Review of The Secret of NIMH (1982) by Davey M — 29 May 2011

At its best (and it often is), the film works on the level of myth--the colors are beautiful (the scene where the animals are scattered from their home draws very heavily, and successfully, on the expressionist use of color in "Bambi"), the mood and atmosphere extraordinary (especially the scene when Mrs.

Brisby meets with the Great Owl, and all the scenes in the rats' underground rose-bush dwelling), a great score by Jerry Goldsmith, and the characters classically, resonantly archetypal (especially the Great Owl and Nicodemus, and, to a lesser degree, Mrs.

Brisby, Justin, and Jenner). The combination of science and magic, and the rodent world and the human world, creates a tremendously evocative sense of wonder, mystery, and awe. The narrative is a bit disjointed for it to be a truly great film, but it's one of the better movie myths of modern American cinema, and one of Bluth's very best efforts.