The Great Mouse Detective
| The Great Mouse Detective | |
|---|---|
| File:The Great Mouse Detective VHS cover.jpg The Great Mouse Detective DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Ron Clements Burny Mattinson Dave Michener John Musker |
| Produced by | Burny Mattinson |
| Starring | Vincent Price Barrie Ingham Val Bettin |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release dates | July 2, 1986 (U.S. release) |
Running time | 73 min |
| Language | English |
The Great Mouse Detective (known as Basil, the Great Mouse Detective in the United Kingdom) is the twenty-sixth film in the Disney animated features canon. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and originally released to movie theaters on July 2, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. The film was directed by Burny Mattinson, David Michener, and the team of John Musker and Ron Clements, who later directed Disney's hit films The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
Based on the children's story Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, it draws heavily on the tradition of Sherlock Holmes with a heroic mouse who consciously emulates the detective; Titus named the main character after actor Basil Rathbone, who is best remembered for playing Holmes in film (and whose voice, sampled from the Red-Headed League[1], was the voice of Holmes in this film, 19 years after his death). The main characters are all mice and rats, who are living in London, England.
The movie is notable for its early use of computer generated imagery (CGI): for a chase scene that takes place in the interior of Big Ben, the movements of the clock's gears were produced as wire-frame graphics on a computer and traced onto animation cells The characters were then animated by hand over these cells and the characters' completed cells placed on top of them. The Great Mouse Detective is sometimes cited as the first animated film to use CGI, but that honor actually goes to 1985's The Black Cauldron.
When this film was released, it did fairly well in the box office and got warm reviews from critics (especially a "Two Thumbs Up" from Siskel and Ebert), especially after the critical flop The Black Cauldron. But it wouldn't compare to the big success of The Little Mermaid, released next which signaled the Disney renaissance.
This film was released under the Walt Disney Black Diamond Classics video series in the summer of 1992. It was then re-released to video again in the summer of 1999. Finally in 2002, it was released to DVD.
A series of comics based on the film were released, but were available only in Finland, Sweden, and Germany.
Basil, Dawson, and Ratigan have also made a few appearances in the cartoon show House of Mouse. Their first appearance comes from "Donald's Lamp Trade". In this appearance, Basil stops Dawson from eating a piece of cheese that he claims is obviously a trap. Soon after, Ratigan reveals himself and says "Curses!" (Note: Basil and Ratigan have different voice actors for this appearance. Both Basil and Ratigan are voiced by Maurice LaMarche for this series.) Template:Spoiler
Main Characters
- Basil of Baker Street - The great detective himself based on Sherlock Holmes. His main goal is to get Professor Ratigan behind bars and rescue Olivia Flaversham's father while saving the monarchy at the same time. It should be mentioned that there are a few differences between Basil in the book series and in the movie but most notable is that the film version is mercurial in moods and does not respond to setbacks well, tending to fall into deep melancholy that only sudden inspiration can dispel quickly. He also plays the violin rather well in the movie. (The book series mentioned Basil's violin playing was atrocious and instead Basil played the flute well.)
- Dr. David Q. Dawson - Previously of the Queen's 66th Regiment in Afghanistan. His character is based upon Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories. He constantly is amazed by Basil's deductions much like Watson is with Holmes. In the movie Dawson meets Basil after bringing Olivia Flaversham to Baker Street. He eventually becomes Basil's associate, friend, and personal biographer. The main difference from the books is that the animators modeled the character after Nigel Bruce in both appearance and character. As a result, Dawson is essentially a fat bumbler who is redeemed by his good heart.
- Olivia Flaversham - A small girl mouse of Scottish descent who seeks Basil's help finding her toymaker father. Basil seems to either have trouble remembering her surname (or just does not care) for he always messes it up somehow when speaking to her. (He gets the surname correct once, but he was speaking to Olivia's father, Hiram.) Her surname is most likely based on Flora and Fauna Flaversham from the Basil of Baker Street book series.
- Professor Ratigan - Basil's arch-enemy based on Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes stories. The movie does not explain when the battles between Basil and Ratigan started to take place, but they had clearly occurred for quite some time. He longs for control of the monarchy and to put an end to Basil's meddling for good. In the book series it is revealed his given name is Padraic and that Ratigan is in fact, a mouse. This could be the reason why Ratigan in the movie (who is a rat) takes offense from being referred to as a rat.
Other Names
- The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective (re-issue)
- Basil, the Great Mouse Detective (United Kingdom)
- Basil, el ratón superdetective (Spain)
- Basil, détective privé (France)
- Basil, der große Mäusedetektiv (Germany)
- Basil l'Investigatopo (Italy)
- オリビアちゃんの大冒険 (Olivia-chan no dai bouken (romaji)) (Japan)
- Basil Hiiri, mestarietsivä (Finland)
- Wielki Mysi Detektyw (Poland)
- Mästerdetektiven Basil Mus (Sweden)
- De Speurneuzen (Netherlands)
English Cast
- Barrie Ingham - Basil of Baker Street/Bartholomew
- Val Bettin - Dr. David Q. Dawson/Thug Guard
- Vincent Price - Professor Ratigan
- Candy Candido - Fidget
- Alan Young - Hiram Flaversham
- Susanne Pollatschek - Olivia Flaversham
- Diana Chesney - Mrs. Judson
- Eve Brenner - The Mouse Queen
- Melissa Manchester - "Kitty" (Bar-room Mouse)
- Shani Wallis - Lady Mouse
- Ellen Fitzhugh - Bar Maid
- Basil Rathbone (recording from Red-Headed League; uncredited) - Sherlock Holmes
- Laurie Main - Dr. John H. Watson
- Walker Edmiston - Citizen/Thug Guard
- Wayne Allwine - Thug Guard
- Tony Anselmo - Thug Guard
- Frank Welker (uncredited) - Toby/Felica/Royal Guard Dogs
Songs
- "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" performed by Vincent Price (Professor Ratigan)
- "Let Me Be Good to You" performed by Melissa Manchester ("Kitty")
- "Goodbye So Soon" performed by Vincent Price (Professor Ratigan)
Controversies
There was some controversy over the climax of the film taking place in the Big Ben. In Hayao Miyazaki's film The Castle of Cagliostro (Lupin III) (1983), a similar scene ensues, taking place within the working mechanisms of a giant clock. The main discussion implied that the two sequences are similar, but no lawsuits were filed and nothing was settled on the matter.