The Great Mouse Detective (Mystery in the Mist Edition)
by Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, John Michener, John Musker
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DVD details
Actor: Barrie Ingham, Basil Rathbone, Melissa Manchester, Vincent PriceDirector: Burny Mattinson, John Michener, John Musker, Ron Clements
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 71 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-04-13
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Model: 10352600
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Product features:
- GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE: MYSTERY IN THE MIST EDITION (DVD MOVIE)
DVD Reviews of The Great Mouse Detective (Mystery in the Mist Edition)
DVD Review: Underrated Disney, Higher on Charm Than Flash
Summary: 5 Stars
Below the home of Sherlock Holmes is that of Basil of Baker Street, the "Great Mouse Detective", and this is the story of his first adventure with Dr. Dawson, whom we can assume goes on to be Basil's partner as the mouse equivalent of Holmes' Dr. Watson. Playing out much like your typical Sherlock Holmes mystery, only in smaller scale, Basil and Dawson take up the case of a little Scottish girl (Olivia, also a mouse) whose father has been kidnapped by an agent of the nefarious Professor Ratigan! Along the way, Basil's amazing eye for detail and skill for disguise helps them track clues and escape deadly traps to save little Olivia's father and unravel Ratigan's latest plot to take over the mousey world. It's an adventure worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself! Or at least a mouse-version of him.
Disney's greatest detective returns to DVD in this "Mystery in the Mist" Edition, which provides a visual upgrade and restoration of the original film title (the first DVD release was redubbed "The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective"), but not much else to get excited about making a double dip for. Still, for the hardcore Disney fan (like myself) those are reasons enough, especially since it is one of the most affordably priced Disney animated classics on the market. There's also a cute little bonus feature that gives some history on private investigators, along with a goofy little test of your own detective skills. The real downer though, is the loss of some great bonus features from the previous edition. They included a gallery and two animated Disney shorts, one of which accompanied the film on its initial theatrical release. Thankfully, the very nice Behind the Scenes featurette from the film's original release era is carried over (along with a sing along song), but not including those other carry-overs is just inexcusable and forces us true fans to hang onto our original DVD as well rather than being able to resell it or pass it to someone else. Maybe that's the idea, but it's very annoying.
Anyway, the film itself, released originally in 1986 (and based on the Basil stories by Eve Titus), has the unfortunate stigma of being part of the dark period at Disney Animation, after Walt's death but before the Renaissance kicked off by "The Little Mermaid". That's not to say this film is bad, nor that any of those films are, for that matter. Folks who saw them in theaters, especially as kids, largely still seem to have made a connection to these films. I grew up during the so called Disney animation dark ages myself (and part of the Renaissance), and I loved every one of those films probably as much as any kid growing up with Disney in the 40's and 50's loved Pinocchio, Bambi, and Peter Pan, etc... "Robin Hood" was a huge favorite of mine second only to "The Jungle Book", and I certainly loved "The Great Mouse Detective". Now, were these films inferior to those of the Disney eras that preceded and followed them? Well, perhaps, but they were still better than any non-Disney animated features, and they were still all good, solid films with captivating characters and visuals. There was just something a little less epic about their presentations, such as not really having a unique style from picture to picture. Sometimes, emotions didn't run as deep as they could have, either, or there was a bit of an unfinished quality to the visuals. You could pick on different things for each film, but you also can still find reasons to love them all. Frankly though, "The Great Mouse Detective" could be the best of the bunch. Or, it's definitely near the top at least. No matter how engrossed in the story and characters you may be, it's unlikely the concerns of mice will ever feel as dramatic as those of human characters like Belle or Aladdin, and this is probably another issue that made things harder for most of the Dark Age Disney films, but there's really not much negative one can say about "The Great Mouse Detective". It certainly isn't as flashy as most animation today, but it has such a cool charm, like the best Sherlock Holmes stuff. Some say that it has the problem of a lack of anything truly memorable, and therefore that it is simply a good but forgettable film. Well, this will probably be different for each individual, as for me, Vincent Price's performance as the villain Ratigan and the little song he gets to sing is very memorable and delightful, as is one of the best scenes, in which Basil and Dawson have to try to escape from one of his elaborate traps. Basil(wonderfully played by Barrie Ingham) really is such a joy to watch when his mind is working! Then, there's the scene the Disney Company always tried to use to sell this film, the clock tower scene. In this sequence, we see what is claimed to be the first CGI animation integrated into a 2D animated feature. The moving gears inside the great clock, "Big Ben", were drawn by a computer, with Basil and the gang animated running amongst them. The fact is, this is very impressive, probably more because it doesn't look like computer animation than anything else. It is probably still the best job I've seen of using computer animation in a 2D film. It's pretty flawless.
So, with quirky characters and a great voice cast, music by Henry Mancini, and directed in part by two of the guys behind the Disney Renaissance features, "The Great Mouse Detective" is certainly worth picking up if you are a fan of Disney animation at all and especially of Sherlock Holmes as well. It's up to you whether or not it's worth upgrading if you already own the first DVD release, but who knows when we'll see they great little film come to Blu-Ray, so go for it if you want the best visual quality, but hang on to your older DVD too if you don't want to lose some great extras that foolishly were not carried over.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to watch my video review show on YouTube, The Moonlight Movie Show!
Description of The Great Mouse Detective (Mystery in the Mist Edition)
From the creators of The Princess and the Frog and The Little Mermaid comes the story of a clever little hero on a great big adventure. Join the Sherlock Holmes of Mousedom on a heroic journey unraveling clues through London. If you like Sherlock Holmes, you'll love The Great Mouse Detective. When the diabolical Professor Ratigan kidnaps the city's master toymaker, the brilliant Basil of Baker Street and his trusted sidekick Dawson set off to track down Basil's lifelong nemesis. Little do they know that the evil rat's trail leads all the way to The Queen at Buckingham Palace! Get on the case with Basil, the master of disguise, as he tries to elude the ultimate rattrap and foil the perfect crime. Now digitally remastered, fully restored and complete with exclusive bonus features, The Great Mouse Detective is better than ever in the Mystery In The Mist Edition!Just because Walt Disney created contemporary and traditional classics of animation doesn't mean the studio is out of ideas--not by a long shot. The Great Mouse Detective is richly animated and offers a clever tale. It may not be as easily recognized a title as Aladdin or The Little Mermaid, but all three share the same director, Ron Clements. Originally released theatrically in 1986, the mystery borrows easily from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and is based on Eve Titus's book Basil of Baker Street.
When a brilliant toymaker is kidnapped by a creepy peg-legged bat, his daughter, Olivia, enlists the aid of the legendary Basil. Basil, Olivia, and Basil's assistant, Dr. Dawson, are part of an intricate city system of Victorian-era London mice. Basil quickly realizes his archenemy, Professor Ratigan (a rat who wants to be a mouse), is behind the abduction. Ratigan (voiced by Vincent Price) fiendishly aspires to take over London rodents--and will stop at nothing to achieve his greatest desire. The unlikely trio of good guys become heroes, of course. The engaging story line is a perfect introduction to Doyle's work and mysteries in general. Look for a very cleverly executed voice-cameo by Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes, natch). Alan Young (Mr. Ed) also provides a voice. Ages 4 and up. --N.F. Mendoza
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