Toon Zone Talkback - "The Secret of NIMH": These Rats Deserve Better

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shoosh_b

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This is the talkback thread for "The Secret of NIMH": These Rats Deserve Better.

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What sucks is that this is a significant movie, but until MGM has money, it'll never have a good release. The first Terminator film is in the same boat, I believe.
 
I don't mean to sound insensitve, but I personally don't think it's that big a deal. I would have liked to have seen the movie "cleaned up" myself, but I don't really find it that distracting (not really, anyway). OTOH, if it wasn't in it's original widescreen format, that would be really disappointing. Heck, I would like to see the original MGM logo that was used when it came out, but it will probably have to more recent one (with the weblink) instead. I'm tempted to say that the review was making a big deal over nothing, but I know that film restoration is an important thing. That being said, I guess it's kind of disappointing.
 
No, it was like The Jungle Book, where the top and bottom were cut off. (Terminator and Back to the Future were also shot in full screen but shown in theaters in wide screen.)
 
I never heard anything about this. Why would they do such a thing (assuming it did happen. which I'm not saying [or otherwise implying] it didn't)? Why would they "trick" (note the quotes) viewers like that? Was it to cut costs? Some other reason?
 
Secret of NIMH is not only Bluth's bets movie, its one of the best animated movies of all time. Its high time this movie got, not only a remastering, but some special features as well.
 
As shocking as this may be to hear, I don't really think The Secret of NIMH is all that great. Sure, it's beautifully animated, but it definitely has flaws. Jenner isn't really much of a villain (heck, he doesn't even show up until more than halfway through the movie), and Justin strikes me as a completely superfluous character - he literally does nothing of consequence throughout the whole story. He doesn't even get to defeat Jenner in their big swordfight at the end. Mrs. Brisby doesn't really do anything to save the day, either; instead, it's that Deus Ex Machina necklace that Nicodemus just happened to give her. And I'm sorry, I love Dom DeLouise as much as the next guy, but Jeremy is incredibly annoying.

I've seen the film twice now, and I still don't see why everyone says this is one of the greatest animated films of all time. I can think of at least 20 or more animated movies that have a more substantial story, stronger characters, and more overall entertainment value.
 
I think it's because at the time it came out (1982), it was different from your typical "talking animal" movie. It was neither a musical, nor a comedy, but a serious, dramatic story about a mouse widow who has to move her family when the farmer's plow threatens to destroy their home (especially a problem since one of her two sons has pneumonia [sp?] and can't get out of bed). Mrs. Brisby was a female animated character that people didn't feel was a mary sue or anything like that. Oh yeah, and to drive this point home, a certain character gets killed off during the movie's climax (which I understand didn't happen in the book). You know, the kind of things you usually don't see in animated movies about talking animals. Oh sure, Watership Down predated it, but The Secret of NIMH tends to be the more "notable" of the two movies (or something like that).
 
Bingo. That's the magic of Don Bluth's movies, in the 80's anyway. They're animated stories about talking animals but they go into dark themes that few family films would even think about touching.

And I have yet to see any form of animation that is as visually engrossing as Bluth's. No 3D, CGI, motion capture, or anything compares.
 
I enjoy The Secret of NIMH as well, but I'm not sure if I'd consider it Don Bluth's best work. The atmosphere works really well, the animation is great, Mrs. Brisby is a wonderful leading character and I like how they did do something different with adding in some darker tones into the storyline and making Mrs. Brisby different from the usual leading female characters. Even so, I think I'd put either An American Tail or The Land Before Time as his best movie, if only for feeling a stronger connection to their cast of characters and receiving more development during the course of their adventures, at least with their leading characters. Still, I agree with a lot of points in this review and it is still an enjoyable film to watch.
 
I personally enjoy An American Tale moreso than The Secret of NIMH. I still believe that NIMH is the more significant and better film. Me enjoying An American Tale more is simply due to my bias when it comes to the Jewish immigrant story.
 
I can understand that. While it does have its fair share of flaws, I still see All Dogs Go to Heaven as my favorite Don Bluth movie because I liked the main cast a bit more than in the Secret of NIMH and I tend to like most dog focused movies anyway. Even so, I can still see how The Secret of NIMH is a stronger film in terms of the storyline and overall quality. I haven't seen the movie since it aired on Cartoon Network a year or two ago, so my memory of the film isn't that strong at the moment, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as other people have. It's definitely a well done movie, especially for the time, but I'd prefer seeing An American Tale, Land Before Time or All Dogs Go to Heaven.
 
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