The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

7/10

Starring the voice of

Vincent Price

Barrie Ingham

Val Bettin

Directed by Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, Dave Michener and John Musker

Disney’s 26th animated film is based on the Basil of Baker Street children’s novel series by Eve Titus.
What’s cool about these stories is that they focus on Basil and his friend, Doctor Dawson, who live in the cellar of 221B Baker Street—the same building where Sherlock Holmes resides upstairs.
Disney approached this movie the way I’d expect Steven Spielberg to handle a science fiction film. They made it beautiful, tweaking elements from the book to create something memorable. Who could forget Basil’s archenemy, Professor Ratigan, who is to Basil what Professor Moriarty is to Sherlock Holmes?

The movie takes place in a mouse world, where Basil is always busy solving crimes too complex for the police. There are moments in the film where it seems like Basil has bitten off more than he can chew, but his brilliant mind always pulls him through.

The plot brings us to London in June 1897, where a young mouse girl named Olivia Flaversham (her last name is a thrill to hear pronounced by Basil in the movie) is celebrating her birthday with her toymaker father.
Suddenly, a bat with a crippled wing and a peg leg bursts into the Flavershams’ workshop and kidnaps her father.

Scared and alone, Olivia decides to seek out the Great Mouse Detective, Basil of Baker Street. During her journey, she gets lost, upset, and even more alone, crying on the streets of London.
A surgeon named Dr. Dawson, who has just returned from serving in the Queen’s army, finds Olivia and, after hearing her story, helps her find Basil’s home.

There, they meet Basil, who couldn’t care less about Olivia’s problem—until she mentions that her father was kidnapped by a bat with a peg leg and a crippled wing. Basil recognizes the description as one of the henchmen of his archenemy, Professor Ratigan.
He takes the case, and he and Dr. Dawson set out to find clues, solve the mystery, and maybe finally bring down the enemy who has eluded Basil for so many years.

The animation and voice acting in this movie are incredibly memorable. I found myself watching it more than once just to fully appreciate Disney’s mastery.
It was also fun to see Basil get around with the help of Toby, Sherlock Holmes’s pet Basset Hound, who becomes very fond of Olivia. By the end of this great adventure, we see the beginning of the detective duo of Basil and Dawson. (Though I’m not sure if Sherlock Holmes ever actually had a pet.)