Something that has come up in a couple of my Disney Reviews is how they never really manage to do a great job when trying to make a darker kids movie. So I decided to instead take a look at a movie from Don Bluth, one of the major competitors to Disney, and highlight The Secret of NIMH, a movie that really does manage to grab a dark tone while still being a kids film.
While a lot is going on here, the focus of the story is on Ms. Brisbey trying to save her child. Moving day is coming, the day the farmer is going to go over the field with his plow, so all the mice and animals in the field need to move. The problem is her son Timmy is sick with Pneumonia, and if he goes out into the cold air the chill could end his life. She ends up going to see the Great Owl, who directs her to the Rats that could have a way to move her son without worrying about the cold.
This is where the title comes in, it turns out her late husband was a mouse who was experimented on along with the rats in a lab called NIMH. Having been crucial to their escape, the rats are indebted to Jonathan, though Ms. Brisbey knows nothing of this story. The rats effectively gained human intelligence and have built up an impressive society beneath the rosebush of a farmer's garden. In some cases, the rats have gained a supernatural kind of power, as is the case with Nicodemus.
The core of the show may be around a mother trying to save her child, but the rats' inclusion in the story does a lot to add to the show's themes. Very specifically the importance of knowledge and the responsibility that comes with it. Currently, the rats of NIMH thrive off stealing electricity from the farmer, but as time went on certain rats began to realize that it's wrong to do so. Knowledge may have allowed them to thrive, but it also allowed them to discern between right and wrong. Responsibility is a running theme throughout the show.
To really sell this story, the cast is fantastic. Ms. Brisbey herself is one of the best leads in any animated film I have seen. The thing to know about her is she is not an adventurer, she's just a humble mouse taking care of her kids. She is stepping into a terrifying world to save her son, and very often she shows this fear openly. She trembles, she breaks down and cries, she hesitates, this all feels very real. Her reactions don't even feel at all exaggerated. But she's also caring, a bit clever, and very motherly (Not only to her kids, but it extends to other members of the cast such as the crow). She is the very epitome of the idea that bravery isn't a lack of fear, but the ability to go forward despite your fears. Continuing the themes of responsibility of the show, this is her duty as the sole caretaker of her children.
Of course, all that would be in vain if nothing in this movie was scary. What is in the show's benefit is it is UTTERLY TERRIFYING. I'm am going to show you just three images of this show. These images are how they portray a cat, a tractor, and an owl. This is the kind of imagery present in this show during Ms. Brisbey's adventure, and her lack of being an adventurer paired with this kind of presentation is what makes this movie so memorable.
Not all is perfect in this film, specifically how the Supernatural elements are handled. Oddly, Nicodemus is the only rat that seems to possess any kind of power, and what's odder is the power of the amulet that belonged to Jonathan, our lead's late husband. The abilities of the amulet, and its condition to activate, seem a little overly convenient at the climax of the movie and feel a little on the cheap side. It does hinder the finale of the movie a little bit, but not enough to stop it from being a great conclusion.
Something to note is that this is an older movie, and it shows in the animation. It's hard to not notice, for example, that the water droplets on the grass, as well as the grass itself, are unnaturally static. This is more to do with the time the movie was made, as well as the fact they likely didn't have the same kind of animation budget a giant like Disney would have. It still looks fantastic, but some things are hard to not notice.
The Secret of NIMH is one of the best dark children's movies I can think of. It has the atmosphere, the visuals, and it doesn't treat its audience like they are dumb just because they are children. It is a great movie, and I recommend it highly.
