Basil l'investigatopo

By no means does it rank among the greatest Disney films. Its animation is mostly Saturday Morning level and its plot is as simplistic as a Sherlock Holmes knockoff story can get, complete with plotty, expository script and pretty typical archetypes throughout. Yet, it has something that has been missing in Disney movies for years: likability. It's lightweight, well crafted fun, like all the best Saturday morning cartoons, with inventive set pieces and terrific voice acting that helps make up for the fact that the losses incurred on The Black Cauldron show quite clearly. Unfortunately, it was shoveled under the hype over Don Bluth's An American Tail, a film that I have a bit of a soft spot for but which I'm not sure was that much better despite more involved animation. Of course it's no masterpiece, but it does deserve some appreciation for its virtues.

The plot's rather simple, and a bit too dialogue driven. Basically, you can figure out what happens before you even see it. What makes it work are the personalities. True, Olivia's a bit cloying, but Basil himself is as manic and fun to watch as any good Holmes knockoff, due in no small part to Barrie Ingham's performance. However, the show stealer, like with many Disney films, is the villain, Professor Ratigan as brilliantly voiced by the great Vincent Price. What I love about his character is that he comes off a narcissistic buffoon most of the time, but when pushed he shows himself to be a ruthless maniac able to wring whatever he wants from people by sheer force. In many ways, he's the villain that Captain Hook should have been. 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. There's lots of conservative pose-to-pose stuff and very little in the ways of spontaneous character stuff. The angles are all very flat and straightforward. It especially shows in the dog character, who is much larger than the others but has too lightweight a feel to him. It's still a better looking film than The Black Cauldron, however less lavish it may be, and it has a few highlights. Ratigan, again, is superbly animated by Glen Keane, who gives him much more nuance and presence than the other characters. There's also a steep improvement toward the end, where Disney really ratchets up on some terrific set-piece direction. The CGI may show its age, but it's incorporated quite well. One also suspects that Disney first started to look at Hayao Miyazaki's work around this time, since there are more than a few similarities to the climax of Castle of Cagliostro.

All in all, these elements, along with a great Henry Mancini score, add up to another overlooked gem of a Disney movie, if not an essential work. It's light nature makes it understandable that some people tend not to care for it, but I enjoy it like I do any decent childhood cartoon. For me, it's the best Disney picture between the end of the golden age in the 60s and the renaissance at the end of the 80s, despite not being especially ambitious or innovative. It's just good fun, and what more can one ask for?

Having revisited this film on the anniversary of its first release I was shocked at how good it is. 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. There's more to it than that but thats a place to start.

Vincent Price, probably having the time of his life, is the foul villain and he seems to be having a complete ball. What ever joy he was feeling must have been infectious since the work the animators did carried over and its fun to watch Price's animated alter ego mug for the camera.

This is the last of the un-politically correct films from The Mouse House. Characters smoke, which as we all know is now a no no since Disney is now going back and digitally erasing all trace of that "bad habit" from all of their earlier films. Characters die. 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 sequence is spectacular and one of the greatest animated pieces I've ever witnessed even today. The whole thing lasts maybe five minutes but it pushes the art of animation as far as Disney has ever gone and shows us what a loss the politically correct, story formula has been in the realm of artistic animation. Disney learned how to make money but not films that pushed the envelope of what was possible. What might have happened if they had expanded on this one sequence?

See this movie. I give it 8 out of 10. Its not perfect but it is funny and exciting in ways that the films that followed rarely were. The film also contains several moments that prove that Pixar are not the only ones who can make movies that reflect the Warner Brothers style.

Great Mouse Detective is one of the best Disney movies I've seen yet. The animation is that classic Disney style and (thank Goodness) it lacks all of those annoying songs.

As a true Sherlockian, I can only say that this is as good as it gets as far as Holmes goes. No matter what everyone says, It is still great. Kids may not get some parts f it, but every Sherlockian knows what's going on. While Ratigan may be no Moriarty, he's still the perfect example of the classic Disney villain.

Vincent Price is a terrific actor, and Alan Young as Flaversham was the perfect fit. Young Susanne Pollatschek is the perfect Olivia and no one could do a better Basil than Barrie Ingham. Val Bettin makes a lovable Dawson. Fidget is the classic evil crony.

This is absolutely a must see. For all you baby-sitters out there, and I know from personal experience, take this to your next job and the kids won't even blink for over an hour. It's one of the most memorable Disney movies of it's age. Although Beauty and the Beast will always be my favorite, GMD runs an extremely close second!

I give it 11/10! It's that good!

I always say when I write these, I loved this movie, but you may not. So how do you decide if you like it? See it! Form your own opinion! After all, one man's trash and all like that! Hope you find a good one!

¨The great mouse detective¨ also titled ¨The adventure of the great mouse detective ¨ is a Walt Disney cartoon feature based on famous characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted of Eve Titus' book titled ¨Basil of Baker Street¨ . This amusing cartoon movie deals with Basil , the rodent Sherlock Holmes who investigates the kidnapping of a toy-maker and uncovers its link to his archenemy , Professor Ratigan . It begins when Hiram Flaversham ( voice by Alan Young) , a master toymaker , is abducted by a peg-legged bat , on his daughter Olivia's birthday . The nefarious Professor Ratingan (voice by Vincent Price) kidnapped him for forcing his victim Flaversham to make some diabolical device . The young mouse has no one to turn to for help , so she strikes out on her own , looking for the greatest detective in all mousedom , Basil of Baker Street ( performed with gusto by Barrie Ingham) . En route , Olivia encounters Dr. David Dawson (voice by Bettin) , a mouse recently gone back from military duty in Afghanistan . They manage to encounter his rooms at 221 1/2 Baker Street in the cellar of a very notorious address , and the mouse himself soon makes his appearance running around the apartment , ignoring his two hosts , in anticipation of bringing his latest case to a successful final with an experiment in ballistics . Nevertheless , the experiment is a flop , and the detective is thrown into a deep depression, still unwilling to help poor Olivia . But Basil is again galvanized into action . The Sherlockian mouse matches wits with the nasty Professor Rattingan . The crime lord Ratigan is planning in the sewers of London nothing less than the demise of the Queen on the day of her ¨Diamond Jubilee¨ and his own ascension to the throne . Later on , Basil , Dr. Dawson and Olivia are submitted a tempestuous trap by Professor Ratingan and are imprisoned .

This fun animation is set in England's mouse population, who lives not so different from ours, in the mouse holes and basements of the British Empire . The funny characters are the following : Basil who is a bundle of energy , he is played in a clever , broody and impetuous manner similarly to Holmes-Basil Rathbone . Good Doctor Dawson/Watson is drawn or played in kindly way , he's the perfect counterpoint to Basil/Holmes . Ratigan , the arch-nemesis , a Doctor Moriaty-alike is the worst criminal in London, a veritable Napoleon of Crime . Furthermore , a sympathetic thug ,an unfortunate peg-legged bat . This agreeable animation movie contains a lively and enjoyable musical score by the great Henry Mancini . The motion picture is well realized by Ron Clemens and John Musker (among others) who subsequently would have several successes such as ¨The little mermaid¨, ¨Aladdin¨ , ¨Hercules¨, ¨Tresure planet ¨, and ¨The princess and the frog¨ . Rating : Good , worthwhile watching and reissued successfully in 1992 .

The Great Mouse Detective is so underrated, it's criminal. How does nobody know about this?! 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. Her father, a gifted toymaker, has been abducted by Professor Ratigan, a notorious criminal whom Basil has been chasing for years. 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. It is the characters which bring the movie to life and make it worth watching. Being based off Sherlock Holmes himself, Basil is naturally an intelligent badass. He's enthusiastic about his work and little else at the beginning of the film, and doesn't care much for Dawson and Olivia upon first meeting them, but as the film progresses he starts opening up to them, especially Olivia. It's a nice bit of character development which gives the film heart without becoming sentimental. Dr. Dawson's warmer and less dramatic personality provides the perfect foil for Basil, and Olivia is charming and adorable without being cutesy-cutesy or annoying. But the best character has to be Ratigan, one of the great unsung Disney villains. He's funny as hell, gleefully enjoying every bit of evil he engages in and doing so with larger-than-life style; on the other hand, he can be pretty scary too, and if he snaps, boy are you screwed. He's voiced brilliantly by Vincent Price, who you can tell had a lot of fun doing the part.

The animation isn't breathtaking, but it's still good. A lot of the character animation is done extremely well, in particular facial expressions. The backgrounds are lovely and dark, perfectly giving the film the atmosphere of foggy Victorian London.

Though it's not much of a musical, the few songs in TGMD are good. I especially like "Let Me Be Good to You", which is catchy and, when viewed in context to the film, very suggestive and adult. Hilarious. Good characters, good songs, humor, heart, adventure…it's all there. It's no Pinocchio or Beauty and the Beast, but it's still a wonderful movie. How awful it is that it isn't well-known! It's one of those Disney films you'll still enjoy even when you're older, and if you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out.

8/10