The Secret of Nimh Review

 

Don Bluth’s first feature film, The Secret of Nimh, adapted from Robert C. O’Brien’s novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, is considered a cult classic. Telling the story of a mother’s quest to help her sick son, it builds into a bigger conflict involving her late husband’s connection with super-intelligent rats. But will the dark tones combined with the emotive story of an unconventional protagonist still echo the same in the present?

 

We begin with Nicodemus, a rat connected with the titular NIMH, speak about Jonathan Brisby’s passing 4 years after their escape and what to do about his widow, unaware of their secrets

 

After the credits, we move to a farm, where Mrs. Brisby (name changed because of copyright concerns with the flying disc manufacturer) meets with Mr. Ages, asking him for medicine to help her youngest son, Timothy. He gives her a powder to treat his pneumonia symptoms and says he must stay in bed for three weeks, though Mrs. Brisby’s unsure about that, Mr. Ages shooing her out

 

She encounters Jeremy, a goofy crow (Dom Deluise) caught in string he’s collecting for a love nest. The pair escapes from Dragon, the farmer’s cat, Jeremy saving Timmy’s medicine. He asks her for advice about appealing to girls, but the mouse leaves him to go home.

 

Mrs. Brisby’s children, Martin, Theresa and Cynthia (Timmy still sleeping) talk briefly with Auntie Shrew, a neighborhood busybody who starts to leave after Martin antagonizes her. She tells Mrs. Brisby about the imminent moving day and departs, the children gathering around Timmy as their mother explains about his illness.

 

At the farmer’s house, a group of rats take a cable as he’s told about a call from NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) asking about odd behavior from the rodents

 

Moving day begins as the farmer starts his plow, Auntie Shrew fleeing with the children, while Mrs. Brisby tries to stop it. But the shrew has to intervene as the widow is too frightened to move.  

 

Auntie Shrew suggests visiting the Great Owl, Mrs. Brisby terrified of the idea. Jeremy takes Mrs. Brisby to the Great Owl, saying she’ll be fine, since he only eats at night.  After being beckoned in and saved from a spider, Mrs. Brisby asks for his assistance. He initially suggests moving her house away from the plow, but after learning she is Jonathan Brisby’s widow, he directs her to the rats, saying they have their ways

 

As Mrs. Brisby tries to get into the thorn bush, Jeremy interrupts. She convinces him that to appeal to a lady bird, he should show he’s good with kids, the raven leaving after nearly getting caught by Dragon

 

After entering the rose bush, amazed at the unknown technology, Mrs. Brisby is attacked by an imposing rat called Brutus. She escapes, running into Mr. Ages, who’s shocked that the Owl directed her here. Mr. Ages guides Mrs. Brisby down, saying she must keep this place secret. They’re “attacked” by Justin, captain of the guard, who takes them to the council, where a rat named Jenner decries the plan to move to Thorn Valley.

 

But when Jenner’s crony Sullivan says that Jonathan’s widow should leave and that the rats have no business helping her, Jenner stops him, hinting at some evil plan. The council agrees with his motion to help Mrs. Brisby, but Mr. Ages and Justin are suspicious

 

Meanwhile, Jeremy is tied up by Auntie Shrew, the kids freeing him after she leaves. But they’re skeptical, even when he reveals that their mother is trying to find a way to move their house, tying him back up

 

Mrs. Brisby learns from Nicodemus how Jonathan is a hero to the rats of NIMH, killed when drugging Dragon. He explains how the rats were captured and experimented on by NIMH, becoming intelligent, helped by Jonathan to escape.

 

Nicodemus gives Mrs. Brisby the amulet, saying that it has a special power when worn by one with courage in their heart.

 

The rats move to relocate Mrs. Brisby’s house, Jenner and Sullivan plotting to make an “accident” happen and kill Nicodemus, destroying the rats’ morale

 

Justin and Nicodemus explain that their plan is to live apart from the farmers, unable to live as rats with their knowledge.

 

Mrs. Brisby volunteers to drug Dragon’s food, Justin agreeing to meet her that night. She distracts Jeremy from the amulet, telling him to get string. But after getting the powder in the dish, Mrs. Brisby is caught by the farmer’s son and put in a cage. She manages to escape after learning that NIMH will bulldoze the rosebush that morning.

 

Meanwhile, the plan to move the Brisby house progresses, but Jenner cuts the supporting ropes, Sullivan hesitating as the house crashes down, Nicodemus killed by debris

 

As Mrs. Brisby arrives to warn the rats, Jenner dismisses her claims, moving to kill the widow. Justin intervenes as the stone glows, Jenner desiring its power. Sullivan throws Justin his sword, Justin managing to stab Jenner. Sullivan, with his last bit of strength, wounded after his insubordination, throws a dagger into Jenner’s back as he tries to attack Justin from above

 

When the house starts to sink, the rats move to help, but Mrs. Brisby, her courage galvanized by her children in danger, activates the amulet’s powers to lift it out of the mud and move it to safety

 

Time passes as we see the Brisby house, Timmy still recovering. Jeremy brings the string Mrs. Brisby asked for, meeting a girl crow as they fly off in the distance as the film ends

 

Mrs. Brisby is our protagonist, Justin more a support role, introduced late in the film, and Nicodemus a wise advisor and generally expositing plot points versus acting directly in the plot.

 

Antagonists vary in their importance, such as Dragon the cat and Jenner, as well as the humans in NIMH and the farmer. There isn’t a singular threat, but there’s still danger from each in context, unified and yet separate

 

The arc for our widow-turned-heroine works well, her initial fear overcome by a deep love for her family and inspired by others that believe in her as with her husband. With the danger thrust upon her, the choice to confront it shows her gaining true courage

 

Justin and Nicodemus are the primary representatives of NIMH’s positive effect on rats, the captain of the guard and a wise rat (with magic powers?) respectively. Justin is the most easygoing of the rats, but dedicated to the cause. There’s almost a tease of a romance budding between Mrs. Brisby and Justin, left at that

 

While Dragon is the antagonist for most of the film, along with Farmer Fitzgibbon, they pale in comparison to Jenner, a crafty rat with his own machinations and maintaining a façade of goodwill (his design fairly malicious in nature)

 

As for supporting characters, there’re Mr. Ages and Jeremy, as well as Auntie. Shrew and Mrs. Brisby’s children, though the latter 5 are more in the background, connected to Mrs. Brisby’s domestic life versus her journey into her husband’s past. Auntie Shrew is presented as annoying for the most part, but as a woman who’s likely had to survive on her own, it’s understandable that she wants Mrs. Brisby to stand up for herself, even if she’s gruff about it.

 

Mr. Ages functions as another connection to the rats of NIMH, a scientific old hermit and cantankerous compared to Justin.

 

Jeremy is mostly a goofball character, only helping occasionally, like getting Timmy’s medicine and occupying Mrs. Brisby’s kids.

 

The overarching theme is what a mother is willing to do for her family, growing more courageous in the process as a great mission connected to her husband is put before her, a fairly uncommon story of female agency in the face of danger.

 

Suffice to say, this is a good film, keeping things simple in spite of the setting’s science fiction/fantasy mix, using characters well and telling an effective story even if it feels flimsy at times with the conflicts shifting in importance, still centered around Mrs. Brisby, a stand out lead. Now as for the sequel…we’ll see how it fares next time.