The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery In The Mist Edition
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
US DVD Release Date: April 13, 2010
Theatrical Release Year: 1986
Rated: G
Running Time: 74 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French, Spanish)
Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish
Movie: 3.5 out of 5
A toy maker, Hiram Flaversham, is kidnapped by the evil Ratigan as part of his plot to overthrow the Queen and rule Mousedom. The toy maker's young daughter, Olivia, with the help of Dr. David Q. Dawson, hires private detective Basil of Baker Street to find her father.
Many point to The Little Mermaid as the beginning of the Renaissance for Feature Animation at the Disney Studios, but the turning point had to be The Great Mouse Detective. Arriving in theaters one year after the disastrous The Black Cauldron, the new corporate regime at the studio (headed by Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the late Roy E. Disney) had placed The Great Mouse Detective on a fast-track production schedule, utilizing video cameras to record storyboards and rough pencil animation before committing to cel animation, and loosening the tight leash former executive Ron Miller had over this second generation of animators. Computer animation, still in its infancy, would also be used during a climactic chase through the gears of Big Ben. The focus on character and story development would also return with this film, although not at the level we would see in later years.
With one or two exceptions, the voice casting is excellent. Character actors Barrie Ingham and Val Bettin sound at home as Basil and Dawson, respectively. Vincent Price practically steals the show as Ratigan, having way too much fun delivering his lines. Susanne Pollatschek's performance as Olivia often sounds as if she's trying too hard to sound like a young girl, and Alan Young as her father sounds too much like Scrooge McDuck (a character he is best-known for).
The Great Mouse Detective marked the directorial debut of Robert Clements and John Musker, who would later direct The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet (which, ironically, many point to as the demise of hand-drawn animation at the Disney studios), and The Princess and the Frog (Disney's recent return to the traditional animated feature). The animation is fluid, and the range of emotions the animators are able to convey in the characters is a reminder of what good hand-drawn animation is capable of. Clements and Musker's use of sight gags hidden within the frame is on early display here, something they would perfect years later in Aladdin and Hercules. Interestingly, Disney has not digitally removed any of the smoking by the characters in this film, as they have done on other animated shorts and features, nor does the DVD include a short PSA on the dangers of smoking, as was done on the recent Pinocchio DVD and Blu-ray release.
While not exactly a classic, The Great Mouse Detective is a delightful family film that also proved that, after The Black Cauldron, Disney could still make the type of movie that Walt would be proud of.
Video: 4.5 out of 5
The packaging on this DVD release boasts an all-new digital restoration. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is superb. The print used has been cleaned up and is free of any noticeable dirt or scratches. Colors are well-saturated without bleeding, although I did notice there were a few inconsistencies in fur tones, but I chalk that up more to the fact that The Great Mouse Detective was one of the last few features where each cel was hand-painted. These are minor and you have to really be looking hard to see them. Detail is quite good, with noticeable but natural-looking film grain. Compression artifacts are minimal and not distracting. It's a shame this was not released on Blu-ray.
Audio: 3 out of 5
The Great Mouse Detective was originally released to theaters in a Dolby Stereo mix, with a matrixed surround channel. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack provided on this DVD, encoded at 384 kbps, has good fidelity, but sounds like a stereo mix that has been remixed for 5.1. There is good stereo separation across the front three channels, but the surrounds are used mainly for ambient sounds and music bleed, and there Is litle to no LFE acivity. Henry Mancini's score, his first for an animated feature, comes across wonderfully.
Special Features: 2 out of 5
This Mystery In The Mist Edition ports over most of the features found on the previous DVD release, plus a few new ones that aren't exactly special.
New on this DVD:
So You Think You Can Sleuth Game (4:42): Not a game, per se, but more of an instructional video on the history of sleuthing and deductive reasoning. Disney has been fairly good at authoring games on their DVDs in the past, and the video does not even stop and ask the viewer to guess the defendant.
Dylan & Cole Sprouse: Blu-ray is Suite (4:45): The stars of Disney Channel's The Suite Life On Deck appear in this painful promo for Blu-ray, which has appeared on other Disney DVD titles. This promo, which has absolutely nothing to do with the feature film on this DVD, does a real dis-service to the Blu-ray format by coming off as annoying and a real turn-off to any adult seriously considering purchasing a player. Why this is listed on the package as a Bonus Feature is beyond me.
Learn How To Take Your Favorite Movies On The Go: Disney File Digital Copy (1:03): Another promo piece, also seen on just about every recent Disney DVD and Blu-ray release, announces how some movies are packaged with a Digital Copy of the film for portable use.
From the previous DVD release:
The Making of The Great Mouse Detective (7:53): An all-too-quick featurette in which the animators and voice talent discuss the making of the film. The highlight is animator Phil Nibbelink discussing how computer animation was used in the climactic chase through the gears of Big Ben.
The World's Greatest Criminal Mind Sing-Along (2:00): Not exactly a catchy tune, but Ratigan's song and dance number is reprised here with subtitled lyrics.
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
The Great Mouse Detective is a fun animated film in the grand Disney tradition, the DVD includes a beautifully restored video transfer and an acceptable audio mix, but the bonus features are a bit weak, relying more on promotional pieces that have nothing to do with the feature film.
