The Great Mouse Detective

Largely forgotten now, this is the first Disney movie of the Eighties to show real signs of the then-coming revival. The animation is very good, both characters and backgrounds, with no effort spared to make the drawings look both real and beautiful. The songs are also well done; maybe not the great works of films to come, but all in all perfectly respectable pieces of movie music. And the story, while not spectacular, is mostly entertaining throughout. There are still some weaknesses: the characterizations are overly broad and a bit off, especially in the figure of Basil; he's too emotional to be a Holmes avatar. Whether that mistake is the filmmakers’ or in the source material is a matter for further investigation. Even so, the overall vibe given by the portrayal is close enough that it helps the viewer enjoy this film if the viewer is a fan of the Sherlock stories. The major flaw--if it could be said to be one when considering a Disney film--is that the movie is too heavily toned for young children; it’s difficult for an adult watching this flick to find the multiple layers of meaning that we find in the classics to come. Still, this is a surprisingly strong effort from what was then a still-floundering studio. It stands as a signpost pointing toward the greater things to come.