“The Great Mouse Detective” (1986)

The Great Mouse Detective 

Also known as: Basil the Great Mouse Detective; The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective

Brief Description:

Basil of Baker Street undertakes to help a young mouse find and save her father from the criminal mastermind Professor Ratigan.

(from Wikipedia)

Date: 1986

Genre: American animated mystery adventure film

Running time: 1 hour 14 minutes

Cast: 

Vincent Price: Ratigan

Barrie Ingham: Basil/Bartholomew

Val Bettin: Dr. Dawson/thug guard

Susanne Pollatschek: Olivia

Candy Candido: Fidget/reprobate in the pub

Diana Chesney: Mrs. Judson

Eve Brenner: Mouse Queen

Alan Young: Mr. Flaversham

Basil Rathbone: Sherlock Holmes

Laurie Main: Dr. Watson

Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Walker Edmiston: Ratigan's thug guards

Melissa Manchester: Miss Mouse

Director: John Musker, Ron Clements, Dave Michener, & Burny Mattinson

Production company: Walt Disney Feature Animation

Based on: The Basil of Baker Street Series by Eve Titus & Paul Galdone

Wikipedia page

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Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 5/5

I love the classic Sherlock Holmes London vibes of this film! It's so deliciously creepy and gloomy. There's still a Disney atmosphere with the couple of party/musical scenes, but overall it feels pretty mysterious.

Characters: 5/5

Ratigan is so over-the-top and not very Moriarty at all, but he's fun to hate. Basil is perfect—he's so Sherlocky, right down to his eccentricity and little running commentary. Olivia is adorable; Dawson, while way stupider than the real Watson, is stereotypically film Watson and a great sidekick. Fidget is awful but also fun to hate; and Miss Mouse fascinates me (someone needs to write her story, and also, I confuse her terribly with Red from Tom & Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes). 

Plot: 4/5

It's extremely fast-paced, with sweet, sad, funny, and anxious moments. Some of my siblings found it too much, others enjoyed it. I've always enjoyed it, no matter how often I watch it! So much of the story parodies Sherlock Holmes stories, and the Big Ben fight is iconic.

Content: 3/5 (medium)

In a kids' film, I'm not the biggest fan of the musical scene in the beginning where the thugs are drunk and champagne flows, but I suspect most kids wouldn't know what's up and it is accurate. However, there's a scene further in the film where Miss Mouse sings, which is much more adult. It takes place in a tavern, and she dances (can-can?) with a couple other girls while singing a song about "let your baby be good to you," dresses in a garter and bodysuit. All the guys are obsessed, naturally; meanwhile, someone tries to drug Basil & Dawson's beer. This scene can be skipped, though you miss a bit of the storyline. 

Violence: 3/5 (medium) 

Some physical violence, including Ratigan feeding one of his mice to his cat. 

Overall: 4.5/5

I love it, and it's honestly a real comfort film for me. It's funny, sweet, mysterious, and Londony—what's not to love?! 

“A Little Princess” (1986–1987)

A Little Princess 

Brief Description:

Sara Crewe enters a London boarding school a wealthy lady when she bids her father farewell as he enters the British Army, but her lifestyle quickly vanishes when her father suddenly dies, and Sara must endure a life of servitude.

Date: 1986–1987

Genre: British-American period drama adapatation

Running time: 2 hours 43 minutes

Cast: 

Maureen Lipman as Miss Minchin

Amelia Shankley as Sara Crewe

Miriam Margolyes as Miss Amelia Minchin

Annette Badland as Cook

Natalie Abbott as Becky

Alison Reynolds as Ermengarde

Katrina Heath as Lavinia

Joanna Dukes as Jessie

Johanna Hargreaves as Henrietta

Jessica Simpson as Lottie

Nigel Havers as Carrisford

David Yelland as Ralph Crewe

John Bird as Mr Carmichael

Annie Lambert as Mrs Carmichael

Antony Zaki as Ram Dass

Meera Syal as Anna

Director: Carol Wiseman

Production company: LWT

Based on: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Wikipedia page

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(watched on Tubi)

Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 3.5/5

I grew up reading and rereading (and copying down) A Little Princess, so I am a tough critic. I think the book got the setting pretty well. I don't think it did very well getting the feel/vibe of the book, and I personally think the filming is terrible (everything is so yellow?!). 

Characters: 3.5/5

While the characters are somewhat accurate to the book's portrayal, they become their own new thing. Sara is not a storyteller, for example, and seems more 14 than 12. Ermengarde isn't bad, but Lottie isn't much herself, and Becky's more of a comic side character than the sweet, pathetic book character. Miss Minchin is both worse and better than she is in the book, at alternate times, and Miss Amelia is much more sympathetic, while the cook is horrid (accurate, but so grating!). Ram Das is fun, if wholly redone; Captain Crewe is horrid (way too old); the Carmichaels are pretty good, though the father's a bit too old; Lavinia & Jessie are both worse and dumber (Jessie is much less nice than she is in the book); and the Aya is a whole new invention. I was really confused by her position in the Crewe household—she seemed to be almost the mother/wife figure, and Captain Crewe treated her more like he owed an account to than a servant. 

Plot: 4/5

The plot follows the book's plot somewhat. Obviously it condenses/removes some things and other it stretches out into a whole new thing, which I suppose is to be expected. I felt it really skimped on the message/feel of the book and just delivered a drama instead of a sweet, encouraging story. At certain points it got harder to handle because of the injustice and cruelty, which is easier to read than to see. 

Theme/Message/Topics: 2/5

Literally none, unless it's be kind because you don't know when you'll need the kindness of others... 

Content: 1/5 (low)

A mention of "magic" and "magicians" when Sara tries to figure out how her room got redone; a few liberties of the imagination about heaven. 

Violence: 2/5 (low)

Mild violence (slapping); mild verbal violence; a scene where the girls twist Ermengarde's arm behind her back until she says mean things about Sara.

Overall: 3.5/5

It's not the worst thing ever, but to be honest I don't think I'll be rewatching it simply because it's so long and I don't like it enough to spend all that time on it. My little sisters liked it though.  

“Dragonwyck” (1946)

Dragonwyck

Brief Description:

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion. 

(from IMDb)

Date: 1946

Genre: American period drama adaptation 

Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Cast: 

Gene Tierney as Miranda Wells

Vincent Price as Nicholas van Ryn

Walter Huston as Ephraim Wells

Glenn Langan as Dr. Jeff Turner

Anne Revere as Abigail Wells

Spring Byington as Magda

Connie Marshall as Katrine Van Ryn

Harry Morgan as Bleecker

Jessica Tandy as Peggy

Vivienne Osborne as Johanna Van Ryn

Trudy Marshall as Elizabeth Van Borden

Larry Steers as Servant

Grady Sutton as Hotel Clerk

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Production company: 20th Century-Fox

Based on: Dragonwyck by Anya Seton

Wikipedia page

Watch on Archive

Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 5/5

I originally watched this just after watching Rebecca and totally fell in love because it was very similar in vibe/aesthetic. I've never heard of the Hudson River patroons before, so I enjoyed that part of the setting immensely. Of course I also really enjoyed the luxurious setting of Dragonwyck and the gorgeous period dresses 😉 

Characters: 4/5

Miranda was a sweet, brave girl and I appreciated her faith. (Also, Gene Tierney reminds me insanely of Katherine Hepburn somehow?!) Nicholas reminded me of Max DeWinter from Rebecca at first, but he quickly disintegrated. Jeff was a much nicer fellow, naturally, and Katrine was cute, though I wasn't a fan of Johanna. Ephraim Wells frustrated me terribly at the beginning of the film, but towards the end I understood and appreciated him and his wife a little (little) bit more, though I still did not like his high-handed ways and roughshod Christianity.  

Plot: 4/5

I watched this film twice, and didn't remember much of it the second time I did. It's very romantic, with a backwoods country girl moving into the rich aristocrats' world and finding herself well out of her depth, while two handsome men interested in her. The story quickly progresses into drama, then tragedy, but ends with a note of hope. I liked it so much the first time—I was rather indifferent this time—so I think I need to try it a third time lol. 

Romance: 4/5

Obviously Nicolas' and Miranda's love is dangerous in the sense that he's clearly a terrible fellow for her to marry, but Miranda handles it well and I think that whole storyline does well as a message. I also wasn't a fan of the one or two insinuations that he fell in love with her while still married, but nothing happened and she certainly did not encourage him or even seem to realize what was happening. 

Theme/Message/Topics: /5

The storyline of Nicolas' passion of remaining in his ancestral land, and refusing to sell it to the tenants who farmed it for generations and more than paid for it, was very interesting. For a while I was on his side, because I couldn't see why they were any more right than he was... it gave me a lot to think of. It also reminded me a lot of the French Revolution... 

Anyways, I was a huge fan of the pro-life message as Miranda fights for her crippled maid and then her son.

Content: 4/5 (low)

A few kisses; a few low-necked dresses; a main character is revealed to be a drug addict; a ghost ancestor haunts the Van Ryn house and sings when a death comes to the household. Also Ephraim Wells is borderline verbally/spiritually abusive in a few scenes. 

Violence: 4/5 (low)

Attempted stabbing; murder; attempted murder; a man is shot + killed in self-defence. 

Overall: 4/5

It's a melodrama, but I like it. Again, it reminds me of Rebecca, though not as good, and I'd like to try the novel.