History Trivia / TheSecretofNIMH

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: The reason the film was so dark was because Creator/DonBluth wanted the film to appeal to a larger audience by getting a PG rating. Despite the dark themes, and one usage of the word "damn", the film somehow got a G rating anyway.

* ActorAllusion: [[spoiler: Jenner's death is similar to [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Tony Montana]]'s, as both characters are hit in the back and then fall face down into a pool. Paul Shenar, who voices Jenner, played Alejandro Sosa in the same movie. However, this is an accidental example, as ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' wasn't released until the year after ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH''.]]

* TroubledProduction: The film was made in Bluth's garage with a budget so small that the last quarter of production was funded by Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy mortgaging their houses. The high-quality animation Bluth was aiming for required the animators to work 16 hours a day, sometimes even taking work home with them. It was then ultimately given too small of a release to profit on even its meager budget, not helped by the fact that it was competing with freaking ''ET''!

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: The reason the film was so dark was because Creator/DonBluth wanted the film to appeal to a larger audience by getting a PG rating. Despite the dark themes, and one usage of the word "damn", the film got a G rating anyway.

* SequelGap: 15 years between the original and the sequel.

* VindicatedByCable[=/=]VindicatedByVideo

* FunWithAcronyms: "Nimh" is Irish Gaelic for poison. Unless [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Mental_Health the real NIMH]] wanted people to think of them as such, this may be a coincidence. Then again, O'Brien might have chosen NIMH rather than some other laboratory because of the connection.)

* WriteWhoYouKnow: Jeremy being re-written as a hopeless romantic was loosely based on the staff cook who repeatedly tried flirting with him while he was working on the "Don't Walk Away" segment on ''Film/{{Xanadu}}''.

* WriteWhoYouKnow: Jeremy being re-written as a hopeless romantic was loosely based on a woman who cooked for Don Bluth's staff on the "Don't Walk Away" segment on ''Film/{{Xanadu}}'' and repeatedly tried to flirt with him.

* FunWithAcronyms: "Nimh" is Irish Gaelic for poison. Coincidence? (Well… Probably a coincidence, unless [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Mental_Health the real NIMH]] wanted people to think of them as poison. Then again, O'Brien might have chosen NIMH rather than some other laboratory because of the connection.)

** The film's second draft had a scene involving Mrs. Brisby saving a beached sea bass, which impressed the rats. The climax originally had Brisby's children enter the abandoned lair of the rats--Mrs. Brisby runs off and saves them, only to be [[DisneyDeath seemingly crushed by a cave-in.]] Jeremy, the children, and Mrs. Shrew would mourn her loss, but it turns out Mrs. Brisby is alive--the [[ChekhovsGunman sea bass she rescued earlier]] helped her find a secret exit from the lair inside a pond. Surprisingly, the ending also implies that the Rats of NIMH never actually existed (neither the children nor the humans can find any evidence of their presence), and were a self-improving hallucination Mrs. Brisby was having.
** To aid the subtext of the Great Owl and Nicodemus being one and the same, the idea of them [[ActingForTwo sharing the same voice actor]] was considered, but they decided the film and cast needed more big name voice talent.

** One wonders what would have happened if, rather than the travesty they actually made, the creators of the sequel movie had actually adapted ''Racso and the Rats of NIMH''. While the book had its problems ({{Retcon}}, including elements from the movie which contradicted the original book, some GaryStu-ism regarding Timothy), in most respects it was a very satisfying and exciting book which showed how the rats of NIMH really would (and should) have designed Thorn Valley. It even handled the "Timothy is the hero who will save Thorn Valley" plot far better than the terrible sequel did--complete with a great deal of NotNowKiddo and HowDoIShotWeb before the rats actually listen to him and Racso and he come up with ideas that actually work.

* FunWithAcronyms:
** NIMH is Irish Gaelic for poison. Coincidence?
** Probably a coincidence, unless [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Mental_Health the real NIMH]] wanted people to think of them as poison.

** In the sequel, Ms. Brisby (in the handline of lines she gets) is voiced by Creator/DebiMaeWest. This is justified, as Brisby's original actress, Elizabeth Hartman, [[ActorExistenceFailure committed suicide in 1987.]]
** Justin was voiced by Peter Strauss in the original film, while William H. Macy voices him in the sequel.
* PlayingAgainstType: B-movie regulars Aldo Ray and JohnCarradine as Sullivan and The Great Owl respectively. It's a bit odd to hear their signature voices in something that's not an exploitation movie.

** The film's second draft had a scene involving Mrs. Brisby saving a beached sea bass, which impressed the rats. The climax originally had Brisby's children enter the abandoned lair of the rats--Mrs. Brisby runs off and saves them, only to be [[DisneyDeath seemingly crushed by a cave-in.]] Jeremy, the children, and Mrs. Shrew would mourn her loss, but it turns out Mrs. Brisby is alive--the [[ChekhovsGunman sea bass she rescued earlier]] helped her find a secret exit from the lair inside a pond. Surprisingly, the ending also implies that the Rats of NIMH never actually existed (both the children and humans can't find any evidence of their presence), and were a self-improving hallucination Mrs. Brisby was having.

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: The reason the film was so dark was because Don Bluth wanted the film to appeal to a larger audience by getting a PG rating. Despite the dark themes, and one usage of the word "damn", the film got a G rating anyway.

* WriteWhoYouKnow: Jeremy being re-written as a hopeless romantic was loosely based on a woman who cooked for Bluth's staff on the "Don't Walk Away" segment on ''Film/{{Xanadu}}'' and repeatedly tried to flirt with Bluth.

* HeyItsThatVoice:
** [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Famous geek]] Creator/WilWheaton plays Mrs. Brisby's older son Martin, and a ''very'' young [[Series/BeverlyHills90210 Shannen Doherty]] plays her daughter Teresa in one of the first roles for either of TheNineties stars. Also, Creator/ElizabethHartman is Mrs. Brisby, Sir Creator/DerekJacobi is Nicodemus, Jeremy is Creator/DomDeLuise, and the Shrew is Hermione Baddely. Not to mention, the Owl is Creator/JohnCarradine.
** Also Jenner is voiced by [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Alejandro Sosa]].
** Mrs. Fitzgibbon is [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim Ms. Bitters]] [[note]]But is best remembered as [[Franchise/TheSmurfs Smurfette]].[[/note]].
** Anyone familiar with KTLA Channel 5 may recognize Farmer Fitzgibbon as being voiced by Tom Hatten, one of the station's best remembered personalities.
** In the Japanese dubbed version, Mrs. Brisby is voiced by Miyuki Ueda, who voiced three of the heroines of the Anime/RobotRomanceTrilogy: [[Anime/CombattlerV Chizuru Nanbara]], [[Anime/VoltesV Megumi Oka]] and [[Anime/{{Daimos}} Erika]]. Jeremy was played by Creator/KeiTomiyama ([[Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes Yang Wenli]] and [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Duke Fleed]]).

* MagnumOpus: Creator/DonBluth said that NIMH was the one project he most enjoyed working on out of all the films he made.

** The films second draft had a scene involving Mrs. Brisby saving a beached sea bass, which impressed the Rats. The climax originally had Brisby's children enter the abandoned lair of the Rats--Mrs. Brisby runs off and saves them, only to be [[DisneyDeath seemingly crushed by a cave-in.]] Jeremy, the Children and Mrs. Shrew would mourn her loss, but it turns out Mrs. Brisby is alive--the [[ChekhovsGunman sea bass she rescued earlier]] helped her find a secret exit from the lair inside a pond. Surprisingly, the ending also implies that the Rats of NIMH never actually existed (both the children and humans can't find any evidence of their presence), and were a self-improving hallucination Mrs. Brisby was having.

** According to [[http://www.cataroo.com/DBnimh.html Don Bluth's biography]], NIMH originally had a screenwriter write a draft for it that stuck closer to the book. Another early draft by Steven Barnes had considerable differences from the final film; the scientists of NIMH also had a bigger role in the earlier drafts, with the story cutting back between them and the animals--the idea of making one of the scientists be a main villain, counterbalanced by other "good" scientists was discussed (the film reduced their role to a flashback and off-screen presence), Mrs. Brisby was supposed to be even more emotional. There was also a scrapped new character, a female rat named Isabella. There was also going to be a scene there Dragon the cat attacked the Brisby home, and after the rats drove him off, Mr. Ages and Justin would explain to Brisby's kids and what happened to their father. A climax would have involved NIMH gassing the den, with Brisby and the other rats trying to escape it. There was also no amulet; the only true challenge in the climax was Brisby making a "Leap of Faith" jump over a deadly chasm with her kids, only making it because of encouraging words previously spoken to her by Justin.

* NoBudget: The film was made on 7 million dollars, which is far smaller than the budgets Disney movies were accustomed to having, and some of that budget was achieved by having Bluth and some higher ups mortgage their houses. But because of the staff's resourcefulness and dedication, the film's presentation and art doesn't give the slightest trace of it being a shoestring effort.

** Mrs. Fitzgibbons is [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim Ms. Bitters]] [[note]]But is best remembered as [[Franchise/TheSmurfs Smurfette]].[[/note]].
** Anyone familiar with KTLA Channel 5 may recognize Farmer Fitzgibbons as being voiced by Tom Hatten, one of the station's best remembered personalities.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/DonBluth made it clear at a convention appearance that he hates ''The Secret of NIMH II'', along with all of the other direct to video sequels to his films.

** Nimh is Irish Gaelic for poison. Coincidence?

** ''Timmy To The Rescue'' has an impressive cast, too (though Dom De Luise and Arthur Malet aside, [[AuthorExistenceFailure few are taken from the original)]]. [[TheKarateKid Ralph Macchio]] voices Timmy, [[Creator/MontyPython Eric Idle]] plays Martin, Creator/WilliamHMacy plays Justin, Creator/DebiMaeWest plays Mrs. Brisby, and Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson is Brutus. Phillip Glasser briefly voices the reformed Martin at the end; he voiced Fievel from ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' when he was younger. Creator/HyndenWalch voices Jenny.
** That singing mouse girl was Muffy from ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.

* ActorAllusion: [[spoiler: Jenner's death is similar to [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Tony Montana]]'s, as both characters are hit in the back and then fall face down into a pool. Paul Shenar, who voices Jenner, played Alejandro Sosa in the same movie. However, this is an accidental example, as ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' wasn't released until the year after '"WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH''.]]

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/DonBluth made it clear at a convention appearance that he hates ''The Secret of Nimh II'', along with all of the other direct to video sequels to his films.

** According to [[http://www.cataroo.com/DBnimh.html Don Bluth's biography]], NIMH originally had a screenwriter write a draft for it that stuck closer to the book. Another early draft by Steven Barnes had considerably differences from the final film; the scientists of NIMH also had a bigger role in the earlier drafts, with the story cutting back between them and the animals--the idea of making one of the scientists be a main villain, counterbalanced by other "good" scientists was discussed (the film reduced their role to a flashback and off-screen presence), Mrs. Brisby was supposed to be even more emotional. There was also a scrapped new character, a female rat named Isabella. There was also going to be a scene there Dragon the cat attacked the Brisby home, and after the rats drove him off, Mr. Ages and Justin would explain to Brisby's kids and what happened to their father. A climax would have involved NIMH gassing the den, with Brisby and the other rats trying to escape it. There was also no amulet; the only true challenge in the climax was Brisby making a "Leap of Faith" jump over a deadly chasm with her kids, only making it because of encouraging words previously spoken to her by Justin.