Disney Movie Challenge
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
After taking a trip to the fantasy land Prydain in The Black Cauldron, Disney returned to more familiar territory with The Great Mouse Detective. Based on a book which is based on the Sherlock Holmes stories the story feels familiar and yet done differently enough that it feels fresh. The addition of Vincent Price as the voice of the villain and Henry Mancini first score for an animated film adds a touch of prestige to the film.
After her father is kidnapped a young mouse, Olivia, seeks out the famous mouse detective Basil on Baker Street. With the help of her new friend Dr. Dawson, they convince Basil to take on the case. He quickly figures out that his arch nemesis Ratigan is behind the kidnapping and it’s part of a master plan to rule England. Using his detective skills and pseudo science Basil locates Ratigan’s secret lair. Then begins the race against time if Basil can stop Ratigan before Ratigan has time to fully implement his secret plan.
Considering the bad rap the Disney’s 80’s movies get this movie was surprisingly good. It has some good action set pieces. There is a fight in a toy store and the climactic fight in Big Ben. These scenes work really well and have lots of tension and good animation. The final battle in Big Ben was one of the first major scenes to use computers to help with the animation and you can’t even tell. Whie the screenplay doesn’t break any new ground it is certainly written well and better than the other pre-renaissance Disney films from the era. Two of the directors, Ron Clements and John Musker, would go on and direct several of the Disney Renaissance films including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules. So while not part of the Disney Renaissance this is an important film leading up to it.
I was curious to see how Vincent Price did as a voice actor but he did great. He has a great menace to his voice that wasn’t too scary but told you he was pure evil. He also does a pretty good job with the singing. The rest of the voice cast was spot on. Everyone did a great job. Every now and then the voice of the girl's dad sounded like Scrooge McDuck from Duck Tales and turns out they are voiced by the same guy. A few spots it takes you out of it but for the most part it works.
There are a few odd scenes in the film. Ratigan singing about drowning orphans and widows and constantly feeding mice to a cat is a bit disturbing for a kids movie. There is also a scene where Basil and Dr. Dawson go to a bar in disguise. There they watch a cabaret show where a mouse sings “Let me be good to you”. The song written by Henry Mancini is actually good but feels like it belongs in a show like Chicago not a Disney film. Check out the full clip here https://youtu.be/e2IctxaCPqw. The scene proved controversial in some countries where the film was given a higher rating and children weren’t allowed to see it. Disney appealed to the MPAA for a G rating saying since the singer was a mouse it wasn’t inappropriate. But the scene did delay the release of any home video release. The first time it got released on VHS was in 1992 and some feel that is one of the reasons it tends to be a more forgotten film.
Overall: A fun movie that deserves more credit than it gets. Has some good action and the set pieces in the toy store and at the end in Big Ben are great. I was always a fan of Sherlock Holmes so maybe that's why I feel an affinity to the movie but I enjoyed watching the movie and am surprised it never did get a sequel.
Random Facts
Credited with saving Disney’s animation department and made the Disney Renaissance possible.
Released the same year as Don Bluth’s An American Tale which ended up grossing more money than The Great Mouse Detective. An American Tale would be the highest grossing non Disney Animated Film at the time.
Basil Rathborne who was known for playing Sherlock Holmes (and was the inspiration for the name of the mouse) is heard in the background in one of the scenes. The clip is taken from a previously recorded reading of “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League”. The reading was recorded in 1966 prior to the death of Rathborne.
Newly elected CEO Michael Eisner slashed the budget by half and so while the film didn’t make huge amounts of money at the box office but because it was made much cheaper it was very profitable.
Eisner and Katzenberg also ordered rewrites because they felt the initial story was too slow.
