the secret of nimh
Don Bluth’s THE SECRET OF NIMH is an exquisitely drawn, colorfully animated feature about Mrs. Brisby, a brave mother field mouse who struggles to save her family’s home from a farmer’s plow. [1]
Their first effort was The Secret of NIMH, about a mouse who has lost her husband and hooks up with a pack of super-intelligent rats who’ve escaped from an experimental laboratory. [2]
View company contact information for The Secret of NIMH on IMDbPro. [3]
It is intended to serve as a resource of information for fans of the film “The Secret of NIMH.” [4]
On her way to find help, she discovers NIMH, a secret society of highly-intelligent rats who have escaped from a nearby science lab. [2]
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 author Robert C. O’Brien. [5]
I was able to view it with some sense of familiarity (I always remembered the way Mrs. Brisby said “Mr. Ages”), while at the same time, I was thrust into the film’s universe as if I had never been there before. [6]
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. [5]
Disney animator Don Bluth walks out, halfway through production on ‘The Fox and the Hound’, taking several other key animators with him, and declaring that he was going to recapture the spirit of classical animation, which Disney had forgotten about. [3]
From the Hitchcockian flashback sequence revealing the rats’ secret to the moral questions raised about animal testing, this film is a beautiful example of how animation can expertly tell a gripping story while still remaining appropriate and entertaining for children. [1]
Frustrated with the Walt Disney studio’s reluctance to produce full-length animated films, Don Bluth and a number of animators left the studio in the early ’80s with the intent of creating movies in the style of Disney’s classics. [...] Adapted from Robert C. O’Brien’s acclaimed children’s book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H., the film is about a widowed mouse whose home is threatened; also, one of her children is gravely ill. [2]
Gary Goldman stated that they originally hoped the film would receive a “PG” rating, due to several intense scenes and the maturity of the subject matter. [3]
Throughout the commentary, Goldberg tells the viewers that while he and Bluth are watching an unrestored version of the film, we should be seeing a high-definition remastered version with color correction and all unintended minutiae removed from the cels. [6]
Though it breaks no new ground technically, the highly professional animation is richly detailed, partially compensating for a plot that sags at times. [2]
Sources:
[1] The Secret of NIMH Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
[2] The Secret of NIMH 1982: Movie and film review from Answers.com
[3] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[4] The Secret of Nimh Archive
[5] The Secret of NIMH - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[6] The Secret of NIMH: Family Fun Edition DVD Review