This is the kind of movie kids should be watching. These days, movies aimed toward children are so dumbed down there is hardly a speck of narrative coherency. A while ago I reviewed a movie called Finn on the Fly; why subject children—or any thinking person—to a mess like that when there are movies like The Great Mouse Detective?
Picture the characters, setting and tone of the Sherlock Holmes stories, except with mice as the characters. On the nineteenth-century, Victorian streets of London, we come across the tiny toy shop, owned by Hiram Flaversham. Inside we see a wonderful display of fatherhood as Hiram, the mouse toy-maker, presents a toy to his daughter, Olivia, that he himself constructed, clearly out of his immense mouse love for his mouse daughter. The pleasant scene is interrupted by a freakishly animated bat busting out of the storm and through the window. He kidnaps Hiram in front of his hiding daughter, and thus sets up a mouse tale of giant proportions.
Not long after, we are introduced to Dr. Dawson, who encounters the miserable, lost and possibly orphaned Olivia. She seeks help from a mouse on Baker Street, so Dr. Dawson, a quintessential gentlemouse, escorts her. Here we, as well as Dr. Dawson, first encounter the Sherlock of our story: Basil. When I say the “Sherlock” of the story, I really mean it: he is eccentric, a social misfit, plays the violin, is a pro chemist, lives on Baker Street and even spouts the line, “It’s elementary, my dear Dawson.”
And adventure ensues. Once the great Basil learns that it is very likely his nemesis, Professor Ratigan, is behind the kidnapping of Olivia’s father, he, Dawson and Olivia go in a hot pursuit for the caper. From going undercover as sailors at a smoky burlesque club, to a high-octane chase scene through the gears of Big Ben, the filmmakers had a ton of fun exploring the ways Basil and Dawson can get themselves in and out of trouble, and constantly pose questions: How will they get out of this situation? What could Professor Ratigan want with Olivia’s father, a simple toy-maker? Should I feel worried that I’m slightly turned-on by the mouse burlesque dance number? Although some of these questions aren’t answered, (thanks, oddly seductive lady mice), the ones that are will keep the guesses flowing until the end.
The reason for all the suspense is due chiefly to the film’s main villain, the evil Professor Ratigan, probably the film’s answer to Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty. What must have been a walk in the park for Vincent Price to play Ratigan is an absolutely awesome display of voice-acting. When has Vincent Price not been in his prime? It had me rolling my Rs all night long after the movie ended. And you might find it strange that a professor with the last name “Ratigan” is the ruler of a crime-laden, underground mousedom. Shouldn’t he be mixing with vermin of his kind? He is a rat, after all, but beware uttering the “R” word within earshot of the professor. We are treated to seeing the fatal consequence of this when, after a drunk mouse calls him a “rat,” he rings the bell for his oversized pet cat to come out of the shadows and eat the drunk mouse.
This is a charming tale of mystery that anyone can enjoy. I’d recommend it to any parents wanting to show his or her child a good story, but some parents might find it a little hardcore, what with the mice imbibing, scantily clad burlesque mice dancing, and Ratigan unapologetically doing away with his disobedient mouse follower. However, the tight-knit professional and personal bonds that grow between Basil and Dawson, and the unending love Olivia feels for her father causing her to go to unending bounds to find him should count as plenty reason to incorporate this into the canon of any youngster.
DVD Bonus Features
There is a pretty silly-yet-informative short on the background of private sleuthing in the days of old, e.g., the Pinkerton Men and Scotland Yard. There’s a good making-of featurette that could have been much longer. It has several good interviews with the animators and cast. There’s a sing-along song for one of the movie’s two song numbers. It’s just the song-and-dance scene Professor Ratigan and his crew perform with lyrics at the bottom, presumably so we can perfect our Vincent Price impressions. There are a few trailers of upcoming Disney movies, and a few Blu-ray specific extras that focus solely on selling you the idea that Disney is moving to Blu-ray and you should start buying those instead. This includes an awful back-and-forth sketch between Disney’s Cole and Dylan Sprouse talking about the finer points of Blu-ray. Blech.
"The Great Mouse Detective" is on sale April 13, 2010 and is rated G. Animation. Directed by Ron Clements. Written by Peter Young, Vance Gerry, Steve Hulett, Ron Clements, John Musker, Bruce M. Morris, Matthew O'Callaghan, Burny Mattinson, David Michener, Melvin Shaw. Starring Frank Welker, Tony Anselmo, Vincent Price, Barrie Ingham.
