dogs for butlers in this house!" Gideon grabbed Fifi's tail. But Jane stopped him by picking him up as Shang was dragging Fifi out the room.
Gideon started to cry as he waved to his friend. "Goodbye, Fifi."
Fifi waved goodbye back. As Shang walked out to the back, he muttered to himself, "Poor Fifi. Oh yes, poor Fifi. But poor father? Oh, no." He let go of Fifi and looked for a rope, and couldn't find it. "Blast it! Where is that rope?" He turned as he saw Fifi holding a rope in his mouth. Shang walked to him and said, "Oh, thank you." As he was tying the rope to Fifi's collar, Fifi gave him a sad look. Shang saw that and couldn't bear the sight. "Dash it all, Fifi. D-Don't look at me like that."
He walked to the fountain and filled up Fifi's dish. He picked it up and filled it more. "It's nothing personal. It's just that- Well, you're not really a butler at all You're… Well, a dog. And the children aren't puppies, they're a mouse and woodland animals." He placed the water dish near Fifi. "And sooner or later, Fifi, mice and woodland animals have to grow up." He pet Fifi's head.
Inside the house, the kids are in their beds, as Jane knew that Shang didn't mean to do that to Fifi.
Cholena uses a single bed. She looked depressed. "But mother, I don't want to grow up." she pleaded.
"Now dear," Jane said, as she kissed her on the forehead and covered her up with a blue blanket. "Don't worry about it anymore tonight."
As for Bambi, he uses a single bed. "He called Fievel Mousekewitz 'absolute poppycock'." Bambi said to himself. He felt insulted by what his dad had said.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it, Bambi," Jane said, as he took off his glasses and the top hat. "Father was just upset."
As for Gideon, he uses a bed of straw. He had tears running down his cheeks. "Poor Fifi," Gideon sniffled. "Out there all alone."
"No more tears, Gideon. It's a warm night. He'll be all right." Jane said, as she covered him up with a green blanket with a plaid pattern, kissed his forehead, and left.
Then Gideon remembered something. "Mom?" he asked.
Jane turned around and asked, "What is it, dear?"
"Buried treasure." Gideon had the cuff links that Shang was looking for, and he gave them to Jane.
"Now, children, don't judge your father too harshly. After all, he really loves you very much." She walked to the window door, and was about to lock it up.
But Cholena stopped her as she said, "Oh don't lock it, mother. He might come back."
"He?" Jane asked in a puzzled way.
"Yes, Fievel Mousekewitz. You see, I found something that belongs to him." Cholena said, as she lay down.
"Oh, and what's that?" asked Jane.
She yawned and said, "His shadow."
"Shadow?" Jane asked, very surprised.
"Mm-hmm. Fifi had it, but I-I took it away." Cholena said, as she drifted off to sleep.
"Oh? Yes, of course. Good night, dear." Jane said, as she turned off the light, walked out, and left for the party.