IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Now that Disney is an multinational entertainment behemoth, with Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and many other assets underneath its tightly sewn corporate umbrella, it is easy to forget that thirty years ago the company was foundering and the Feature Animation division was in serious danger of bankruptcy.  The flop of The Black Cauldron (1985), the most expensive animated film up until that time, had greatly depleted the company coffers, and Michael Eisner, the new company CEO, cut the budget for the next animated feature in half, while simultaneously moving up its release date.  This cut the animation schedule for the next feature from two years to one.  Despite all of the turmoil and cost-cutting during production, it is amazing that The Great Mouse Detective (1986) turned out so well.

The film is an adaptation of the Basil of Baker Street series of chapter books for young readers, which reimagines the characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories as mice and other small critters.  Basil (Barrie Ingham), the great mouse detective, lives directly below the great human detective at 221 1/2 Baker Street, and he even occasionally engages Holmes’ faithful hound, Toby, in his adventures.  The story begins, when Dr. Dawson (the rodent version of Dr. Watson) returns to London.  While looking for lodgings, the good doctor (voiced by Val Bettin) discovers Olivia (Susanne Pollatschek), a young girl in distress.  It seems that her toymaker father (Alan Young) has been kidnapped, so the doctor takes Olivia to consult the great detective.  Thus, Basil and Dawson meet for the very first time.  Basil quickly recognizes the kidnapping to be the work of his arch nemesis, Professor Ratigan (the incomparable Vincent Price), and the game is afoot!

The film does a nice job of recreating in anthropomorphic form Holmes’ first teaming with Watson, the detective’s brilliant deductions, his mastery of disguise, and his clashes with the “Napoleon of Crime,” Professor Moriarty.  There are “Easter Eggs” throughout the movie for fans of Conan Doyle’s original stories and of previous film adaptations of the consulting detective, including a brief bit of dialogue by long-time Holmes actor, Basil Rathbone.  There’s also a nice adaptation of the Reichenbach Falls ending of Conan Doyle’s story, “The Final Problem,” during the climactic struggle between Basil and Ratigan atop Big Ben.  All in all, The Great Mouse Detective would provide any youngster with an excellent introduction to the world of Holmes and Watson.

While the animation is far from top-tier Disney, the artists do a nice job at hiding the budget and time constraints.  In most shots, only one or two figures are moving at a time, but the artists compensate by providing those figures with wonderfully expressive facial expressions, which draw the eye away from most everything else.  Also, there is no shortage of beauty to behold, due to the beautifully painted backgrounds that the characters to live within.

Another time-saver, which allowed the staff to complete the task within the compressed schedule was the availability of computer-generated illustration for the first time in the history of Disney Feature Animation.  However, the animators smartly restricted the use of CGI to the depiction of the clockwork gears inside Big Ben (mechanics which should naturally have a more industrial look than their surroundings).  Consequently, the computerized sequences still look pretty good today; whereas, other “first generation” CGI sequences in contemporaneous films have not held up particularly well.

Most importantly, any lack in the artwork is made up by the enthusiastic performances of the voice cast.  Barrie Ingham’s vocal stylings turn Basil into a dashing, youthful hero; and Val Bettin strikes a nice balance in his Dr. Dawson between the smart, able Watson of Conan Doyle’s books and the doddering fuddy-duddy portrayed by Nigel Bruce in the Sherlock Holmes movie series of the 1940s.  However, top honors go to the villains.  Candy “I’m feeling mighty low” Candido is a delight as Fidget, the manic, gravel-voiced bat that serves as Ratigan’s manic assistant.  Best of all, the casting of Vincent Price as the evil Professor Ratigan was a bit of genius.  Price seems to be having the time of his life, purring and snarling his way through the last great villain role of his 55-year movie career.  Price even gets the opportunity to croon a couple of tunes by composer Henry Mancini, the best of which is a phonograph recording of “Goodbye So Soon,” which Ratigan uses as a trigger for an elaborate Rube Golberg-esque death trap for Basil and Dawson.  Singing your enemy to death is exactly the type of touch that Vincent Price’s greatest villain character, Dr. Phibes, would have employed on his enemies.

The Great Mouse Detective was a minor success for the studio, earning $50 million worldwide in it’s original release, against its meager budget of $14 million.  It was enough of a profit to encourage the company to continue to produce feature animation.  This led to the Disney renaissance with The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), etc.  Those later films have eclipsed The Great Mouse Detective over the years, and the film has been mostly forgotten.  However, while the movie will never rank towards the top of Disney’s animated output, it is an enjoyable romp that deserves to be better remembered.  Give it a watch.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

I can’t resist ending this portion of the review with a farewell from Vincent “Ratigan” Price:

USA/C-74m./Dir: Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, David Michener, and John Musker/Wr: Pete Young, Vance Gerry, Steve Hulett, Ron Clements, John Musker, Bruce Morris, Matthew O’Callaghan, Burny Mattinson, David Michener, and Mel Shaw (based on the books by Eve Titus & Paul Galdone)/Cast: Vincent Price, Barrie Ingham, Val Bettin, Susanne Pollatschek, Candy Candido, Diana Chesney, Alan Young, and Basil Rathbone (archive audio)

For Fans of: If you love Disney’s better known animated classics or if you are a Sherlock Holmes fanboy, I think you’ll find that The Great Mouse Detective is better than you expect.

Video: Walt Disney Studios release of The Great Mouse Detective (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) can often be found at budget prices.  The Blu-ray disc holds a very nice looking copy of the film, and the included DVD includes the following extras:

• “Making of The Great Mouse Detective” featurette (SD, 8 minutes)
• “So You Think You Can Sleuth?” rundown of crimes and crime-solving through the ages (SD, 5 minutes)
• “World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” sing-along (SD, 2 minutes)

Streaming: The Great Mouse Detective can be rented or purchased digitally through Amazon and other platforms, but it isn’t available as part of any subscription service.

More to Explore: If you crave more anthropomorphic Conan Doyle adaptations, check out the Japanese animated TV series, Sherlock Hound.  The first six episodes were directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away).  Eastern Star has released Sherlock Hound: The Complete Series on DVD.

Trivia: The production team for The Great Mouse Detective watched Champagne for Caesar (1950) to potentially use Ronald Coleman as a model for Basil, but it was Vincent Price’s performance in the film that really captured their imaginations.  It led directly to the hiring of the horror icon as Ratigan.

For More Info: For more adventures of Basil and Dawson, you can always read the original book series by Eve Titus (Author) and Paul Galdone (Illustrator).  A box set is available —  The Great Mouse Detective Crumbs and Clues Collection: Basil of Baker Street; Basil and the Cave of Cats; Basil in Mexico; Basil in the Wild West; Basil and the Lost Colony.