- Released: July 16 1982
- Directed by: Don Bluth
- Running time: 1 h 22 min
- Rating 5/5
Synopsis
A brave widowed mouse sets out on a quest to find the rats of NIMH, the only ones who can safetly relocate her house with her sick son inside of it.
My Thoughts
There was a time in my life where I wasn’t very much into animation anymore. Granted, I still had my own (if you can call it that) animated series on YouTube, but other than that I consumed very little animated media anymore. I had an open distaste for things like Disney.
Then I discovered The Secret of NIMH. The reason I got into watching this movie is actually because the Nostalgia Critic kept going on and on about it, and it looked unique to the point that I wanted to check it out. I didn’t even know who Don Bluth was at the time (little did I know that he was responsible for All Dogs Go To Heaven and The Land Before Time, two movies I watched to death when I was tiny).
I gave this movie a watch, and it made me fall in love with the medium of animation again. It’d take another while before I’d finally admit to liking Disney movies again (I didn’t until I gave Treasure Planet its first watch), but I was finally on a much more open-minded path. I did a review on NIMH back when, but since I hardly spoke English at the time and knew little to nothing about doing actual reviews, I deleted it.
Now it’s time to look at NIMH once more. Does it still hold up, or is it maybe not all it’s cracked up to be? Let’s see.
While the story isn’t a huge or grand epic, it’s honestly done really well. The stakes are plenty high, and you feel how desperate Mrs. Brisby is getting. This story might be small-scale, but there’s no need for it to be bigger. It’s good the way it is. This came really at a time where all of the movies I watched were big fantasies with huge stakes (Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Golden Compass). But NIMH gave me the reminder I needed that not everything needs to be this huge epic. It’s okay to have smaller stories, and there’s no reason for them to be any less good than these huge epics.
The animation is…what can I say: amazing. I honestly was surprised to find out this wasn’t some kind of Disney film, but instead the work of an animator I’d never heard of up until that point. The movements are so organic most of the time, or cartoony when it lends itself to that (such as Jeremy’s comic relief scenes). I also love the gestures the characters make during their conversations. Really adds more to the movement. This movie’s animation made me single-handedly fall in love with the traditional medium again, after I previously dismissed it as kid’s stuff.
The voice acting is really good. I feel that some lines might be spoken a tad too soft (with some characters like Mrs. Brisby and Nicodemus also having pretty soft-spoken voices), but the acting itself is really good. I also want to applaud the writing for having the conversations sound really organic and not forced at all.
The characters are good, too. Mrs. Brisby is just one of my all time favorite protagonists of any movie. She’s such a believable character. She isn’t this big epic heroine you see in a lot of stories. She’s often afraid and meek. But she pulls through, no matter what, because of her bravery and love for those she holds dear. Other characters are cool, too. Justin, though a bit of a basic do-gooding hero, is fun. We have Jeremy as a comic relief, who, though I’m not a huge fan of him, isn’t insufferable like a lot of other characters of this type I’ve seen. Mr. Ages is enjoyably grumpy, Nicodemus the mysterious and wise old leader of the rats and Sullivan the morally questionable character who eventually finds out where his loyalties lie.
The villain we get this time around is Jenner. While initially I wasn’t too fond of him (though, let’s face it, his design is just awesome), I warmed up to him pretty quick. I just always like it when villains have fear of change as one of their motivations, rather than just being evil for the sake of it. He may not be the most compelling villain out there, but he’s still a really good one that serves his purpose well.
Going back the non-animation visuals, these are really good as well. The backgrounds are just amazing of their own. I also really like the character designs. I did spot some inconsistencies in the designs (like the holes in Mrs. Brisby’s cape, or Mr. Ages’ ear notch), but they’re really small and hardly noticeable unless you really pay attention. As for the classic Don Bluth color palette, I personally love it. I’ve always been a fan of earthly tones, so for me it really works. I’m sure there’s people who prefer more colorful movies such as the Disney ones, but I always had a strong preference for these colors.
The soundtrack is really good as well. We get some beautifully soothing tunes in this one, as well as more dramatic ones where the action demands it. While not the most memorable soundtrack out there, it still really does its job well, and I even find myself listening to them now and again.
The film still really holds up. Maybe I’m biased because it is the film that got me back into enjoying animation, but I’m honestly just so glad I discovered this movie back when. It has amazing animation, a great main character, a simple but well-executed story, a lovely soundtrack and a cool villain. What more do you possibly want?
While perhaps not a film for everyone, I definitely think you should at least give this one a chance. I’d personally recommend this one to most people, just because of how good it is. See for yourself if you enjoy it!
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