Considered a part of Disney's 'Bum Rush' period in animation, THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE really doesn't deserve to be doomed to the pile of forgotten failure. It's a classic piece of mesmerizing cell drawn animation with the filmmakers beautifully creating a London populated by mice. The cast is filled with really solid voice work - Vincent Price absolutely steals the show as the sneering villain. The tone of the film has a mature edge missing from a lot of stuff we see today, danger feels more real, things can be scary, characters bleed and even die. No one is all roses here. Even The Great Mouse Detective himself is a bit of a jerk sometimes, with the only grating part character wise being the cutesy kid in distress. Some rough patches exist, like a painfully out of place musical number that slow the film to a crawl, and I would have wished for more detecting to go on, but it's overall charming piece that will undoubtedly leave an impression to every child at heart.
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Great Mouse Detective (USA. 1986)
Considered a part of Disney's 'Bum Rush' period in animation, THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE really doesn't deserve to be doomed to the pile of forgotten failure. It's a classic piece of mesmerizing cell drawn animation with the filmmakers beautifully creating a London populated by mice. The cast is filled with really solid voice work - Vincent Price absolutely steals the show as the sneering villain. The tone of the film has a mature edge missing from a lot of stuff we see today, danger feels more real, things can be scary, characters bleed and even die. No one is all roses here. Even The Great Mouse Detective himself is a bit of a jerk sometimes, with the only grating part character wise being the cutesy kid in distress. Some rough patches exist, like a painfully out of place musical number that slow the film to a crawl, and I would have wished for more detecting to go on, but it's overall charming piece that will undoubtedly leave an impression to every child at heart.
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Word Sister! This movie is a favorite of The Emily and it does stand out from other not so hot Disney movies of the 70's and 80's. You do care about what will happen to the characters instead of rolling your eyes and waiting for the thing to end.
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