The Great Mouse Detective Discussion

[CampbellzSoup]

boy did that sound horrible

[Goliath]

boy did that sound horrible

I'm sure it would sound like that to an English-speaking listener. I like the Dutch voice for Basil. It's done by a veteran voice actor. The Dutch version has a curiosity: it's the only version I know of where the characters Basil, Dawson and Olivia are singing "Goodbye, so soon" over the end credits. On YouTube, some Americans who heard it thought the characters sounded drunk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl_U45VljDE

[Barbossa]

Any chance this movie is getting a new release next year?

[SpringHeelJack]

Well, there's always a chance. But no plans yet.

[ajmrowland]

All upcoming DVDs for this film should contain the old VHS cover art.

While I think the old VHS cover art is better than the cover art for the Gold Collection DVD, I'd still prefer the following cover art over the VHS's:


^^^I love it! It's what the United Kingdom got on their VHS or DVD.

That's the art I meant. My mistake!

Edit: Also, I couldn't help but remember seeing that cover somewhere in the US. I think it was in some video stores here.

[SpringHeelJack]

Yeah, it was also the cover art for the US VHS re-release. I was never wild about it. I always preferred the original VHS cover art, maybe because I have vivid memories of seeing it in stores as a kid. IMO, it's much better than the current DVD art.

Granted, like, if I drew a picture of Basil kissing Ratigan, it would probably still be better than the current DVD art.

[Neal]

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I base what I call the Disney Animated Classics off their title cards in the movie.

Which means:

'AristoCats' not "Aristocats"
'BOLT' not "Bolt"
'Fantasia/2000' not "Fantasia 2000"

...I guess I never noticed this before, but I pulled out my DVD of "The Great Mouse Detective" last night and noticed the title card was 'The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective'.

Any reason for this? Why the addendum The Adventures of?

With BOLT and The AristoCats, the changes are merely captilizations of key letters.

With GMD, it's three words dropped from the title.

Why, if these additional words are on the title card, does no one acknowledge them - not on the DVD or VHS covers or these boards?

Which is it? "The Great Mouse Detective" or "The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective"?

Do people not use the longer title because...well...it's longer?

Like people say "I just read Huck Finn" but the book's full title is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Any explanation? Thanks!

[Flanger-Hanger]

"The Adventures of" was added for the 1992 theatrical re-issue, but never removed afterwords. "The Great Mouse Detective" is the true original North American release name.

[Neal]

Kind of weird to add onto a title. Any reason why they did that?

[MrIncredible]

"The Adventures of" was added for the 1992 theatrical re-issue, but never removed afterwords. "The Great Mouse Detective" is the true original North American release name.

But, "The Adventures of..." is on the actual main titles. So, they changed the actual film in '92. Kinda like how George Lucas changed the title of Star Wars to "Episode IV- A New Hope" for the release in early '80s and has been on there ever since.

[Escapay]

If they're gonna change the title, I'd rather they change it back to the intended Basil of Baker Street (which is what it was always called during production until some dumbass in marketing decided it sounded too "British" and since flops like Young Sherlock Holmes were kid-targeted, they should change the name.).

albert

[Flanger-Hanger]

I still like my title for the movie best:

"Basil's Freakin' Awesome Movie Featuring Vincent Price"

[Neal]

Is it a British custom to write "____" of ____ Street"

Like 'Basil of Baker Street'

but also...

'Sweeney Todd, Demon Barber of Fleet Street'

[Escapay]

"Basil's Freakin' Awesome Movie Featuring Vincent Price"

Is it a British custom to write "____" of ____ Street"

Like 'Basil of Baker Street'

but also...

'Sweeney Todd, Demon Barber of Fleet Street'

Well Sweeney Todd is an American musical, so that particular example doesn't follow the theory, but the only other example I can think of is BBC's "Duchess of Duke Street" (1976-1977). And, of course, there's ITV's "Coronation Street" (1960-present), but that title has no "____ of" preceding it (Hehe..."Ena Sharples of Coronation Street").

albert

[Goliath]

Tonight was the first time I saw the film on DVD, and also the first time I saw it in English. Although I kept thinking about the Dutch version, I found the original version excellent. I enjoyed every minute of it; it has been a long time since I had last seen it.

TGMD certainly hasn't the great animation of its predecessor, The Black Cauldron. That film had the quality of an old-fashioned Walt-era classic, whereas TGMD looks like the better tv movie. It's far better than any direct-to-dvd cheapquel, but the animation is not on par with other Classics. That makes it possible for us to focus more on the characters, which are among the best Disney has ever created. It's a shame they aren't merchandised more, because I love them all.

Basil is very different from your classic Disney protoganist, which makes him very refreshing. He's brilliant, but also very full of himself, kind of arrogant and completely self-absorbed. He only changes a little bit throughout the movie, but enough to make you like him. At the end of the film, you can clearly see he has come to love Olivia and appreciate Dawson. Has Disney ever done a change of character that subtle and believable?

Contrary to the film before it, TGMD is very funny and full of jokes. It's also a much 'smaller' tale, in that it's not an epic story, like Cauldron. TGMD is not on par with Walt's classics or the movies that came after the 'Disney renaissance' took place, but to place it in a so-called 'dark age' doesn't do it justice.

[Super Aurora]

My favorite scene in this movie is the toy store room. That was simply great.

[Brina78]

Big *bump*!

Here's an interesting review of TGMD:
http://www.freewebs.com/greatmousedetec ... 072786.jpg

I didn't know that Glen Keane designed all the major characters except for Basil! I had no clue- I just knew he did Ratigan! So, he created Dawson and Olivia? What about Fidget and Mr. Flaversham? Toby? I'm so intrigued!

Glen Keane did some beautiful concept art on Olivia, but did not animate her. Dawson was animated by Mark Henn along with Basil. Not sure about the others offhand.

Here's an article on Basil and Ratigan at Disneyland:
http://www.freewebs.com/greatmousedetec ... ancos.html

I really wish that characters weren't "Vaulted"- I would love to meet them! They look great!

I couldn't agree more with you! My fingers are crossed that they'll do some sort of event for the film's 25th anniversary. I keep hoping the El Capitan in Hollywood will run it for a few weeks with the characters there for meet and greet.

Some interesting trivia:

http://www.freewebs.com/greatmousedetective/trivia.html

Bing Crosby was considered for the voice of Basil, but when it came to the artwork, the character seemed too mellow. According to one of the directors, Rob Minkoff, Barrie Ingham was chosen, "because his interpretation of the character established his whole attitude and gave us the perfect timing and movements."

Aw, crud! You quoted that one? That was a major goof on my part! Oh, by the way, I'm Brina, the web mistress to "The Game's Afoot!" Nice to meet you! *clears throat* Ahem! Yeah, anyway, the one about Bing Crosby was soooo inaccurate. This is the correct version:

Bing Crosby was considered as a role model for Basil, but when it came to the artwork, the character seemed too mellow. According to one of the animators, Rob Minkoff, Barrie Ingham was chosen, "because his interpretation of the character established his whole attitude and gave us the perfect timing and movements."

Yeah, um, Bing Crosby died in 1977 so, um, he wasn't around to voice Basil! *blush*

Due to the poor reviews of Steven Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes, Disney almost removed everything Sherlockian to this film. The "All New! All Fun!" movie poster is proof when Basil is wearing a normal suit instead of his traditional Inverness cape and deerstalker hat. Rumors also began of changing the British voice cast with American actors for the U.S. release. (Is this really true?!? It's hard to believe.)

Supposedly this was true, or I read about it in the "Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters From Mickey Mouse to Aladdin, Second Edition" by John Grant.

It bothers me when people (reviewers mostly, I guess) say that TGMD was the first time that computers and animation were blended together- TBC holds that distinction! Get it right, people!

Tell me about it! Maybe they keep mistaking GMD because it was such an epic scene and TBC gets even less attention?

I really like TGMD. I've been meaning to watch it for the past week, so hopefully I'll get to it within the next few days. I really like the music in it, and Ratigan is one of my favorite villains. Toby and Olivia are just adorable. It's completely underrated. Even Oliver & Company is underrated. Does anyone think that that has anything to do with the fact that both movies weren't put on video until 1998 (I think) and 1996, respectively?

Well, GMD was first released to VHS in 1992, the same year it returned to theaters, so that was a little bit better I suppose!

As I've mentioned a while ago, the '80s is my favorite era of Disney animation. The production of DACs has always interested me, and the '80s was such a time of change for the studio, what with the older artists leaving and the newer artists coming in, and then the executive changes. And all the movies are underrated except for The Little Mermaid. The '70s also was a time of change and underrated movies, too, though.

It was definitely a big change for the company when the Nine Old Men were all going into semi retirement and new artists were coming to the animation studio.

Phew, sorry about a long reply! Hope I was able to respond to everything properly!

[blackcauldron85]

^ Thanks for correcting the wrong info, and thanks for responding!

(I like your signature, btw!)

About the CGI, yeah, I think that the Big Ben scene is more epic than the ways the computer was used in TBC, so, yeah, maybe people remember that scene because the computer was used in such a new way, versus just making props.

[Brina78]

^ Thanks for correcting the wrong info, and thanks for responding!

Oh, yeah! The repair was recently, like Sept. or Oct. when my mom and I were talking about Bing. I looked up his info, saw when he died and had that sinking feeling! The whole information about Bing came from the GMD Press Kit and I got the words mixed up! Not the voice, the role model for Basil! And Rob Minkoff as a director? Big oops!

(I like your signature, btw!)

Thank you! I created it from icons made by someone at Live Journal. I usually contact and obtain permission to showcase their icons at The Game's Afoot! I can't locate Karasu anymore; I think they deleted their account! The good news is I still have their icons at my site and have them linked in my own Photobucket account. If I did direct link from their Live Journal, I would have lost them all.

About the CGI, yeah, I think that the Big Ben scene is more epic than the ways the computer was used in TBC, so, yeah, maybe people remember that scene because the computer was used in such a new way, versus just making props.

And also, TBC was badly cut up because it was so violent and scary. Even the music doesn't flow correctly because of the cuts. I saw it in the theater and both liked it and got scared! The Horned King especially gave me nightmares! I was about six at the time.

[D82]

Celebrate The Great Mouse Detective’s 30th anniversary with a live sketch and chat with Mark Henn!
https://www.facebook.com/Disney/videos/ ... =2&theater