Review of The Secret of NIMH (1982) by The-Lords A — 19 Jun 2012

Ah yes. Here we have another Don Bluth film that was easily one of my favorite non-Disney movies to watch growing up. A movie that was rightfully praised by the critics but sadly didn't go too far in the box office. The one and only The Secret of NIMH.

Plot: Mrs. Brisby is a widowed mouse who lives with only her four children after her husband Johnathan was killed. One day, her second youngest child, Timmy gets sick and is revealed to have Pneumonia, so he cannot go outside for at least three weeks. But the farmer that the family lives close to is planning to plow the field thereby destroying their house so they have to move. So the great owl tells Mrs. Brisby to go to the rats to find a way to move without Timmy getting out of him bed and dying.

This is a spectacular movie. The story is original, animation is very well done, the characters are very well developed, it's dark, it's edgy and suspenseful, yet fun and exciting. Would it be a little too dark for younger children?...eh...maybe. I mean in my case, my siblings and I have known this movie long before I was in kindergarten (I'm the oldest mind you) and we didn't have a problem with the dark setting to this movie, but then again, not all young children will view it the same as we and maybe plenty of other people who grew up with this at a very young age did. But even then it's still an excellent animated film that I think should be remembered for just as long of a time as all the Disney and Pixar films that will be remembered for years to come.

Characters:

Mrs. Brisby: This was an excellent character. She wasn't heroic all that much but still had this sense of bravery and willingness to do what she must to save her family. She was just an extremely good character.

Jeremy: Jeremy I easily liked. Unlike Mrs. Brisby he was more the heroic one who was being this wise guy who was always doing things for good. I mean it's not like I liked this guy so much that I had a toy of him or something growing up, but still.

Music: the music is fantastic. The score is touching and the song "Flying Dreams Lullaby" is a moving song. Especially with how it's played during the end credits.

And that's my review for The Secret of NIMH. It's a wonderful animated with an excellent story, characters, music, animation and so on that it should be remembered for a long time and passed down to be loved by generations to come.