Disney has many underrated gems hidden among its long list of animated classics, and they have been celebrating the 35th anniversary of one of these on social media. The Great Mouse Detective, known as Basil Of Baker Street, or Basil The Great Mouse Detective in Europe, was released in 1986 and was a movie that came in the wake of Disney’s biggest miss-fire - The Black Cauldron. Still devoid of the bright, musical productions that made most of Disney’s Classics the memorable successes they became, the movie boasted some brilliant action sequences and the characters of Basil of Baker Street, Dr. Dawson, Olivia Flaversham, and the villainous, Professor Ratigan, who became some of the best loved characters of Disney’s mid-80s output.
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Disney’s own description of the movie reads, “The clues are in, the chase is on, and the case of the century is about to break wide open in Disney’s greatest little mystery in history. Come along on a journey through the cobblestone streets of 1897 London, where some suspicious ‘mousechief’ is the suspenseful start to this thrilling musical adventure. Olivia, the brave daughter of a beloved toy maker, turns to Basil of Baker Street for help with her father’s disappearance. Basil’s jolly assistant, Dr. Dawson, and loyal dog Toby lend a paw-and nose-as they search for clues through their charming miniature world. The final chase leads to Professor Ratigan (Vincent Price), a hard-hearted criminal. Can Basil outwit Ratigan to save Olivia’s father and all of Mousedom.”
As noted, The Great Mouse Detective was released at a tough time for Disney. The Black Cauldron was a flop and the House of Mouse was under pressure to deliver a hit. While marketing went all out to sell a “fun fun fun” message, it was the first rate animation, stellar voice performances and some technologically advanced trickery is what made the movie memorable to many, and was the first step on a Disney road to recovery. The movie was followed up with the likes of Oliver and Company, and the renaissance releases of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast and of course the all conquering, The Lion King. It is fair to say that all of that was only made possible thanks to The Great Mouse Detective.
The movie took its idea from the, Basil of Baker Street book series by Eve Titus, a five book series that saw a rodent version of Sherlock Holmes solving crimes in the mouse world. The original books were published between 1958 and 1985, and was then revived three decades later with two new adventures written by Cathy Hapka. The movie used the main characters from the books and built their own story around them, seeing, Basil, voiced by Barrie Ingham, take on the evil Professor Ratigan, played with flair by the incomparable Vincent Price in one of his better known final roles. While it’s $39 million gross takings is a paltry sum against those which would come in the following years, it more than doubled its budget ($14 million), which was a huge improvement on The Black Cauldron, which made only $20 million back of its hugely overblown $40 million cost.
With a huge fan base still in love with the movie now, 35 years on it remains an underrated Disney masterpiece, as was proved by the love shown for it on social media marking its anniversary. Read some of the comments below, and check out the movie yourself, which is available to stream now on Disney+.
