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Val Bettin, Eve Brenner, Candy Candido, Barrie Ingham, Susanne Pollatschek ... see more see more... , Vincent Price , Alan Young , Wayne Allwine , Tony Anselmo , Diana Chesney , Laurie Main , Basil Rathbone , Shani Wallis , Ellen Fitzhugh , Melissa Manchester , Walker Edmiston

The first Disney animated feature to make extensive use of computer technology, The Great Mouse Detective was based on the children's novel Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus. The titular hero is Basi... read more read more...l, a Holmes-like rodent (complete with deerstalker) who solves crimes in the company of his friend and chronicler Dr. Dawson. Basil and Dawson are retained by the daughter of a mouse toymaker who has been kidnapped by the diabolical Ratigan. The villain hopes to force the toymaker to construct a fake version of the queen who will grant power to the bad guy--or at least, for that part of the world behind the walls of London. Though nearly eliminated by Ratigan, Basil and Dawson trap the villain in the fast-moving mechanisms of Big Ben. By relying on computer animation, Disney was able to keep the budget of Great Mouse Detective down to a manageable size, thus earning back the losses incurred by the studio's previous cartoon feature, The Black Cauldron. Among the talented voice actors utilized in The Great Mouse Detective is Vincent Price, who plays guess what part? (Hint: he ain't Basil). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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71% liked it

56,490 ratings

Critics

81% liked it

16 critics

G, 1 hr. 14 min.

Directed by: Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson

Release Date: July 2, 1986

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DVD Release Date: July 23, 2002

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The Great Mouse Detective movie poster Intellectual Rivals Ratigan Ratigan Ratigan The Great Mouse Detective Basil The Great Mouse Detective
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Flixster Reviews (2,197)

  • 3niR
    May 1, 2011
    3niR
    Cartoon version of Sherlock Holmes! It was really good.
  • jennifxu
    April 28, 2011
    jennifxu
    Basil of Baker Street is one of the sexiest Disney characters in the history of animated cinema, and this is not just because he is a mouse. I do not have a mouse fetish. Rather, I am really into detectives. I even find Poirot attractive at times, though he is a ridiculous, flamb... read moreoyant fop.
  • ajv2688
    January 27, 2011
    ajv2688
    A good kids cartoon movie from Disney, fans of Vincent Price should note that he does the voice of the villain in this one. It's pretty much a kids version of Sherlock Holmes, but with mice. It's cute, and I liked it.
  • SirPant
    December 31, 2010
    SirPant
    One of the few Disney films that I actually rather love. I have very fond memories of seeing this one in the cinema with my Grandmother.
  • fb733768972
    June 11, 2010
    fb733768972
    Great enjoyment for people of all ages! I has a good heart and soul to it and the tone is just averaging on dull. However, it is still a really well made animated kids classic!
  • ythelastman89
    January 13, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Essentially Disney doing Sherlock Holmes. It's very fun and one of the most beautifully haunting depictions of London and its rat infestation. I love it when kids movies can have a logical plot and this definitely does. The characters are nice representations of their human count... read moreerparts and you can't help but love the film noir aspect to an animated movie.
  • kiriyamakazou
    December 31, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    My favourite Disney animated movie. Unlike much of Disney's output, this is one for the boys. There's only so much of that princess crap a guy can take. Basil is pretty much the mouse worlds Sherlock Holmes. He's a genius, arrogant and a bit emotionally disconnected from other mi... read morece. However, he leaps at the chance to rescue a young girl's father when he discovers it might lead to his arch nemesis. Professor Ratigan is probably the greatest Disney villain. Voiced to utter perfection by Vincent Price. Ratigan has it all. The charm, the humour, the incessant unstoppable drive, not to mention he's fucking terrifying when he's angry. The dark stages, characters and events make it all the more enjoyable. Fidget is a twisted creation and causes a jump every time he shoves his face at the camera. Great action, great humour and the most goosebumpily climax in any Disney film.
  • mumby1988
    October 16, 2009
    mumby1988
    Before the release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, mainstream animated films of the 1980s - particularly those from the Disney stable - were poorly scripted, looked lacklustre, and thereby bombed at the box office. A classic example of this is The Black Cauldron, an adaptation of a ... read moreseries of Welsh fairy tale novels starring Nigel Hawthorne and John Hurt. Despite this the dialogue was un-compelling, the aesthetic unremarkable, and for all its virtues the marketing failed to pull people in.

    Basil The Great Mouse Detective is an improvement on this, if nothing else because the source material is both more famous and more credible. The ice-cold deduction of Sherlock Holmes was always going to appeal to mainstream audiences more than obscure fairy tales about cauldrons, magical swords and an assistant pig keeper. Like The Rescuers and the stories of Beatrix Potter, it operates as a parallel to the existing human world; the social structures and roles of characters are the same but the humans are entirely unaware of their existence.

    The first problem with this film is the villain. Vincent Price provides the voice, which on paper should make it an instant hit, Price being one of the greatest horror actors and voiceover artists of all time. However the script never really develops the role of Ratigan beyond that of a caricature; half of his lines either consist entirely of maniacal laughter, or end with it because they can't find a more articulate way to convey his sentiment. It's one thing to make a villain pantomime, it's another to reduce his behaviour to a series of gestures. In doing this the film doesn't really set him up as a fearsome adversary to Basil, in the same way that Moriarty was to Holmes; he just comes across as an over-the-top brute.

    The second major problem is the dynamic between Basil and Dawson. Basil could not have been made as an exact copy of Holmes, since that would have made him too cold to be seen as an heroic figure. Thus the writers and director had to make him seem like a self-absorbed social misfit - which Holmes is, of course. But in doing so they seemed to have (inadvertently) made him incredibly annoying and unsympathetic. People admire Holmes for his intelligence and deduction even if he is cold, but there is little deduction that the audience can follow in this, and the running gag about him mispronouncing Olivia's surname wears thin very early on.

    Because we don't really believe that Basil is a logical genius -- he's just a smart alec or clever dick - it no longer makes much sense to have Dawson as a bumbling fool. By being completely incompetent and cowardly, it undermines both his background as a doctor and a soldier, and means that the duo's misadventures seem a little too disorientating to pass muster.

    There are however some positive aspects to this film. The character of Fidget, Ratigan's handicapped bat assistant, is a nice touch, and their relationship through the course of the evil plot develops at a good, believable pace. The final sequences, with the chase through the gears of Big Ben, is also very well done. Not only does the primitive CGI not look like primitive CGI, but the scene genuinely creates tension. Ratigan's unleashing of all his suppressed rage, as he throws off the mousy exterior (no pun intended), is actually scary, at least for children.

    This is not a classic Disney film, but it is better than The Black Cauldron and a lot of the other bland nonsense animated studios were putting out in the mid-1980s. It's good escapist viewing, but in the grand scheme of this should only serve as evidence for a much-needed change of pace, which came of course with Roger Rabbit two years later.
  • sanjurosamurai
    November 23, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    great disney, one of the best
  • superclerk25
    September 8, 2007
    superclerk25
    One of my favorite of the Disney flicks and also one of the ones that no one has ever heard of. It was a fun story and I thought the music really set the tone and feel of the flick perfectly.

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Critic Reviews

Nina Darnton
August 30, 2004
Nina Darnton, New York Times

Small children may be afraid of some of the bad characters -- the Disney Studio's gift for creating really nasty bad guys means that they are scary -- but they will love the cute, brave mice and cheer... Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It's a lot of fun. Full Review

Sandie Angulo Chen
December 31, 2010
Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media

Clever Sherlock Holmes tribute mixes wit, peril. Full Review

Tim Brayton
November 23, 2009
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

If the film fails to click on all the emotional levels that Disney might have wanted, at least it's a brightly-paced bit of comedy and fun. Full Review

November 16, 2009
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This is high-quality animation. The engaging characters play out the action against elegantly designed backgrounds. Full Review

Steve Crum
March 22, 2008
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Pedestrian Disney cartoon w/nice Vincent Price voice-over.

February 9, 2006
Time Out

As usual with film noir, however, it is the villain who steals the heart and one is rooting for in the breathtaking showdown high up in the cogs and ratchets of Big Ben. Full Review

Michael Dequina
July 11, 2005
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

An amiable little trifle that entertains during its scant running time. Full Review

Alex Sandell
June 10, 2005
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum

Not classic, but the start of something good.

Staci Layne Wilson
January 1, 2005
Staci Layne Wilson, StaciWilson.com

The game is a-paw! Full Review

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Facts

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    • Professor Ratigan: I've won! Hahahaha!
    • Fidget: Gotcha, toy maker!
    • Lady Mouse: Hey fellas. I'll take off all my blues [while stripping off her blue colored skirt]
    • Professor Ratigan: I am not a rat!
    • Professor Ratigan: Oh, I love it when I'm nasty.
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The Great Mouse D... : Watch Free on TV

The Great Mouse Detective Trivia

  • In the movie "The Great Mouse Detective", what was the name of the little mouse who lost her father to Ratigon?  Answer »
  • What is the name of the dog in Basil the Great Mouse Detective?  Answer »
  • In The Movie The Great Mouse Detective What Happens To Little Olivia's Father  Answer »
  • What Country Did Olivia And Her Dad In The Great Mouse Detective Come From  Answer »
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