I remember this movie from when I was very young and it was one of my favorites then. I was able to find the original VHS release at a video rental for a dollar. The animation is amazing, in my opinion pioneering the emotional, expressive style that Disney used a decade later. Ms. Frisby's character is a mouse, but her facial expressions are startlingly human. This isn't your standard Disney-animated children's movie fare either. Some scenes are surprisingly dramatic and graphic. The scene I remember the most is when Frisby enters the Great Owl's lair, only to be chased by the ugliest, most horrifying animated spider I've ever seen. Then seconds later, the spider is crushed to a pulp beneath the Great Owl's giant, razor sharp talon. The Owl used to give me nightmares. The storyline is somewhat original but the underlying theme seems to center around animal rights. When her mouse-child falls ill with pneumonia and she finds out she must move her house to avoid having it demolished by a plow two days later (man that's heavy stuff), Ms. Frisby seeks the help of a secret society of intelligent lab rats. The leader, a wise old rat named Nicodemus tells her of a group of rats who were captured and subjected to a number of tests, but most importantly injected with a formula to make them more intelligent. Ms. Frisby's husband led a revolt to break out of the lab, and ended up in a rose bush on a farmland plot, exactly where Ms. Frisby had spent her life. There is a subplot involving a power-mad dictator rat named Jenner who tries to assassinate the current leader. This is a truly awesome piece of animation. The character development is also done well, Dom Deluise is my favorite character, a hyperactive but dopey blackbird named Jeremy. If you like cartoons or any kind of artwork (the backgrounds are beautifully rendered) you'll appreciate this movie.
Review of The Secret of NIMH
