The Great Mouse Detective *** (1986, voices of Vincent Price, Barrie Ingham, Val Bettin) – Classic Movie Review 8180

Walt Disney’s fun 1986 family animation adventure The Great Mouse Detective is a rodent reworking of the Sherlock Holmes stories, inspired by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, who remains uncredited. The main characters are mice and rats living in Victorian London. It concerns Basil of Baker Street, a mouse infatuated with Holmes, who solves the disappearance of a toy maker and defeats the wicked Professor Ratigan.

With Barrie Ingham as the voice of Basil of Baker Street, Vincent Price as Professor Ratigan, Val Bettin as Dr David Q Dawson, Susanne Pollatschek as Olivia Flaversham, Candy Candido as Fidget, Eve Brenner as The Mouse Queen, Shani Wallis as Lady Mouse and Alan Young as Hiram Flaversham, the vocal characterisation is well up to classic standards and a superb animated climax amid the cogs of Big Ben proves that the Disney magic is still working here.

On the debit side are some rough-looking backgrounds, a villain far more appealing than the hero, and a story weaker than its 10 (count ‘em!) writers would suggest.

The Great Mouse Detective is not first rank for Disney’s animation, but it is often highly enjoyable none the less.

The 10 writers are Pete Young, Steven Hulett, John Musker, Matthew O’Callaghan, Dave Michener, Vance Gerry, Ron Clements, Bruce M Morris, Melvin Shaw and Burny Mattinson, carving out the screenplay based on Eve Titus and Paul Galdone’s children’s book series Basil of Baker Street.

There are four directors too: Dave Michener and Burny Mattinson, and John Musker and Ron Clements, who later directed The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992).

The music is by Henry Mancini, always a good thing.

Basil Rathbone provides the voice of Sherlock Holmes in archive sound 19 years after his death. Author Eve Titus named her main character after Basil Rathbone.

The Great Mouse Detective is the 26th Disney animated feature film and was a hit in contrast to the box office disappointment of its predecessor The Black Cauldron (1985), setting the stage for the so-called Disney Renaissance.

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

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8180

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