‘The Great Mouse Detective’ Takes the Animation Cake

“The Great Mouse Detective” (citywide) is the most entertaining animated feature the Disney studio has produced since “The Jungle Book,” in 1967. It’s the first one completed since Walt Disney’s death in 1966 that the artists could show to him without apologies or explanations. This unpretentious film with its strong, well-told story could be the long-awaited hit to spark a renaissance in American animation.

The detective of the title is Basil of Baker Street, a Sherlock Holmesian mouse created by children’s author Eve Titus. (His headquarters lie beneath the most famous address in mystery fiction, 221-B Baker St.) Basil’s companion and chronicler is Dr. David Q. Dawson, a mouse-physician, recently returned to London after serving in Afghanistan.

Together they battle the infamous Prof. Ratigan, an enormous sewer rat who commands an army of cutthroats and thugs. Ratigan plans to kidnap Queen Victoria (of the mice) on the eve of her Diamond Jubilee, replace her with a cunningly made automaton and usurp the throne. Of course, the one mouse in the Empire who can thwart this nefarious scheme is Basil, and even he doesn’t have an easy time of it.

Instead of trying to disguise Basil’s obvious literary ancestry, the film makers flaunt it, simultaneously invoking and spoofing Holmes: his amazing powers of observation, theatrical poses, mercurial moods and command of arcane lore. Basil even describes Ratigan as “the Napoleon of crime,” Holmes’ epithet for Prof. Moriarty. As a pastiche and a satire, “Detective” plays off Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories more deftly than Steven Spielberg’s “Young Sherlock Holmes” did.

The film’s crisp timing, exaggerated “takes” and slapstick comedy often seem closer to a Warner Bros. cartoon than to Disney classics like “Pinocchio” and “Bambi.” While Basil’s adventures are sufficiently straightforward for young children to follow, “Detective” has enough action and humor to keep older siblings and adults entertained.

Last summer’s “The Black Cauldron” was essentially an effects film that offered some spectacular visual fireworks. “Detective” is an animator’s picture, and the new Disney crew obviously boasts some extremely talented individuals. Much of the film has the sort of energy the “Silly Symphonies” had during the ‘30s, the energy of young artists reveling in their newly discovered abilities. “Detective’s” few weak moments--such as the production number involving a barroom singer and the scenes with Queen Victoria--occur when the animators seem to be holding back, rather than strutting their stuff.

Instead of employing the standard menacing poses, they play Ratigan’s bulky form against the elegant motions of his delicate hands. Infuriated by Basil’s insults, the professor glares down at his opponent--and snaps his pocket watch shut in an unexpected and neatly underplayed gesture. Caught in a murderous Rube Goldberg trap, Basil registers a range of expressions as broad as any live actor’s as he goes from despair to inspiration. The audience sees him get an idea, react to it and execute it.

These subtleties will come as a revelation to children--and adults--numbed by the threadbare, formula actions of Saturday morning television shows and features like “My Little Pony.” Animated characters that move!

The final confrontation between Basil and Ratigan takes place inside the mechanism of Big Ben. The artists use computer graphics to create an ominous, complex environment of interlocking gears that heightens the drama. The mechanical motions of the clockwork machinery contrast strikingly with the fluid movements of the characters.

As Prof. Ratigan, Vincent Price dominates the vocal cast in a wonderfully off-the-wall performance, far removed from his usual suavely evil villains. Candy Candido provides comic relief as Fidget, Ratigan’s henchman, a peg-legged bat; Melissa Manchester sings “Let Me Be Good to You” for the pub singer. The rest of the voices are supplied by British actors unfamiliar to American audiences.

Unlike Prof. Moriarty, Ratigan may have survived the duel with his detective-nemesis, and the film’s ending suggests the possibility of a sequel--certainly a more appealing prospect than another “Care Bears” movie.

‘THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE’

Producer Burny Mattinson. Directors John Musker, Ron Clements, Dave Mitchener, Mattinson. Supervising animators Mark Henn, Glen Keane, Robert Minkoff, Hendel Butoy. Music Henry Mancini.

Running time: 72 minutes.

MPAA rating: G.