Scenario.

Looking at the research I have gathered I decided to base my mouse character in the 1940s era, where the
2nd World War had just kicked off. With this I decided to focus my idea around a heroic mouse of the Blitz,
where he does his bit in helping with the war effort. Within this concept I wanted to incorporate real life
events into the story/idea, to do this I was thinking of incorporating the art deco movement into the home of
the mouse and the social realism by implementing the idea of the working class into the concept.

The idea:
• A working class mouse living in London in the 1940’s during the blitz.
• Mouse lives among human life, so is accustomed to how human society works/operates.
• One night during the blitz, the alerts go off informing that another air raid is coming. Mouse makes it out
just in time before the flat is blown up just seconds after escaping.
• During the fall impact, mouse sees a propaganda poster prompting people to do their bit for the war
effort.
• This then spurs the mouse to want to do something since his home was just destroyed.
• Mouse makes his way to the underground bunker for shelter for the rest of the night to take refuge from
the air strike.
• Another bomb is dropped and causes the lights to flicker an couple of times before lights are eventually
cut.
• Mouse soon sees that wardens can’t access the power generator room as the explosion has caused
infrastructure beams to fall, making it unsafe to move and get into the room.
• So mouse having being small enough and having the knowledge of how to possibly fix the problem
braves a head to the generator room to fix the problem. Thus doing his bit for the war and comfort of
those in the tunnel.
• He fixes the generator and some light is brought back to the tunnel.
• People gasp in amazement and believe it to be a miracle all thanks to a little brave mouse.
 Mouse Character Profile.
Job:
• Doesn’t have just one job but many – Jack of all trades.
• Likes to learn new trades to expand his knowledge – main interest is in arty/skilled jobs.
• These being: Switchboard Operator, clock winder, signal man, quarry man, film boxer and
haberdasher. (explained on next slide).

Home:
• Live in a wall of a flat in South London close to Balham and Clapham underground stations
(see last slide).
• Main home (human home) has traces of the art deco period, but are of the working class, so
art deco features are very minimal.
• Mouse often brings home ‘souvenirs’ from his day of learning – usually a bit of film clippings,
watch hands, scrap wire, empty cotton reel/sewing needles etc. As well as taking
miscellaneous objects from the main home.

Characteristics/ Personality:
• Courageous and Heroic.
• Curious and inquisitive.
• Thoughtful of others/caring.
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/
g4530/odd-obsolete-jobs/

• I then started to look at the types of

jobs that were about at the time of the
Blitz (1940s) and found an array of
jobs that the mouse could do and
came to the conclusion that the
mouse wouldn't have a job of sorts
but more of a an idea that he would
be a ‘jack of all trades’. Meaning he
would leave his home and go to ‘learn’
a job from watching what the people
do.
• I also had to consider where I wanted
to mouse to live, with this cam
research to places most/worst
bombed in London at the time. And
found that south London, Balham
would be a good place as one of its
underground bunkers was actually
destroyed (see next slide for report)
 • In one of the bombing attacks, Felicity Edwards, who was 17 when the war
broke out, was sitting with her mother in the kitchen of their home in
Balham, south London, in October 1940 when a bomb fell in the High Road
and through the roof of the Underground station on to the Northern Line.
• More than 60 people were trampled and killed as they tried to escape.
• The next day, Felicity saw a double-decker bus stuck in a crater on the High
Road. The driver is believed to have driven into it in the dark.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20637222#:~:text=In%20one%20of%20the
%20bombing%20attacks%2C%20Felicity%20Edwards%2C,the%20Underground%20station%2
0on%20to%20the%20Northern%20Line
A double decker bus drove into a bomb .
crater in Balham, south London

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-blitz-around-britain
THE BLITZ AROUND BRITAIN
• The 'Blitz' – from the German term Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') –
was the sustained campaign of aerial bombing attacks on
British towns and cities carried out by the Luftwaffe (German
Air Force) from September 1940 until May 1941.
• The Blitz began on 7 September, 'Black Saturday', when German
bombers attacked London, leaving 430 dead and 1,600 injured.
London was then bombed for 57 consecutive nights, and often
during daytime too. London experienced regular attacks and on
10-11 May 1941 was hit by its biggest raid. German bombers
dropped 711 tons of high explosive and 2,393 incendiaries. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/15-powerful-photos-of-the-blitz
1,436 civilians were killed. However, this proved to be the last
major raid until January 1943.
• While London was bombed more heavily and more often than anywhere else in Britain, the Blitz was an attack on the whole
country. Very few areas were left untouched by air raids. In relatively small compact cities, the impact of a severe air raid could be
devastating.
• From mid-November 1940, major provincial cities and industrial centres were targeted. In early 1941 another wave of attacks
began, primarily against ports. Respite finally came from June when much of the Luftwaffe was directed against Russia and targets
in the Mediterranean.
• In these nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed. This is how the Blitz affected towns and cities across the United Kingdom.