Disney’s elves have remastered this animated feature from the 1980s. The Great Mouse Detective is based on Eve Titus’s book Basil of Baker Street, about a Victorian-era mouse who mirrors Sherlock Holmes. Basil’s arch-villain is Professor Ratigan, voiced by Vincent Price, who plans a diabolical crime of colossal proportions. There’s spirited music by Henry Mancini. If you’re a Sherlockean, you’ll be amused by this pastiche. If you’re just looking for 74 minutes of clever entertainment, you can’t go wrong with The Great Mouse Detective. GRADE: B
You never fail to impress me with your wide-ranging interests and open-mindedness.
THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE would be the ideal way to introduce young children to mysteries and Sherlock Holmes, Patti. This Disney production possesses great production values.
Judy and I still quote lines from this movie to each other.
There’s some clever dialogue in this confection, Bill.
I haven’t seen this one in ages, but loved it when I did watch it years ago. Time to watch it again. You say it’s been “remastered”. What, as much as you can tell, has been done to it, in what way is it improved?
“Remastered” in this context means the film has been “digitized” and fully restored, Rick. This version includes some bonus features, too, including Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The Henry Mancini soundtrack sounds wonderful!
I saw this one with my mom when it first came out. I liked it, but the only thing I remember is the henchmen (henchmice?) singing the Ratigan song.
24 years ago! Time does run away from us.
Yes, there’s some surprising violence in that “Ratigan Song,” Drongo. I’m not sure the censors at Disney would allow that today in an contemporary animation.
Looking at the cover again, I noticed “Mystery in the Mists Edition”. Now I wonder if this is a sequel?
No, it’s not a sequel, Rick. The “Mystery In the Mist” edition refers to this 2010 edition to differentiate it from the inferior 2002 “Special Edition” that wasn’t that special. Here’s the technical explanation: “Title changes aside, this Mystery In The Mist Edition also promotes an “all-new digital transfer”, likely created for a later high-definition release. Checking against the 2002 DVD, the odd thing here, apart from a more saturated color palette that can be quite intense, is that Disney has been playing with their aspect ratios again. Released in 2002 in the “original theatrical ratio” of 1.66:1, the image here is clearly a slightly wider 1.78:1, with basically the blanking plates on the sides of the 1.66 image removed to show more picture information left and right.”
Thanks, George!!