Basil, le grand détective des souris

This is probably one of the most unknown Disney classics.

For the time the movie was quite new and revolutionary and it doesn't quite fit in with the other movies Disney made in that period., perhaps that's the reason why it has been forgotten. But "The Great Mouse Detective" deserves to be known and seen.

The characters are real classics and one of the best to have ever appeared in a Disney movie. Actually Professor Ratigan (voiced by the legendary Vincent Price) is quite possibly my favorite movie villain of all time. No wonder that it was Vincent Price's favorite role. His style and humor is priceless and it cracks me up every time. But the other characters are also very memorable. I especially like the character of doctor Dawson.

The story is good and very pleasant and very mature compared to other Disney's from that period. But of course the idea of making a story about the mouse version of Sherlock Holmes alone is already good enough to make a fun movie about.

One of the other things that makes this movie different compared to other Disney's from that period are the songs or better said the lack of it. The movie features only one song (3 if you count the bar song and the goodbye, so soon song.). But it's not a miss. The surprising magnificent musical score by famous composer Henry Mancini make up for this loss.

The movie has a very spectacular final on and in the famous Big Ben. It's by far my favorite Disney movie ending.

Certainly a fun movie to watch over and over again.

10/10

P.S.: If you're Dutch speaking, I highly recommend that you watch this movie Dutch spoken. Believe it or not it's even better and more fun then the English version! Believe me, just give it a shot.

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The Great Mouse Detective is so underrated, it's criminal. How does nobody know about this?! It has one of the best cast of characters in a Disney film, one of the best Disney villains ever (voiced by the amazing Vincent Price, no less), and is packed with fun and adventure.

Brilliant and eccentric detective Basil of Baker Street is given the case of a lifetime when young Olivia Flavisham comes to his doorstep for help. Her father, a gifted toymaker, has been abducted by Professor Ratigan, a notorious criminal whom Basil has been chasing for years. With the help of the young mouse and the kindly but down-to-earth Dr. Dawson, Basil sets out to rescue Olivia's father and foil Ratigan's scheme.

The story seems a bit plain, but the plot isn't what makes TGMD exciting. It is the characters which bring the movie to life and make it worth watching. Being based off Sherlock Holmes himself, Basil is naturally an intelligent badass. He's enthusiastic about his work and little else at the beginning of the film, and doesn't care much for Dawson and Olivia upon first meeting them, but as the film progresses he starts opening up to them, especially Olivia. It's a nice bit of character development which gives the film heart without becoming sentimental. Dr. Dawson's warmer and less dramatic personality provides the perfect foil for Basil, and Olivia is charming and adorable without being cutesy-cutesy or annoying. But the best character has to be Ratigan, one of the great unsung Disney villains. He's funny as hell, gleefully enjoying every bit of evil he engages in and doing so with larger-than-life style; on the other hand, he can be pretty scary too, and if he snaps, boy are you screwed. He's voiced brilliantly by Vincent Price, who you can tell had a lot of fun doing the part.

The animation isn't breathtaking, but it's still good. A lot of the character animation is done extremely well, in particular facial expressions. The backgrounds are lovely and dark, perfectly giving the film the atmosphere of foggy Victorian London.

Though it's not much of a musical, the few songs in TGMD are good. I especially like "Let Me Be Good to You", which is catchy and, when viewed in context to the film, very suggestive and adult. Hilarious. Good characters, good songs, humor, heart, adventure…it's all there. It's no Pinocchio or Beauty and the Beast, but it's still a wonderful movie. How awful it is that it isn't well-known! It's one of those Disney films you'll still enjoy even when you're older, and if you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out.

8/10

The Great Mouse Detective is one of my favorite Disney films of all time, it's also one of the most under rated in my opinion. I think just because I love the story so much and it always brought up good memories, this was the funniest Disney animated movie I had seen at the time. It's just such a cute film, it has fun animation, catchy songs, and such a touching story that anyone could easily fall in love with. My parents and I watched this movie together all the time when I was a child, still to this day, I don't mind sitting down to watch it, it's just that much fun.

A young little mouse girl and her toy shop father are celebrating her birthday, but her father is quickly taken away by a rotten gang of mice who are led by a giant rat, Ratigan, who is planning to over throw the queen and become leader of the mouse world. Olivia, the daughter, goes to Basil of Baker Street, he's a mad detective who has been chasing Ratigan for a long time. Along with the help of an average mouse, Dr. Dawson, Olivia, and Basil go after Ratigan to make sure that his plan fails.

The Great Mouse Detective is such a cute film. I'm very sure that you'll enjoy it, it's one of my personal favorites, I really do think this is one of the better Disney films and is an under rated treasure. I just loved Basil, his madness was just so funny and enjoyable to watch. I also loved Ratigan's song of why he is so great, not to mention how he thinks he's a mouse is just priceless. This is a fun family film to watch, I highly recommend it.

10/10

Under-appreciated is the best way to describe "The Great Mouse Detective" because you never hear mention of this movie. "Renaissance" this and "Classic Disney" that, but never this one. And it's a shame really, since this is a fun, well put-together flick. There's life to the animation (for a story told from a mouse's level, it's pretty good-looking), it makes good use of early CGI, and I really like the new spin on the subject matter while paying respect to earlier Sherlock Holmes adaptations. This is a real treat; good characters, dastardly plot and an outsized adventure.

7/10

¨The great mouse detective¨ also titled ¨The adventure of the great mouse detective ¨ is a Walt Disney cartoon feature based on famous characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted of Eve Titus' book titled ¨Basil of Baker Street¨ . This amusing cartoon movie deals with Basil , the rodent Sherlock Holmes who investigates the kidnapping of a toy-maker and uncovers its link to his archenemy , Professor Ratigan . It begins when Hiram Flaversham ( voice by Alan Young) , a master toymaker , is abducted by a peg-legged bat , on his daughter Olivia's birthday . The nefarious Professor Ratingan (voice by Vincent Price) kidnapped him for forcing his victim Flaversham to make some diabolical device . The young mouse has no one to turn to for help , so she strikes out on her own , looking for the greatest detective in all mousedom , Basil of Baker Street ( performed with gusto by Barrie Ingham) . En route , Olivia encounters Dr. David Dawson (voice by Bettin) , a mouse recently gone back from military duty in Afghanistan . They manage to encounter his rooms at 221 1/2 Baker Street in the cellar of a very notorious address , and the mouse himself soon makes his appearance running around the apartment , ignoring his two hosts , in anticipation of bringing his latest case to a successful final with an experiment in ballistics . Nevertheless , the experiment is a flop , and the detective is thrown into a deep depression, still unwilling to help poor Olivia . But Basil is again galvanized into action . The Sherlockian mouse matches wits with the nasty Professor Rattingan . The crime lord Ratigan is planning in the sewers of London nothing less than the demise of the Queen on the day of her ¨Diamond Jubilee¨ and his own ascension to the throne . Later on , Basil , Dr. Dawson and Olivia are submitted a tempestuous trap by Professor Ratingan and are imprisoned .

This fun animation is set in England's mouse population, who lives not so different from ours, in the mouse holes and basements of the British Empire . The funny characters are the following : Basil who is a bundle of energy , he is played in a clever , broody and impetuous manner similarly to Holmes-Basil Rathbone . Good Doctor Dawson/Watson is drawn or played in kindly way , he's the perfect counterpoint to Basil/Holmes . Ratigan , the arch-nemesis , a Doctor Moriaty-alike is the worst criminal in London, a veritable Napoleon of Crime . Furthermore , a sympathetic thug ,an unfortunate peg-legged bat . This agreeable animation movie contains a lively and enjoyable musical score by the great Henry Mancini . The motion picture is well realized by Ron Clemens and John Musker (among others) who subsequently would have several successes such as ¨The little mermaid¨, ¨Aladdin¨ , ¨Hercules¨, ¨Tresure planet ¨, and ¨The princess and the frog¨ . Rating : Good , worthwhile watching and reissued successfully in 1992 .