The Tiny Astronaut (Rifftrax Shorts)

Rifftrax Year:  2016
Riffers:  Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

"You know, I have a bad feeling about this.  White mice are the 'red shirts' of the animal kingdom."

A homemade rocket test launch is being conducted, and a group has put together a rocket which they hope to launch with a tiny mouse inside, ejecting out with a chute at its peak height.  But the youngest of the troop has grown an attachment to their little white mouse, and refuses to let them launch him.

I can sum up my feelings on this short with Mike's riff of "Thank you for watching, kids.  I hope you learned whatever the hell lesson this thing was supposed to be teaching.  I know I sure did!"  I don't really understand the point of the story, which seems to be a about trusting the work you've done for a while, and then it does a one-eighty at the end where it's revealed that had the little white mouse gone up in the rocket, it would have died horribly.  So, I think this might be a story about trusting intuition, maybe?  In the end it comes off that the only lesson Bobby learns is that trust your fears and never overcome them, because bad things are behind every corner.

This is a very stiff and dreary short, that gives off a somber vibe that I don't think is intentional.  It's an obstacle that Mike, Kevin, and Bill have to overcome, and for the most part they come off fine, but its not an overly successful win for them.  The short feels dry and sad, and whatever humor they throw at it doesn't change the tone of the room.  Sometimes they get off a really good jab at its expense, like questioning Bobby's obsession with the mouse, quipping "We pried him out of a glue trap this morning!"  Strong lines like this aren't uncommon during The Tiny Astronaut, so it's probably worth watching, but I just feel depressed when the whole ordeal is over.

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