Basil, The Great Mouse Detective in the UK.A 1986 Disney Animated Canon masterpiece (number 26) with no Medieval European Fantasy setting, no True Love's Kiss, and no princesses (although there is a mouse version of Queen Victoria...) More importantly, the reasonable success of this film after The Black Cauldron debacle was able to convince the new senior management of Walt Disney Pictures that their animation department had a future after all.This Animated Adaptation of Basil of Baker Street, a series of children's books by Eve Titus, tells a story of Sherlock Holmes in a Mouse World. When toymaker and mechanical genius Hiram Flaversham is kidnapped, his daughter Olivia hires the greatest detective in all mousedom, Basil of Baker Street, to find him. On her way, she is found by the Narrator and Dr. Watson's Captain Ersatz, Dr. Dawson, just back in London after serving overseas in the military. Basil is reluctant to take the case until he realizes the bat who kidnapped Olivia's father works for his Arch-Enemy, the Diabolical Mastermind Professor Ratigan.With the help of his trained hound, Toby, Basil tracks the bat to a human toy shop, but he escapes and kidnaps Olivia. Ratigan uses her to force her father to complete a robot duplicate of the mouse queen as part of his Evil Plan to take over the kingdom. After learning Basil is on the case, the Evil Genius decides to use this as an opportunity to humiliate and defeat his rival once and for all. Basil falls for his trap hook, line, and sinker and, with some encouragement from Dawson, narrowly escapes the Death Trap in enough time to save the queen and engage Ratigan in a Chase Scene by air that culminates in a gruesome Monumental Battle at Big Ben.Oh, and there's a Victorian strip tease in a Bad Guy Bar — sung by Melissa Manchester, no less — followed up with a Bar Brawl.
Dawson: Oh, how very thrilling, eh, Basil? Basil: All in a day's work, Doctor.
This film provides examples of:
Adorkable: Could briefly be used to describe Basil, of all people, after Olivia's My Parents Are Dead moment. He gets very awkward and tongue-tied before snapping back to his usual self.
Also the scene where he's awkwardly trying to cheer up Dawson. "I say...Dawson, old chap?" with a nervous smile.
Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: The idea behind the ballistics test is presented fairly well, but the experiment conducted to determine a match has a fatal flaw. Basil holds the ends of the bullets together, and most of the grooves etched into the bullets by the rifling match, except for few. The problem is, if you turn the bullets around in your head so they're side-by-side as opposed to end-to-end, one would be a mirror image of the other! Thus, a cursory glance at them would be all you need to see that they don't match. Of course, if Ratigan knew Basil would make such a stupid mistake when comparing the bullets, this could be a case of Fridge Brilliance, as it implies almost impossibly good foresight.
Blowing a Raspberry: Ratigan's appearance in the Royal Palace elicits Dramatic Gasps from the crowd, except one little kid who just razzes him.
Bond Villain Stupidity: Justified. Ratigan does build a giant death trap that he leaves our heroes in. However, it is explained that he wanted to stay and watch it, but as the heroes arrived 15 minutes later than he planned, he doesn't have the time to stay. So he rigs a camera to capture Basil's dying moment instead.
Brick Joke: Right before leaving for Buckingham Palace, Ratigan tells a soon-to-be-dead Basil "Now, you will remember to smile for the camera, won't you?" as he activates his deadly Rube Goldberg contraption which is set to take a picture at the exact moment Basil and Dawson are to die.
...A few scenes later, after Basil's last-minute ingenuity very narrowly lets them escape the trap, he grabs hold of Dawson, catches Olivia and says "Smile, everyone!" as the picture of the three is successfully taken.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Basil is an undeniable genius who, when we first meet him, comes off as quite possibly insane.
The Cameo: Sherlock Holmes himself appears three times in silhouette. In the books, Basil actually lives under Holmes' floor. From his and Watson's dialogue, Holmes is apparently solving the case of the Red-Headed League. And the dialogue is performed by? Basil Rathbone.
Dumbo appears as a bubble-blowing toy in the toy shop that Basil and Dr. Dawson go to.
Bill the Lizard from Alice in Wonderland also appears in the film.
Toby the dog is from the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of the Four.
Cape Snag: Basil invokes this on Ratigan towards the climax.
Clock Punk: The robot double of Queen Mousetoria that Flaversham makes for Ratigan.
Clock Tower: The Westminster Clock Tower, home of Big Ben, is the location for the final showdown.
Conspicuous CG: One of the first uses of CGI (after The Black Cauldron) in an animated feature, traced from wire-frame graphics onto animation cels and certainly a far more conspicuous user than its predecessor — where The Black Cauldron mostly limited CGI to special effects and stuff (i.e. glittering stars, chroma-keying smoke into the scenes, etc.), The Great Mouse Detective made extensive and notable use of it in the interior of Big Ben. Very impressive stuff for its time.
Cue Card: Mr. Flaversham is forced to read off cue cards while operating the Queen Mousetoria robot.
Curb-Stomp Battle: The final battle shows that Basil doesn't have any opportunity against Ratigan in a one-on-one wrestle. A good thing that this is a genius battle.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: When Ratigan learns that Basil is on the case, he realizes that it is inevitable that the great detective will track him to his lair, so he sets a trap for him there. He also sets up a decoy trap in the bar that fronts his hideout so that Basil will easily avoid it and be lulled into a false sense of security.
Dueling Movies: With An American Tail, another animated movie about mice coming out the same year (though it didn't come out until a few months afterward.) The Great Mouse Detective lost in the end, but that didn't mean it wasn't successful; in fact, it convinced Disney that its animation unit still had a future.
Evilly Affable: In song, Ratigan professes that he has planned his worst crime yet. His mooks gush "Even meaner? You mean it? Worse than the widows and orphans you drowned?" The thing is that his thugs asked the question with enthusiasm, and Ratigan was simply having fun the entire time.
Executive Meddling: Largely averted, as Jeffery Katzenberg had little to no faith the movie would be any good. Most of his attention was spent on meddling with The Black Cauldron; we all know how that film turned out. Katzenberg did, however, demand the title of this film be changed from "Basil of Baker Street" to simply "The Great Mouse Detective". Two of the four directors have since said they've always hated this new title.
Furry Confusion: The movie has anthropomorphic mice, rats, bats, and lizards, but real cats, dogs, and horses, not to mention humans as well.
Genius Bruiser: Ratigan prefers to use his brain to solve his problems (if nothing else to preserve his image), but he is vastly stronger than anyone else in the movie.
"Hey fellas, / There's nothin' I won't do, just for you!"
"So dream on, and drink your beer. Get cozy, your baby's here!" Basil also points out his drinks are drugged. The fact that half the bar is smoking seems to be the least of the worries during this scene.
"Boys, what you're hoping for will come true / Let me be good to you!"
Basil: (to Olivia) Young lady, you are most definitely not accompanying us, and that! Is! FINAL!
(Cut to Basil on the case, accompanied by Dawson and Olivia)
Basil: And not a word out of you. Is that clear?
Good Is Not Nice: Basil comes across as somewhat rude, especially early in the film, which makes him a good contrast to the Faux Affably Evil Ratigan. Fitting, since the original Holmes can be somewhat of a JerkassSmug Snake himself at times.
Gory Discretion Shot: You see the shadow of Bartholomew the mouse getting eaten by Ratigan's cat.
Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Basil smokes a pipe while Ratigan smokes a cigarette (complete with long stemmed filter a la Cruella de Vil). When Basil disguises himself as a thug, he swaps out his pipe for a cigarette.
GPS Evidence: The brandy, coal dust, and salt water on Fidget's list.
Heroic BSOD: Basil after he falls for Ratigan's trap.
Homage: "Elementary, my dear Dawson". The entire movie, really, especially one scene where the silhouettes of two men who are obviously Holmes and Watson are visible discussing a case. The Holmes expy even shares a name with probably the most famous actor who played Sherlock. (So would that make this a Holmsage?)
In fact, in The Adventure of Black Peter, Holmes mentions he's known as (Captain) Basil around the Sumner area, though that much is coincidence. Of course, there's also Toby the dog, whom Holmes used in The Sign of the Four.
I Am Not Weasel: The professor HATES being called a rat; he's actually a "big mouse".
Idiot Ball: Basil and Dr. Dawson grab it pretty hard in the toy store by not realizing that someone had to have set off all the toys' mechanisms and that they didn't just wind themselves up. Basil should have instantly realized that whoever turned them on must have done so to provide cover for himself, and Dawson messed up by just letting Olivia wander off by herself.
Ironic Echo: Basil's ringing of Ratigan's little dinner bell (as Ratigan would use to call Felicia) before Big Ben strikes the hour, the bell's vibrations knocking Ratigan off to his demise.
Jump Scare: Twice by Fidget; when he breaks into Flaversham's shop, and when he hides in a cradle while inside the human toyshop.
Kidnapped Scientist: Flaversham is a toymaker, but he qualifies. His skill with making mechanical toys had applications for chicanery that Ratigan made forcible use of.
Knighting: It's certainly implied by the picture in the newspaper article at the end.
Large Ham: Ratigan is one of Disney's largest. In fact, Vincent Price said that this was his favorite role, and that he had a lot of fun with it. What's more, he also professed to being "flattered" that all of Ratigan's songs were written specially for him so that he could act as over-the-top as possible.
Mr. Price was prone to making wild, over-the-top hand gestures and such while acting, which the animators worked into Ratigan's character as well.
There's also the incredibly expressive, hyperactive unless quite visibly depressed, always overdramatic Basil himself.
Barrie Ingaham (Basil's voice actor) was also given to dramatic gesturing. The animators had lots of raw material to work with!
Basil's most notably hammy moments are:
"Young lady, you are most definitely not accompanying us! AND THAT IS FINAL !!!
and...
"Set it off now. Set it...off...now? . (laughs madly) Yes, yes, we'll set the trap off NOW!!".
My Name Is Not Durwood: Basil constantly gets Olivia's surname wrong. Funnily enough, the one time he does get it right is when he's addressing her father.
My Parents Are Dead: Basil, depressed about failing to catch Ratigan yet again and playing the violin to console himself, dismisses Olivia's request that he find her father with, "Surely your mother knows where he is." Olivia responds, "I don't have a mother," and Basil's playing comes to a screeching halt.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Towards the end of the movie, Ratigan mercilessly attacks Basil while shouting "There's no escape this time, Basil!" That Ratigan is usually more friendly than that only makes his suddenly vicious attack feel even more intense.
No Kill Like Overkill: Ratigan's ridiculously over-the-top Death Trap for Basil, which is set up so the detective will be snapped by a mousetrap, shot by a gun, impaled by a crossbow, chopped in half by an ax, crushed by an anvil, and gotten his picture taken. Very Rube Goldberg-ish, isn't it? Just like the Mousetrap board game...
Off Model: The very unfortunate DVD cover that was formerly at the top of this page. See its completely different art style here◊.
How about the current DVD cover artwork? Basil and Olivia don't look too bad, despite Basil having five fingers (usually he has four) and Dr. Dawson's eyes looking rather odd.
One-Winged Angel: As part of his Villainous Breakdown, Ratigan reverts to his monstrous feral rat form. He proves incredibly dangerous, nearly killing Basil.
Panty Shot: Olivia, a few times. Most notably when Fidget shoves her into the bottle.
Primal Stance: When Ratigan's animal rage returns him to all fours while attacking Basil.
Punny Name: Many in the foreign language editions — besides, of course, "Ratigan". For instance, the Italian Dawson is named "Topson", with "topo" meaning "mouse."
Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts: The clock tower ends up being a huge death trap. It doesn't work, but man, if someone didn't outdo themselves thinking it up.
Disney also references its own movies with a Dumbo toy in the toy shop and Bill the lizard as one of Ratigan's mooks.
Basil shares his name with Basil Rathbone, an actor famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and whose image often inspired the image the detective has in popular culture.
Bonus points: Basil Rathbone's voice appears, through the magic of archived dialog, as the voice of Sherlock Holmes.
Sissy Villain: Ratigan (before he turns into a psychotic, feral rat at the end) is quite possibly one of Disney's most cold-blooded villains... and yet he surrounds himself with pink and purple fabric, fashionable capes, and sings songs while being carried around by his hired boys.
She's Got Legs: Miss Kitty the bar singer has some of the most shapely, curvaceous legs ever animated.
Slipping a Mickey: Basil and Dawson are given drugged drinks sometime in the bar. Basil is Genre Savvy enough to test his drink first, but Dawson isn't so fortunate.
Thunderous Confrontation: As the standard for Disney animated films, Basil and Ratigan's big fight on Big Ben near the end is accompanied by a strong thunderstorm, which clears up once Basil and Ratigan fall off the clock, and Basil survives thanks to using a piece of Ratigan's getaway blimp.
Keep in mind, the original title would have been "Basil of Baker Street", the name of the book series. Characters utter "Basil of Baker Street" quite frequently throughout the film, so if Executive Meddling hadn't changed the title, there would have been a lot of title drops!
Made even more frightening is the fact he was previously so Evilly Affable. It series to show just how insane and feral his breakdown has left him.
Villain Song: "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind"
"Goodbye, So Soon" could maybe count, too!
What Could Have Been: Madonna was considered to voice Miss Kitty and perform the song "Let Me Be Good To You".
Wretched Hive: The seedy pub. They DO serve Rodent's Delight, after all...
Writers Cannot Do Math: Really, Basil... just what is "the square root of an isosceles triangle", exactly? (Maybe Basil just is so much smarter than us that he knows how to calculate the square root of an isosceles triangle!)
You could also argue that he's thinking so fast that he's not verbalizing every step of his mental process, and there's some stuff in the middle that he just skips.
Worthy Opponent: Subverted. When Basil confronts Ratigan and starts speaking, it looks like he's invoking this trope, but it's actually the lead-in to an insult:
"Ratigan, no one can have a higher opinion of you than I have... and I think you're a slimy, contemptible sewer rat!"
in a Bad Guy Bar — sung by Melissa Manchester
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