D52–The Great Mouse Detective

Based on a series of children’s novels, The Great Mouse Detective was originally released in 1986. It is a play on the classic Sherlock Holmes stories but, like The Rescuers before it, set in the world of mice. It follows Sherlock surrogate Basil as he searches for a young girl’s father who has been kidnapped by his arch nemesis Ratigan. It is notable for the gears and mechanisms inside the clock tower in the climactic final battle, which were the first use of computer generated images in an animated feature film.

Like its ‘80s brethren, The Great Mouse Detective is darker than most other Disney fare. The backgrounds are particularly noteworthy here, as they do an excellent job of portraying a Victorian London with just the right amount of creepiness to make the film consistently unsettling. The direction is also strong, managing to keep up a quick, exciting pace from start to finish without becoming exhausting. Likewise, the voice acting is also quite good, with the standout being Vincent Price as Ratigan. His performance is the perfect mix of suave, threatening, and ham.

I’ve always been a big fan of this film, so I’m not sure if my opinion of it is unbiased, but upon viewing it now I absolutely think it holds up. The characters are interesting, the plot fully engaging, and it features a very different tone from most other Disney films. It’s a shame it has become one of the lesser known films, but it is definitely worth watching.

1986 trailer for The Great Mouse Detective

Up next: Oliver and Company (1988)