The Great Mouse Detective

As the 26^th Disney film, The Great Mouse Detective is definitely not quite as well known as other Disney films.  There were ideas to make a Sherlock Holmes movie with animals in it for quite some time but the project was put in limbo because of too many similarities to The Rescuers.  However, when The Black Cauldron was in production, The Great Mouse Detective was also put in production as a backup project since people were unsure of The Black Cauldron having success.  Then, when The Great Mouse Detective was released, it did much better than The Black Cauldron, gaining positive reviews from critics and doing really well box office wise (even if it didn’t quite outgross Don Bluth’s An American Tale, another mouse movie that came out that same year).  Though this film isn’t quite as well-known as some others, it is well-loved by a lot of Disney fans today, especially since this film saved the animation department from going bankrupt.  While I’ve not read Sherlock Holmes books, I did read a lot of mystery books when I was younger, so it was really interesting watching this movie as it made me think back to my mystery reading (like my Nancy Drew days).     

The Great Mouse Detective (based on the series of books called Basil of Baker Street) is about a young girl named Olivia whose father, the only parent she has, is kidnapped by a bat (whose name is Fidget) for no apparent reason.  Olivia meets up with Dr. Dawson, a mouse in the military, who helps her find the famous detective, Basil of Baker.  Meanwhile, an evil rat named Ratigan is holding Olivia’s father, a toy maker, hostage in order to make an invention of sorts so that he can take the place of the mouse queen of England and rule all the mice of the U.K!  It’s up to Basil and Dawson to stop Ratigan’s diabolical plan before it’s too late.  This movie has some good parts; I personally liked the Sherlock Holmes/mystery theme, and I thought that both Olivia and a dog in the movie, Toby, were very adorable!  A good lesson that comes out of this film is that we should always try to do the right thing even if it is hard, like how Basil never gave up on his case.  This movie does have some dark parts, however.  The rat, Ratigan, and his associate, Fidget, are both very creepy and might give young kids a fright.  There’s also a scene where Basil and Dawson go undercover in a shady bar where there is a lady mouse who dances with very few clothes on her.  Needless to say, I don’t think that should be in a kids’ movie!  So, I would caution parents of young kids for the creepy scenes and the scantily clad mouse.  One of the biggest themes I think this movie takes on is sacrifice.  Olivia’s dad is a single father and, while not shown in the movie, he probably made a lot of sacrifices for her and her needs.  And while Basil was kind of snooty and a know-it-all at the beginning of the movie, I think that he softened quite a bit as the movie went on and even risks his life at several points just so Olivia can have her dad back.  Sometimes during hard times, we need to make big sacrifices to make sure our true family (whether they be biological or not) has what they need.

“There’s always a chance, Doctor, as long as one can think.” Basil, The Great Mouse Detective