The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective

Synopsis of Movie

Beneath the floors and behind the walls of Sherlock Holmes’ London lived an equally skilled detective, a mouse named Basil. Together with Watson-like assistant Dawson, Basil solved mysteries and foiled the world-dominating plans of the evil Professor Ratigan. This was the premise of Eve Titus’ novel Basil of Baker Street, turned into a Disney animated feature under the title The Great Mouse Detective.

Our story begins in the mousehole workshop of Flaversham, a toymaker. The bespectacled mouse is kidnapped by a peg-legged bat named Fidget, lackey to Ratigan. As part of his devilish plan, the snarling mouse Ratigan (don’t call him a rat) forces the kindly toymaker to create a programmable duplicate of Queen Moustoria, monarch of the rodent world.

Basil and Dawson become aware of the predicament when Flaversham’s cute little daughter Olivia runs into Dawson on the street. Riding atop a friendly hound, the detective and his sidekick track down Ratigan’s lair, facing elaborate traps, criminal cronies and a menacing cat before a thrilling climax inside Big Ben’s gearworks.

The Great Mouse Detective made a step toward Disney animation’s future, incorporating newly-developed computer animation techniques to create intricate backdrops. The film’s most famous sequence, the battle inside Big Ben, was crafted almost entirely on computer, a technique that allowed greater freedom to animators while keeping costs down.

It also helped that The Great Mouse Detective was a lot of fun, a rousing adventure in the animal underworld. The film was a much-needed success after the previous year’s The Black Cauldron, setting the stage for a true Disney comeback three years later, courtesy of a certain little mermaid.

Movie Release History

1986 - The Great Mouse Detective

Movie Sub Categories

animated
action/adventure
disney

Movie Studio

Disney

Cast

Professor Ratigan Vincent Price
Basil Barrie Ingham
Bartholomew Barrie Ingham
Dawson Val Bettin
Thug Guard Val Bettin
Olivia Susanne Pollatschek
Fidget Candy Candido
Mrs. Judson Diana Chesney
The Mouse Queen Eve Brenner
Hiram Flaversham Alan Young
Dawson Laurie Main
Lady Mouse Shani Wallis
Bar Maid Ellen Fitzhugh
Citizen Walker Edmiston
Thug Guard Walker Edmiston
Thug Guard Wayne Allwine
Thug Guard Tony Anselmo
Unknown Melissa Manchester

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