Eff you, I love this movie. Basil of Baker Street is bae. If you don't have a crush on him, especially when he is dressed in a stunning peacoat and tiny fake mustache, I don't want to know you as a person.

This is just an adorable delight from start to finish. I forgot that it was LITERALLY a Sherlock Holmes movie, I thought it was just sort of an inspired-by thing. Also, Vincent Price! COME ON COME ON COME ON. I love when Dawson is cosplaying Smee.

Notable Grossness

Is it inappropriate that there's a burlesque number? 😳 I mean. I love it. So I'm gonna go with no. I'm the audience here, clearly. Fat jokes about the Queen. Dislike. But at least they come from the bad guy.

There are some clever bits of animation, notably: Big Ben's gears (particularly when Ratigan is running maniacally through them) and Basil matching bullet rifling (which I ADORE). I love how they designed Basil, Dawson, Olivia, Flaversham, and Fidget. I do think Fidget is a clone of Creeper from The Black Cauldron, but if I hadn't seen The Black Cauldron, Fidget would have been perfect as a first foray into a character like that. Also I love that Ratigan's big plan was basically a mockup of the MouseTrap board game. It's great.

Olivia Flaversham, a young brown mouse wearing a blue-green shirt with a wide collar and dark bow at the neck, a blue plaid skirt, white socks, black mary jane shoes with a strap, and a red hairbow behind her left ear, pulls on the tail of Ratigan, a giant rat. Olivia is shouting and making angry faces with her fists balled up. The caption reads, 'Take no shit, Olivia'

The voice work is great, across the board. Even the background characters are voiced well. The action is non-stop, and it has just as much tension and anticipation as any other Sherlock Holmes caper. The plot is nice and contained, and the movie doesn't try to do too much (which The Black Cauldron DEFINITELY did). It's well-written and fantastically acted, and the only grade dings I'm giving it are that the animation isn't revolutionary and the songs are good but not great. I'm placing it below The Jungle Book because the music is better in the Jungle Book (and there are more fantastic characters - the characters in The Great Mouse Detective are wonderful, but there are less of them).

I know everyone hates rats. I wish Ratigan wasn't one because they legitimately make him scary as hell.

The music isn't that great, but there's mercifully few songs.

May 18th, 2021

More Disney Animated Features

A movie release poster shows a group of white people, 4 men, a woman, and a young boy, surrounding a green animated dragon with pink wings and red hair. The poster says "Coming at Christmas, Walt Disney Productions' Pete's Dragon"
Pete's Dragon
Five human actors, a woman, a man, and three children of various ages, sit on a flying brass bed with a floral blanket, with the moon and clouds behind them. Below them, illustrated animals are in various poses: two fish dance together (one in a suit); two fish and an octopus play in a band together with the words "The Briny Boys" on the front of the drum kit; an alligator, a rhino, and a gorilla run around a soccer field in yellow and green athletic outfits; a lion in a crown and red royal robe stands with one foot on the soccer ball; and a secretary bird in a suit with glasses stands watching.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bert, a chimney sweep, Jane, a young blonde child in a red dress and yellow overcoat, Michael, a young strawberry blonde child in short pants and a button coat, and Mary Poppins, a nanny in a red dress with a black hat with white flowers, stand on a rooftop, covered in soot.
Mary Poppins
Bigfoot, a giant humanoid creature with red fur, sits in front of a cardboard box with a downward pointing arrow on the side, wearing a pair of white men's briefs underwear on his head. He holds the crotch hole open with his fingers so he can look out. Goofy, a dog-like humanoid cartoon with black skin and a pale face, and long ears, watches from his yellow car several hundred feet behind Bigfoot, with his son Max in the passenger seat; Max looks similar to Goofy.
A Goofy Movie

Recent Snark

The Lion King

February 22nd, 2022

This is a really epic movie, but it's less of my favorite than I remember. It still has some great moments and songs I like but basically, the half of the movie where Simba's away from Pride Rock is more boring than I remember, and I care a lot less about Simba when he's not a tiny baby.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

July 13th, 2021

Do I honestly even have to review this movie? I have a matching tattoo with my brothers where we each got Lock, Shock, or Barrel. I think it's safe to say I love the hell out of this movie. I've also seen it so many times, and so many times recently, that I ranked it before I even started it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aladdin

July 6th, 2021

This is really just such a joyful piece of art, not ONLY because of Robin Williams but definitely a lot because of Robin Williams.

Beauty and the Beast

June 29th, 2021

I love Belle and the animated furniture is charming. I liked this a lot more when I was a kid.

The Rescuers Down Under

June 22nd, 2021

This is legit one of my favorite movies.

DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

June 15th, 2021

What in the actual hell is this movie? Is this the trial run on Aladdin? But like.............a bad one? Also the literal best part of this movie is when they play the DuckTales theme. At the end. :sigh: