The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective (later re-released in 1992 as The Adventures of The Great Mouse Detective) is a 1986 American animated mystery comedy film produced by the then-new Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. It was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements in their directing debut (who went on to direct several other popular Disney hits such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog and Moana). 

The Great Mouse Detective
Genre: Animated Mystery Adventure Directed by: John Musker Ron Clements Produced by: Burny Mattinson Written by: Pete Young Vance Gerry Steve Hulett Ron Clements John Musker Bruce M. Morris Matthew O'Callaghan Starring: Vincent Price Barrie Ingham Val Bettin Susanne Pollatschek Candy Candido Diana Chesney Eve Brenner Alan Young Distributed by: Buena Vista Distribution Release date: July 02, 1986 Runtime: 74 minutes Country: United States Language: English

The film is based on the novel series Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus (which in return is based on the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

Synopsis

Basil embarks on the greatest case of his career when London's master toymaker is kidnapped. He ends up pitting his wits against his old adversary, Professor Ratigan, who wants to become `supreme ruler of all mousedom'.

Why It Can Solve A Mystery

1. Great animation of the style of London in the late 19th Century.
2. Phenomenal voice-acting (Vincent Price is phenomenal as Ratigan and stole the whole movie, because of his sinister and hammy performance).
3. Like 101 Dalmatians, this non musical film have three good songs (as mentioned below).
4. Although we've seen human-like mice in fiction loads of times before, a Sherlock Holmes mouse is something new.
5. The protagonist, Basil, is humorous and easily lovable, despite being somewhat unlikable at the beginning.
6. Pretty cool action scenes. The Big Ben chase is the best example.
7. Professor Ratigan is a very entertaining, charismatic and quite threatening villain with a great design and good voice acting, courtesy of Vincent Price. The moment where he becames feral during the climax is very intense and epic at the same time.
8. Like Cinderella and 101 Dalmatians, this is one of the few Disney animated films that played a role in saving the Disney corporation from going bankrupt due to the critical and expensive financial failure of The Black Cauldron.
   • This one was a critical and financial success, in contrast to the latter, despite being out-grossed by An American Tail, during competition between Disney and their former colleague, Don Bluth, who would go on to work for 20th Century Fox and produce Anastasia.
9. It has humorous moments, for example, Ratigan's pet cat Felicia is very funny.
10. To Ratigan, the world's greatest criminal mind!
11. The characters are brilliantly designed.
12. Funny running gags, such as Olivia keeps on correcting Basil about her last name and Basil says "Whatever.", and Ratigan being made fun of as a rat which he dislikes.
13. Olivia Flaversham, the tritagonist is adorable and cute.
14. Ratigan's iconic villain song, The World's Greatest Criminal Mastermind.

“The Most Depraved” Qualities

1. Some scenes, especially the beginning and the scene with Ratigan attacking Basil, can be too intense for younger viewers.
2. The Let Me be Good to You scene, while funny, seems to be unsuitable for young viewers. Plus, the singer will anger parents who believe she's sexualized or objectifying women because she says a racy line in her song and wears a showgirl costume.
3. The pacing can feel a little too quick. The film could've used extra running time for better character development.
   • We also never get to see what happened to Fidget after being betrayed by Ratigan. If the animators decided to show Fidget's reformation by joining on Basil's side to stop Ratigan, this could have possibly fixed the pacing, as well as showing Ratigan confirmed to be arrested (like in the book and comic adaptation) instead of falling to his presumed death.

Reception

The Great Mouse Detective received positive reviews from critics and audience members alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 78% critic approval rating with an average rating of 6.99/10, while the audience approval rating is a 79% with an average rating of 3.93/5. On Metacritic, the movie has a critic score of 73/100, while the audience score is an 8.0/10.

External Links

• The Great Mouse Detective at the Internet Movie Database
• The Great Mouse Detective on Rotten Tomatoes

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