Video/DVD Review: The Secret of NIMH

By Michael Scheinfeld

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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie is based on Robert C. O'Brien's prize-winning book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H. about a group of intelligent rats who escape from an animal laboratory. It's suspenseful and somewhat dark, including themes of animal cruelty and animal experimentation. The worst part for sensitive viewers: a flashback shows the animated animals being tortured.

Families can talk about animals in laboratories. Why are they there? How does your family feel about animal testing? Would you like to make a family pet super smart? Do you think they'd go to school with you? What can animals teach us already, without the extra brainpower?

Mrs. Brisby (Frisby in the book) is a widowed mouse living on a farm with her four children, including Timmy, who's bedridden with pneumonia. When they're forced to find a new home, the Great Owl advises Mrs. Brisby to seek the help of Nicodemus, the king of the rat colony. Venturing underground, she discovers an entire civilization of rats that tell her that they revere her late husband Jonathan. Nicodemus explains that Jonathan helped them escape from NIMH -- the National Institute of Mental Health -- when he was a fellow prisoner there and where they were experimented on and injected with super-intelligence drugs. Nicodemus agrees to help Mrs. Brisby move Timmy and gives her a magic amulet. She returns to the farm to find that her home is sinking in the mud and hopes the amulet can really save them.

Conceived as a return to the lush, "old-fashioned" style of such Disney classics as Pinocchio, this animated movie is an impressive example of cartoon art, featuring fully animated character motion and a three-dimensional look. The animation is rich and warm, filled with exquisite detail and color, which brings the dazzling, set pieces to life (including a duel during a lightning storm, and the finale involving the magic amulet).

The voice cast is also excellent, boasting such names as the distinguished British actor Derek Jacobi, veteran character actor John Carradine, the reliably comedic Dom DeLuise, and even a young Shannen Doherty as a mouse. However, parents should be strongly cautioned that the story's tone frequently careens from cheerfulness to grimness, which may frighten children. It does not shy away from being downright terrifying at times, most notably during a gruesome flashback showing animals being tortured.