Reviews for The Secret of NIMH

Released in 1981 and based on Robert C. O'Brien's book "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH," The Secret of NIMH is one of Don Bluth's earlier successes. It tells the tale of Mrs. Brisby, a widowed field mouse living in a farmer's field. When her youngest son is afflicted with pneumonia, Mrs. Brisby must get help from a colony of rats living in a rosebush that have a strange connection to her late husband, Jonathan. Over the course of the movie she learns much about Jonathan, the rats and most importantly about herself.

The animation is wonderful, keeping all of the animals as realistic as possible. Unlike Bluth's later films (including the below-mediocre sequel to SoNIMH), the characters don't break into song at the drop of a hat. Instead "Flying Dreams," the main theme of the film, only enters vocalized form twice: once as a lullabye sung by Mrs. Brisby to her ill son, and then performed by Paul Williams during the ending credits.

The characters are brought to life quite well by the vocal talent, including Arthur Malet, Elizabeth Hartman, Peter Strauss and Paul Shenar. Dom DeLuise especially shines as the voice of Jeremy, the well-meaning but extremely clumsy crow that befriends Mrs. Brisby.

The only discrepancies between the book and the movie is the addition of magic to the plot, especially in the form of the Stone or Amulet that Nicodemus gives to Mrs. Brisby. The book focused more on science, and went into greater detail on the rats' history. Which version is better I can't say. But for any fan of movies such as "The Rescuers," fans of Bluth's movies or fans of fantasy movies in general, I would reccomend this movie.

I just recently found and bought this wonderful film after a long time of searching. And believe me, it is worth buying.

For a G-rated film, this movie actually has quite a lot of violence. A spider gets crushed by a giant owl's leg, the heroine, Mrs. Brisby hurts her wrist in an attempt to escape from a cage and we see blood dripping from the wound, the villain an the captain of the guard have a sword fight in which the villain is stabbed in the stomach and after still trying to attack the captain as his last effort, he gets a knife thrown at his back. Still, the film is no bloodbath that would scare the little ones. I used to watch this film as a kid and was fascinated by its excitement and beauty. The story is wonderful and the characters are interesting, not to mention Jerry Goldsmith's beautiful music. The animation is realistic and fluid, far better than any recent Don Bluth movies in my humble opinion. I consider The Secret of NIMH as Bluth's best achievement by far and I know many will agree with me.

This film shouldn't be overlooked by anyone looking for a capturing story and magical moments in animation. It is one of my all-time favorite animated films and will always remain as one.

A long time ago, The Secret of Nimh used to be one of my absolute favorite animated movies, easily surpassing many Disney movies. While I don't love it as much as I used to, it still holds a fond place in my heart. One of only two masterpieces Don Bluth ever did, the second being The Land Before Time, The Secret of Nimh is an extravagantly animated adventure about a timid mother mouse's quest to save her sick son. The whole movie seems to come alive with vivid scenes and wonderful characters. Many parts of the movie still either scare me or fill me with wonder. Mrs. Brisby's meeting with the Great Owl is positively haunting. Mrs. Brisby herself is such a wonderful and courageous character that to this day, I still hold her above many other animated characters.

Despite wonderful and engaging characters, lovely animation, and an overall pretty enjoyable story, I'm afraid I can't praise The Secret of Nimh as highly as I used to. The reason is simple. Despite the fact that Mrs. Brisby's quest to save her son follows basic and proper storytelling, the movie itself is weakly scripted as it becomes a jumbling of many themes and elements. Unlike the more focused The Land Before Time, The Secret of Nimh has a few extraneous bits that seemed hurried in but never explained. The result is a movie that appears to be a compelling and tight story suddenly getting bound up in a group of deus ex machinas. Especially annoying is the use of the stone and the background of the rats. None of this stuff gets in the way of enjoying the movie, however, and by the end, when you see Mrs. Brisby grabbing the stone in a burst of light and courage in an attempt to save her children, deus exes go out the window, and believability sets in.