Review of The Secret of NIMH (1982) by Michael Y — 09 Jul 2011

Based on the classic children's novel, The Secret of NIMH is a cute but very mysterious story. Its intriguing mystery and gothic style makes this movie a great animated classic.

Mrs. Brisby is a widowed mother mouse who's having a lot of touble. Her son has namonia and the farmer is about to plow the field where her home is. Brisby's bravery will take her to dangerous lengths to help her children, including seeing a secret organization of rats who have a dark past. The Secret of NIMH's appearence is a story about cute animals with funny lines, Especially Jeremy the Crow (voiced by Dom DeLuise) but this story is anything but. It is a freaky story with danger all around and characters planning on murdering eachother, but it is also a great story about bravery and respect. But it's all about "what the hell is NIMH anyways?" that is the interesting part. And there's the mystery about Mrs. Brisby's husband that is also interesting because everywhere she goes the Brisby name is known. Though it's not a very thorough story, I would have liked to see more developement, it is still a very interesting movie.

I love the animators who did this movie. From the same people who created All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Secret of NIMH has a very dirty and gothic look to it which I absolutely love. Full of detail and shodows, this movie looks incredible and scary a lot of times. The directing of the scenes are also very well done. The pacing of this movie creates a very mysterious and creepy atmosphere. Definitely not one you would expect to see in a kids movie. There are scenes that have some great suspence and create a great creepy mood through the whole movie. I especially like how the animators captured the movements of the characters, being animals and all, so their expressions and movements all seem very natural. This movie's music score is pretty great to and fits the mood of the movie very well.

It's a short movie, and not a fully explained movie, but The Secret of NIHM is a classic animated movie that is very different and very entertaining. Its maturity, mystery and wonderful animated style is one that can be enjoyed by adults even more so than kids would be.