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The Great Mouse Detective
Directed by	Ron Clements Burny Mattinson Dave Michener John Musker
Produced by	Burny Mattinson
Narrated by	Val Bettin
Starring	Barrie Ingham Val Bettin Vincent Price Susanne Pollatschek Candy Candido Alan Young
Music by	Henry Mancini
Studio	Silver Screen Partners II
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	July 2, 1986
Running time	74 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$14,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$38,625,550 (including 1992 re-issue)

The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, originally released to movie theaters on July 2, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures. The twenty-sixth animated feature in the official 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. The main characters are all mice and rats living in Victorian London.

Based on the children's book series 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 Arthur Conan Doyle story "The Adventure of Black Peter".

Plot

In London circa 1897, a young Scottish mouse named Olivia Flaversham is celebrating her birthday with her toymaker father, Hiram. Suddenly, Fidget, a bat with a crippled wing and a peg leg, bursts into the Flavershams' workshop, kidnapping Hiram. It is later revealed that Professor Padraic Ratigan kidnapped Hiram to create a clockwork robot which mimics the Queen of the Mice so Ratigan can rule England. Hiram refuses to take part in Ratigan's scheme, whereupon Ratigan orders Fidget to capture Olivia. If Hiram refuses to cooperate, Ratigan will have Olivia fed to his pet cat, Felicia.

Olivia searches to find Basil of Baker Street, a world-famous detective and Ratigan's archnemesis. Dr. David Q. Dawson stumbles upon Olivia, and helps her find Basil's residence. At first Basil is reluctant, but when Olivia mentions the peg-legged bat that kidnapped her father, Basil realizes that this is his chance to capture Ratigan. Basil and Dawson then use Sherlock Holmes' pet, 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 needs, 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 where the sewer would connect to the river. Basil and Dawson disguise themselves as sailors and go into the tavern, inquiring for Ratigan. 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. Triumphant, Ratigan ties them to a spring-loaded mousetrap, connected with a Rube Goldberg machine. Ratigan sets out for Buckingham Palace, as Fidget and his accomplices kidnap the queen. Basil briefly despairs at being outwitted, but snaps out of it just in time to deduce the trap's weakness and escape.

Back at Buckingham Palace, Ratigan forces Hiram to operate the toy Queen, while the real Queen is being taken by Fidget to be fed to Felicia. The fake queen declares Ratigan ruler of all Mousedom, and he announces his tyrannical plans for his new "subjects". Just then, Basil, Dawson, and Olivia saves Hiram and the real Queen, and apprehend Fidget along with Ratigan's other henchmen. Basil then seizes control of the mechanical mouse-queen, forcing it to denounce Ratigan as an impostor and tyrant, all the while breaking into pieces. The crowd, enraged by Ratigan's treason, start climbing onto him and defeating his shanty guards. Ratigan frees himself and escapes on his dirigible with Fidget, and holding Olivia hostage.

Basil, Dawson, and Hiram create their own craft with a matchbox and some small helium-filled balloons, held under the Union Jack. A high-speed chase above the city ensues. Ratigan throws Fidget (who can't fly) into the Thames River below to "lighten the load", and then attempts to drive the dirigible himself. Basil jumps on to the dirigible to confront his nemesis; however, with no helmsman, Ratigan is unable to steer his craft, and it ends up crashing straight into Big Ben. Inside the clock, Ratigan and Basil face off in a final battle. Basil rescues Olivia and safely delivers her to Hiram, who is still on the balloon with Dawson. Ratigan plunges into Basil, and they both fall onto the clock's hour hand. The fight ensues, and Ratigan begins to viciously thrash Basil. It seems as if Basil's luck is about to run out until the clock bell tolls and Ratigan plunges off the hand taking Basil with him, however Basil saves himself just in time.

Back at Baker Street, Basil and Dawson recount their adventures as well as the queen's gratitude to their saving her life, and afterwards, the Flavershams leave. Dawson figures it's time for him to leave as well, but 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".

Production

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 Walt Disney Pictures to use CGI; in reality, 1985's The Black Cauldron has this distinction.

Cast

• Barrie Ingham as Basil, a detective, based on the fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes and the primary protagonist of the film. 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.
• Vincent Price as Professor Ratigan, Basil's archenemy and the primary antagonist of the film. Based on Professor James Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes stories, he plots to seize control of the British monarchy. He and Basil are long-established archenemies. In the book series, it is revealed his given name is Padraic and that Ratigan is, in fact, a mouse. At the end of the film, he is knocked off Big Ben and disappears into the deep chasm below, following a fierce battle with Basil, similar to the Sherlock Homes story "The Final Problem".
• Val Bettin as 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.
• Susanne Pollatschek as Olivia Flaversham, a young female mouse of Scottish descent who seeks Basil's help in finding her toymaker father.
• Candy Candido as 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 falls into the Thames.
• Frank Welker as Toby, Basil's trustful Basset Hound. He technically belongs to Sherlock Holmes, who lives above Basil.
• Alan Young as Hiram Flaversham, Olivia's loving Scottish father. He works as a toymaker and is kidnapped by Fidget to make the Queen Mousetoria robot for the evil Ratigan.
• Frank Welker as Felicia, Ratigan's massive and pompous pet cat. Ratigan calls upon her by ringing a special bell to dispose of traitors or anyone who makes him angry. She is attacked by Royal Guard Dogs in the final part of the movie and not seen again.
• Diana Chesney as Mrs. Judson, Basil's housekeeper. She adores Basil, but gets very annoyed when he mistreats her good pillows by shooting them with a pistol. Based on Mrs. Hudson.
• Eve Brenner as Queen Mousetoria, whom Ratigan attempts to depose. She is a parody of Queen Victoria and the setting for this film coincides with the real Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (as can be seen with humans entering Buckingham Palace at the same time the mice are).
• Barrie Ingham as Bartholomew, one of Ratigan's henchmen. He meets his end early on during Ratigan's song when he drunkenly calls his boss a rat; enraged, Ratigan throws him outside and summons Felicia, who devours him.
• Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, the famous human detective who lives above Basil. His voice is taken from clips of the original Sherlock Holmes films.
• Laurie Main as Dr. Watson, the medical associate/partner of Sherlock Holmes, who also lives above Basil. Unlike Rathbone, voice clips of Nigel Bruce were not used for the cameo part of Watson.

Reception

The film was well-received by critics during its initial release, including a "two thumbs up" rating from critics Siskel and Ebert. The film also maintains a 80% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews.

This film did fairly well at the box office, garnering around $25 million dollars over a budget of $14 million (although it would later be overshadowed by Don Bluth's An American Tail, which grossed $47 million and was released during the holiday season of the same year). The film received warm reviews from critics, overall a welcome in contrast to 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 the company.

After a rerelease in February, the film was released on VHS and laserdisc in July 1992 as part of the Walt Disney Classics series. It was released again on VHS in August 1999 (with a game sheet inside it as part of a contest) and on DVD in 2002 with a short making-of featurette on how the film was made.

Disney has announced that a new "Mystery in the Mist" DVD of The Great Mouse Detective will be released on April 13, 2010.^[2]

Soundtrack

• "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind", Music by Henry Mancini, Lyrics by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh, Performed by Vincent Price.
• "Let Me Be Good To You" Music and Lyrics by Melissa Manchester, Performed by Melissa Manchester.
• "Goodbye So Soon" Music by Henry Mancini, Lyrics by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh, Performed by Vincent Price.

References

External links

• The Great Mouse Detective at Allmovie
• The Great Mouse Detective at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Great Mouse Detective at the Internet Movie Database

From Wikiquote

The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 Disney animated feature film based on Eve Titus' stories. Young Olivia Flaversham is celebrating her birthday with her toymaker father, Hiram. Suddenly, a bat with a broken wing and pegged leg bursts into the Flaversham's house, kidnapping Hiram. Olivia searches to find the famed detective Basil of Baker Street, but gets lost. A surgeon, named Dr. Dawson stumbles upon Olivia and helps her find the Great Mouse Detective, who then sets out to find Olivia's father, and in the process stop Ratigan, the London crimelord, from enacting his evil plan to take over Mousedom.

Basil of Baker Street

• Ratigan, no one can have a higher opinion of you than I have, and I think you're a slimy, contemptible sewer rat!
• There's always a chance, Doctor, as long as one can think.
• (of Ratigan) He's a genius, Dawson! A genius twisted for evil! The Napoleon of crime! There's no evil scheme he wouldn't concoct, no depravity he wouldn't commit!

Prof. Ratigan

• What was THAT!? What did you call me!? I am NOT a rat!
• There's no escape this time, Basil!
• Poor Basil. Oh, he is in for a surprise!
• Oh, my dear Bartholomew. I'm afraid you've gone and upset me. You know what happens when someone upsets me....
• Fidget, you delightful little maniac!
• Bravo, Basil! A marvelous performance. Though frankly, I expected you 15 minutes earlier. Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?

The Queen

• (reading Ratigan's letter) "To our beloved Queen, this gift we send, as her sixty-year reign...comes to an end?"

Olivia

• [to Fidget] Stop! Lemme go! You almost ding it! Help, lemme out! Lemme out!
• Daddy, where are you? Daddy... where are you?! Daddy! (echo) Daddy!

Dialogue

Dawson: Excuse me, is this the residence of Basil of Baker Street?

Mrs. Judson: [deep sigh] Yes, I'm afraid it is.

Dawson: Now wait just a moment. How the deuce did you know I was a doctor?

Basil: A surgeon to be exact. Just returned from military duty in Afghanistan. Am I right?

Dawson: Why, ha, ha, yes. Major David Q. Dawson. But how could you possibly--?

Basil: Quite simple, really. You've sewn your torn cuff together with a Lambert stich, which, of course, only a surgeon uses. And the thread is a unique form of cat-gut, easily distinguished by its peculiar pungency, found only in the Afghan provinces.

Dawson: Amazing!

Basil: Actually, it's elementary, my dear Dawson.

Dawson: The scoundrel's quite gone.

Basil: Ah, but not for long, Miss Flamhammer!

Olivia: Flaversham!

Basil: Whatever.

Flaversham: You can do what you want with me! I won't be a part of this-this, this evil any longer.

[Pause]

Ratigan: Oh, very well. If that is your decision. Oh, by the way, I'm taking the liberty of having your daughter brought here. [takes out the wind-up doll Flaversham made for Olivia and lets it dance]

Flaversham: Olivia?

Ratigan: Yes. I would spend many a sleepless night if anything unfortunate were to befall her.

Flaversham: [understands what Ratigan is saying] Y-you wouldn't!

[Ratigan picks up the wind-up doll and squeezes it so hard, its head pops off.]

Ratigan: Try me... Finish it, Flaversham!!

Bartholomew: [singing] To Ratigan the world's greatest rat. [hiccups]

[Ratigan spits out a mouthful of wine. The henchmen turn around gasping in terror.]

Ratigan: WHAT WAS THAT!? What did you call me?

Henchman #1: Oh, he didn't mean it, professor.

Lizard Henchmen: It was just a slip of the toungue.

Ratigan: I AM NOT A RAT!!!

Henchman #1: Course you're not. You're a mouse.

Hencman #2: Yeah, that's right. A mouse.

Lizard Henchman: Yeah, a big mouse.

Ratigan: SILENCE!!!

Basil: Miss Flamchester!

Olivia and Dawson: Flaversham!

Basil: Whatever.

Basil: [enraged] Ratigan, so help me, I'll see you behind bars yet!

Ratigan: You little fool! Isn't it clear to you the superior mind has triumphed? I've won!

[Both Basil and Dawson are trapped by Ratigan, about to be mousetrapped, shot by a gun and arrow, chopped in half, and then squished by an anvil]

Basil: How could I have been so blind?

Dawson: Well, we all make mistakes, but we can't let that stop us. We have to...

Basil: Ratigan's proved he's more clever than I. He never would have walked into such an obvious trap.

Dawson: Oh, pull yourself together. You can stop that villain.

[The record begins to skip.]

Dawson: Basil, the record!

Basil: It's finally happened! I've been outwitted!

Dawson: Basil, please!

Basil: Beaten! Duped! Made a fool of! So ridiculed and belittled!

Dawson: [finally loses his temper] That's enough!

[The record resumes playing.]

Dawson: Dash it all, Basil. The queen's in danger. Olivia's counting on us. We're about to be horribly splattered and all you can do is lie there feeling sorry for yourself. I know you can save us, but if you've given up now, then why don't we just set it off now and be done with it?

Basil: [weak chuckle] Set it off now. [slight pause, as his eyes go wide, and he realizes something] Set it...off...now? [suddenly regains his old confidence] Yes, ha ha ha, yes, we'll set the trap off NOW!!

Dawson: Basil, wait. I didn't mean we'd....

[The marble start's falling as the record's done.]

Basil: Angle of the trajectory, multiplied by the square root of an isosceles triangle, [mutters] dividing Gutineer's principle of opposing forces in motion, [Continues to check himself] and adjusting for the difference in equilibrium... [all this while the marble has been rolling closer and closer to their demise] Dawson, at the exact moment I tell you, we must release the triggering mechanism. Get ready Dawson, steady...NOW!

[The trigger is released, but the bar traps the marble precisely, stopping the bar. A spring pops off, hits the gun which misfires into the crossbow. The bow is offset, hitting the axehead off and causing it to chop the mousetrap in half, freeing the two. Finally, the anvil crashes down, burying the ax, shaking the ground, and causing Olivia's bottle to shake and pop her out. Basil then whips off his disguise, and puts his detective outfit back on.]

Basil: [Very much better] Thank you, Dawson. [Catches the both of them] Smile everyone!

[Then their pictures are taken]

Fidget: Here you are, sweetheart.

The Mouse Queen: Have you been with us long?

Basil: [As the Queen] You, Professor, are none other than a foul stenchus rodentus, commonly known as a--

Ratigan: Don't say it!

Basil: [reveals himself] Sewer rat!

Ratigan: Aaaaaaahhhhh!

Olivia: Just you wait! Basil's smarter then you! He's going to put you in jail! He's not afraid of a big, mean, ugly rat like you!

Ratigan: Would you kindly sit down and SHUT UP?!

Fidget: We have to lighten the load! [looks pointedly at Olivia]

Ratigan: Oooh. You want to lighten the load. Excellent idea!

[Ratigan grabs Fidget and tosses him overboard.]

Fidget: [as he pitifully flutters in the air] No! Not me! Wait, I can't fly! I can't fly! [falls towards the river and leaves the film]

Olivia: Goodbye, Basil. I'll never forget you.

Basil: Nor I you, Miss--Miss Flangerhanger.

Dawson: [chuckles] Whatever.

Cast

• Barrie Ingham - Basil of Baker Street/Bartholomew
• Val Bettin - Dr. David Q. Dawson/Thug Guard
• Vincent Price - Professor Ratigan
• Candy Candido - Fidget the Bat
• Alan Young - Hiram Flaversham
• Susanne Pollatschek - Olivia Flaversham
• Diana Chesney - Mrs. Judson

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

The Great Mouse Detective

• The Great Mouse Detective quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• The Great Mouse Detective at Rotten Tomatoes