Siskel & Ebert - The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective is one of Disney's most underrated gems. It was made at a time when Disney was struggling financially and had not released many highly regarded films in years leading many to question the company's prestige. The Great Mouse Detective was a financial success and both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film a thumbs up review. Ebert in particular liked the film's animation and compared it to that of Disney's Golden Age. The Great Mouse Detective can be credited with setting the stage for the Disney Renaissance and the introduction of some of the company's greatest work during the late 1980's and 1990's with films such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King among others.

[@deckofcards87]

Great Mouse Detective definitely has that charm and level of subtle sophistication that the old great ones have. Disney were on a real roll from the late 80s until The Huntchback Of Notre Dame in 1996. Beauty And The Beast being the peak, in my opinion.

[@jakemetzgar]

One of all time favorite Disney animated movies. I wish they would include Ratigan with the lineup of other memorable Disney villains

[@elainecanby412]

Voiced by the legendary Vincent Price.

[@matthewhedrichjr.5445]

I agree. He’s got the charm to shine for us folks like Captain Hook from Peter Pan and Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians. Lady Tremaine is just so hated and the most unlikable villain in Cinderella. Ratigan deserves more attention and praise

[@curleed85]

Vincent Price was just the right guy for Rattigan, too. You could tell that he was really enjoying himself.

[@curleed85]

@@matthewhedrichjr.5445What if I were to point out both Lady Tremaine and Maleficent were voiced by the same actress?

[@Momo-qe2zk]

Great movie and Ratigan is a perfect villain

[@linkbiff1054]

The way Gene summarizes this is spot-on.

[@EthanKnight97]

Back in the day they didn't care much for spoilers.

[@Jbaxter85]

It's been long time since I seen it as kid but haven't forgotten. I remember liking it, it is film version of Sherlock Holmes but in animation about a detective happens to be mouse which is cute. This is a special classic entertainment animation for kids. Thumbs way up 👍👍👍😁😉

[@bobspence5322]

was in kindergarten the year great mouse detective came out, and oh lucky day. my mom took me to see great mouse detective not just once, but three times that year. first as a matinee, which was cheaper for kids, like a dollar or sth like that. we liked the movie so much, we dragged dad to an evening showing a week later. he liked it too. unlike black cauldron, which had kids screaming in despair as innocent animals they had gotten attached to for the past hour are seemingly killed, then locking up his credit cards lol at the toy outlet next door. this movie made his kids start to think fast and use intuition. not to mention, there wasnt a big toy campaign launched well ahead, for once in the 80s. so finally mouse detective got a third finale showing, late that summer, after dark at a drive in theater. if i remember correctly, the feature had classic short length cartoons before the opening, perhaps to make up for its less than 90 minute running time. those were classics like mickey donald, goofy, as ghost hunters, or clock sweepers i think. anyways, the outdoor giant drive in screen REALLY brought to life the effect of the mice sized take on a big human world, simultaneous to my own take as a kid in a big adult world. i remember even being 6 years old and grasping this, getting permission to go running through the grass, right down under the screen, and back, just getting it all in. it was a good memory of my childhood, rare as i was often melancholy, morose, and other words starting with m. really that outdoor movie going experience in my childhood, was only equalled only by the time i saw ghostbusters at the same drive in theater. mr. stay puft lol outside larger than life, i could never have guessed would be scary, yet it was. the 80s was indeed a mixed bag, like transformers movie, ugh urban legend states a boy committed suicide over seeing it. which i see nothing wrong with dark narratives, just they do have an effect that will imprint a young person no doubt. for instance i was about 11 i saw "quick change" a kind of average comedy from the early 90s with bill murray, at a different drive in with family, showing i think with gremlins 2. anyways my brothers 2 years younger and me emulated what we saw in movies, and had contests to see who could change in and out and in again of wardrobe the fastest, revving up the fanciful cosplay kids tend to be indelibly drawn at some age or another. mine usually was to put my underwear on inside out of my clothes and tie a towel around my neck for a cape, impersonating superman. most older siblings would be amused, even touched by childish, yet inventive hijinx, but with my older sisters it was, you are an annoying show off, thats stupid unoriginal, do sth somewhere else,.. all while sitting in my bedroom eating candy watching tv. which for some reason, my parents thought would be the best place for the only color television in the house, ill never understand why they wpuld buy me a birthday present for the whole family, namely so they could use it, but they tried to pull that on me more than once.

[@SirZapdos]

Smile Everyone!

[@jonathancruz5932]

Two Thumbs Up for The Great Mouse Detective

[@jamessparkman6604]

Ratigan was ironically a mouse in the original book series

[@kathymoriarty1441]

God I Miss Those Two Reviewing Movies So Much, I would've Loved Seeing Them Review, Solo a Star Wars Story, Rogue One A Star Wars Story, Star Wars The Force Awakens, Star Wars The Last Jedi, Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker, Transformers Age Of Extinction, Transformers The Last Knight, BumbleBee, The Marine 4, The Marine 5, The Marine 6, Countdown, The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, Smurfs The Lost Village, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Sherlock Gnomes, Ferdinand, How To Train Your Dragon, How To Train Your Dragon 2, How To Train Your Dragon The Hidden World, The Call Of The Wild (2020), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), Lady And The Tramp (2019), Mulan (2020), Cinderella (2015), Alice In Wonderland (2010), Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016), The Incredibles (2004), Incredibles 2 (2018), Toy Story 4 (2019), Zootopia (2016), Big Hero 6 (2014), Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018), The Princess and The Frog (2009), The Good Dinosaur (2015), The Croods (2013), The Croods A New Age (2020), The Secret Life Of Pets, The Secret Life Of Pets 2, Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, Sing (2016), Little Women (2019), Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Fantastic Beasts The Crimes Of Grindlewald, The Simpsons Movie (2007), Mary And The Witches Flower (Anime Movie), Lupin the Third: The First, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Pokemon The Movie I Choose You, Pokemon The Movie The Power Of Us, Pokemon The Movie Secrets Of The Jungle, Pokemon The Movie Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution, Joker (2019), Cats (2019), The Witches (2020), Jurassic World, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Godzilla (2014), Robocop (2014), World Trade Center (2006), United 93 (2006), Beauty And The Beast (2017), The Jungle Book (2016), Etc. etc.

[@matthewhedrichjr.5445]

Best Disney film of the 80’s ever. It really deserves more attention than The Lion King and Sleeping Beauty. Better than An American Tail, IMO. It should have a sequel and a show instead of that crappy Belle’s Magical World.

[@snarkus63]

After being disappointed by *The Black Cauldron* , this was definitely several steps up.

[@matthewhedrichjr.5445]

Oh yes it is, regardless to how it compared to Don Bluth’s An American Tail at the box office.

[@jamessparkman6604]

R I p Vincent Price Barrie Ingram

[@RevPerdueJosh]

Thank you for saving this and uploading.

[@TropicalHonduranDominican]

this is the only time that critics get to publicly review the original theatrical print of this movie

[@staggmovie]

Makes you wonder how they would have thought of the surprise villains that Disney has been doing in more of their recent movies. Like take for example Prince Hans from Frozen. And there are a few other musical numbers that they didn't shoe, even when Vincent Price laos had recorded another song.

[@nickdorenkamp959]

There's one common problem with the surprise villains and that is they don't have a lot of screen time and I'm not including the ones from Pixar because Pixar doesn't always have that problem but the reason as to why is because aside from most of they're films not needing a villain when they do need one they try they're best to make sure that villain has enough screen time in order to become not just a memorable character but a memorable Disney villain. Take Ernesto de la Cruz from coco for example yeah sure he's a surprise villain however unlike the other surprise villains Disney has done he does have enough screen time to be a memorable villain. Let's compare him to bellwether from zootopia, sure her reveal was just as shocking however hers wasn't as shocking as de la cruz's reveal mainly because since zootopia is a buddy cop movie it makes sense that it would have a mystery that most cop movies have and that is either a dirty politician or someone who works in politics or a dirty cop; Wheras de la cruz's reveal on the other hand was a shocking reveal because no body sees it coming.

[@rhyancoleman6462]

Very good points.

[@flaccidusminimus2170]

Gene forgets that he liked "The Fox and the Hound" (maybe the most underrated and sublime Disney picture from the post-Bambi pre-Little Mermaid period).

[@patrickshields5251]

Basil of Baker Street is an asshole.

[@Sparrows1121]

Computers in the 1980s. Interesting. I guess Amiga was kind of popular start where lots of people learned to program

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

ZX Spectrum for the British market.

[@TheMidnightPhil]

This was the first movie I remember seeing in theaters-I was four years old, and I remember being quite scared both by Fidget's two big jump scares and by some of Ratigan's more devious moments.

[@davidnelson6874]

This movie was great fun.

[@matthewpaul6904]

Mmmm, I wonder if that Aliens movie will be any good.

[@patrickc3419]

I remember seeing this in the theater when it was first released!

[@rocknrollkid90]

Well, both, “My Little Pony: The Movie” and “The Transformers: The Movie,” went to theaters, during the summer of 1986, around August.

[@repeekyraidcero]

God I love this movie. The german voice fir Basil especially

[@jamessparkman6604]

It’s based on the book series by eve Titus basil of Baker street

[@Konsker]

pretty miss kitty mouse

[@nickperkins8477]

I love The Black Cauldron. Creatively, The Black Cauldron is drastically better than The Great Mouse Detective.

[@cesarzpontu8886]

no it isn't

[@matthewhedrichjr.5445]

don’t really care for Black Cauldron, nor Sleeping Beauty because of Aurora’s bland character and King Stefan’s weak performance. Basil the Great Mouse Detective is way much better as it’s more comedic, more action packed and filled with fun. Indeed the film’s timely success is credited for preserving the Disney Studio after Black Cauldron had failed. As a result, the studio reinstated the confidence that culminated with the Disney Renaissance. Black Cauldron just didn’t impress me although it’s princess is interesting as Cinderella is.

[@patrickshields5251]

I love Siskel and Ebert but I totally disagree with them that it's a good movie. One of my problems with the film is that Basil is such an insufferable asshole that really has no real arc. It seems to me that they really weren't interested in providing an arc, Basil is a prick because they thought it would be cute.

[@kathymoriarty1441]

Well I Think that Ratigan is the best Disney Villains of all time, then all the other Disney Villains and Villainesses that came after him, Like, 1. The Evil Queen. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 2. Stromboli. Pinocchio. 3. Chemabog. Fantasia. 4. Pink Elephants. Dumbo. Animated Movie. 5. Man. Bambi. 6. Headless Horseman. The Adventures Of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. 7. Lady Tremaine. Cinderella. Animated Movie. 8. Queen Of Hearts. Alice In Wonderland. Animated Movie. 9. Captain Hook. Peter Pan. Animated Movie. 10. Rat. Lady And The Tramp. Animated Movie. 11. Maleficent. Sleeping Beauty. Animated Movie. 12. Cruella De Ville. 101 Dalmatians. Animated Movie. 13. Madam Mim. The Sword In The Stone. Animated Movie. 14. Shere Khan. The Jungle Book. Animated Movie. 15. Edgar Balthazar. The Aristocats. Animated Movie. 16. Prince John. Robin Hood. Animated Movie. 17. Bees. The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh. Animated Movie. 18. Madame Medusa. The Rescuers. Animated Movie. 19. Amos Slade. The Fox And The Hound. Animated Movie. 20. Horned King. The Black Cauldron. Animated Movie. 21. Bill Sykes. Oliver & Company. Animated Movie. 22. Ursula. The Little Mermaid. Animated Movie. 23. Percival C McLeach. The Rescuers Down Under. Animated Movie. 24. Gaston LeGume. Beauty And The Beast. Animated Movie. 25. Jafar. Aladdin. Animated Movie. 26. Scar. The Lion King. Animated Movie. 27. Governor Ratcliffe. Pocahontas. Animated Movie. 28. Claude Frollo. The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. Animated Movie. 29. Hades. Hercules. Animated Movie. 30. Shan Yu. Mulan. Animated Movie. 31. Clayton. Tarzan. Animated Movie. 32. Kron. Dinosaur. CGI Animated Movie. 33. Yzma. The Emperor's New Groove. 34. Lyle Tiberius Rourke. Hercules. Animated Movie. 35. Captain Gantu. Lilo & Stitch. 36. Long John Silver. Treasure Planet. 37. Alameda Slim. Home On The Range. 38. Bowler Hat Guy. Meet The Robinsons. 39. Director. Bolt. 40. Doctor Facilier. The Princess and The Frog. 41. Mother Gothel. Tangled. 42. Turbo/King Candy. Wreck-It Ralph. 43. Hans. Frozen. 44. Robert Callaghan. Big Hero 6. 45. Bellwether. Zootopia. 46. Te Ka. Moana. and Non-Disney Villains too. Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glumgold, Ma Beagel, Etc. etc.

[@J3rs3y_G1rl]

Basil is literally Sherlock Holmes. He was supposed to be stand offish.

[@patrickshields5251]

@@J3rs3y_G1rl Yeah, but why in a kids movie?

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@patrickshields5251 I think it’s to highlight how, like many of us in the real world, Basil is in his own little world, and don’t care much of what others think. But unlike a certain hedgehog with an identity crisis since 2003, Basil is not apathetic about the whole situation, is not afraid to show that he actually cares, and even came off as likable as the story continues; whereas Ratigan gets more aggressive when his cool factor declines.

[@patrickshields5251]

@@robbiewalker2831 That never happens. There’s nothing to like about him.

[@oldfashionedguy1368]

I personally do think that An American Tail is a much better film than this, IMO.

[@thisisme9898]

I don't agree and I can't relate but ☮️

[@kichiwas-hargan4775]

Why do you think that?

[@matthewhedrichjr.5445]

No. This is better because An American Tail was too traumatic and sad, as the sequel is better. No offense

[@ledbowman]

i gave it 2 thumbs way down