DT: Basil the Great Mouse Detective ~ 1986

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Hello my friends! :party:

Well, here is it is everybody! My 100th Duckyworth's Thoughts review! :w00t: And for this special occasion, after about a year and two months of doing film reviews, I planned to review a film that I have cherished for about six years now.... :love:

 

Seen as I reviewed the WORST Disney film in existence, and in my opinion, the WORST film I've EVER seen, for my 50th Duckyworth's Thoughts review – The Wild, in case you're not aware :fear: , I thought that I should review what is, in my opinion, the BEST Disney film for my 100th Duckyworth's Thoughts review.... Yep, it's finally time for me to review my personal favourite of the Disney films....

BASIL THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE! :sherlock:

DT 100 - Basil the Great Mouse Detective by Duckyworth

 

Ever since the beginning, people have been asking me for my thoughts about this film, and now, I'm going to review the film I've had a ton of requests for. Made in 1986, and based on the bestselling books, Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, this film is what you would get if Sherlock Holmes had a mouse counterpart. I've never read the books personally, so I don't know if the film follows them well, but it's still pretty solid on its own.... Unlike SOME adaptations I've reviewed.... COUGHPippiLongstockingCOUGHLegendoftheGuardiansOwlsofGa'HooleCOUGH! :XD:

It's one of those unfortunate examples of a Disney film that is VERY good, but is sadly overlooked by mainstream Disney fans, simply because they're afraid to look outside the box and watch something different.... :no: Also, it's probably because it came out straight after The Black Cauldron – another Disney film that I feel is SEVERELY overlooked, along with Treasure Planet, The Three Caballeros and Home on the Range. :(

But luckily, like some of the other underappreciated Disney films I've reviewed and talked about in the past, this film has developed a cult following over the years, and it has luckily received a lot of support, and ever since I saw it a few years ago, it has remained my favourite Disney film. I know that may sound a bit odd, considering other Disney films I've given praise to (Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, and Hunchback of Notre Dame for example) but this film just seems to be such a wonderful hidden treasure for me – and it is another example of a brilliant film that came from the 1980's. :D Well, let's not waste any time – it's time for me to give this film the praise it deserves..... :excited:

First of all, the directors of this film are two names that you may recognise – John Musker and Ron Clements. :wow: That's right, the directors of the well known Disney hits The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog! :clap:

 

The story is still one of my favourite setups in the 1980's Disney films. :D Taking place in London, in 1897, just before the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (yay! British history! :iconbritishplz: ) a young mouse girl named Olivia Flaversham has had her father, a toymaker, kidnapped by a pretty... well, let's be honest, AWESOME peg-legged bat named Fidget... Heehee, more on him later... :excited: While looking for a well-renowned detective named Basil of Baker Street, she meets a veteran of the war in Afghanistan named Dr Dawson. They come across the... rather eccentric, Basil of Baker Street, who resembles Sherlock Holmes quite closely. At first, he doesn't really pay much attention to Olivia's dilemma (he's a very egocentric, yet still INCREDIBLY enjoyable character :D ), but when she mentioned Fidget, he realises that this kidnapping must be the work of Basil's arch-nemesis, Professor Ratigan... :evillaugh: Ratigan's evil goal? To force Mr Flaversham to craft him a mechanical doppelganger for the Queen, so that Ratigan can make it appear that she is in fact handing over all her power to HIM at her Diamond Jubilee.... So, yes, even though he simply wants to gain power over the British Empire, Ratigan has a TON to make him stand out – as I'll explain later... :D So, Basil, Dawson and Olivia have to hurry to find Mr Flaversham before Ratigan's evil plot unfolds.... :sherlock:

 

To many outsiders just looking at the cover of this film, they may simply see it as your everyday mouse related adventure.... But as I'll explain, there are many things that elevate it, for me at least, above your average mouse film – even your average Disney film. :D This, in my opinion, even beats An American Tail slightly, and funnily enough, both films came out in the EXACT SAME YEAR. 1986 was a great year for mice! :w00t: It was about six years ago when I discovered this film, and funnily enough, some of my very first pictures on DA, which I have deleted by now because they were simply TOO LOW in quality, even when you compare them to my crummy comics today ^^; , and ever since then, I have loved this film... and I thank my sister :iconslushypye: for discovering this film with me, as she was doing work on Vincent Price films, and we found that Vincent Price played the villain in this.... and since that day, this film continues to get better and better every time we see it. :love: Alongside the SpongeBob Squarepants movie, this is a childhood favourite of mine. :aww:

 

The main thing that makes this film work so well for me are the main character and the main villain. :clap: They are my favourite Disney hero and my favourite Disney villain, and for good reasons. :w00t: All of the characters in this are great – but those two in particular are brilliant!

 

Basil of Baker Street, played by Barrie Ingham (who also starred in Dr Who and the Daleks, The Day of the Jackal, and Star Trek: The New Generation) is the main hero of this film. :sherlock: One of the many 'problems' people have with this film is because it is.... GET THIS..... TOO SMART. :iconwthplz: Okay, that's one of the dumbest excuses I've ever heard for a Disney film being boycotted in my life....  HOW on Earth is this film too smart?! The explanations that Basil makes are MUCH easier to follow than in films like Destiny Deoxys, Rise of Darkrai, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'Hoole, Brave, Titan AE, Quest For Camelot, Tron, The Wild or Cool World.... :hmm: Is it because most children just want brainless action instead of an opportunity to TALK THROUGH observations like Basil does – that's what makes it a good mystery at times – I liked reading Sherlock Holmes as a child, and the explanations in the film reminds me of that. :aww:

I mean, when I was younger, I understood it perfectly, and now that I'm doing a Chemistry degree in University, I wish I could make scientific equipment like Basil does.... :nerd: It's pretty rare, from what I've noticed, for Disney heroes to be REALLY smart – I mean, Belle was intelligent, Tiana was pretty smart, and of course, Milo was smart too, but most often, their intelligence doesn't stand out TOO much, the smart ones are usually the side characters – and when I saw this for the first time, one reason why I found myself liking Basil as a character so much is because he's a pretty intelligent guy – like a mouse version of Francis from Felidae, minus the.... slightly annoying monologues.... :clap: I found, and still find, Basil's explanations pretty interesting, funny and enjoyable – especially when he says Dawson uses Catgut to sew up his torn cuff, and of course, hearing him say 'Elementary my dear Dawson' is a pretty awesome homage to Sherlock Holmes. :D

But it's not just his intelligence that makes him a great character – he's a pretty egotistical, eccentric character who often gets into HILARIOUS fits if one of his observations goes wrong, he plays the violin rather well, gets quite a few funny eccentric moments – like when he shoots the pillows, constantly pronounces Flaversham incorrectly – and Ratigan does this too (and I thought Charlie had problems pronouncing Chawhee in All Dogs Go To Heaven :giggle: ), and of course, his introduction – he just runs in wearing a.... pretty culturally insensitive Chinese outfit... The way he just throws the hat onto Dawson's head makes me laugh every time... :rofl: Seeing him run about his house, be a bit disorganised and even a bit reckless and even RUDE at times (when he forces Mrs Judson out of the room) may not work in characters like... say, Pippi Longstocking :iconseethingplz: - but in Basil's case, I just find myself liking these qualities, as after all, Sherlock Holmes was like this at times, and I'm a fan of both Sherlock Holmes and Basil of Baker Street. :D

And of course, he can really play the violin... :meow: At least before he SITS on it.... :rofl: The reaction when Olivia says she hasn't got a mom (died from the fatal OFF-CAMERA DISEASE, I suppose... :iconthatsgreatplz: ) cracks me up every single time... Speaking of Olivia, I like how at first, Basil is a tad annoyed by Olivia, but as time goes on, he starts to become less of a jerk towards her and warm towards her, in the same way Charlie did to Ann-Marie in All Dogs Go To Heaven... But at first, like with Ratigan, I love how Basil tries to contain his temper, but ends up failing... :lol:

Another one of my first DA drawings was of Basil in his disguise when he is about to enter The Rat Trap.... and I do like the disguise. :D Like when he stares indignantly at Ratigan and the moustache goes pointed, and when Ratigan observes his hat and just drops it on his head. :lol:

Basil also gets a pretty strange moment after Ratigan puts him in a trap, where he suddenly goes into a defeatist stance because he's finally been outsmarted by Ratigan – this is another similarity to Sherlock Holmes, where at times, Holmes also went into a mope whenever he overlooked something. :lol: And of course, when Dawson says 'Why don't we set it off now?' Basil goes crazy... I love the way he has cartoony eyes here, and he also carries out perhaps the fastest calculations you've ever seen – I bet even Gune in Titan AE would be jealous of how quickly Basil carries this out. :nerd: And of course, Basil... somehow has his detective clothes underneath his disguise :lol: and he frees Olivia with his clever deduction and 'Smile everyone!' is uttered on cue. :lol:

And of course, it is pretty sweet seeing him warm up to Olivia throughout the film, and when she leaves, you do feel a tad sorry for Basil... But luckily, Dawson, even though it looks like he's about to leave, he decides to stay to become Basil's assistant..... :w00t: And it ends with yet another of Basil's brilliant deductions. :clap:

 

Now, let us talk about the villain.... :excited: Professor Ratigan is my absolute FAVOURITE of the Disney Villains (that's right, not even Maleficent can best him in my books :w00t: ), and there are a number of reasons for this.

First of all, the voice actor is VINCENT PRICE. :meow: The actor who performed BRILLIANTLY in films such as Theatre of Blood, Edward Scissorhands, The Abominable Dr Phibes, The Invisible Man Returns, The Raven , The House of Usher, Masque of the Red Death, Last Man on Earth, Tales of Terror, House on Haunted Hill, The Fly, House of Wax – the list goes on and on.... Vincent Price is one of those voice actors where you the character doesn't make the actor, the ACTOR makes the character. :clap: Like Tony Jay in Hunchback of Notre Dame, the voice just fits PERFECTLY – Vincent Price was moving about a lot during his performance as Ratigan, and the Disney animators even took inspiration for Ratigan's movements... That's pretty awesome. I love how well the voice fits the character.... :giggle: Speaking of which, Vincent Price is known for sniffing often in his performances, and the way Ratigan sniffs makes me smile. :lol:

Second, Ratigan is probably one of the funniest villains ever – known as the 'Napoleon of Crime', he has avoided Basil for years, and I just love how hilarious he is in this – the way he just ducks when the teapot is thrown at him, the way he stares at the oil spill on his coat, his constant giggling and laughter ('Oh, I love it when I'm nasty!' :rofl: ), the way he often hums to himself and even has two of the songs this film has :headbang:, his hilarious body poses and body language – and also, I love how in most of the film, he's trying to remain sophisticated and calm, but on the occasion, he ends up losing his temper – like when he crushes the ballerina toy (and then stares at Mr Flaversham with an awkward expression for a while, before yelling 'FINISH IT, FLAVERSHAM!'), when a drunk Bartholomew accidentally calls him 'The World's Greatest Rat' in a drunken stupor, when Fidget tells Ratigan that Basil is on the case and he tries to keep himself from attacking Fidget in a HILARIOUS way – by the way, what does Ratigan have against being called a rat? Maybe he classifies that with being a murderous savage, while he tries to remain sophisticated in the film... :confused: Sorry Ratigan, but if you were to meet Nicodemus and the Rats of NIMH, or Remy from Ratatouille, they'd probably call you savage anyway... :lol:

One of my favourite scenes in the films are where Ratigan and Fidget are talking about Fidget stealing the uniforms – especially how Fidget tries to tell Ratigan what happened, and he starts making all of the hilarious movements, including tying his own ears into a baby bonnet, wrapping his wings around himself when Ratigan threatens him, and Ratigan then pretends to be calm, and in a rather cute way, Fidget wraps his arm around Ratigan's head, before Ratigan calls Felicia, resulting in a scream that Skeksil from The Dark Crystal would imitate.... Oh, and we also have Ratigan twitching in a corner ('How dare that idiot Basil poke his stupid nose into my wonderful scheme and foul up everything!' ) banging his head on a bottle, and having an awesome evil chuckle... :evillaugh:

And the one thing that's better than seeing Basil and Ratigan apart, is the scene where Basil springs Ratigan's trap, and they start playing off each other's weaknesses flawlessly... :giggle: Including Ratigan saying 'Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy', Basil calling him a sewer rat, Ratigan ripping off the moustache Basil is wearing, mocking his hat, and then, shaking him in a hilarious way.. :lol: By the way, I think Basil goes around the bend here when he starts thinking of everyone laughing at him... I know it's supposed to be a sombre scene because he's losing confidence in himself, but I can't help but laugh at seeing the criminals laughing at him, especially Burt with his tongue hanging out, and Ratigan having a Robotnik style dance while he's giggling...

For some reason, when I looked at his design again after watching Balto, it made me think that Steele was loosely based on a dog version of Ratigan…

Ratigan's love of traps to try to dispose of Basil is as crazy as Ratigan is himself – he has a mousetrap, a pistol, a crossbow, an axe, and even an ANVIL making up his plan to dispose of Basil and Dawson – and he even has a camera on standby to take a picture of the aftermath…. Overkill, much? Well, in Theatre of Blood, Edward Lionheart made some ingenious traps to kill off his critics, so I guess Vincent Price characters have a thing for inventing devices – I think only the inventor in Edward Scissorhands made something that wasn't designed to KILL. :lol:

He also gets a HILARIOUS entrance when the robot Mr Flaversham makes imitates  the queen and makes it look like Ratigan's been given power over the empire – he just slides in with all the sparkling adornments on him – his TEETH even shine. :XD:  I think this is the kind of entrance that Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula would find a bit much…. And DRACULA comes in with an old man wig! :iconkeanuimdisappointplz: And his speech he makes after being 'granted' the position of Royal Consort? GOLD. :lol:

Not only is his list of a length that could even rival the number of problems that I picked up when watching The Reef (The Wild… not so much :lol: ), but the Items he makes are also funny – when he reads out Item 96, he hasn't even moved an INCH from the top of the list! For some reason, 96 has always been my favourite number, and I was amused when I heard Ratigan say 'Item 96… Heeheee…Hee! A heavy tax shall be levied against all parasites and spongers… such as the elderly, the infirm, and especially… heehee… little children!' :lol: Another one of my earliest drawings on DA was Ratigan after he said 'parasites and spongers'…. And again, the picture quality was pretty naf, so I removed it… ^^;

And in this scene, when an old infirm mouse, who I SWEAR is a relative of Papa Mouskewitz from An American Tail, calls Ratigan insane… Ratigan has one of his trademark tempers, and gives off an evil laugh that… needless to say, gets me laughing every time. Just the way his shadow is animated in the background is perfect… And then, his cover is blown when Basil intervenes, and after Ratigan SLAPS the robot when 'it' doesn't reply straight away :laughing: , Basil continues to humiliate Ratigan by biting his nose, punching him in the stomach, throwing him into the air, and then, calling Ratigan a sewer rat again… is the scientific term for sewer rat REALLY  'stenchus rodentus'? :lol: If not, I think it SHOULD be… It could join the amusing scientific names that Wile. E. Coyote and the Road Runner are often given…. :giggle:

So, with Ratigan, he has so much fun with all the evil stuff he gets up to, it's pretty tough not to enjoy it along with him – when I saw this film for the first time, I was smiling all the way through most of his scenes – he's just SUCH a funny villain, and of course, it makes it even funnier imagining Vincent Price inspiring the animators with his actions while performing…. :giggle:

But of course… when Ratigan DOES finally lose his temper… he becomes AWESOME…. Er than usual. :evillaugh: In the climax, after Basil humiliates Ratigan in front of everyone, Ratigan and Fidget escape with Olivia… probably as payback for Basil ruining his plans :shrug: … And the way you can just tell that Ratigan is at his boiling point when Olivia (in a pretty cool scene which reminds me of Boo standing up to Randall in Monsters Inc :headbang: ) stands up to him just makes you aware that he can't remain calm much longer… :o And then, when he pulls his tail away from Olivia – which actually inspired quite a few instances when my Raticate character Scratch always yanks her tail away from those who might harm it – and makes some faces which REALLY makes him look like Steele from Balto, he lets it loose by shouting 'Would you kindly (uh-oh, good thing he isn't Frank Fontaine from Bioshock :phew: ) sit down and shut UP?!', which is such a powerful rage that he not only yells Olivia to the other side of the boat, but he makes a random chair appear out of nowhere! :wow: :iconmrbeanmagicplz:

And after he throws Fidget off his ship to lighten the load, Ratigan himself goes to pedalling – why do I imagine him thinking 'This will be great for my glutes!' :lol: And as Basil catches up with him, he notices Olivia's scream, and looks ahead, seeing BIG BEN in front of them.... Now, wait a minute, before they get to Big Ben, we CLEARLY see Ratigan pedalling, and then in the shot when he zooms into the clock face, he's at the wheel! :confused: Perhaps he tried to jump into the ship to steer it away but didn't get to the wheel in time? :shrug: And plus, Big Ben has had Peter Pan fly past it, and now Ratigan flies INTO it? :lol:

But I don't blame Disney for using Big Ben a second time, as this leads to one of the coolest climaxes EVER. After Ratigan BITCH-SLAPS Basil off the edge of a gear, Olivia bites Ratigan's hand – rather hard, I might add :o – which allows Basil to take the opportunity to pull his cape into a set of gears, choking him, just before Ratigan kicks Olivia a MILE – seriously, quite a distance, there, did Ratigan play FOOTBALL as a boy? :giggle: - where Olivia survives falling such a distance, and looks up at a gear that may CRUSH her! :ohnoes: Luckily, being smart and awesome again, Basil saves Olivia in time, and they rush up to the top of the clocktower.....

And what happens next is BRILLIANT. :evillaugh: Ratigan FINALLY snaps, pulls himself free, and finally shows his true colours – I like the extra touch that before this scene, Ratigan had four fingers, but when he becomes more monstrous, he suddenly loses one, no doubt symbolising how he's no longer sophisticated and has become more of an animal. :wow: And by GOODNESS, is he BRUTAL... Not only are his clothes ripped up the gears, but he pulls Basil down the top of Big Ben, and they duke it out on the hour hand of Big Ben... well, it's really a one-sided fight, Basil may be smarter, but Ratigan is WAY tougher... :fear: Seriously, there may not be any blood in this scene, but the sound effects sound REALLY violent! :ohnoes: And to add to Ratigan becoming more primal, he even has CLAWS in this scene... Yeah, after Basil tries to outrun him, but Ratigan catches up with him, we get an AWESOME shot of Ratigan cornering Basil, and then the NEXT shot shows Ratigan revealing his claws... Wow, Ratigan, did you get the same manicure attendant that the Other Mother from Coraline did? :giggle: Never mind Beast from Beauty and the Beast, Ratigan is like a mini-version of him in this scene.... :fear: Even if he makes a strange airplane noise after Basil clambers on the hour hand to get back up... :lol: He even gets a funny reaction when Basil says 'on the contrary!' He looks a bit like Dr Facilier there. :XD: I also like how Basil grabbed onto Ratigan's ship, and then, when Big Ben chimes 10 o' clock, Ratigan loses his balance, and then falls to his demise, trying to pull Basil down with him, Basil ONCE AGAIN uses his wits to hand onto the pedal part of Ratigan's ship and fly back up. :w00t:

Also, Ratigan is the SECOND Disney villain to die by gravity, the first one being QUEEN GRIMHILDE in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.... So, has the same death of Queen Grimhilde, Percival McLeach, Gaston and Charles Muntz. :wow: What does gravity have against Disney villains? :lol:

 

But, I will ask this – if Basil hates Ratigan's guts.... why does he have a picture of him above his fireplace? ^^; But still, it is pretty awesome how the picture of Ratigan actually SMILES when his name is uttered. :lol: It's like how Ratigan has a voodoo doll of Basil.. :rofl: Speaking of voodoo doll, I wonder if Dr Facilier helped design it? :XD:

 

Dr David Q. Dawson, who I SWEAR was voiced by the same person who played the Sultan in Aladdin and Mr Ages in The Secret of NIMH, is Basil's sidekick in this film. In the same style as Watson in Sherlock Holmes, he becomes the biographer of Basil's stories, and I just find myself really liking the actor's performance.... This is SUCH a nice voice to listen to... :aww: He also gets some pretty funny moments, like when he tries to get Basil to listen to him, and just gets handed the gun... ^^; One of my favourite expressions in this film is when Basil finds Fidget's secret entrance, and when the glass is in front of Dawson, he says 'Basil... you astound me!' and when he says it, his face is distorted by the glass in a way that always makes me smile... :lol: He also gets a really funny moment when he tries to ask for sherry in the pub, and when he becomes drugged and ends up dancing with the bar room dancers... :lol:

 

Olivia Flaversham is probably one of the sweetest child characters I've seen in any Disney film. :aww: She reminds me a little bit of a Scottish mouse version of Penny from The Rescuers, somehow, and the little girl who played her does a really good job... showing that children can be just as capable as adults when it comes to voice acting. :meow: She's such a sweet character – it sounds pretty realistic when she laughs when Toby sniffs her. :D Fidget kidnaps Olivia as a way of luring Basil into a trap, and as a way of keeping Hiram loyal to his evil scheme.

 

Mrs Judson, Basil's suffering housemaid, gets quite a few funny moments, showing how much trouble she has with cleaning up Basil's messes (:iconnchorrifiedplz: ..... Please, don't read into that the wrong way.... ^^; ) – for example, she's carrying a MACE when we first see her – what does Basil expect to do with a MACE?! :rofl: Also, how yummy does the 'pot of tea and fresh cheese crumpets' sound? :yum: I also find myself laughing so much when Basil shoots the pillows, sends feather everywhere, and then Mrs Judson just comes in crying 'My good pillows!' :D And Basil's expression when he clears the feathers from his chair, and then looks at her shocked is pretty hilarious.

 

Hiram Flaversham, played by Alan Young (who also plays Scrooge McDuck :lol: ) is the owner of a toyshop, and is the father of Olivia. Not really too much to say about him, except that it is pretty funny hearing Scrooge McDuck's voice coming out of a mouse. :lol:

 

Fidget..... :XD: What can you say about Fidget? Well, many things – played by the late Candy Candido – YES, that IS his real name :rofl:- who also played Brutus and Nero in the Rescuers, the Crocodile Captain of the Guard in Robin Hood, Maleficent's pig goon in Sleeping Beauty, the hilarious Indian Chief in Peter Pan, Lumpjaw in Fun and Fancy Free and the Angry Apple Tree in The Wizard of Oz, Candy Candido has done a TON of great Disney character voices and some voices in other films, and funnily enough, for Fidget.... I think they gave him a bit of helium.... :lol: Also, he manages to be creepy, funny and slightly cute all at the same time – a bit like a mixture between Creeper and Gurgi from The Black Cauldron, Batty from Fern Gully, Flotsam and Jetsam from The Little Mermaid, Petrie from The Land Before Time, one of the bird minions from Sleeping Beauty and Skeksil from The Dark Crystal (yeah, I know, a lot of characters here, but I just find myself being reminded of a TON of characters when I watch Fidget :rofl: ), Fidget is Ratigan's bumbling bat henchman, and often gets given all the dirty work, even though like Petrie, he can't fly – mainly due to having a peg leg and a crippled wing – leading to some jokes with him trying to fly away and when Olivia stamps on his foot, he yells 'My foot, my ONLY foot!'. :lol: Oh, and did I mention he reminds me of the Gremlins – especially with his voice? :XD:

Now, if you're a child while watching this film, I can guarantee you that Fidget may cause you to pee yourself in fear... :lol: I personally don't mind this scene, but Fidget actually provides quite an effective jump scare that, I will admit, made me jump when I first saw this film – when he bursts in through the Flaversham's window to kidnap Mr Flaversham, it reminds me of the jump scare with the WereRat in Frankenweenie.... Yeah, just the kind of thing you expect a Disney to START with, isn't it? :XD: And he does this trick not only once, but TWICE in this film... :rofl: But seriously, with a voice like THAT, how can anyone be SCARED of him – it's like with Hexxus in Fern Gully, one of the main reasons why I was never scared of them was because their voices just made me laugh so much... :lol: In a way, he's like a bat version of Horace and Jasper from 101 Dalmations – also great henchmen. :lol: I also love that hilarious little jig he does when he escapes Basil after kidnapping Olivia, and that 'song' he sings when he gets away. :XD: And who knew that bats had pockets in their wings.... I bet that's where Batty Koda kept that army helmet he put on when he made that John Wayne reference.... :giggle: Fidget also dresses up in drag a few times in this – when he wears the baby bonnet, and when he disguises himself as Olivia and gives a rather... disturbing kiss... :icondoomed2plz:

You know, I bet that when Fidget was a child, he was just like a bat version of Edgar E.Gore from Frankenweenie – I mean, can't you just imagine him hobbling around and acting all weasel-like like Edgar was? :giggle: And it is pretty eerie how it looks like he tries to hit on Queen Mousetoria… And I thought watching Evil Ash put the moves on that woman in Army of Darkness was off-putting….. ^^; As cute as it is seeing Fidget in a Beefeater costume, when he says 'Your turn toots', I was like... er, Fidget... she's probably about THREE to FIVE times your age... ^^; But when he falls off the banister, he actually does a pretty good job flying away from Felicia to grab onto the banister... :wow:

And when he's tied up, we do get a pretty, well, I will admit, pretty awesome moment when Fidget unties himself... :wow:

His end is surprisingly similar to the way that Rourke bumps off Helga Sinclair in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (another underrated Disney film I may review in the future :evileye: ) – in the chase scene, Fidget pedals his legs out to try to get away from Basil, and then loses his breath, saying that they need to lighten the load – suggesting that Olivia be thrown off the side.... After Fidget pulls a pretty hilarious expression – crossing his arms and chuckling at Olivia, Ratigan actually grabs HIM, and throws Fidget off the ship.... And of course, as he can't fly, Fidget goes down.... into the River Thames.... Now, if he can't fly, I doubt he can swim either... :cries:

 

Candy Candido also voices a squat mouse who yells 'Get off you 8-legged bum!' in the Rat Trap... minus the helium, this time. :lol: By the way, on a side note, I really like the designs of Ratigan's criminal gang – including a cameo from Bill the Lizard from Alice in Wonderland. :evileye: We even get a SECOND brawl scene in this film, after Basil blows Ratigan's cover, and everyone attacks his thugs disguised as royal guards – including a woman beating one guard with an umbrella...

 

And of course, we have the Sumo Cat – oh, sorry... Felicia... :laughing: Yeah, my sister and I have called Felicia 'The Sumo Cat' ever since we ever started watching this film. :lol: The cat owned by Ratigan, Felicia has... probably grown fat over the years that Ratigan has been feeding her those who 'upset him' (like Bartholomew and (attempted) Fidget) and his enemies (like when he tries to feed Queen Mousetoria to her). When I first saw this... I actually found Felicia a tad... creepy... :fear: Even if you don't SEE anything happening... Needless to say, now I've seen Felidae, this is no longer the creepiest cat related thing I've seen – and besides, Felicia gets some genuine LAUGHS out of me now... How morbidly obese IS this cat? I think even BLUEBEARD wouldn't be able to eat as much as she does... It's like Lucifer from Cinderella was mixed together with Mr Whiskers from Frankenweenie (another cat which made me feel a tad uneasy at times :lol: ).... And also, I find her facial expressions pretty hilarious – for example, when Ratigan tries to feed Fidget to her, and then Ratigan says 'Release him', her face goes all flat... :lol: And of course, seeing Ratigan say 'My precious, my BABY!' :rofl:

 

Basil's equivalent of Felicia is a cute bloodhound named Toby. :giggle: He reminds me a little bit of Copper from Fox and the Hound design-wise, and he gets a lot of funny scenes in the film relating to Dawson's catgut stitch, and when Olivia gives her cheese crumpets and rubs his belly – a scene which actually inspired my Pokemon picture with Chalky the Arcanine having his belly rubbed... :giggle: And of course, when he steps on Basil before charging to sniff out Fidget... :D And of course, Toby and Felicia get into a chase scene later on in the film – when I saw this film for the first time, I was thinking to myself 'I KNEW that would happen, somehow I just KNEW it!' :lol: And it delivered perfectly with what I expected to happen – even if after watching The Wild, I can't see this without being reminded of that HORRIBLE running joke with Ryan trying to roar and making the same meowing sound that Felicia makes in the chase scene – thanks a LOT 'The Wild'… :iconseethingplz: Watching Felicia think that she's escaped Toby, and then diving into the home of the Royal Guard Dogs made me think that if we ever saw her again… she'd probably be a lot balder and battered… But I wonder  if she'd be as beat up as the Tod was when he was hunted down in Plague Dogs…. :iconakuwtfplz:

At the end, we get to see Toby again, reminding me even more of a mixture between Pluto and Charlie from All Dogs Go To Heaven. :giggle:

 

Now, this is another example of a film where I get the chills when I hear the opening music – when I listen to the music when the title comes up, I hear nothing but awesomeness – Henry Mancini, the composer, really knows his stuff here. He also composed the theme for The Pink Panther, and music for The Big Lebowski, Santa Claus the movie, and.... urgh, TOM AND JERRY THE MOVIE.... :x The rest of this music is also brilliant. :clap: It especially builds up great suspense in the climax.

And of course, even though there are only three songs in this film, TWO of them are performed by Ratigan – which is BRILLIANT. :clap:

'The World's Greatest Criminal Mind' is just GREAT. It's one of my favourite Disney villain songs, and also being the first villain song since 'Trust in Me' from The Jungle Book, it's a welcome relief. :D Vincent Price has a great singing voice, and I find myself laughing so hard at him.... Until the lyric 'Worse than the widows and orphans you drowned'.... :iconshockedfaceplz: WOW.... That's pretty cruel... but still awesome. :lol: And seeing all of his henchmen jump about in a similar way that the townsfolk in Beauty and the Beast did in Gaston's song are funny – I SWEAR that the chandeliers bit in the Gaston song were inspired by the chandeliers colliding with each other in this song. :lol:

The only moment in the film that I don't find myself liking as much as I would have hoped (yes, even my favourite Disney film has a moment that I have to nitpick at.... No film is perfect, after all :shrug: ) is the 'Let Me Be Good To You', a song, which to be honest, could have been omitted from the film – in the Rat Trap pub, we see a mouse version of Holli Would from Cool World... yeah, I said it... ^^; It just feels out of place... especially when she starts STRIPPING... :iconladyeverglotofaceplz: Okay, outside of the Three Brides in Bram Stoker's Dracula... we don't really need that.... This is a children's film... :o I mean, the woman doing the song has a good set of pipes – apparently, the voice actress WAS a real bar-room singer... :clap: Even if I don't think the voice fits the singer, the character looks slightly too young, in my opinion – like Olivia as a teenager... It's like how Hiccup in How To Train Your Dragon and Jack Frost  in Rise of the Guardians ALSO have voices that sound MUCH too old.... :hmm: Wow, I hope she doesn't start doing THAT when she hits puberty, or else she'll turn out like Lucy in Bram Stoker's Dracula... ^^;

 I also like how the one mouse with his tongue hanging out when everyone's wolf-whistling has a hidden Mickey Belt Buckle.... :evileye: And of course, seeing Dawson get drugged with the quickest acting drug in history ^^; also adds to the strange humour here... When he goes 'OOH!'... :lol: It's also strangely cute seeing Fidget hobble in and look up at the... burlesque... ^^; Before he gets his peg-leg caught in a pothole, and then Dawson starts doing the cancan with the dancers. :rofl: And after that song... no-one ever mentions it again....

Wow, I never realised that my favourite Disney film of all time has a.... BIG-LIPPED ALLIGATOR MOMENT! :dummy: But hey, the song could be worse... it could be like WILMA THE WEASEL'S singing in The Flight Before Christmas.... :nuu:

And the third song in the film is 'Goodbye So Soon'... and it is a great set-up. :lol: It's the song he plays to Basil and Dawson on a gramophone before he leaves to carry out his evil scheme – 'Sorry chubby, you should have chosen your friends more carefully' (a funny line before he leaves :XD: ) – and I'll just say here, when I first heard the song, I thought he sang 'Goodbye so soon, and isn't this a crime, but we know now that I KNOWS HOW TO FLY' :laughing:... yeah, I know I was mishearing it, but it is still a funny childhood memory.... and I was just imagining Ratigan flying over some clouds into the horizon.... Don't ask. :giggle:

 

As this is a film with mice looking up at the larger world around them, that also leads to a lot of awesome scenes. :clap: While I find some of the toys in the human toy shop a bit... disturbing... I still like a lot of the jokes here – like when Olivia activates the fireman band, and Basil dives to stop it, and they all collapse... And then Basil yells 'PLEEEASE!' :lol: By the way, I like the little Dumbo reference with the Dumbo bubble blower... :giggle: But of course, Fidget gets another jump scare by jumping out at Olivia in a baby bonnet... and of course, that doll with the blinking eye... ^^; And later, Basil gets his face smashed in with the fireman cymbals... :rofl: When he's animated when he's shaking, it reminds me an awful lot of classic Disney films like Cinderella (even though the mice in Cinderella are MUCH more annoying than the ones in this film :x ), but I ask how he suddenly flew up so high before he fell into the marbles... was he literally HIGH?! :iconrimshotplz:

Speaking of Basil's smarter moments I mentioned earlier, I also like the designs of his lab – with the Bunsen burner, pestle and mortar, chemistry set and microscope... It reminds me of similar experiments I performed in my first year of my chemistry degree... By the way, if he has a treasure map, I wonder if he got it from Peter Pan... :lol: We also have The Rat Trap pub – a seedy rough tough bar that looks like a mouse version of a mix between the Thug Tug from The SpongeBob Squarepants movie, the Ball and Socket from Corpse Bride and the pub in Nosferatu – with a bartender who I swear was based off of Mr Winkie from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad, and a strangely cute octopus juggler.... and one of my favourite funny moments in the whole film – we see a frog and newt come in on a unicycle, and they don't even last a few seconds before everyone starts throwing stuff at them – the way the glass smash sound effect is placed is just PERFECT... When I watched that for the first time – I was laughing on the floor... :rofl: And of course, the resulting bar fight (where we see Fidget calmly drinking while havoc erupts around him – including one hoodlum choking one mouse, while the mouse being chocked bats the other one on the head with a fish :iconwhatdaplz: ) is pretty Disney-style crazy – reminds me of the bar in Tangled... :lol: I wish they could have sung 'I've Got A Dream' instead of 'Let Me Be Good To You.' :hmm:

In the chase scene to Big Ben, I also like the design of Ratigan's ship and the vehicle that Basil, Dawson and Mr Flaversham make.... and this results in a really awesome chase scene.... The angles and speed of it is brilliant, and of course, it is cool seeing them zoom through London... :w00t: By the way, how come the WHOLE film takes place at night-time? :confused:

 

And of course, the animation is also brilliant. Along with the other later 1980's Disney films in general, from The Black Cauldron to The Little Mermaid, the animation looks like it blurs the line between the older animation in Fox and the Hound and the animation in films like Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin perfectly.... Best of both, the old and the new. :D And speaking of new, I think Basil the Great Mouse Detective was one of the first films to mix hand-drawn animation with CGI, and for the gears in Big Ben – it looks pretty awesome, and impressive for a mixture that was in its pioneering stages. :clap: Being a John Musker and Ron Clements film, the animation does remind me quite a bit of their films – especially the way that the characters often have rings around their eyes... :lol: Sure, at some times, there are some things I notice in the animation, like when OIivia leaves at the end, she doesn't fully leave through the door before disappearing, and at times, the brawl animation does sometimes leave a bit to desired, and there are a few inconsistencies with Ratigan's clothes in the Big Ben finale, but still, the animation is pretty impressive, nonetheless. :D

 

Now, even with my favourite of the Disney film, there are some things that I think could have been improved. :aww: Hey, there's no such thing as a perfect film! Even The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie and Bram Stoker's Dracula have things I find myself not liking too much...

First of all, I feel that the film could have been a little bit longer. Secondly, I mentioned some of the animation problems in the previous paragraph. Third, I mentioned the one song I find myself not liking that much – I don't know, I've just personally never found myself liking that song, ever since I was a child... It's just one of those things you JUST DON'T like... [Shrug] Fourth, I would have liked there to be a few more songs in there.... Just to make it a bit more musical – I would have liked there to be a way for Basil to sing... [LOL] But other than those four nitpicks, the film is still PERFECT, and it's something I've loved for many years, and I'll continue to love for many more. :D

 

:icondisneycow82::iconsaysplz: Whether or not The Great Mouse Detective is the very best Disney film, it is something I would rather expose my children and family to than today's real garbage that makes me wanna [I think I am going to PUKE!] Vincent Price did a great job lending his voice and personality to Ratigan.

:iconailemadragonprincess::iconsaysplz: The Great Mouse Detective is one of the movies I loved from my childhood. And it's great in more ways than one. Characters, story, music, you name it.

:iconcrazynutbob::iconsaysplz: well, it was my comfort movie when I got hit in the head with a weight (long story).

Ratigan at the climax was TERRIFYING... I actually like that. [XD] How could I forget scary Ratigan trying to kill Basil while on that clock tower? While it's raining and windy and such?

:iconmovieman410::iconsaysplz: one of my favorites as a kid, that i like equally as an adult, I mean Vincent Price as the villain

 

So, as you've probably gathered by all of the praise that I've given to this film in the past, and all of the things I've mentioned in this film, that I really love this film, and I feel that it deserves much, MUCH more praise than it gets – true, the film was a modest success at the box office, unlike the poor film The Black Cauldron :( - and it continues to be my favourite Disney film, and it gets better and better every time I watch it. As I said before, it is often overlooked by the common Disney fan, mainly because they deem the film... tsk, TOO SMART :iconseethingplz: - but I highly recommend this film to anyone who hasn't seen it – mainly due to the main character and the main villain... and other than those two, there are MANY other things to like in this film.... A great Disney film, a great family film, a great 80's film, and a great animated film.... It's easily among the BEST that Disney has turned out...... [Clap]

Also, one of my earliest submissions that is STILL on DA is OUTTAKES for Basil the Great Mouse Detective. [Giggle] Here they are, in case you haven't seen them yet - duckyworth.deviantart.com/art/…

[I am a dummy!]

 

Well, everybody, seen as we are now in October, I think we know what time it is... :iconprussiaplz:

 

That's right.... stay tuned next time, my friends, as we shall dive into the....

 

HORRENDOUSLY HORRIFIC HALLOWE'EN OF HORRENDOUS HORROR – THE REVENGE!! [EVIL Laughter!]

And we shall start off this creeptastic season with a very interesting horror film that came out in the same year as one of my favourite films, Nosferatu... :iconevilgrinplz:

So, stay tuned for my review of - Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages! :iconwoooplz:

 

COMING DUCKYWORTH'S THOUGHTS –

:iconbluebulletplz: Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

:iconbluebulletplz: Hotel Transylvania

:iconbluebulletplz: ParaNorman

:iconbluebulletplz: Little Shop of Horrors

:iconbluebulletplz: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

:iconbluebulletplz: Killer Klowns From Outer Space

:iconbluebulletplz: Stan Helsing [Rage]

:iconbluebulletplz: Dead Space Aftermath [No, I disagree!]

:iconbluebulletplz: The Frighteners

:iconbluebulletplz: Beetlejuice

:iconbluebulletplz: Something Wicked This Way Comes

:iconbluebulletplz:We're Back - A Dinosaur Story

:iconbluebulletplz:The Princess and the Goblin

:iconbluebulletplz:Twilight – New Moon (:icontwilightsucksplz:)

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Disneyfangirl774's avatar
I also agree with Fidget being somewhat similar to Horace and Jasper, Petrie, and Creeper. :)