Ani-MAY-tion: Basil The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Despite my love of both Sherlock Holmes and my love of Disney movies, I am neither an expert nor anywhere near a completist in both fields. But I am still surprised that it took me this long to finally watch Basil The Great Mouse Detective, a film that is, for all intents and purposes, a Sherlock Holmes tale that has the main parts played by a variety of animals. I am also surprised that, according to a few articles I browsed before writing this review, this film was quite a success, so much so that it renewed confidence at Disney in their animation department and helped to start them on their road back to grand success (The Little Mermaid, a few years after this, would see them end the decade in a much stronger position than their starting point, and the '90s had some huge animated hits, such as Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, etc). And I missed that. Even as a prime potential viewer, I suspect I was already trying to sneakily watch more adult fare and dismissed this film as something too childish for me. I don't even recall a big marketing push for it, although I assume that it would have been given the usual litany of ads, featurettes on TV shows, and tie-ins.

Basically, this is a film I kept putting lower down on my list of prioritised viewings because I wrongly assumed it had been a failure. It wasn't then, and it isn't now.

Little Olivia Flaversham (Susanne Pollatschek) seeks the services of the greatest mouse detective in London (Basil, voiced by Barrie Ingham) when her toymaker father is snatched away by a large bat. Bumping into Dr. David Q. Dawson (Val Bettin, portraying the Watson to the mouse version of Holmes), Olivia is guided to Basil and makes her case for help. The detective is initially unmoved by her tale, until he realises that it must be part of a scheme cooked up by the nefarious Professor Ratigan (Vincent Price). What dastardly plan is he hatching that requires a toymaker, stolen clockwork mechanisms, and many toy soldier uniforms? The game is afoot.

Despite not being quite up there with their very best work, and that is a high standard to reach, Basil The Great Mouse Detective is definitely high up in the overall Disney canon. The animation is quite lovely, with some delightful little details in most of the scenes, the script (worked on by many people who were transferring the characters from the pages of "Basil Of Baker Street", written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone) is a lot of fun for all ages, and the voice cast is excellent all round, with Ingham and Bettin a wonderful central duo, Pollatschek a sweet little girl in peril, and Price as ear-pleasing as ever with that immediately recognisable voice, used to great effect in yet another villainous turn.

Like other great Disney movies, this also has some moments that will scare younger viewers before carrying them back into safer territory. It's a perfect mix of thrills, chuckles, and spectacle (including a fantastic finale that takes place around Big Ben).

If you're a fan of fine animated films, a fan of Sherlock, or a fan of both, then you should make time in your schedule for this one. There's even a wonderful audio snippet of Basil Rathbone used.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can get it here.

Ani-MAY-tion Month: The Princess And The Frog (2009)

Loosely based on a story by E.D. Baker, The Princess And The Frog is, for me, one of the most unjustly dismissed Disney movies from the past few decades. I think that's all to do with the soundtrack. I enjoy the songs when they're on, but I must admit that I can't recall a single one as soon as the last note is played.

The story, set in New Orleans, concerns Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), who has been turned into a frog by the deceptive Dr. Facilier (Keith David). He needs to be kissed, of course, in order to turn back into his human self. Unfortunately, when he convinces a young woman named Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) to kiss him the end result isn't what either envisaged. Tiana also becomes a frog, Which means that the two have to hop off together in search of a remedy. On their travels they are joined by Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), a trumpet-playing alligator, and a firefly named Ray (Jim Cummings).

Written by Ron Clements and John Musker, with help from Rob Edwards and quite a few others, The Princess And The Frog is a very traditional Disney movie in terms of the overall style and feeling throughout. There aren't really any/too many sly gags for adults, the focus is on the characters and flavour of the setting. That's no problem, however, when New Orleans provides such a wonderful backdrop to the events, and when the characters are such enjoyable company.

Keith David stands out as Dr. Facilier, but that may be a little unfair - the villain is, after all, often the most fun part to play. Campos and Rose are both absolutely fine in the lead roles, with the former going through the usual Disney journey of self-discovery while the latter helps to point him in the right direction. Peter Bartlett is also very good as the conniving Lawrence, the valet to the prince who works with Dr. Facilier to keep his former master in froggy form. Wooley and Cummings are both a lot of fun, and the supporting cast includes fine work from John Goodman (always so good in voice roles, I find), Oprah Winfrey, Jenifer Lewis, Jennifer Cody, and Terrence Howard.

With its beautiful animation, memorable characters, and the usual selection of moral lessons this has almost everything required from a Disney movie. It's just a shame about those songs. But I hope that anyone who has seen the movie, and subsequently forgotten how good it was, revisits (and possibly reappraises) it, and I hope that anyone previously dismissing it as lesser fare ends up giving it a chance. There may well be some people who end up enjoying it as much as I do.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Frog-Two-Disc-Blu-ray-Combo/dp/B0049GYXDQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1400896131&sr=1-1&keywords=the+princess+and+the+frog

Ani-MAY-tion Month: The Little Mermaid (1989)

For anyone who doesn't know, The Little Mermaid is all about Ariel (Jodi Benson), a mermaid daughter of Triton (Kenneth Mars). Ariel may live under the sea, but she spends most of her time scavenging for items that have been lost to the deep waters by the humans above. When she sees, and falls in love with, a handsome man named Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes) she wants to be able to go on land and spend some time with him. The tricky Ursula (Pat Carroll) can make that happen. She transforms Ariel's tail into legs in exchange for one thing - her voice. Ariel then has three days to get Eric to kiss her, or she'll be stuck in a very bad situation indeed.

A fantastic outing from Disney, based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid is the studio doing what it does best. The animation is delightful, the characters are pretty great (with a crab named Sebastian - voiced by Samuel E. Wright - stealing a couple of scenes), the songs are all quite enjoyable, and it teaches younger viewers not to . . . . . . give up their own voices for the sake of love, or something like that. I may be joking, or I may not.

The voice cast all do well, with other noteworthy performances coming from Buddy Hackett and Jason Marin as, respectively, a seagull named Scuttle and a little fish named Flounder, and it helps that Ariel is one of the best female Disney leads in decades, although older viewers may be a bit miffed by just how quickly she falls head over heels in love and is willing to do whatever it takes to be with the dashing Eric.

Ron Clements and John Musker are the men who get to take most of the credit, as the directors and main writers of the thing, but this is really a team effort. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman handle the music and lyrics, a veritable smorgasbord of animators handle the visuals, and there's every other department to consider. That is, of course, the case with every movie, but The Little Mermaid gets so much right in every way that it's really worth trying to give everyone equal praise.

Despite my love for the movie, it's not perfect. There's at least one song that I thought fell a bit flat, and the final act is strangely anticlimactic. In fact, it all feels quite rushed and ill-conceived, which is a great shame. Its not enough to drag the movie down too far, but it is enough to stop it from being in the very top tier of Disney movies. It does, however, still come close.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Mermaid-Diamond-Jodi-Benson/dp/B00C7607FS/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1399734188&sr=1-3&keywords=the+little+mermaid