Mrs. Brisby meets Nicodemus. Backlighting techniques are used in this scene to give Nicodemus' eyes a bright glow.
The Secret of NIMH (alternatively spelled "The Secret of N.I.M.H.") is a 1982 animated film adaptation of the Newbery Medal-winning book
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Mrs. Frisby's name is changed
to "Brisby" in the film due to trademark concerns with Frisbee discs), written by American
author Robert C. O'Brien. The title of the movie was later used for newer editions of
the book. It was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Aurora Pictures, and released by
United Artists.
Plot
Mrs. Brisby, a shy and timid widowed mouse, lives in a cinder block with her children on the Fitzgibbon farm. She is preparing
to move her family out of the field they live in as plowing time approaches, however her son Timothy has fallen ill, and moving
him could prove fatal. With the help of Jeremy, a clumsy but compassionate crow, Mrs. Brisby visits The Great Owl, a wise
creature who advises her to visit a mysterious group of rats who live beneath a rose bush on the farm.
Upon visiting the rats, Brisby meets Nicodemus, the wise and mystical leader of the rats, and Justin, a friendly rat who
immediately becomes attached to Mrs. Brisby. While there, she learns that her late husband, Mr. Jonathon Brisby, along with the
rats, was a part of a series of experiments at a place known only as N.I.M.H. (revealed earlier in the story as the
National Institute of Mental Health). Nicodemus also presents Mrs.
Brisby with an amulet which he tells her to keep secret.
The experiments performed on the mice and rats boosted their intelligence, allowing them to read without being taught and to
understand things such as complex mechanics and electricity. The experiments also allowed the rats and mice to live longer. The
rats and Mr. Brisby escaped from N.I.M.H. and came to live on the Fitzgibbon farm. The rats created a home for themselves under
Mrs. Fitzgibbon's rose bush, creating an elaborate habitation of beautiful chambers, elevators, and Christmas lights. However,
the rats are unhappy in their dependence on the humans, whom they are stealing electricity from, and have concocted a plan to
leave the farm and live independently.
Meanwhile, on her way back, she sees Jeremy again. Jeremy has tied himself to a lilly pad and uses a hollow stick for air, so
he can avoid being spotted. Mrs. Brisby asks Jeremy for some string, but Jeremy is too obsessed with the amulet to give her the
string. But he immedietly gets into the conversation, stating that he has lots of string in different colors. Mrs. Brisby notices
that he is getting carried off and leaves, and Jeremy gets back in disguise.
Because of her husband's prior relationship with the rats, they agree to help Mrs. Brisby move her home out of the path of the
plow. However, the evil Jenner and his unwilling accomplice Sullivan, who wish to remain beneath the rose bush, plot to kill
Nicodemus during the move. Mrs. Brisby is told by Justin that someone must drug the Fitzgibbon's cat, Dragon, so that they can
complete the move safely. She volunteers. That evening, she successfully puts the drug into the cat's food dish, however the
Fitzgibbon's son catches her and convinces his mother to let him keep her as a pet. That evening, she overhears a telephone
conversation between Mr. Fitzgibbon and NIMH and learns that NIMH intends to come to the farm to exterminate the rats. She
manages to escape from the cage and runs off to warn Justin.
Meanwhile, the rats are completing the move. Just as the Brisby house is over Nicodemus, however, Jenner cuts the pulley
ropes, causing the house to fall and crush Nicodemus. Everyone assumes that it was an accident and Jenner begins to convince them
to return to the rosebush and abandon the plans to migrate. Mrs. Brisby shows up and begins to shout that NIMH is coming and that
they must leave immediately. Jenner becomes angry and then notices the amulet and tries to take it. Justin rushes to Mrs.
Brisby's aid and he and Jenner begin to sword fight. During the fight Justin accuses Jenner of killing Nicodemus and Jenner tells
Justin that Nicodemus wanted to ruin everything. Jenner stabs Sullivan after Sullivan manages to get a sword to Justin. Jenner
appears to have the upper hand. However, shortly before dying, Sullivan manages to toss a dagger into Jenner's back, killing
him.
Mrs. Brisby suddenly hears the cries of her children from inside the house and realizes that the house is sinking in the mud
it landed in. She is unable to pull it from the mud. However, as she tries to save her children, the amulet glows and lifts the
house to safety.
The movie ends some time later, presumably in spring. The Brisby house has been moved to a safe location and Timothy has begun
to recover. The rats moved from the farm and Mrs. Brisby gave the amulet to Justin, now the leader of the rats. Jeremy comes with
the string, but he is too late. Then he finds "Miss Right", an equally clumsy crow with whom he flies off.
Production
The Secret of NIMH was the first feature film to be directed by Don Bluth. In
September 1979 he, fellow animators Gary Goldman and John
Pomeroy, and eight other animation staff left Walt Disney Productions
animation department to set up their own independent studio, Don Bluth
Productions. The studio worked at first out of Bluth's house and garage, but moved to a two-story, 5,500 square foot
facility in Studio City several months later.[1] After completing work on several
shorter projects, including a two-minute animated sequence for the film Xanadu, the
studio forged a deal with Aurora Productions, a film-making partnership established
by former Disney executives.[2]
The rights to the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH had reportedly been offered to Disney in 1972 but turned
down.[3]Aurora Productions acquired
the rights, and gave Don Bluth Productions a budget of US$7 million and 30 months
to complete the film, tighter in both budget and schedule than most Disney animated features at the time. The studio set out with
the explicit goal in mind of returning feature animation to its “golden era”, concentrating on strong characters and story, and
experimenting with unusual and often more labor-intensive animation techniques.[4] Bluth believed older techniques were being abandoned in favor of cheaper
ones, and the only way animation could survive was to continue traditional
production methods. Among the techniques experimented with on The Secret of NIMH were airbrushed contact shadows, and backlit animation (where animated mattes are shot with light shining through
color gels to produce glowing areas). A modern version of the multiplane camera was also invented.[5]
To achieve the film's detailed full animation while keeping to the tight budget, the studio strove to keep any waste of time
and resources to a minimum. The crew often worked long hours with no immediate financial reward (though they were offered a cut
of the film's profits, a practice common for producers, directors and stars of live action films but never before offered to
artists on an animated feature); producer Gary Goldman recalled working 110 hour weeks during the final six months of
production.[6] Around 100 in-house
staff worked on the film, with the labor-intensive cel painting farmed out to 45 people working from
home.[7] Many minor roles, including
incidental and crowd voice work, were filled in by the in-house staff.
During the film's production, the studio was contacted by Wham-O, the manufacturers of Frisbee
flying discs, with concerns about possible trademark infringements if the "Mrs. Frisby" name in O'Brien's original book was used
in the movie. By then, the voice work had already been recorded for the film, so the name change to "Mrs. Brisby"
necessitated a combination of re-recording some lines and, because John Carradine was unavailable for further recordings, careful
sound editing.[3]
Reaction and controversy
The film garnered critical acclaim for being one of the most vibrantly animated films ever made.[citation needed] It has recently received an
outstanding score of 100% on Rottentomatoes.com, a website which accumulates online reviews from film critics. However, Rotten
Tomatoes has only fifteen reviews for this movie. [1] Despite good reviews, the film only did moderately well at the box office, attributed to a combination of poor promotion, regionally-staggered release dates and competition
from the Steven Spielberg blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[8] A major dispute between Aurora Productions, the studio which financed NIMH, and United Artists which had bought Aurora prior to the film's release and added scheduling and marketing
difficulties, may also have affected NIMH's commercial success.[citation needed] There is controversy when the film was also found to be surprisingly scary
and violent for most of the young children despite its MPAA "G"
rating, and the Walt Disney Company originally rejected this project because it
was perceived to be "too dark" and complicated to be a financial hit. In addition, in one scene when Mrs. Brisby was captured,
Justin cried "Damn!" and that almost caused a PG rating.
Nevertheless, the movie garnered a passionate cult following that arose from home video and also made quite an impact to the
animation world in general. Steven Spielberg loved the film so much that he insisted on working with Don Bluth to create
An American Tail. Despite An American Tail's greater financial success,
many consider The Secret of NIMH Bluth's best work.
Home video history
The film had a successful run on home video and spawned many VHS and DVD re-releases. In 2007,
Don Bluth and Gary Goldman made a special high-definition restoration of the film, though it wasn't released on 2-disc DVD as the
"Family Fun Edition", on June 19, 2007. Though in Canada, just
like The Pebble and the Penguin had happend on its 2-disc DVD
re-release in March of that same year, the DVD was re-released in several Canadian
Wal-Marts on June 5, 2007. Though
the Don Bluth website said that there will be a special Blu-ray release of the film, no
details have been announced yet.
Sequel
The film was followed up in 1998 with The Secret of NIMH 2:
Timmy To The Rescue, a straight-to-video release. This movie was made without either Don Bluth's permission or
creative input, and is widely regarded by fans as inferior to the original film.
Cast
Soundtrack
Soundtrack album track listing
- 1. "Main Title" (orchestral)
- 2. "Allergic Reaction/Athletic Type" (orchestral)
- 3. "Flying Dreams Lullaby" (performed by Sally Stephens)
- 4. "The Tractor" (orchestral)
- 5. "The Sentry Reel/The Story of NIMH" (orchestral)
- 6. "Escape from NIMH/In Disguise" (orchestral)
- 7. "Flying Dreams" (performed by Paul H. Williams)
- 8. "Step Inside My House" (orchestral)
- 9. "No Thanks" (orchestral)
- 10. "Moving Day" (orchestral)
- 11. "The House Rising" (orchestral)
- 12. "Flying High/End Title" (orchestral)
Footnotes
- ^ Cawley. Walkout to Independence
- ^ Beck, The Animated Movie Guide p.243-4
- ^ a b Cawley. The Secret of NIMH
- ^ Counts. Coming: The Secret of
NIMH
- ^ Mandell. Interview with Dorse
Lanpher
- ^ Cawley. The Secret of N.I.M.H.
- ^ McDaniel. Remembering NIMH
- ^ Beck, Don Bluth Goes Independent
References
- Beck, Jerry. "Don Bluth Goes
Independent", Animation World Magazine, 1996-06-01.
- Beck, Jerry (October 2005). The Animated Movie
Guide. Chicago Review Press, p.243-4. ISBN 1-556-52591-5.
- Cawley, John (October 1991). The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Image Pub of
New York. ISBN 0-685-50334-8.
- Counts, Kyle. "Coming: The Secret of NIMH", Cinefantastique, February
1982.
- Hildebrandt, Tim, Bohus, Ted. "Interview with Director Don Bluth", January 1982. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
- Mandell, Paul. "Interview with Dorse Lanpher", June 1982. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
- McDaniel, Adam. Remembering NIMH: An Interview with Don Bluth Studios.
- "Bluth Completes
Cartoon Feature", Variety, 1982-05-19.
External links
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