Movie Review #8: The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Director: Ron Clements et al. 
Writer(s): Peter Young et al. 
Starring: Barrie Ingham, Vincent Price, Val Bettin

Of all the "classic" Disney animated films, The Great Mouse Detective was the only one I did not see as a child. I'd heard a great deal about it, but I never actually saw it. I decided to watch it one night, in order to finish my collection. And even though I was likely thirteen years older than this film's target audience, I think The Great Mouse Detective still captures the essence of the Disney animated magic I loved so much as a kid. Is it a masterpiece to be compared with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Certainly not. But it's certainly as good as Mulan or The Emperor's New Groove: it's a fun animated film that almost everyone in the family can enjoy.

One night in London, a toymaker is kidnapped. His daughter, Olivia, seeks out the help of Basil of Baker Street, London's greatest rodent detective. She finds him with the help of a Dr. Dawson, voiced by Val Bettin. But, it soon turns out Basil is an egotistic eccentric who denies help to others unless it is in his personal career interest. Fortunately for Olivia, the true culprit behind her father's kidnapping is Professor Ratigan, the self-professed world's greatest criminal mind and Basil's arch-rival. As soon as he learns the truth, Basil springs into action, and the adventure is on to save Olivia's father and all of Mousedom itself.

The voice acting and character work are both pretty consistent. Barrie Ingham plays one of the great Sherlock Holmes adaptations, even though he is quite insensitive. However, said insensitivity works well within the context of the film's humor. His superiority complex manages to be both hilarious and interesting. Val Bettin's Dawson is also fun, being the "nice Watson" character we've come to expect. Granted, I've yet to see a Watson true to the spirit of the Arthur Conan Doyle' novels, but that's an issue for another review. The real highlight of the film, though, is Vincent Price as Ratigan. Disney's always had great villains, but there are few as fun as Ratigan. He's a great blend of sophistication, rage, and sadism. And, as far as pure voice acting is concerned, Vincent Price gives the best performance of any of the Disney villain voice actors. From just listening to his voice, one can envision the animation. The animators really got a treat when Vincent Price took the part. According to interviews, this was Vincent Price's favorite villain role he ever played; the enthusiasm shows.

Ordinarily, I'd discuss the music in a Disney film in great detail, but The Great Mouse Detective has alarmingly few songs as compared to, say, Oliver and Company. Of these, only "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" is of quality. One wouldn't think Vincent Price singing would be enjoyable, but his spoken vocal drips with evil delight. The rest of the tunes are pretty weak. The other Vincent Price tune, "Goodbye So Soon" ends up rather inconsequential, as the music comes from a garbled record player. The other song, "Let Me Be Good to You," is the worst part of the movie, as it is sung from a mouse stripper. I am not kidding: The Great Mouse Detective includes a scene in a mouse strip club. It's a rather dull song serving no other purpose than padding.

The great accomplishment of The Great Mouse Detective is its ability to remain entertaining despite its relative limitations. The Great Mouse Detective emerged right before the tremendous changes of the Disney Renaissance, the now famous period in which Disney produced a new wave of children's animated classics. To me, however, the Disney Renaissance is notable more for its animation than the actual quality of the films involved. If one looks at Disney Renaissance films, one notices how cleanly and seamlessly the animation flows; the frame rate is perfect. The animated models have a far greater sense of realism, with curves and brush strokes that more clearly emulate the actual world. Looking at the very early Disney films, animation usually adopted a particular style that was either rigid and angular or somewhat blurry and water-color based. (The two great exceptions to this, in my mind, are Fantasia and Bambi, but that's for another day.)

The Great Mouse Detective, however, is trapped in a period between eras, a period in which Disney didn't quite know what it was supposed to be as an animation studio. As a result, the actual animation of the film comes across as somewhat lacking. There are episodes of DuckTales and Gargoyles with better animation than what can be found in The Great Mouse Detective. Most of the characters, with Ratigan and Basil being the great exceptions, are remarkably lifeless in their motions. The designs are rather primitive across the board, sans Ratigan and Basil. The only element of the actual production I really liked was the backgrounds; one does feel the seediness of London from the look of the picture. There is a lot of good work involving shadows, too, so the atmosphere certainly isn't lacking.

Now, I suspect the reason behind the animation slights for the film emerges in the CGI portion of the film. While The Great Mouse Detective was far from the first animated film to use CGI, it is often cited as the first film to ever get it right. The film's climax is a battle between Ratigan and Basil inside Big Ben, a scene in which the cogs and gears are all CGI-animated. It's a huge shift in style; it feels somewhat jarring at first, though one does get used to it. My fear: did The Great Mouse Detective slack off in the rest of its animation because most of the money was spent on this sequence? If so, I'm not sure the choice wholly paid off. I'd rather have the climax be traditionally animated and have a few more creative textures employed than see a CGI fight; in fact, my favorite portion of the climax is the second half that is only hand-drawn animation.

Despite my complaints, the film certainly works. The dynamic between the hero and the villain is fun, the atmosphere is rich, the animation is passable if a bit primitive, the climax is exciting, and the story straightforward. Is it an animated classic? I wouldn't consider it a part of the Disney Renaissance like some others do, but I can see young kids enjoying it. As it stands, it's probably a film I'd watch once but wouldn't revisit anytime soon. It's a flawed film, but one strong enough to carry the Disney name.

Recommendation: The Great Mouse Detective is a children's film. The animation is tailor-made for young children (3-6). At the same time, the atmosphere and climax are more adult, so an older viewer might still enjoy the movie. Is it a movie that the average person should seek out and watch? I say no. But, if you are a Disney fanatic like me and you have not yet seen the film, it's an hour and a half of your life that you won't regret spending.

I give The Great Mouse Detective an even 7 stars out of 10.