After finishing my taxes and posting my tax evader series, I was feeling like such a responsible adult. So much so that I had to revisit my childhood to rinse that grown-uppy taste from my mouth.
When country field mouse Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) visits Mr. Ages (Arthur Malet), he diagnoses her son Timothy (Ian Fried) with pneumonia and prescribes three weeks of bed rest to recover. Unfortunately, the final frost has passed and any day Farmer Fitzgibbons’ plow will be hurtling towards her home. Her urgent need to move forces her to seek counsel with the Great Owl (John Carradine). He advises her to seek Nicodemus (Derek Jacobi) and the rats of NIMH who live beneath the rose bush so that they may devise a solution.
You know, Mrs. Brisby is a widow with four kids (one of whom is sick) and she’s trying to move. She could claim head of household with four dependents and take deductions for medical expenses and moving. Not sure if she’d have to pay estate taxes on The Stone she receives from Nicodemus though. Probably not because one, mice don’t pay taxes and two, such adult concerns have no place in kids movies.
The Secret of NIMH is G-rated, but it deals with some heavy adult situations. Mrs. Brisby still mourns the loss of her husband and worries she may lose her son to disease. Rats, mice, rabbits and birds alike fear for their lives from the threat of the Fitzgibbons’ cat, Dragon. Mrs. Brisby and the rats fret over moving before their homes are destroyed by the Fitzgibbons’ plow or NIMH. Jenner (Paul Shenar), an opponent to the rats’ big move, plots to murder Nicodemus and wrest control of their pack. The inclusion of the clumsy crow, Jeremy (Dom DeLuise), must provide enough comic relief to lighten the mood.
An adaptation of the 1971 children’s book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Secret of NIMH is the directorial debut of animator Don Bluth (no relation to George Bluth, Sr.). I know nothing about the technical side of animation, but I know what I like, and I still love The Secret of NIMH. According to my research, Bluth and some other animators left Walt Disney to create their own studio. Don Bluth Productions would strive to create projects using more traditional animation methods. Though more time consuming, the result is a richer, more satisfying storytelling experience, one audiences will definitely notice in The Secret of NIMH.
Totally random side note: The Secret of NIMH is the film debut for Shannen Doherty and Wil Wheaton, who provide the voices for Mrs. Brisby’s oldest kids Teresa and Martin, respectively. Thirty years later the adventures of the courageous Mrs. Brisby are still great to watch from both a story and animation standpoint. Just keep in mind that if you decide to watch it with your little one, you may have some explaining to do.
Andrew (8)
Wayne (8)
John (6)
Josh (6)
Jessica (5)
Justin (5)
Lauren (5)
Steve (5)
Dave Enkosky (4)
Sir Phobos (4)
Twitter: ptsnob
April 20, 2012 8:41 pm
I loved this movie as a kid and even saw it in the theater. I was pretty young, but I think we could sense there was more to it than the typical kids’ movie. I haven’t seen it recently, but it sounds like it would hold up well.
Sadly, I did see the straight-to-video sequel a few years ago, and wow it was terrible.
Twitter: waywardjam
April 23, 2012 9:38 am
Never even knew about the sequel until watching the original again, and from what I read, it sounded awful.
With so much computer-animated stuff out now, I was very pleased to see its older story and animation hadn’t lost its shine.
Twitter: manilovefilms
April 25, 2012 11:24 pm
You can sure tell our age – I grew up with this as well, and like Dan, haven’t seen it in ages.
In fact, I need to get a nice DVD (or maybe even Blu-Ray, if it’s available and cheap enough) – I imagine this thing is gorgeous in high quality, given that the only thing I’ve probably ever seen it on is VHS…
So…you guys watch a lot of The Black Stallion and Benji as kids, too?
Twitter: waywardjam
April 27, 2012 11:19 am
I loved the Black Stallion books and remember watching the movies growing up. My sister was into Benji so I saw them, but didn’t get super into him.
Twitter: ptsnob
April 27, 2012 8:53 pm
I vaguely remember seeing The Black Stallion in the theaters, but I’m not sure that I’ve watched it since. If I watched Benji, I don’t really remember it.
Twitter: thefilmdaze
April 23, 2012 7:17 pm
Don Bluth is the man! 2D animation is still the shit. As much as I love Pixar and despite how good their designs are, I still prefer old school 2D stuff, especially Bluth’s. A lot of amazing coloring.
Secret of NIMH, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Land Before TIme, American Tail.
His animation is great. Some of the other films are kinda crap, but they always look pretty amazing. Titan AE was a sweet attempt.
Hopefully someone will decided to give him some money to let him try and make another film before he croaks.
Twitter: waywardjam
April 25, 2012 11:23 am
Bluth’s animation is incredibly rich. I read up on his techniques and its astounding the amount of details and shading that went into every frame of NIMH.
Classic 2D animation has had a bit of a renaissance lately, it’d be the perfect time for Bluth to churn out one more project.
I always lump The Secrets of NIMH with this animated version of Watership Down that someone (verrrrrry mistakenly) gave me as a gift when I was kid. Um, hello, not a kids movie. While NIMH is a kids movie, it definitely scared the crap out of me. It’s very, very dark. I’d also say that it reminds me of Ferngully–both are socially conscious movies with very adult themes.
Twitter: waywardjam
April 25, 2012 11:26 am
It’s funny you mentioned Fern Gully and Watership Down. It was between those two and NIMH when I was choosing a vault review. I thought Fern Gully in honor of Earth Day, but then I really wanted Watership Down, but both needed to be rented whereas NIMH was on Netflix instant so, winner!
It’s good to know FG and WD would draw comments. I won’t give up on them yet.