The Great Mouse Detective [Part 2]: Guns, Booze, & Wily Women

Welcome to Part 2 of our episodes discussing Disney's 1986 film, The Great Mouse Detective.

This week Aly introduces us to Eve Titus' book series 'The Basil of Baker Street Mysteries', the children's novels that this film is based upon.

Sarrah gives us a feeling for the studio at the time of this film and talks us through the journey that Basil took to be made into a feature film. She gives us some fun facts, and we even find out who animated each character!

Our walkthrough has us wanting to give Dawson a big ol' hug, questioning the relationship between Mouse-World and Human-World, and getting increasingly angry at party decorators.

So let's keep our wits about us to attempt to defeat the Napoleon of Crime, and watch The Great Mouse Detective!

Podcast Music By: www.bensound.com

As promised, we're back with more on Disney's 1986 film "The Great Mouse Detective".

Now that you're all caught up on Sherlock Holmes and Ron Miller, let's get into all the information on this particular movie.

Many may not realize, but we are once again working with an adaptation...of an adaptation. The Great Mouse Detective was based on the five-book series 'Basil of Baker Street Mysteries' by Eve Titus.

Aly gives us the (sadly) short biography on Ms. Titus (not too much information to be found) as well as a run-down on the differences between Basil of Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes, as well as Basil of Baker Street and The Great Mouse Detective.

Sarrah teaches us about the making of this film in the animation department, including field trips to Big Ben and what animators were in charge of which characters. She walks us through the creative process, both in the journey of Basil becoming his own movie, and the animation it took to get there. Which, of course, means our first look at Computer Generated Animation!

UPDATE: So when Aly discusses Inspiration and Influence, she mentioned that Basil and Ratigan were in a music video with French singer Douchka Esposito. It should be noted that these appeared to be Disney sanctioned, and she, in fact, did a few different Disney themed videos/songs.  Please watch it. You won't regret it.

 

And our walk-through has us wanting to give Dawson a big hug, pondering once again how the lives of men and mice co-exist in these worlds and getting really aggravated at party decorators.

So let's keep our wits about us and try to defeat the Napoleon of Crime as we watch The Great Mouse Detective!

3 1/2 stars for Great Mouse Detective!

The Great Mouse Detective Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Voice Acting: Full - excellent and detailed driven performances, particularly by Barrie Ingham as Basil and Vincent Price as Ratigan (plus Val Bettin as Dawson).
Script & Story: Half - The story was fine, but with source material like Sherlock Holmes and Basil of Baker Street, we were hoping for a bit more detecting from our consulting detective. Aside from the beginning, there wasn't a whole lot of Sherlock in the Sherlock Holmes of the mice world.
Music & Songs: Half - While the songs were fun and upbeat, none were that memorable.
Animation & Technical: Full - The animation was beautifully done. There were great effects, the character designs were on point, and the use of CG animation felt natural and not forced or jarring.
Over-All Style: Half - It's fine. There's nothing that really sets apart this style from any other animated film.

 

Want to help us out AND watch or read along with our podcast? Here are some handy links to the books and movies we are discussing for you to purchase!
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Our Sources:

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

IMDb page for Great Mouse Detective
Wikipedia Article for Great Mouse Detective

Wikipedia Article for Eve Titus
Eve Titus Obituary

D23.com Article on Great Mouse Detective
Denofgeek.com Article on Great Mouse Detective
Tor.com Article on Great Mouse Detective
Whatsitgalore.com List of Great Mouse Detective "Sightings"

Great Mouse Detective. Eve Titus. Aladdin. Hardcover. 2016
Basil and the Cave of Cats. Eve Titus. Aladdin. Hardcover. 2016
Basil in Mexico. Eve Titus. Aladdin. Hardcover. 2016