The Secret of NIMH

1st watched 5/13/2001 - 8 out of 10 (Dir-Don Bluth): Complicated story for kids, but extremely well-done animated tale of a group of rats who are experimented on by NIMH(National Instiute for Mental Health) and become smart. They escape and live in an underground existence stealing electricity from a farmer. The plan is to generate their own electricity and be able to move to a safer locale, but we don't exactly know how this is going to happen. Dom Deluise has a humorous role as a clumsy love-lorned crow to keep the seriousness of the story at bay. This movie is excellent from beginning to end and deserved more recognition than it got(probably because it's not Disney), but launched a series of Bluth animated movies to give animated movie fans an alternative to Disney.

This is one of those films I "lost" in my memory banks until I accidentally ran across it again. As soon as I saw the name of the film (The Secret of NIMH) something clicked within and I said "oh yes I remember this film and how much I loved it"! This movie is a great story - a hidden gem of animated film classics! I was 10 years old when this film came out, I do remember seeing this one in the theaters. I've recently acquired the DVD - a cherished childhood film.

Timothy Mouse is sick with Pneumonia. His mother, Mrs. Brisby, will go on a dangerous journey to some medicine for her son. It's early spring and the (human) farmers are tilling up the fields and wanting to get rid of their rat & mouse problem. The mice will do what they can to save their homes. Mrs. Brisby's problems are increasing - she must see the Great Owl but owls eat mice but she must go - so her dark and scary journey begins!

A very dark, scary film at times - the colors are vivid and beautiful. The story is heartwarming and adventurous. The animation is superb!

This is a film well worth watching - I'm so happy to have it on DVD.

One major flaw keeps this from being a 10/10: Only two intelligent MALE mice survived NIMH: Mr. Johnathan Brisby and Mr. Ages. --- How did Mrs. Brisby become intelligent? Is Mr. Ages her father or grandfather?

9/10

In the early '80s a group of Disney animators, headed by Don Bluth, decided to break away from the Disney studio. The Secret of NIMH was the first film they made. Based on a semi-classic children's book entitled "Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien, the film emerges as a decent little animated feature. The story is a bit on the sombre side - probably a bit too serious and complex for really young viewers - but the animation is of a superb quality and the characters are very nicely voiced.

Field mouse Mrs Brisby needs to move her family from their home in a farmer's field, as it is almost time for the farmer to gather his crop with the combine harvester. Inevitably the Brisby home would be destroyed and anyone in it killed during the gathering of the crop. Unfortunately, one of her children, Timmy, is suffering from pneumonia and couldn't possible survive the move. Mrs Brisby is advised to contact the rats of NIMH, a group of hyper-intelligent rodents, to ask for their help. Apparently, her late husband Jonathan was a close friend of the rats and they held him in such high regard that they will do anything to help a member of the Brisby clan.

The story is told mainly through talk, with occasional bursts of action. As already pointed out, this means the film doesn't really lend itself to a very young audience. But older kids, especially those who are willing to listen with the appropriate degree of attention, will find the story interesting. There are other plus points - Jerry Goldsmith's rousing score; Dom DeLuise's amusing vocals as an accident-prone bird; and some very well-conceived "baddies" in the shape of rat conspirator Jenner and savage farm-cat Dragon. The Secret of NIMH is a moderately successful film - no masterpiece, true enough, and not really a serious challenger to the Disney dominance over the genre, but definitely a film that every child should see at least once.

The Secret of NIMH after twenty three years is still an absolutely fantastic film. I hold it in such high regard as the even more obscure Gay Pur-ee (with the voice talent of Judy Garland, also wonderful) and Disney's Robin Hood.

Criticisms can be made of the film. For one, "faithful" isn't exactly an adjective that can be used when describing it's relation to the source material: "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert O'Brien. However, the novel was a Newberry Award winner and it deserved an excellent film which is what it received.

The book itself had two separate story lines, one focusing on Mrs. Frisby and her plight, and the other a lengthy backstory involving the rats of NIMH. For the animated feature, Don Bluth and his team chose to focus on Mrs. Frisby's plight and for this I am grateful.

In Mrs. Brisby we have a totally unique and a truly delightful heroine. She isn't some young boy getting ready to go on a fantastic adventure or some sort of great, brave hero. She's just a mother, a mother whose first concern is her family. And she makes a fantastic hero, showing that courage isn't just involved in facing down fierce monsters (though when she has to do that she finds the courage). She never stops pushing herself and though she might be a very small mouse, she has a very big heart.

As a kid I walked away thinking how cool Justin was, but now that I'm older I have complete respect for Mrs. Brisby. It's an excellent film both for children and adults alike.

And how about Derek Jacobi as Nicodemus? Dom deLuise as Jeremy? Not to mention Elizabeth Hartman, whose short career was never-the-less magnificent. Thank god for film that we might have her talents available to us for all time!

Gorgeously animated, smartly written and surprisingly mature for a film that's clearly geared to young audiences, this one is a real gem. Don Bluth and company really peered over new horizons with their painstaking efforts on this picture, and ultimately gave their old bosses and coworkers at Disney the kind of direct competition they needed to wake up from their late '70s slump. Bluth's unmistakable style positively seeps out of every panel of NIMH, with an expressive, gestural quality that manages to be both creatively streamlined and rich with detail. The story, so dark that Disney actually opted out of making the film themselves, remains a breath of fresh air even today, thirty years after its premiere. Its broad landscapes and diverse characters tackle some very challenging themes with succinct honesty, respecting their viewers without scaring them off. Too many kids' movies resign themselves to the opinion that children need their hands held on a stroll through happy town from start to finish, with a reassuring character always nearby whenever something remotely spooky happens. NIMH rejects that theory, cautiously, and ends up a better picture for all audiences as a result. It's a revelation.