The Great Mouse Detective [Part 1]: The Source of the Source

Aly and Sarrah begin their two-week adventure with Basil and Dawson of Disney's 1986 film: The Great Mouse Detective.

This week it's all about the sources of the sources.
Aly discusses Sherlock Holmes and its author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We learn about Doyle's life, the publishing history of Sherlock Holmes, as well as a quick breakdown of its main characters. She also tells us about the crazily academic Sherlock fan club and it's mysterious "game".

Sarrah shines a spotlight on one-time Disney CEO Ron Miller and his wife Diane Disney Miller. We learn about Ron's history with the company as well as Diane's efforts to preserve her father's work.

Aly comes back in the last third to go over some of the iterations that Holmes has seen over the years. Yes, she misses many. There is just too much! But she hits the highlights, and if there are any that you feel it is a crime she missed, be sure to let us know!

Now that we're all prepped and ready, next week we will be tackling Disney's The Great Mouse Detective and all the information specific to the animated feature. But this week, slip on your smoking jacket and slippers, grab your pipe and violin, and let's get deducting with the world-famous consulting detective!

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It's that time again!

Time for a Two-Parter!

These next two weeks we will be delving into Disney's 1986 movie "The Great Mouse Detective".
As per usual this week will be focused more on the source material and some background information for the studio that will be helpful for next week when we discuss the animated movie in depth. But with source material based on Sherlock Holmes and such a huge shift in artists at Disney, we had to split this up!

Sir Artur Conan Doyle

Aly starts us off with a biography of the man behind the legend: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She goes into his writing life, his love life, and his life as a spiritualist. The latter which strangely led him to be friends with Houdini for a little while... and that did not end well!

The infamous fairy photo

Then we dig into the main characters and a bit of history on Sherlock Holmes himself, just to give some framework of where the Great Mouse Detective characters are coming from. We then discuss one of the most intriguing fan-clubs in the world, and "The Game" that is afoot among them!

Sarrah gives us a bio this week, but not our usual Animator Profile. This week we learn about Disney CEO Ron Miller, and his wife Diane Disney Miller.

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Diane Disney Miller

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Ron Miller and Diane Disney Miller

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Ron Miller

Sarrah tells us how Ron came into the company, and how Walt gave him his start in the industry. We also learn about how Diane and Ron worked to preserve and acknowledge all the work that Walt did in his life.

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Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A.

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The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco

Last, but not least, Aly gives us the run-down on what exactly Sherlock has inspired. Get comfy, because there is a lot! Yes, Aly misses some things, some big things. But this was to be a basic overview and she highly encourages listeners to do some googling and find out what Sherlock Holmes adaptations interest them! There are so many!

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Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes

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William Gillette's poster for his play

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William Gillette's film poster

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Guy Ritchie's first Sherlock film

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Ritchie's second Sherlock film

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BBC's Sherlock with Cumberbatch and Freeman

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Elementary with Liu and Lee Miller

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Houdini and Doyle

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Sir Ian McKellen as an elderly Sherlock in Mr. Holmes

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Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street

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Official Blue Plaque outside the Museum

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Details in the Baker Street tube station

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Sherlock Holmes pub exterior

So kick off your slippers, pull out that violin, and put your deductive reasoning to the test as we learn about the world's only consulting detective, and what led him to Disney!

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Our Sources:

Podcast Music By: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Wikipedia Articles on...
The Baker Street Irregulars
The Sherlockian Game
Ron Miller

Bookbub.com list of Sherlock Holmes Re-tellings

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook.Christopher Redmond.Simon & Pierre.2nd Ed. Paperback.2009
The Sherlock Holmes Book.Ed Alexandra Beeden.Hardcover.2015
Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorized Biography.Nick Rennison.Paperback.2005
Sherlock Holmes's London.Rose Shepherd.Hardcover.2015