The Great Mouse Detective

Plot synopsis:
The year is 1897. The place is London. The setting is not our world, but the world of England's mouse population, who live lives not so different from ours, in the mouse holes and basements of the British Empire.Hiram Flaversham, a master toymaker, is kidnapped on his daughter Olivia's birthday. The young girl has no one to turn to for help, so she strikes out on her own, seeking the greatest detective in all mousedom, Basil of Baker Street.En route, Olivia encounters Dr. David Q. Dawson, a mouse recently returned from military duty in Afghanistan. The kindly doctor agrees to accompany the girl in search of Basil.They manage to find his rooms at 221 1/2 Baker Street (in the basement of a very famous address), and the mouse himself soon makes his appearance. Basil is a bundle of energy, running around the flat, ignoring his two visitors, in anticipation of bringing his latest case to a successful conclusion with an experiment in ballistics. Alas, the experiment is a failure, and the detective is thrown into a deep depression, still unwilling to help poor Olivia.When the girl mentions that her father was kidnapped by a peg-legged bat, however, Basil is again galvanized into action. This bat, Fidget, is a thug employed by his arch-nemesis, Professor Ratigan!Ratigan is the worst criminal in London, a veritable Napoleon of Crime. Even as Basil recounts his previous battles with Ratigan, the crimelord is deep in the sewers of London, forcing his victim Flaversham to build some diabolical device. What is Ratigan planning? Nothing less than the demise of the Queen on the day of her Diamond Jubilee and his own ascension to the throne!Ratigan's henchmen sing his praises, but their boss shows his true colors when one besotted mouse forgets himself and sings out, "Ratigan, the world's greatest rat." Outraged at being called a rat, although he clearly is one, the professor summons his own personal enforcer: an obese cat named Felicia, who keeps the minions in line and eats those who run afoul of Ratigan's temper.Back in Baker Street, Basil agrees to take the case, and attempts to deduce Ratigan's motive in kidnapping a toymaker, when his cogitations are interrupted by the selfsame Fidget spying in the window!Instantly, Basil is after the villain, with Dawson reluctantly in tow, but all they find are peg-legged footprints and the bat's cap. For a detective of Basil's caliber, these clues are more than enough, and he is off to find the kidnapped Flaversham. Basil wheedles Dr. Dawson into enlisting as his assistant, and little Olivia tags along, too, much to Basil's disgust.The threesome make their way to the human residence above, where they find Toby, a huge hound...well, huge in comparison to a bunch of mice. Toby's keen nose picks up the scent from the dropped cap, and he is swiftly on the trail, a trail that leads to a human's toy shop. Basil skulks about in search of Fidget and finds some puzzling clues: toy soldiers without their uniforms and wind-up toys with all the gears missing.While the detective ponders these clues, Fidget strikes! He stuffs Olivia into a sack and attacks Basil and Dawson with a succession of giant toys, finally escaping through the skylight a hairsbreadth ahead of Basil.Fortunately, Fidget has dropped another clue in the form of a list given to him by Ratigan. Basil's knowledge of chemistry enables him to analyze the paper, finding traces of brandy, coal and seawater, which lead him to deduce that the note came from a seedy pub located where the sewer connects to the riverfront.Basil is also a master of disguise, and he swiftly outfits himself and the protesting doctor as sailors. Together they infiltrate the Rat Trap, a disreputable pub filled with low-life ruffians, just the place to search for one of Ratigan's minions.They do find Fidget, and follow him through the sewer to Ratigan's secret lair, where they spy Olivia held captive inside a huge bottle. While attempting to free her, however, Basil and Dawson are surprised by Professor Ratigan's entire gang, who were just waiting for him to arrive. It's a trap, and Basil fell for it!Delighted at having his greatest enemy in his clutches, the flamboyant Ratigan must destroy the detective in some spectacular way. So, he has Basil and Dawson tied to a mousetrap which will snap when a metal ball drops onto the trigger. Not content with this, Ratigan has set the snap of the mousetrap to fire a gun and a crossbow at the unlucky pair, which will in turn cause an axe to chop them to bits, which will bring an anvil down on whatever is left of the great mouse detective. The entire trap is set in motion when a record of Ratigan's song plays to the end, pulling a string that releases the fatal ball.Alas, Ratigan must away to Buckingham Palace, taking his prisoners and his gang with him, so he provides a camera to automatically record the death of Basil for posterity.Mortified at being outwitted, Basil is once more plunged into depression and puts up no resistance, not so much as attempting to think of a way out of the trap. Only Dawson's determined persuasion snaps his companion out of it, just in time to work out a complicated but ingenious solution. Their only chance is for Basil and Dawson to snap the mousetrap themselves at just the right moment. The trap clamps down on the metal ball, thus protecting the pair from being caught in its powerful jaws. Moreover, the pressure pops off the mousetrap's hinge, which knocks the gun aside, which shoots the crossbow, which deflects the arrow, which shoots the axe, which comes down between Basil and Dawson, which cuts them free just in time to avoid being splatted by the anvil. Whew!Basil is himself again, ready to tackle Ratigan once more, but first not forgetting to pose for the professor's camera. Toby carries Basil, Dawson and Olivia to the palace, where Ratigan's lackeys, dressed in uniforms stolen from the soldier dolls at the toy shop, have already captured the mouse queen. Basil arrives in the nick of time and pulls Her Majesty from Felicia's waiting jaws.Meanwhile, Ratigan has substituted a mechanical queen for the real sovereign, a machine built by master toymaker Flaversham. This clock-work queen appoints none other than Professor Ratigan as her royal consort, giving the fiend control over the entire British Empire! But Basil soon intervenes, capturing Ratigan's henchmen and exposing the villain for what he truly is: a slimy, contemptible sewer rat!The jig is up, and Ratigan flees with the faithful Fidget and with Olivia as his hostage in his monogrammed, bicycle-powered dirigible. Toby makes short work of Felicia as Basil rigs up a pursuit vehicle out of a Union Jack, a matchbox and a bunch of balloons. He chases Ratigan across the London skies, and the fiendish professor attempts to lighten his own load by tossing Fidget overboard! But he can't escape Basil, who fearlessly leaps onto the dirigible. Suddenly, the Houses of Parliament loom ahead. Basil and his enemy crash into the face of the famous London landmark, the clock commonly known as Big Ben.Inside the tower, Basil and Ratigan battle on the huge mechanism, where any false step could crush them between the meshing gears. Ratigan is much bigger and more powerful, and Basil just manages to scoop up Olivia and head for safety atop the tower. But Ratigan's rage at being thwarted once again causes him to snap. He rips his clothes to shreds and stands revealed as a fierce and deadly rat!Olivia is safely aboard the balloon, but Ratigan tackles Basil and the two go tumbling down to land on the hands of the great clock. The detective is battered mercilessly until he finds himself hanging by his fingernails on the edge of oblivion. The evil Professor Ratigan has won, but wait! He hasn't been paying attention to the time. But Basil has, and he watches with satisfaction as the vibrations from the chiming of the bell when the clock strikes the hour send Ratigan over the edge. At the last moment, the villain manages to pull Basil down with him.Anxiously, Basil's friends watch both detective and crimelord plunge into the fog to the river far below. It looks hopeless, but the remarkable Basil is able to use the propeller from the dirigible to save himself, creating a pedal-powered helicopter that lifts him to safety.The empire is saved, Olivia is reunited with her father, and Basil invites Dr. Dawson to be his partner in crime-detection. As a tearful new client appears at 221 1/2 Baker Street, bringing a new case with new adventures, we take our leave of Basil of Baker Street, the Great Mouse Detective.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Kids may not understand half of the things he's saying, but it's fun to watch.Olivia is the little heroine mouse who starts Basil on his case, losing her father to a mysterious peg-legged bat of whom Basil is aware of.
Dawson is, of course, Watson in mouse form, and helps Basil in his first case, being this movie.Ratigan is the villain played by the late horror film star Vincent Price, and quite well in my opinion.
The movie goes from there with its "many twists and turns", to quote Basil.If you want a fun-filled, unpredictable adventure, The Great Mouse Detective is your best bet.
But "The Great Mouse Detective" deserves to be known and seen.The characters are real classics and one of the best to have ever appeared in a Disney movie.
Actually Professor Ratigan (voiced by the legendary Vincent Price) is quite possibly my favorite movie villain of all time.
But of course the idea of making a story about the mouse version of Sherlock Holmes alone is already good enough to make a fun movie about.One of the other things that makes this movie different compared to other Disney's from that period are the songs or better said the lack of it.
The Great Mouse Detective is one of my favorite Disney films of all time, it's also one of the most under rated in my opinion.
I think just because I love the story so much and it always brought up good memories, this was the funniest Disney animated movie I had seen at the time.
My parents and I watched this movie together all the time when I was a child, still to this day, I don't mind sitting down to watch it, it's just that much fun.A young little mouse girl and her toy shop father are celebrating her birthday, but her father is quickly taken away by a rotten gang of mice who are led by a giant rat, Ratigan, who is planning to over throw the queen and become leader of the mouse world.
Along with the help of an average mouse, Dr. Dawson, Olivia, and Basil go after Ratigan to make sure that his plan fails.The Great Mouse Detective is such a cute film.
It has one of the best cast of characters in a Disney film, one of the best Disney villains ever (voiced by the amazing Vincent Price, no less), and is packed with fun and adventure.Brilliant and eccentric detective Basil of Baker Street is given the case of a lifetime when young Olivia Flavisham comes to his doorstep for help.
With the help of the young mouse and the kindly but down-to-earth Dr. Dawson, Basil sets out to rescue Olivia's father and foil Ratigan's scheme.The story seems a bit plain, but the plot isn't what makes TGMD exciting.
I was also left to wonder why Disney never did anything with it since its release since its a very good film.The plot is simple, Basil of Baker Street helps a young girl find her kidnapped father who is the clutches of the evil Ratigan.
Yes the villain still dies these days, and perhaps a Mom to get the plot going, but here we have  several characters die, one simply for insulting the villain.The final sequence of this film, a battle in and on Big Ben was promoted as Disney's first major use of computer animation.
The Walt Disney Company's 26th full-length animated feature film, "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986), was considered one of the better films made in the period between "The Jungle Book" (1967) and "The Little Mermaid" (1989).
The Great Mouse Detective (1986) is one of the greatest Disney movies of all time and definitely their most underrated film in my opinion.
The movie features the wonderful voice talents of Vincent Price as a great Disney villain, Professor Rattigan, basically the Moriarty character opposing the movie's "Sherlock" hero character, the titular The Great Mouse Detective, Basil of Baker Street (living under the floor of Sherlock Holmes).I don't want to give away the plot but the reason I love this movie so much is that there is a lot of great comedy in it, the hero and villain are both fantastic (and both have very entertaining cohorts), and the story is great.I love that this film is a little bit "darker" than most Disney films.
The Rattigan song is amazing, and Vincent Price himself sings a wonderful "goodbye" song that plays on a record while he has Basil trapped.A truly great Disney movie that deserves much more praise!.
Quite scary at times for the little ones, but this is a surprisingly excellent modern-day Disney film with some good animation, good ideas, good execution, catchy songs, a grand finale worthy of applause, and some fine in-jokes for the older audience members who have some knowledge of Holmes's tales.**** 1/2 / *****.
Forget The Lion King, forget Frozen, forget Wreck-It Ralph (well, maybe not FORGET it), THIS is the greatest movie Disney's ever animated.The story is a pretty fun ride from start to finish, the movie taking full advantage of its animated medium to give us scenes in a toy shop with the mice riding on and making use of the toys to chase the villain, and a long ongoing shot in a clocktower that perfectly blends 3D computer animation with 2D hand-drawn animation.At first glance, one might mistakenly assume this is nothing more than a Sherlock Holmes story told with mice.
There is only ONE Basil of Baker Street, and his reputation remains untarnished by a lack of forced direct-to-video sequels.But by far the best thing this movie has going for it is Vincent Price as Professor Ratigan.
Going on something of a sentimental journey I recently saw two Disney animated features that were released in my childhood: The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective.
I was shocked.I had always thought that in between Jungle Book and Aladdin Disney hadn't really delivered anything worthwhile (aristocats and robin hood being OK, basically because of the great character-animation, but never as good as the older stuff), but these films are both great.
However, the show stealer, like with many Disney films, is the villain, Professor Ratigan as brilliantly voiced by the great Vincent Price.
He even gets one of the only song numbers in this movie, one of the finest villain numbers in its jaunty bombast and how it shifts to a dead stop when a henchman double crosses him then shifts back after a rather grim moment in the film.Unfortunately, one wishes the animation was better than Toon Disney on a production level.
While not as good as "The Rescuers", still this motion picture deserves some credit too.It never reached the popularity and classic status of most Disney classics and remains forgotten and unpopular after all these years - however, not as much as "The Black Cauldron".This movie is one of the darkest Disney cartoons and at the same time one of the funniest at times.Like most Disney classics, it has great characters, a good general quality job on details, wonderful animation, memorable songs, a cool story, adventure, danger, friendship, the main one might ask on a Disney animated movie...My favorite characters are Basil, Dr. David Q.
Both Olivia and Toby are more than cute characters - they're sweet, innocent, adorable and lovely.Professor Ratigan is the big villain of this movie.
It has great songs such as Henry Mancini's instrumental opening theme, some beautiful classical music and the delightful Ratigan's song "Goodbye So Soon" (sung by Vincent Price himself), just to mention a few examples.This film takes place in London, in the year of 1897.
Vincent Price tends to steal the show with his excellent performance as Professor Ratigan (no wonder he got top billing!) I also enjoy Basil's ingenious thinking and over-the-top acting for a detective that can fit in the palm of your hand (I can't help but notice he almost looks like an anime character at times, the way he is designed.) Dr. Dawson and Olivia are also great characters, and Fidget is good at raging from downright creepy (his two horror-style jump-scare scenes) to your typical comical sidekick (what's not to love about a big-eyed one-legged bat that's unable to fly?) I also liked hearing Alan Young using his Scrooge McDuck voice for Mr. Flaversham.
Especially fun is Miss Kitty's "Let Me Be Good to You" musical number (that had to be a scene by Ron Clements and John Musker; they're known for crazy stuff like that, as seen in "Aladdin" and "The Princess and the Frog!") The animation also has a very classic look and feel to it, which is rare for a Disney movie of this era.
There are elements that adults will enjoy, like some of Basil's fastpaced dialogue, and the inimitable Vincent Price as the voice, and inspiration for the movements, of Ratigan.As many people have commented, the lack of songs in this film is really to it's credit.
During the 80's, Disney was having a lot of trouble trying to make a good Disney film.Before, "The Little Mermaid", was released, Disney released an animated movie called, "The Great Mouse Detective".
It became a critical and financial success.The movie is about a Toy Inventor who get's kidnapped, and the daughter of the Toy Inventor assist's help from Basil and his sidekick, David.Pro's: The film has some great animation and the story is original because it's just like, Sherlock Holmes, except with Mice.
Also, the voice acting was great and it even has veteran actor, Vincent Price, as the villain, Dr. Ratigan.Overall, "The Great Mouse Detective", is a fun, animated movie and one of Disney's underrated movie's..
If nothing else, Price brings together young and old viewers, as older viewers will drool over his vocal intonations (particularly when he has his "Goodbye" record playing over Basil and Dodson stuck in the death trap), and kids will just find him cool in a villainous way.But it's not just Price that makes it a must-see; the animation for Great Mouse Detective is creative and fun, even making nice allusions to previous old-school Disney fare (the scene where Basil is investigating in the toy room reminds one of the puppets in Gepetto's workshop in Pinocchio, one of the toys here being Dumbo), and the directors, who would go on to make their best work with Aladdin some years later, have a great grasp of mixing solid laughs with a compelling adventure story.
There's even some nifty early-era computer animation when Basil and Ratigan have their showdown inside of the clocktower.Great Mouse Detective realizes what makes good family entertainment- clean, yes, but with moments that aren't too stupid or talk down to any viewer- and for Sherlock Holmes fans it's a minor treat after so many years with the usual lot of Baker street characters.
Their ways of trying to outwit each other is worthwhile even in the final battle.If there's one thing I would point out that is while the animation is really good especially the visuals, there are some crude stuff in it that might me questionable, but that's my only nitpick.Overall, The Great Mouse Detective is not only underrated, but it does manage to be a really good version of Sherlock Holmes by taking the idea of the character and turning it into something fresh.
Luckily, she is noticed by Dawson, a mouse who happens to have contacts with Basil of Baker Street, a brilliant (mouse) detective who is at first not interested in the toymaker's capture, until it is linked to his arch-enemy, Ratigan!There are a few aspects of this film that REALLY stand out: Vincent Price as Ratigan, and Henry Mancini's score.
The film flows flawlessly and even the animation style has an excellent grasp of movement, fluidity and space.The characters are also a lot of fun, from quite honestly nutty Basil of Baker Street to Dr. Dawson to Hiram Flaversham, a genius toymaker utilized for his talents for nefarious purposes.
Ratigan is also a great Disney villain, voiced by the great Vincent Price, who gives him a suave yet menacing purr.It's a great movie, all things considered.
In this Sherlock Holmes like adventure, a mouse detective Basil is searching for little Olivia's father with the help of Dr. Dawson who just came back from Afghanistan.
The story of the film was very good, the characters were fantastic (the villain is capable of being one of the best movies of Disney), the soundtrack is very good, the animation is great and the sound mix is very good.
Granted, his sidekick Fidget is kind of annoying and rather pathetic, but whenever Basil is around Ratigan, that's when his hatred for Basil shines through and it creates such a maniacal albeit witty presence that's always delightful to watch.The animation for this film was actually made in a year to reduce costs along with the aid of computers, and needless to say, it looks great.
Although one song written and perfumed by Melissa Manchester is.....well, let's just say it almost got this movie a PG rating....yeah.So overall, The Great Mouse Detective is not only a massive improvement over The Black Cauldron (which came out a year earlier mind you), but it's simply a delightful, upbeat and often suspenseful feature filled with lovable characters, high stakes, solid fast paced animation, hearty laughs, a chipper soundtrack, and overall, a fun adventure.
Disney's 26th animated full-length feature film takes us on a fun-filled adventure as we follow Basil, the mouse Sherlock Holmes, in investigating the kidnapping of toy-maker Hiram Flaversham committed by his archenemy, Professor Ratigan.
In addition, Professor Ratigan has proved to be a nefarious and sinister character with a power-hungry mind and cold-stoned heart, a villain you would love to root against.The animation is great and colorful and the voice talents were spot on; I especially liked Alan Young lending his voice to Hiram Flaversham as it reminded me of his Scrooge McDuck character, which he also voiced in various Disney cartoons and shows.Overall, it's a good little detective movie that should delight an audience of all ages.Grade B+.
Now I know a lot of people who watched this movie as a kid love it and consider it a really good movie but let's take a step back and look at the movie for what it is.The movie follows a mouse detective named Basil who is trying to find a kidnapped toy maker.
People who haven't seen any Sherlock Holmes movies probably thought "Wow he is so witty, clever, original and doesn't even have a love interest" but actually his character has been so many times.
Oh, Ratigan) are very entertaining characters voiced perfectly by Barrie Ingham and Vincent Price, respectively.Second, I'd like to praise the film's animation.
With lots of cute critters engaging in a surprising amount of drinking and gunplay, not to mention Vincent Price as the nefarious Professor Ratigan (just don't call him a rat).Ever-so-slightly inspired by Sherlock Holmes, there's also a great climax on board Big Ben, an inventor voiced by the same dude who does Scrooge McDuck, and even an appearance from Basil's loyal assistant Dawson!
If you want Sherlock Holmes on your TV or computer screen, then please rent or buy one of the great British films staring Basil Rathbone as the world's most famous sleuth.I really hate to say this, because I do love Disney films, but I think I would avoid The Great Mouse Detective..
The effort was not evident and looked like it was done halfheartedly.Like many Disney films this follows a familiar story of Sherlock Holmes but instead stars his mouse counterpart the private eye Basil of Baker Street.
Basically the story is set in Victorian London and the Sherlock like Basil is on an investigation to find a Doctor who has been kidnapped by the evil professor Ratigan (voiced by horror legend Vincent Price who surprisingly said it was his favourite role.) To sum it up I recommend to today's generation of kids (or people who probably did not see this when they were younger.) That they see this true Disney unappreciated classic the heroes are likable and the villain's are just plain nasty.
So we decided to pop it in and bring the old times back, since we haven't seen it in years."The Great Mouse Detective" is not like other Disney films.
After watching that film, I began to wonder why couldn't there be a fun animated movie that had been influenced by the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when I realized there was already one that was done by Walt Disney Animation Studios back in 1986 called "The Great Mouse Detective".
This film is a massive improvement over the former as it's not only a fun Sherlock Gnomes inspired flick, it's also a great animated movie.When mouse toymaker Hiriam Flaversham (Alan Young) is kidnapped by a peg legged bat, his young daughter Olivia (Susanne Pollatschek) goes off looking for help in hopes of finding the famed detective Basil of Baker Street (Barrie Ingham).
I remember how well remastered some older Disney movies were and I think this film might be due for a remaster.So to end things off, I highly do recommend "The Great Mouse Detective".
It's the best Sherlock Holmes inspired animated movie I've seen so far with a fun story, animation worth of the Disney name and characters that are bouncy and fun.
The Great Mouse Detective is from the creators of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid , which tells you it will be good.It is one of my favorite Disney movies .
The voice acting is pitch perfect for the characters (including the late, great Vincent Price as Professor Ratigan, the rodent version of (SPOILERS) Holmes' archenemy Moriarty), and the dialogue is brilliant.Even though I was born 12 years after the film was originally released in theaters, The Great Mouse Detective has become one of my all-time favorite Disney movies.
(SPOILERS) "The Great Mouse Detective" is one of the best Disney movies out there, but if you ask me, it is way too scary for kids.