The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective
Directed by	Ron Clements Burny Mattinson Dave Michener John Musker
Produced by	Burny Mattinson
Starring	Barrie Ingham Vincent Price Val Bettin Susanne Pollatschek Candy Candido Alan Young
Music by	Henry Mancini
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Walt Disney Pictures
Release dates	July 2, 1986 (original release) February 14, 1992 (re-release)
Running time	73 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$14,000,000 (estimated)

The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and originally released to movie theaters on July 2, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures. The twenty-sixth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, 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.

The film was also known as The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective for its 1992 theatrical re-release and Basil the Great Mouse Detective in some countries.

Overview

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). Interestingly, Sherlock Holmes also mentions "Basil" as one of his aliases in the Conan Doyle story "The Adventure of Black Peter".

The main characters are all mice and rats living in Victorian London. The layouts were done on computers, and the use of video cameras made a digital version of pencil testing possible. The movie is also 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, printed out and traced onto animation cells where colors and the characters were added. The Great Mouse Detective is sometimes cited as the first animated film from Disney to use CGI; in reality, 1985's The Black Cauldron has this distinction. This film did fairly well at the box office and got warm reviews from critics (including a "two thumbs up" rating from critics Siskel and Ebert), a welcome change after the previous Disney flop The Black Cauldron. Its moderate success after its predecessor's failure gave the new management of Disney confidence in the viability of their animation department. This led to creation of The Little Mermaid, released three years later, which signaled a renaissance for Walt Disney Productions even though this film is usually "underrated" and "underappreciated" by Walt Disney, which focuses more on its original and newer films.

Plot

The setting is London, 1897, and a young Scottish mouse named Olivia Flaversham is celebrating her birthday with her toymaker father, Hiram. Suddenly, a bat with a crippled wing and pegged leg bursts into the Flaversham's workshop, kidnapping Hiram. It is later revealed that Professor Padraic Ratigan kidnapped Hiram to create a clockwork robot which mimics the Mouse Queen. With the real Queen dead in secret, Ratigan could rule as the King of the Mice of England. Hiram refuses, whereupon Ratigan orders Fidget (the bat) to capture Olivia. If Hiram refuses to cooperate, Ratigan will have Olivia fed to Felicia, Ratigan's cat.

Olivia searches to find the famed Great Mouse Detective named Basil of Baker Street. A surgeon named Dr. David Q. Dawson stumbles upon Olivia, and helps her find Basil's residence. But Olivia mentions the peg-legged bat that kidnapped her father, and Basil explains that Olivia saw Fidget, a henchman of Ratigan, whom Basil has been trying to arrest for years.

Basil and Dawson then use a Basset Hound named Toby to track Fidget's scent to a nearby toy store. Fidget is surprised by Basil, Dawson, and Olivia in the toyshop where he is stealing clockwork mechanisms and toy soldiers' uniforms for Ratigan's plan. He hides and later traps Olivia by ambushing her from inside a toy cradle. Basil and Dawson pursue Fidget but become entangled in some toys and fall behind, giving Fidget enough time to escape with all the materials he need, along with Olivia. While searching the shop, Dawson discovers Fidget's forgotten checklist, which details everything Fidget has taken with him. Basil and Dawson return to Baker Street, where Basil discovers by means of close examination and some chemical tests that the list came from the riverfront, and they look for a small tavern near the Thames waterfront.

Meanwhile, Ratigan receives from Fidget the supplies needed to create his robot Queen, but he discovers that Fidget has lost the list, and knowing that any detective of Basil's calibre might track its writer, he sentences Fidget to death by Felicia. Ratigan then realizes how to defeat Basil, and pardons Fidget by telling Felicia to release him.

Basil and Dawson are in the tavern near the Thames, disguised as ne'er-do-well sailors inquiring for Ratigan to the staff. As they wait, Fidget stumbles through the pub. The two follow Fidget through some pipes to Ratigan's headquarters, only to discover that Ratigan and his henchmen had prepared for their arrival. Ratigan ties them to a spring-loaded mousetrap, connected with a Rube Goldberg machine of death. Ratigan sets out for Buckingham Palace, leaving behind Dawson and Basil. Fidget and his accomplices kidnap the queen.

Meanwhile Basil and Dawson are left for dead along with Olivia who is watching in a bottle near by. After seconds of mental calculations Basil instructs Dawson to setting the machine off when he gives the signal. At the precise moment after the record player finishes and before a large ball sets off the trap, Basil gives the signal, and Dawson slams his hand down on the trigger. The metal bar snaps over and traps the ball. The pressure causes a part of the mousetrap to snap. The part hits a gun aiming at the two mice. The gun jumps and fires, missing the pair, but then hitting a string holding an axe. The string breaks and the axe comes down on the trap, narrowly missing Basil and Dawson, and chopping the trap in two. The trap separate and fly out in opposite directions, going far enough to evade a falling anvil. The impact of the anvil causes Olivia's bottle to pop open, and Olivia comes flying out. Basil gets up, and changes into his regular coat. He catches Olivia, pulls over a confused Dawson, and smiles before a camera just before it clicks.

Back at the palace Ratigan is putting his plan into action. Hidden behind a curtain, Hiram operates the toy Queen, while the real Queen is being taken by Fidget to be fed to Felicia. At the appropriate moment, Ratigan advances into plain sight, clad in the robes of a King. He at once thanks his Queen-figure, then proceeds to recite a long list of proposed insanely tyrannical legal reforms. Basil, Dawson, and Olivia, who made it to the Buckingham Palace,saves Hiram and the real Queen, and tie up Fidget along with Ratigan's other henchmen. Basil then seize control of the mechanical mouse, forcing it to denounce Ratigan as an impostor and tyrant, all the while breaking into pieces. The crowd, outraged by Ratigan's treason start climbing onto him. Ratigan manages to free himself, and he escapes with Fidget, and holding Olivia hostage. He leaves on his dirigible with Basil, Dawson, and Flaversham in pursuit.

Basil, Dawson, and Hiram create their own craft with a matchbox and some small helium-filled balloons, held under the British flag. They follow Ratigan throughout the skies of London. Ratigan throws Fidget overboard to lighten the load, and then attempts to drive the dirigible himself. with no one to steer, it crashes into Big Ben.

Inside the clock, Ratigan and Basil face off in a final showdown. The two adversaries vie for possession of Olivia, although Ratigan still holds her in hostage. Basil traps Ratigan by tossing his cape between two gears. Basil rescues Olivia and the two flee to the top of the tower to the balloon. Ratigan, due to his insane hate for Basil, tears his cape free and scurries through the clockworks as fast as he can. Olivia is safely delivered to Hiram, who is still on the balloon with Dawson. Ratigan, ragged and savage, attacks Basil, finally transforming from a pompous pseudo-gentleman into the terrifying rat he is. Ratigan slashes Basil's clothes and gives him many physical blows. Ratigan then sends Basil falling. Basil manages to grasp onto the dirigible propeller, and he hangs on for dear life. He rings Ratigan's bell, the clock strikes 10:00, and the vibrations shake Ratigan from his perch on the clock's hour hand. As he falls, Ratigan catches hold of Basil, and they both fall into the clouds. After a few tense moments, Basil emerges alive thanks to the severed dirigible propeller.

Later, back at Baker Street, Basil and Dawson recounts their adventures as well as the queen's gratitude to their saving her life. the scene is interrupted by a distraught new client. Basil then persuades Dawson to remain as "my trusty associate, Doctor Dawson, with whom I do all my cases".

Characters

Actor	Character	Info
Barrie Ingham	Basil	The great detective himself, based on the beloved fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes. His main goal is to get Professor Ratigan behind bars and rescue Olivia Flaversham's father while simultaneously preventing a royal assassination. There are a few differences between Basil in the book series and in the film version, such as mercurial moods in the latter. He also plays the violin rather well in the movie, whereas the book series stated Basil's violin playing was atrocious-- instead, Basil played the flute. In the film, a running gag was used in which Basil either could not remember or could not pronounce Olivia's last name, even though he said it correctly to her father, Hiram.
Vincent Price	Ratigan	Basil's archenemy. Based on Professor James Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes stories, this character plots to seize control of the British monarchy. He and Basil have a long-established adversarial relationship. 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; hence he has five fingers while the other mice have four fingers) takes offense from being referred to as a rat.
Val Bettin	Dr. David Q. Dawson	Previously of the Queen's 66th Regiment in Afghanistan. His character is based upon Dr. John H. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories. The interaction between him and Basil mimics that of Watson and Holmes, as Dawson is constantly amazed by Basil's deductions. He eventually becomes Basil's associate, friend, and personal biographer. In the film, 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.
Susanne Pollatschek	Olivia Flaversham	A small girl mouse of Scottish descent who seeks Basil's help in finding her toymaker father. Basil carelessly mangles her surname several times when speaking to her, and gets the surname correct only once when speaking to Olivia's father, Hiram. Her surname is most likely based on Flora and Fauna Faversham from the Basil of Baker Street book series.
Candy Candido	Fidget	Ratigan's bumbling bat henchman. He tends to do the dirty work for his boss. He has a crippled wing and a peg leg, and as a result he cannot fly properly. Ratigan throws him off the side of his flying machine near the end of the film, and he lands in the Thames.
Frank Welker	Toby	Basil's trustful pet dog. However, he is technically the dog of Sherlock Holmes, who lives above Basil.
Alan Young	Hiram Flaversham	Olivia's loving Scottish father. He works as a toymaker and is kidnapped by Ratigan to make the Queen Mousetoria robot.
Frank Welker	Felicia	Ratigan's pompous pet cat. Ratigan calls upon her by ringing a special bell.
Diana Chesney	Mrs. Judson	A plump mouse who is Basil's housekeeper. She gets very annoyed whenever Basil uses her good pillows as "guinea pigs" for bullet comparison. Based on Mrs. Hudson.
Eve Brenner	Queen Mousetoria	Ratigan attempts to usurp her throne and become king. She is a parody of Queen Victoria. the setting for this film coincides with the real Victoria's 60th year jubilee (as can be seen with humans entering Buckingham Palace at the same time the mice are).
Basil Rathbone	Sherlock	He is the human detective who lives above Basil.

The Great Mouse Detective theatrical release history

• July 2, 1986 (original release)
• February 14, 1992 (re-release)
• April 8, 2005 (re-release in IMAX theatres)

International release dates

• Brazil: September 12, 1986
• U.K.: October 10, 1986
• France: November 26, 1986
• Sweden: November 28, 1986
• West Germany: December 4, 1986
• Spain: December 5, 1986
• Australia: December 18, 1986
• Netherlands: December 18, 1986
• Finland: December 19, 1986
• Italy: February 20, 1987
• Hong Kong: February 26, 1987
• Philippines: November 1, 1988 (Davao)
• Japan: July 8, 1989
• China: September 9, 1990
• Singapore: August 19, 1994

Home Video

The film was released on to VHS and laserdisc with a trailer of Aladdin as part of Walt Disney Classics; however, it wasn't included in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. It was released in 1999 (with a game sheet inside the video or someone could logon to greatmouse.com and download one themselves), & on a fully restored DVD in 2002. It has not received a Special Edition as of 2007.

Supervising animators

• Mark Henn (Basil)
• Glen Keane (Ratigan)
• Robert Minkoff
• Hendel Butoy

External links

• The Great Mouse Detective at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb
• The Great Mouse Detective at Curlie