Published between 1982 and 1995
Great Mouse – Great Movie Brian Sibley reviews the Disney Company’s latest animated feature, Basil – The Great Mouse Detective. The mice are back in Disneyland and everything’s bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! With the release of Basil – The Great Mouse Detective, the Disney company has rediscovered those skills that once made them pre-eminent among animation studios, but … Read more
Just as Sherlock Holmes had Dr Watson, so Basil has Dr Dawson, a portly, moustachioed mouse – modelled, it is said, on veteran Disney animator, Eric Larson, who acted as animation consultant on the film. Dawson, who has lust returned from serving as a surgeon with Her Majesty’s troops in Afghanistan, is soon caught up … Read more
Among the sequences which impress is the first appearance of Ratigan when – with some dapper foot-work and much swirling of his opera-cloak – he sings the praises of his blackguardly reputation as ‘The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind’, in an incongruous mock-Hollywood set flowing with pink champagne; and the scene in which Basil and Dawson … Read more