Another big Anniversary for Disney is 1986’s The Great Mouse Detective. It was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. The duo has directed seven Disney movies together including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Moana but The Great Mouse Detective was their directorial debut. The movie was based on a series of books Basil of Baker Street written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone.
The Great Mouse Detective does get a bit lost amongst the other titles in the Disney pantheon as it came out at the tail end of Bronze/Dark Age and aside from the villain there isn’t a lot buzz around it.
But is it a bad movie that deserves to be forgotten?
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No and No
While The Great Mouse Detective is not without its flaws it’s by no means a bad movie. As a point of fact Ratigan’s villain song “The Great Criminal Master Mind” ranked on 12 out 40 ranked list and scored a 7.58 beating out Beauty and Beast’s “Mob Song,” Pocahontas’ “Savages,” The Jungle Book’s “I Wanna be Like You,” and The Lion King’s 2 “My Lullaby.” As another point of fact it was listed as honorable mention for my Villain Song ranking. Pretty good for a movie Disney forgets about.
Music?
While we’re on the subject of songs, The Great Mouse Detective has another song “Let Me Be Good to You” which is one of Disney’s more risqué numbers as it’s a burlesque inspired number complete with the singer, dubbed Miss Kitty, having two wardrobe changes mid-number for a ending up in a revealing showgirl costume. Disney today could never. As far as the song goes it’s no “The Great Criminal Master Mind” nor does it hold up against other Disney’s songs, it’s just middling but memorable because it was risqué.
That brings us to a core flaw that I have with movie, the musical score. It does have music but it very sparse and subdue to the point where it makes the entire movie low energy and subdue which isn’t help by another flaw but put a pin in that for another section.
So the movie opens with Olivia Flaversham and his father, Hiram, celebrating her birthday. Very quickly the scene shifts to Hiram getting abducted by Fidget the peg-legged bat crony of Professor Ratigan. This opening lacks any sense of tension or excitement and this just how it is for the majority of the movie. Like most movies start with a some introduction to either the setting or core theme either via book opening or song, something memorable to kick start the narrative. And one would think a toy-maker who also is devoted father getting kidnap would be exciting and it’s not. The movie just lulls in and more or less moves on to the next scene.
Or it might be a case of the sound mixing favors the audio rather than the background score.
Colors?
Let’s get that pin and discuss that other flaw, the color palette. The animation is on the whole is great with a highlight being the Big Ben Tower fight however across the board the animation is great especially for the era. It’s the color palette is mostly made up of muddy muted browns that also bring the energy levels down. There are pinks and blue but it a lot of browns. Perhaps the thought was that it’s better reflection of London and “mousedom” but it’s dour despite how fun the characters are.
Characters!
Alright a highlight of this movie are the characters, they are all fun and distinct. I think for many the standout is Professor Ratigan, The Greatest Criminal Mastermind. His motivation is to rule all of “mousedom” by means of robot version of the Queen who proclaims him as her consort. He’s also ruthless as he feeds his underlings to his cat without remorse if they cross him which is easy to do. Ratigan offends easy as he is insecure that he is not a mouse but Rat, though in the books he was mouse. Also he is voiced by Vincent Price which makes Professor Ratigan a great villain who definitely deserves more recognition amongst the other Disney villains.
However it’s not JUST Ratigan, Basil, the titular Great Mouse Detective, is a lot of fun. He defiantly takes inspiration from his namesake, Basil Rathbone as well as Sherlock Homes. He is dapper, brave, charming, smart, witty and cheeky. He is also prickly and self-centered which adds to his dynamic with the other characters. I don’t even mind the running gag of him not knowing Olivia’s last name because he is just so likable.
Dawson and Olivia are so very likable. Personally I don’t love Fidget BUT I can understand the vision and appeal.
However the best character is Toby, Holmes’ basset hound but Basil claims her trained him. He’s great I love him and he should be one more merch.
Final Thoughts
While I doubt Disney would ever do an attraction or restaurant centering around The Great Mouse Detective I do think it should have at least have an easter eggs at the UK pavilion at EPCOT ay Disney World or be part of one of those EPCOT scavenger hunts or something at one of the Parks in the World. But Really Toby should be featured on those Disney dog theme merch because he’s a good boy. Really this movie should just get more attention and love because it good fun. Also Professor Ratigan is a great villain and Basil is great hero.
The characters and Ratigan’s scheme make this movie fun despite the subdue experience. All the characters are is some way charming, funny and smart. So while I might prefer brighter and more musicals tones the movie holds up very well.
Honestly I quibbled with ranking this movie on my 20 favorite ranking. Three movies that just missed for me were The Great Mouse Detective, Zootopia and Wreck-it Ralph so no it’s not a bad movie and it should be discussed more and celebrated more.
Toby!
And one more of Toby!
