Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2001) - Fairy Tale Cinderella Returns in this Fine Disney Movie!

Cinderella II: When Dreams Come True - A Tale of Mice and Princesses

Fairy tale Cinderella returns in this Disney movie, "Cinderella II: Dreams Come True" (2002), directed by John Kafka from a script by Jill E. Blotevogel, Tom Rogers and Jule Selbo for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. This Cinderella movie was a huge financial success as a long-awaited direct-to-video animated sequel to the classic 1950 Disney movie fairy tale "Cinderella." Even though this Cinderella movie was the best-selling of all Disney movies released directly to the home market, it could not satisfy the public's thirst for more fairy tale Cinderella movies, so another fairy tale Disney movie, "Cinderella III: A Twist in Time" followed in 2007 as an odd sort of sequel/prequel.

The artwork on the DVD covers is the best thing about the sequels

As is well known, the fairy tale Cinderella (Jennifer Hale) lived "happily ever after," but that doesn't mean her subsequent life was uneventful. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother (Russi Taylor) loves to tell the tale of Cinderella's discovery, and when the Fairy Godmother is reading it aloud one day, Cinderella's mice friends Gus (Corey Burton) and Jaq (Rob Paulsen) arrive to late. The mice resolve to tell what happened to Cinderella after she married the handsome prince, and three stories in particular come to mind.

Cinderella and the Prince leaving the palace after the wedding

In first fairy tale Disney movie segment "Aim to Please," Cinderella is in charge of planning the palace banquets and parties. She finds that the woman previously in charge, Prudence (Holland Taylor), is mean-spirited and rude. Cinderella decides that the kingdom's parties are too elitist, so she opens up the next one to ordinary folks who can act as they see fit.

Cinderella wearing a dress she hates

In the second fairy tale Disney movie segment "Tall Tail," Jaq the mouse has developed a complex about his size. He thinks that he is useless because of his small stature. The Fairy Godmother turns him into a human so that size is no longer an issue. Pom Pom the Cat (Frank Welker), though, doesn't like the mice, and he still chases them around. Jaq turns out to be in love with a fellow mouse named Mary (Taylor), and after an incident with an elephant at a fair, he accepts and welcomes being a mouse.

The Fairy Godmother loves reading about Cinderella

In final fairy tale Disney movie segment "Uncommon Romance," Cinderella's evil step-sister Anastasia (Tress MacNeille) finds love with a common baker. Lady Tremaine (Susanne Blakeslee) and older sister Drizella (Taylor) do not approve and say unkind things about the nice young man and his bakery. Lucifer, meanwhile, chases Cinderella's mice around and runs into Pom Pom, falling in love. Anastasia has all sorts of problems when she goes to see her boyfriend, getting kicked by a horse and crashing into his shop. Cinderella tries to help the two get together, while the mice decide to help Lucifer win Pom Pom over as long as he agrees to stop chasing them. He strikes the bargain and romances Pom Pom, but she tells him she wants him to bring her the mice for dinner. Lucifer tries to catch them, but they drop a bucket of water on her and she is so upset that she leaves Lucifer. The baker asks Anastasia to the upcoming ball, and she agrees despite her family's disapproval. He is so sweet that she falls in love with him.

A nice shot of the royal couple

The fairy tale mice have various funny adventures unrelated to the Disney movie segments themselves while telling their stories. After the last one, they sing "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" and go to find fairy tale Cinderella to tell her about their stories. Cinderella loves the idea of her mice friends writing a fairy tale Cinderella book about their adventures, and they all go by the fire as she starts to read it. The Disney movie's songs appear on "Disney's Princess Favorites," sung by Brooke Allison.

A magical castle

Viewers tend to have strong feelings about any attempts by fairy tale Disney movies such as this Cinderella movie to tarnish the magical legacy of the classic fairy tale Cinderella story. While a top seller, nobody seemed to like this Cinderella movie, except, perhaps, for the children for whom it was intended. Indeed, the entire product appears aimed squarely at the youngest viewers, with notes on the DVD packaging explaining what a composer does and simple things like that. The new Cinderella characters also are not that interesting. The fatal flaw of this Cinderalla movie is that this entire fairy tale Disney movie is more about others than it is about fairy tale Cinderella herself. This may be one of the reasons why this title was removed form the list of available Disney movies back in 2008, perhaps never to return - but, considering that Disney movie sequel "Cinderella III: A Twist in Time" was withdrawn at the same time, it may just have been Disney doing its usual job of guarding the legacy and keeping the Disney movie currency strong.

The King crowing Cinderella

Fortunately, children don't worry too much about subtle plot points or whether Cinderella gets enough screen time in this Disney movie. For them, this Disney movie is a wonderful addition to the fairy tale Cinderella story. To say that this quality Disney movie is "disappointing" is unfair, because nothing could measure up to everyone's enchanted memories of watching the original Disney movie fairy tale "Cinderella" as a child. This sequel was doomed to be hated by adults while secretly cherished by small children everywhere, and it fulfilled that function extraordinarily well.

The mice make are the best part of this Disney movie

When this fairy tale Disney movie was made, sequels to classic Disney movies were being churned out in large numbers. This particular Disney movie one tends to lose sight of the original fairy tale Cinderella, making her a modern sort of girl who is not as loveable as in the original. Turning the fairy tale on its head and making one of the evil step-sisters sympathetic seems muddled at best. It is almost as if the creators of this fairy tale Disney movie sequel got confused about the characters and took away all their specialness, leaving the fairy tale Disney move characters with modern phrasing and a complete lack of charm and uniqueness.

The royal family

The fairy tale mice are the real stars of this Disney movie Cinderella sequel, so it really isn't about the fairy tale Cinderella story much at all anyway. Simply take this as a cute Cinderella movie with warm, cuddly small mice for kids to delight in and you won't be disappointed (they also might like "The Rescuers"). Everyone over the age of eight should respect the fact that this fairy tale Disney movie is not intended for them and give this particular Disney movie a pass if they think it might tarnish their golden memories of the plucky fairy tale little girl Cinderella who fulfilled every little girl's dream and snagged her very own fairy tale Prince Charming.

Below is the trailer for this fairy tale Cinderella Disney movie, and below that a fan video about the fairy tale Anastasia/baker romance.

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The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008) - Nice Prequel for the Little Mermaid Ariel

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginnings: You Just Can't Get Enough of Cute Little Mermaid Ariel

Although "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning" (2008) is the third film made in the "The Little Mermaid" trilogy, its setting comes first, with "The Little Mermaid" itself second and "The Little Mermaid II: Back to the Sea" the third in line. Given  Hollywood's peculiar obsession with prequels, the numbering systems can become a little confusing, but just remember that the last comes first and you'll be fine. "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning" by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment often is sold as part of a set with the other two films, so if you buy it that way, the order of the three Disney movies becomes more comprehensible.

Ariel the little mermaid looking happy

King Triton (Jim Cummings) and Queen Athena (Lorelei Hill Butters and Andrea Robertson) have seven young daughters in their underseas kingdom of Atlantica. Ariel (Jodi Benson) is the youngest and most precocious daughter. Everybody loves music, and Triton gives his dear wife Athena a music box. While enjoying it, she is crushed to death by a pirate ship. After that, Triton cannot bear the thought of music and banishes it from the kingdom.

Athena enjoying her music box

A new governess, Marina Del Rey (Sally Field), is selected to raise the girls. She and her assistant, Benjamin (Jeff Bennett), look after them diligently, though Marina secretly longs to be Triton's Chief of Staff instead. Ariel in particular resents not being able to enjoy music and seeks it out whenever she can.

All the main characters together

Ariel meets Flounder (Parker Goris), who also enjoys music. He leads her to an underwater music club, the "Catfish Club." To her surprise, she sees the king's chief adviser, Sebastian the crab (Samuel F. Wright), performing. Ariel the little mermaid is delighted to find a place to enjoy her passion. Despite the others' fear that she will reveal their secret, they allow her to join the club.

Triton and his daughter Ariel

Excited, Ariel later tells her sisters about the club. The next night, they all go to visit. Marina finds out about it and sees her opportunity. She informs Triton, who throws Sebastian, Flounder and the band in jail and grounds the girls. He promotes Marina to be his chief advisor, the position she always wanted.

Marina Del Rey and Triton

Ariel confronts her father about the ban on music, but his mind is so made up that he won't even talk about it. That night, Ariel decides to run away. She frees Sebastian and the others from jail and they all leave Atlantica. Sebastian leads them to Athena's old music box, and this inspires her to return the music box to Triton in hopes it will soften his heart about music.

Some of Ariel's spunky sisters

Marina, though, appears and blocks their return path. She worries that if Triton lifts the ban on music, he will release Sebastian, restore him to his position, and she will be demoted. She and her minions (electric eels) fight Ariel, Sebastian and the others in a final showdown. Ariel gets knocked out, but Triton happens by and sees what is going on. The entire incident makes him think long and hard about the whole music issue.

Ships usually mean trouble in this series

Only a few of the voice actors from the first two films were able to return for this concluding chapter, most noticeably the voices of Ariel and Sebastian. Sally Field signs on and does a fine job voicing the tale's villainess, singing "Just One Mistake" a couple of times. The songs by Jeanine Tesori, Raymond Bell, Steven Samuel, Rafael de Leon and Gariel Oller are a step up from the previous film in the series, and "Part of Your World" by the original film's composers Howard Ashman and Alan Menken also is used. While some people are not impressed by the songs' quality (and almost anything would suffer by being compared to the showstoppers in "The Little Mermaid"), they are performed competently and bring an added dimension to the production.

Ariel relaxing with Flounder

Another big draw for "The Little Mermaid 3" (as it is invariably known) is the high-quality (for direct to video) animation. While the second film in the series had relatively simple animation that seemed cartoonish at times, this film keeps the use of computer graphics to a minimum. It appears that new character models were made that closely resemble the originals but in some ways enhance them. Some might even think that Ariel is at her prettiest in this film. There is a lush look to this film that some may consider equal to the classic original episode, and is certainly a step up from "Back to the Sea." There is a touch of modern 3D animation techniques that give the undersea world a welcome sense of depth.

Ariel and her six sisters

Under new director Peggy Holmes, a dancer by training, there is very little conflict in the film, which suffers as a result. Marina is not much of a villainess, even compared to the rather pale Morgana of "Little Mermaids II." However, Sally Field voices her with gusto, making her seem crazy and cruel without being particularly evil. It is kind of odd in a continuity sense that we don't see anything of Marina in the concluding chapter of the trilogy, but that is one of the drawbacks of filming (and writing) stories out of sequence. Her ultimate fate is left unclear, though we are left with the impression that she will reform and return to the straight and narrow. In any event, her character never really makes sense, since becoming thuggish simply to keep Ariel and the others from talking to Triton seems a bit of a stretch. There are a lot of things that are forgivable in a Disney movie, but a weak villain isn't one of them. Holmes does do a nice job with the dancing sequences, though.

Triton's Atlantica underseas kingdom

This is the only time we get to see Ariel's mother, who it turns out looks exactly like Ariel the little mermaid herself, so it is worth watching by fans for that reason alone. If you like the "Little Mermaid" idea, you may as well get the complete set and start out by watching this film. This isn't really of the same quality as "The Little Mermaid" itself, but it is enjoyable for those who just can't get enough of the little mermaid Ariel. Even if you aren't a die-hard fan, there is a lot to like about this charming prequel that will warm you up for the main event that follows it.

Below is the 2008 trailer.

2012

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The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) - The Little Mermaid Ariel Returns

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - The Tale of Ariel the Little Mermaid Continues With Ariel's Daughter Melody

The success of "The Little Mermaid" ignited the entire Disney Renaissance of the 1990s, so it was only a matter of time before the little mermaid Ariel returned for an encore. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (later DisneyToon Studios) released "The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea" on September 19, 2000 direct to video. Directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith, it completes the story that the 2008 prequel "The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning" commences. The Ariel the little mermaid storyline runs through all three films, so it forms a continuous and cohesive trilogy despite the fact that the first chapter was produced last. There also is an animated television series that is a prequel to the entire "The Little Mermaid" film trilogy. "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" is eminently enjoyable and completes an epic journey for the "Ariel the little mermaid" franchise.

Ariel returns to her undersea ways in "Little Mermaid II"

Ariel (Jodi Benson) and Prince Eric (Rob Paulsen), together since the demise of Ursula at the end of "The Little Mermaid," have a daughter, Melody (Tara Strong) on a ship. Ariel's father, King Triton (Kenneth Mars), presents Melody with a special locket. Ariel, though, decides not to tell Melody of her sea heritage, and tosses the locket in the sea and builds a wall between the castle and the water.

Prince Eric, Ariel and Melody

Morgana (Pat Carroll), Ursula's sister, wants Triton's trident, which gives power over the creatures of the sea, so she almost manages to kidnap young Melody. Ariel and Eric work against her to foil her plot. When Melody is twelve, she goes swimming against her mother's orders and finds the locket, which has her name on it. When Ariel refuses to talk about it, Melody runs away from home by boat. Ariel, frantic, has Triton turn her back into a mermaid in order to search for her.

King Triton gives his blessings

News of Melody's departure soon reaches Morgana, who lures Melody to her lair with the help of Undertow (Clancy Brown) and her manta minions Cloak and Dagger. She transforms Melody into a mermaid, who is happy to become one. Melody steals Triton's trident, which Morgana says will enable her to remain a mermaid forever. With the trident, Morgana becomes power-mad just as her sister did while in possession of the trident.

Cloak and Dagger, Morgana's minions

After capturing Ariel and holding her hostage, Morgana rises to the surface to proclaim her power. Eric and his allies Triton, Sebastian the crab (Samuel E. Wright) and Scuttle the seagull (Buddy Hackett) arrive to rescue Ariel. Melody, wishing to save her mother, helps to overpower Morgana, and Triton recovers his trident. Triton then offers Melody the opportunity to become a mermaid permanently if she wishes, but Melody has a better idea.

Ariel talking to Melody about the trident

"Return to the Sea" has the wonderful advantage, unlike most direct-to-video sequels, of featuring almost all the same voice actors (with the notable exception of Prince Eric) despite the passage of over a decade. It also is very funny, with good music and the same characters with the same personalities. Watching Sebastian and Louie interact is a high point, while Scuttle still provides the comic relief.

Sebastian is a welcome return character from the original

"The Little Mermaid II" uses a different animation process, the CAPS computer process, than the original xerography system. It has a slightly different look, a bit more cartoony than the original. There is terrific detail in the facial expressions and body language. The songs by Michael Silversher and Patty Silversher, with background music by Danny Troob, reference the classic Howard Ashman tunes of the original, though these are not of the same high caliber.

Morgana changing Melody

Morgana is not very original as a villain, though, and Ariel is not the same energetic ball of fire as in the original. The narrative is almost the opposite of the original, with a human (Melody) wishing to become a mermaid. Melody is not nearly the enchanting character that her mother was, immediately placing this on lower quality level than the original. Overall, the characters seem to be going through the motions. Fans of the original, which was a breakthrough classic, are bound to be disappointed by the lack of originality here.

Melody suddenly realizes Morgana isn't who she thought

This film also is similar to the later "Brave" in some ways because it features a head-strong daughter who tries to find her own place in the world versus her mother without reference to any prince. In that sense, it has a feminist slant, along with the Morgana's own female point of reference. Nothing much comes of it in the end, since Melody and Morgana both wind up causing grief for everyone else, but it is a step in a different direction for the Disney juggernaut which some might find refreshing and other mystifying.

Morgana just has that way with folks

For those desiring another dose of Ariel the little mermaid and her adventures, this is better than nothing. If you are a fan of the first film and want to be entertained, enough is provided here for you to do that. Just don't expect to be shocked and awed by this film as with "The Little Mermaid," because you will be in for a let-down.

The trailer for the Special Edition is below.

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An American Tail (1986) - Fievel Does America

An American Tail: Wildly Popular Tail, um, Tale of The Immigrant Experience... as Mice

Don Bluth, having finished "The Secret of NIMH" to rave reviews and the bankruptcy of his business, hooked up with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment for "An American Tail" (1986). Unlike Bluth's first feature film, this one turned out to be both a critical and a financial success. It is a charming tale with first-class production values, and like Bluth's other films has developed a cult following that only seems to grow with time. It owes a large debt of gratitude, of course, to Disney movie "The Rescuers," which introduced the concept of cute mice as lead characters.

Fievel

It is 1885 in Russia, and a Russian-Jewish family of mice - the Mousekewitzes - are being attacked by vicious cats belonging to Cossacks. With their village destroyed, the mice board a ship and begin their journey, but the boy, Fievel (Phillip Glasser), is washed overboard en route during a storm. The family eventually arrives in America, believing that Fievel has drowned.

Bridget, Fievel's friend

Fievel, however, is fine after having floated to America on a bottle. He befriends a pigeon, Henri (Christopher Plummer), who encourages him to find his family. Along the way, conman Warren T. Rat (John Finnegan) befriends him, but then sells Fievel to a sweatshop. Fievel manages to get out and hooks up with Italian mouse Tony (Pat Musick) and Irish mouse Bridget (Cathianne Blore). Their illusions about America being cat-free is shattered when a gang of cats attacks them in a marketplace.

Gussie Mausheimer

An anti-cat organization led by Gussie Mausheimer springs up among the mice, and Fievel figures out a plan. The mice begin building a trap for the cats in an abandoned building on the Hudson. Fievel finds out that Warren T. Rat is actually a cat in disguise, but before he can tell anyone, he is captured by the cats and locked up. Things don't look good for him until a nice cat named Tiger (Dom DeLuise) befriends him and sets him free.

Honest John

The cats chase Fievel back to the pier, right into the trap the mice have set. When the cats arrive, the mice release a giant mechanical mouse. It chases the cats off the pier and into the Hudson. They climb onto a tramp steamer headed to China and are never seen again. Fievel's mother (Erica Yohn) finds his hat after the battle, and Papa Mousekewitz (Nehemiah Persoff) realizes his son is still alive and start thinking of a way to find him.

Tony Toponi, Fievel's friend

"An American Tail" is done in Bluth's usual animation style, with rotoscoping of human characters and cartoonish animal figures. This makes the humans look very realistic, while the animals have more of a dream-like quality. You don't see many people anyway, they usually are left in the shadows or only shown partially. The colors usually are dark and moody, befitting the subject, but that makes the animation seem of lower quality than it might if everything were bright and cheery. There are some bright colors during the happy occasions, but those are few and far between. The animation can get a bit distracting at times because Bluth likes to move it around a lot, but you get used to it. Also, the animation tends to be a bit inconsistent, with characters noticeably changing shapes and sizes.

Tiger talking to Fievel

The tale is an obvious political metpahor for the immigrant experience and their "the streets are paved with gold" misconceptions. It is easy to read a lot into it, perhaps more than was intended. The mice are portrayed as being naive and of various religions and backgrounds, while the cats seem to have a vicious predatory uniformity between Russia and the United States. It is a bit over-done, but that probably was the intent, to hammer the point home. While it's obvious who the cats represent in Czarist Russia, it's a bit less clear who they are supposed to be in the States. This ambiguity is one of the key flaws in the film and could unintentionally make some people uncomfortable.

Warren T. Rat's accountant Digit

There is a lot of darkness in this film. Child labor is depicted, as well as a lot of violence by the cats. There's a manipulative con artist cat, scenes of cats destroying homes, and a lot of edgy scenes. Little children may be disturbed by some of this and may not look at the family cat in quite the same way for a while.

Warren T. Rat, crooked as they come

The music by James Horner is all right, not sensational. Barry Mann does the songs, and "Somewhere Out There" may stick with you for a while, also "There Are No Cats." "Somewhere" was nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy.

Warren T. Rat making a point

Probably the weakest part of the film is the plot. The story has little going for it other than "young immigrant is lost in New York." Character development leaves something to be desired (the sudden friendship between Tiger and Fievel is a bit much), and there seem to be an awful lot of stereotypes in the film (drunk Irishmen, noble, brave, pure and cultured immigrants, relentless oppressors with no morals, that sort of thing). That does set up a nice us-versus-them confrontation, though. I sure hope those cats like Hong Kong!

Fievel having some fun

Overall, Bluth's previous "The Secret of NIMH" is the better film, but this one appeals directly to a broader demographic and had the marketing power of Steven Spielberg behind it. There's a lot more to successful filmmaking than quality, and the different performances of the two films at the box office really shows that. "An American Tail" is a good animation film that you will enjoy if you identify with the poor, oppressed mice, and one of the better animation films of the '80s.

Below is the original trailer:

2012

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The Secret of NIMH (1982) - Disney Without Disney

The Secret of NIMH: Don Bluth Explodes with Creativity

It isn't often that you can say that a film which forced its creator into bankruptcy is a classic, but that is the case with "The Secret of NIMH" (1982). Don Bluth left Disney with 16 other animators in 1979 and struck out on his own, calling his shop Don Bluth Productions. This was their first feature film, an adaptation of an award-winning 1972 book, "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien. It is a cult classic, but it did not do well at the box office upon release, so the new studio had to close up shop and try something else. Bluth went on to do other stellar work, such as The Land Before Time, but this measures up with anything else he's done.

Mrs. Brisby makes a new friend

Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) is a retiring field mouse who lives with her family in a cinderblock on the Fitzgibbon farm. The block is in a field that soon will be plowed, so she plans to leave shortly. Her son Timothy falls ill with pneumonia, though, and her late husband's friend Mr. Ages (Arthur Malet) warns that Timothy will need to stay inside for a few weeks to recover. Returning from her visit to Ages, the Fitzgibbon's cat Dragon almost catches her.

Jeremy the Crow and Mrs. Brisby

Farmer Fitzgibbon starts plowing the next day. Together with Auntie Shrew (Hermione Baddeley), she delays that by vandalizing his tractor. With the help of her friend Jeremy the Crow (Dom DeLuise), she calls on the Great Owl (John Carridine), who advises her to see Nicodemus (Derek Jacobi), a mysterious leader of rats that live beneath a rose bush.

The colors in this film are spectacular

Visiting the rats' home, she finds to her astonishment that it has electricity and looks just like a human's house, albeit underground. Nicodemus reveals that the rats on the farm were part of a secret experiment by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) which made them as smart as humans. The rats are about to leave the farm and start their own civilization elsewhere. He decides to help her, and gives her a special stone that has magical powers.

Nicodemus is one strange dude

Nicodemus has a plan to help her, so she goes into the farmhouse and drugs Dragon so he won't interfere. Unfortunately, little Billy Fitzgibbon (Joshua Lawrence) catches her and keeps her as  a pet in a birdcage. While imprisoned, she overhears a telephone conversation with NIMH and learns that the rats are to be exterminated the next day. She escapes and goes to warn Nicodemus and his Captain of the Guards, Justin (Peter Strauss).

Mrs. Brisby's reflection in the stone

The rats, led by Nicodemus, are moving the cinderblock during a thunderstorm. One of the rats, Jenner (Paul Shenar), doesn't want to help Mrs. Brisby and sabotages the move along with his sidekick Sullivan (Aldo Ray). The cinderblock falls and crushes Nicodemus to death. It looks like an accident, and Sullivan blames himself. When Mrs. Brisby arrives and warns the other to leave, Jenner leaps at her and tries to steal the stone that Nicodemus gave her. Justin fights Jenner, who confesses to killing Nicodemus, and stabs him. Now, the rats only need to figure out how to finish moving Mrs. Brisby's home and where they will live from now on themselves.

The rain adds a nice touch

Having left a major studio to work on his own, Bluth's completion of this film at all was an epic achievement. His budget was tiny, and he was only given 30 months to complete it (Disney animation films, with a full staff and access to everything they need, typically take at least twice that long). Many new techniques were invented for this production (rotoscoping, multiple color palettes for characters so they would look different in different lighting conditions, etc.). The film went over budget, and Bluth and others had to mortgage their homes to finish.

A spot of tea would do nicely

What resulted is a film that has excellent music by Jerry Goldsmith (his first animated feature), sung by Paul H. Williams and Sally Stevens. It includes a tearjerker of a plot and some of the most seamless classical animation done since the golden age of the 1940s and 1950s. Color is used to enhance mood, with backgrounds changing from dark to light as action heats up, and the characters are drawn beautifully. It is not going too far to say that the animation was at least as good as anything done since "Sleeping Beauty." When this came out, people were honestly saying "I didn't realize they made animation films like this anymore."

Nicodemus giving Mrs. Brisby the amulet

"The Secret of NIMH" is legendary among animators who know their history. It was like a beacon shining in the night when it came out because of Disney's animation problems at the time. It is not a cartoon for children, which of course also has its place, but serious animation that anyone can enjoy. The action is sparse in places, and things get a bit talky now and then, but the story retains our interest. The whole idea of a magical amulet is a bit of a cheat that wasn't in the book, so it isn't perfect. The film, though, has enough good things going for it that it credibly stands next to the best that Disney could do. That's quite an achievement for a bunch of guys working out of Don Bluth's garage.

The secret

This is the favorite film of a great many people who know an awful lot about animation. If you take the time to watch it, you may find yourself delighted at the antics of the heroic Mrs. Brisby and the dastardly Jenner.

Below is the original trailer.

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