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Title: The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Vincent Price | ... | Professor Ratigan (voice) | |
| Barrie Ingham | ... | Basil of Baker Street / Bartholomew (voice) | |
| Val Bettin | ... | Dr. David Q. Dawson / Thug Guard (voice) | |
 |
Susanne Pollatschek | ... | Olivia Flaversham (voice) |
|
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Candy Candido | ... | Fidget (voice) |
|
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Diana Chesney | ... | Mrs. Judson (voice) |
| Eve Brenner | ... | The Mouse Queen (voice) | |
| Alan Young | ... | Hiram Flaversham (voice) | |
| Basil Rathbone | ... | Sherlock Holmes (archive sound) | |
| Laurie Main | ... | Dr. Watson (archive sound) | |
| Shani Wallis | ... | Lady Mouse (voice) | |
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Ellen Fitzhugh | ... | Bar Maid (voice) |
| Walker Edmiston | ... | Citizen / Thug Guard (voice) | |
| Wayne Allwine | ... | Thug Guard (voice) | |
| Tony Anselmo | ... | Thug Guard (voice) | |
In Victorian London, England, a little mouse girl's toymaker father is abducted by a peglegged bat. She enlists the aid of Basil of Baker Street, the rodent world's answer to Sherlock Holmes. The case expands as Basil uncovers the crime's link to a plot against the Crown itself. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>
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The Walt Disney Company's 26th full-length animated feature film, "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986), was considered one of the better films made in the period between "The Jungle Book" (1967) and "The Little Mermaid" (1989). That may not sound like high enough praise seeing that this period was regarded as one of the company's lowest points with duds such as "The Black Cauldron" (1985). But trust me when I say that the praise is well justified in the case of "The Great Mouse Detective", which gets much of its entertainment value from an awesome hero and villain.
A young Scottish mouse named Olivia is searching for a detective in London who can help search for her kidnapped toymaker father. With the help of Dr. David Dawson, she searches for a world-famous mouse detective by the name of Basil of Baker Street. Basil accepts the case since he is lead to believe that the main suspect of this kidnapping is his archenemy Professor Ratigan (Vincent Price, giving a fun performance in this juicy role). Ratigan plans on using Olivia's father to help build a robot of the Mice Queen, so he can rule all of England. Will Basil, Olivia, and Dawson be able to stop Ratigan before it's too late and rescue Olivia's father?
"The Great Mouse Detective" is basically a kid-friendly version of any film or TV show based on Sherlock Holmes. As a matter of fact, in the world of this movie at least, Basil lives in the house of the one and only Sherlock Holmes. He even uses Sherlock's dog named Toby to help him solve this case and track down possible clues. There are a few scary scenes in this film, but they're not quite as dark as the previous Disney animated feature "The Black Cauldron". One is when we see Ratigan's henchman bat Fidget for the first time in a frightening close-up. Another is when we see one of Ratigan's drunken henchmen get eaten by Ratigan's cat as ordered by Ratigan himself, simply because he calls his boss a rat much to his intense disapproval. These scenes are scary, but in a good way.
And speaking of Ratigan, let's delve further into why I think he's an awesome Disney villain, shall we? Ratigan has a key personality trait that any great Disney villain should have. He enjoys being evil, meaning that he's having the time of his life committing all the unjust crimes that he does. He loves being bad so much that we sort of like his character because he's so content with making his victims suffer. That's one more reason why we like villains in the first place. The central hero Basil is also worth talking about, too. His impressive intelligence and ability to solve crimes with ease is one thing, but to make him charming and fun at the same time is another thing altogether.
"The Great Mouse Detective" makes for a good evening's entertainment for both kids and adults. Even if it isn't a groundbreaking film for Disney, it's at least a film that is confident and very well-told. The narrative is free of distractions, the animation is good as always, and the characters especially the hero and the villain still hold up well. If you're a fan of mysteries and are looking for a way to introduce young kids to them, then "The Great Mouse Detective" easily ranks as one of your best bets.