Disney Era Analysis – The Great Mouse Detective
As mentioned in the first blog post in this series, I’ll be writing analysis content on all 60+ Disney animated feature films and their film making eras.
The fourth era is the Bronze Age, which ran from 1970 to 1988 and started with The Aristocats. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Bronze Age is also known as the “Dark Age,” as the films during this era were the first ones made after Walt Disney’s death.
Without Walt Disney’s creative direction, the animators tried new things with the animation style during this era, which ended up being criticised as cheap and lazy, due to their use of xerography and recycling animation. As well as the heavy use of xerography and recycling animation, this era is also known for its darker and edgier films, which were the brainchild of the then-new generation of animators from Cal Arts.
So how well did The Great Mouse Detective measure up to these famous features?
Use of xerography and recycling animation:
Much like some of its predecessors, this film was moving away from xerography and towards computer animation. According to the film’s IMDb page, the clock tower scene is the first major use of computer animation (specifically the clock’s gears) in a feature-length animated film, and the same scene was also the first time traditionally animated characters were put inside a computer-generated background. That being said, the signature black outlines of the xerography process were also visible.
In regards to recycling animation (or anything else), Toby’s barking howl is the same as Trusty’s in Lady and the Tramp, and the Castle Thunder sound effect from previous films could also be heard in this one. A character was also recycled, Bill the lizard from Alice in Wonderland makes an appearance in this film as one of Ratigan’s crew members. I also recognised sounds from The Jungle Book.
In regards to the animation, some of my favourite moments included the animation of Basil, Dawson and Olivia moving across the chess board, the tambourine rolling towards Basil and Dawson, the movement of the marbles in the toy shop, and the climactic fight scene inside the Big Ben. I also appreciated Ratigan becoming more rat-like and feral during the fight scene between him and Basil.
Being a darker and edgier film:
This was definitely a dark and edgy film, right from the beginning with the kidnapping of Mr. Flaversham. I also thought that this film actually wasn’t the most appropriate for children either with its violent nature, and scenes inside the tavern. The film was banned in some countries, specifically for children under 12, due to the scenes in the tavern.
My overall thoughts:
Overall, I enjoyed the film as I felt the story was well-written and a great homage to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. I also felt that the art and animation was cleaner and crisper due to the use and blending of computer animation with hand-drawn characters.
The next part of the Disney Era Analysis series will focus on Oliver & Company.
Fun Facts and Trivia (according to the film’s IMDb page):
- This is one of the few Disney films to take place entirely at night. There’s no scenes that take place during the day at any point in the film.
- This was one of the last films to have ‘The End’ appear at the end of the film. Most of Hollywood had abandoned this tradition in the 1970s. The hold out was Disney, however they abandoned this practice altogether by the 1990s.
- The film takes place from June 19-21, 1897.
- The film only took a year to produce, thanks to the increased use of computers.
- Ratigan is the only non-human character with five fingers on his hands.
References:
Loveday Writing 