The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Dead A

  
  Cartoon version of Sherlock Holmes! It was really good.

• Jennifer X

  
  Basil of Baker Street is one of the sexiest Disney characters in the history of animated cinema, and this is not just because he is a mouse. I do not have a mouse fetish. Rather, I am really into detectives. I even find Poirot attractive at times, though he is a ridiculous, flamboyant… More
  Basil of Baker Street is one of the sexiest Disney characters in the history of animated cinema, and this is not just because he is a mouse. I do not have a mouse fetish. Rather, I am really into detectives. I even find Poirot attractive at times, though he is a ridiculous, flamboyant fop.

• AJ V

  
  A good kids cartoon movie from Disney, fans of Vincent Price should note that he does the voice of the villain in this one. It's pretty much a kids version of Sherlock Holmes, but with mice. It's cute, and I liked it.

• Anthony L

  
  One of the few Disney films that I actually rather love. I have very fond memories of seeing this one in the cinema with my Grandmother.

• KJ P

  
  Great enjoyment for people of all ages! I has a good heart and soul to it and the tone is just averaging on dull. However, it is still a really well made animated kids classic!

• Conner R

  
  Essentially Disney doing Sherlock Holmes. It's very fun and one of the most beautifully haunting depictions of London and its rat infestation. I love it when kids movies can have a logical plot and this definitely does. The characters are nice representations of their human… More
  Essentially Disney doing Sherlock Holmes. It's very fun and one of the most beautifully haunting depictions of London and its rat infestation. I love it when kids movies can have a logical plot and this definitely does. The characters are nice representations of their human counterparts and you can't help but love the film noir aspect to an animated movie.

• Luke B

  
  My favourite Disney animated movie. Unlike much of Disney's output, this is one for the boys. There's only so much of that princess crap a guy can take. Basil is pretty much the mouse worlds Sherlock Holmes. He's a genius, arrogant and a bit emotionally disconnected… More
  My favourite Disney animated movie. Unlike much of Disney's output, this is one for the boys. There's only so much of that princess crap a guy can take. Basil is pretty much the mouse worlds Sherlock Holmes. He's a genius, arrogant and a bit emotionally disconnected from other mice. However, he leaps at the chance to rescue a young girl's father when he discovers it might lead to his arch nemesis. Professor Ratigan is probably the greatest Disney villain. Voiced to utter perfection by Vincent Price. Ratigan has it all. The charm, the humour, the incessant unstoppable drive, not to mention he's fucking terrifying when he's angry. The dark stages, characters and events make it all the more enjoyable. Fidget is a twisted creation and causes a jump every time he shoves his face at the camera. Great action, great humour and the most goosebumpily climax in any Disney film.

• Daniel M

  
  Before the release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, mainstream animated films of the 1980s - particularly those from the Disney stable - were poorly scripted, looked lacklustre, and thereby bombed at the box office. A classic example of this is The Black Cauldron, an adaptation of a… More
  Before the release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, mainstream animated films of the 1980s - particularly those from the Disney stable - were poorly scripted, looked lacklustre, and thereby bombed at the box office. A classic example of this is The Black Cauldron, an adaptation of a series of Welsh fairy tale novels starring Nigel Hawthorne and John Hurt. Despite this the dialogue was un-compelling, the aesthetic unremarkable, and for all its virtues the marketing failed to pull people in. Basil The Great Mouse Detective is an improvement on this, if nothing else because the source material is both more famous and more credible. The ice-cold deduction of Sherlock Holmes was always going to appeal to mainstream audiences more than obscure fairy tales about cauldrons, magical swords and an assistant pig keeper. Like The Rescuers and the stories of Beatrix Potter, it operates as a parallel to the existing human world; the social structures and roles of characters are the same but the humans are entirely unaware of their existence. The first problem with this film is the villain. Vincent Price provides the voice, which on paper should make it an instant hit, Price being one of the greatest horror actors and voiceover artists of all time. However the script never really develops the role of Ratigan beyond that of a caricature; half of his lines either consist entirely of maniacal laughter, or end with it because they can't find a more articulate way to convey his sentiment. It's one thing to make a villain pantomime, it's another to reduce his behaviour to a series of gestures. In doing this the film doesn't really set him up as a fearsome adversary to Basil, in the same way that Moriarty was to Holmes; he just comes across as an over-the-top brute. The second major problem is the dynamic between Basil and Dawson. Basil could not have been made as an exact copy of Holmes, since that would have made him too cold to be seen as an heroic figure. Thus the writers and director had to make him seem like a self-absorbed social misfit - which Holmes is, of course. But in doing so they seemed to have (inadvertently) made him incredibly annoying and unsympathetic. People admire Holmes for his intelligence and deduction even if he is cold, but there is little deduction that the audience can follow in this, and the running gag about him mispronouncing Olivia's surname wears thin very early on. Because we don't really believe that Basil is a logical genius -- he's just a smart alec or clever dick - it no longer makes much sense to have Dawson as a bumbling fool. By being completely incompetent and cowardly, it undermines both his background as a doctor and a soldier, and means that the duo's misadventures seem a little too disorientating to pass muster. There are however some positive aspects to this film. The character of Fidget, Ratigan's handicapped bat assistant, is a nice touch, and their relationship through the course of the evil plot develops at a good, believable pace. The final sequences, with the chase through the gears of Big Ben, is also very well done. Not only does the primitive CGI not look like primitive CGI, but the scene genuinely creates tension. Ratigan's unleashing of all his suppressed rage, as he throws off the mousy exterior (no pun intended), is actually scary, at least for children. This is not a classic Disney film, but it is better than The Black Cauldron and a lot of the other bland nonsense animated studios were putting out in the mid-1980s. It's good escapist viewing, but in the grand scheme of this should only serve as evidence for a much-needed change of pace, which came of course with Roger Rabbit two years later.

• danny d

  
  great disney, one of the best

• Jason S

  
  One of my favorite of the Disney flicks and also one of the ones that no one has ever heard of. It was a fun story and I thought the music really set the tone and feel of the flick perfectly.

• DOCTOR P

  
  7th of the "Do it like Walt" Era The animation here is amazing, a major improvement over the last film, which says a lot considering the last film from the studio looked great as well. The cg implemented in the film is done so well and is a must watch for anyone who loves… More
  7th of the "Do it like Walt" Era The animation here is amazing, a major improvement over the last film, which says a lot considering the last film from the studio looked great as well. The cg implemented in the film is done so well and is a must watch for anyone who loves looking at animation. There's a joy that one can find in the scenery though it's dark look. The music is nothing special, but there's very few songs and one is worth listening to, that is "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" performed by the late, great Vincent Price. The characters are all very entertaining, very amusing, and hard to find a single annoyance with. Though if one character must be named as the best it would have to be Ratigan voiced wonderfully by Vincent Price, always ranging from hilarious to downright psychotic and frightening. This film had a cast that put so much effort into bringing the characters to life. The story is fun and incredibly well placed. Featuring dark moments that compliments it's animation and mystery story, it's hard to point out a single bump. All the characters provide fun entertainment to the story it's hard to even try to nitpick. "The Great Mouse Detective" is a great film for all ages, even when it gets a little darker then the usual family film. As dark as it may get, "The Great Mouse Detective" may just be the brightest spot for Disney in it's era. Up next: Please sir may I have some more for this era?

• Matthew Y

  
  I don't know if there were some copyright complications (I probably should have researched this) but The Great Mouse Detective goes through painstaking efforts to give an incredible Sherlock Holmes feel without ever mentioning the famed character directly. The detective here is… More
  I don't know if there were some copyright complications (I probably should have researched this) but The Great Mouse Detective goes through painstaking efforts to give an incredible Sherlock Holmes feel without ever mentioning the famed character directly. The detective here is Basil (an obviously homage to Basil Rathbone the famed actor who played the detective in a series of films in the 30's & 40's) who is approached by a young girl whose father was kidnapped. Typical Holmes-like detective work and witty banter ensue as a nefarious plot in slowly unmasked. Basil is portrayed with excellent character development as he is incredibly neutral to the young girls feelings, caring only for the case at hand, and gradually warms up to the young girl at a practical snails pace. Even at the films end the only emotion he musters is a huge so warm it comforts even him. Vincent Price voices a memorable villain the dreaded Professor Ratigan who hates his rathood and posses himself as a mouse. The character wishes to outsmart, outmaneuver and ultimately eliminate Basil. He is played with wit and charm though with enough fury and menace hidden beneath the surface that his violent and aggressive assault at the end is not outlandish and instead almost foretelling. The strength and depth of the leads elevate the films quality far beyond it's reputation. An underrated near masterpiece.

• Bradley J

  
  Probably the most underrated and most enertaining Disney films ever, The Great Mouse Detective has dark visuals, some heartwarming moments, and one of the coolest Disney villains. Overall Rating:91

• Jackson W

  
  While not without its moments, The Great Mouse Detective's formulaic plot with overall uninspiring characters save Ratigan has it come off as a rehash of the American Tail series rather than a Disney classic.

• Alec B

  
  Its one of the most entertaining films Disney ever made, I love the idea of exposing kids to Sherlock Holmes. And honestly putting Vincent Price in a children's movie was a great/horrifying idea.

• Andrew F

  
  A cool animated adventure with several classic scenes.

• Kyle S

  
  An underrated masterpiece. One of my favorite films of all time, and one of my top 5 favorite animated films of all time. Words can not describe how amazing this movie is.

• Sunil J

  
  An adorable Holmes/Watson mystery in a mouse world.

• Sarah B

  
  Highly underrated Disney movie that plays on Sherlock Holmes. More funny than Conan Doyle and more heartwarming than most detective stories, there are some great set pieces including one on Big Ben, this film still missteps a few times to ensure it's a flawed Disney masterpiece.

• Marion R

  
  Price! This is a good Disney animation. It's a Shelock Holmes-esque mystery.

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