Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p20

07/07/2014 15:58 par tellurikwaves

 
Wow
10/10
Author: Bones729 (outerlimitsbab@hotmail.com) from United States
22 November 2002

I voted a 10 on this movie mostly for its hauntingly breath-taking original musical by Jerry Goldsmith. Surely this film's score has to be some of his very best work.

The awe-inspiring wisdoms of Nicodemus and The Great Owl, the comic reliefs of Mr. Ages, Jeremy and Auntie Shrew, the fascinating struggle between good and evil (Justin and Jenner), and of course the unmatchable greatness of the Brisby family name make this film one of the best animated movies ever.

The movie's ending climax is powerful and gorgeous.You are left utterly stunned.Mrs. Brisby proves once again that she is just as brave and capable as her husband, if not more so, by never giving up hope and eventually succeeding in keeping her family safe.

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p19

07/07/2014 15:53 par tellurikwaves

Dark, mystical story is for adults, but endured by children.
10/10
Author: BansheeCreature from The World Of Movies
18 April 2005

When I first saw this film, years ago, I was very afraid of many aspects it contained, yet I was also in love with it. As a cartoon, it captures the very familiar values that we have seen in such praised Disney films such as The Sword in the Stone". This one is much darker though, and because so, it also brings forth, a much scarier element that Disney will never have!

Being based completely on archetypical formation, the "Secret Of NIMH" is based on the famed children's book "Mrs. Brisby and the rats of NIMH". As the book is very darling, and for children of all ages, the film is put together in a more mature, adult style, with intense moments. Later on in life, I realize that children watching this film is an amazing happening, if I knew then, what I know now about the film, I would have been completely overtaken by the film. Some things are better left unknown in childhood. Most kids today will not appreciate this film, for all the glory in which it was made.

There were two direct-to-video sequels. Two. This is unacceptable for a movie of this type. The two latter films were made with light, fluffy, musical touches that did NOT capture anything this film did. The two latter films had NO business being made! The generation I grew up in was able to take this wondrous intensity we were given, today, things are much different, and movies like this one are hardly seen. The "toy story" genre has taken over, and most films that would, otherwise be like this one are laughably awful, without any real heart. Don Bluth was expressing his strong imagination for this one, most "pixar" company films are just money, and offer nothing for anyone except babies in cribs!

This movie is a cartoon, a pure adventure, and a treasure full of heart! Don Bluth is a wonderful filmmaker!

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p18

07/07/2014 15:46 par tellurikwaves

Don Bluth

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p17

07/07/2014 14:06 par tellurikwaves

Magical, Fantastic, a real delight
10/10
Author: Curtis Mitchell (Endlessinstant@aol.com) from Peoria, Arizona
10 March 2005

The Secret of NIMH after twenty three years is still an absolutely fantastic film. I hold it in such high regard as the even more obscure Gay Pur-ee (with the voice talent of Judy Garland, also wonderful) and Disney's Robin Hood.

Criticisms can be made of the film. For one, "faithful" isn't exactly an adjective that can be used when describing it's relation to the source material: "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert O'Brien. However, the novel was a Newberry Award winner and it deserved an excellent film which is what it received.

The book itself had two separate story lines, one focusing on Mrs. Frisby and her plight, and the other a lengthy backstory involving the rats of NIMH. For the animated feature, Don Bluth and his team chose to focus on Mrs. Frisby's plight and for this I am grateful.

In Mrs. Brisby we have a totally unique and a truly delightful heroine. She isn't some young boy getting ready to go on a fantastic adventure or some sort of great, brave hero. She's just a mother, a mother whose first concern is her family. And she makes a fantastic hero, showing that courage isn't just involved in facing down fierce monsters (though when she has to do that she finds the courage). She never stops pushing herself and though she might be a very small mouse, she has a very big heart.

As a kid I walked away thinking how cool Justin was, but now that I'm older I have complete respect for Mrs. Brisby. It's an excellent film both for children and adults alike. And how about Derek Jacobi as Nicodemus? Dom deLuise as Jeremy? Not to mention Elizabeth Hartman, whose short career was never-the-less magnificent. Thank god for film that we might have her talents available to us for all time!

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p16

07/07/2014 14:01 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p15

07/07/2014 13:58 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p14

07/07/2014 13:54 par tellurikwaves

Perhaps the greatest postwar animated film
10/10
Author: Lupercali from Tasmania
13 August 2004

The short version: 'The Secret of NIMH' isn't just a masterpiece: it's the best classically animated film since the early 40's. It's up there with 'Bambi', which is to say, this is about as good as it gets.

I remember walking down the street when I was about 19, and seeing the poster for 'The Secret of NIMH' up in a theatre, and immediately thinking "This film is going to blow my mind." A week later, I was sitting in an empty theatre, watching the last credits rolling down the screen after everybody else had left, and the house lights were up,thinking "yep."

A bit of history is probably in order for a film of this importance. Flashback to about 1980. Disney animator Don Bluth walks out, halfway through production on 'The Fox and the Hound', taking several other key animators with him, and declaring that he was going to recapture the spirit of classical animation, which Disney had forgotten about.

Nearly three years later, NIMH debuts. Critically it is well received, but lack of distribution and advertising means it's swamped by such an historical non-entity as Disney's 'Tron'. Accepting an animation award for best film, Bluth remarked "Thanks. We didn't think anyone had noticed."

NIMH is a glorious achievement. It puts to shame anything which Disney had done for a quarter century, and singlehandedly did exactly what Bluth set out to do. It revived the spirit of classical animation, and at the same time it proved that there was room on the block for another player than Disney - not an unimportant fact when you consider that at the time there was no Dreamworks or Pixar, and no feature animation section in Universal or MGM.

As to the film itself: from the first moment you are treated to a gloriously rich, sumptuous, seamless animation and background art, the likes of which hadn't been seen since Disney's war years. Particularly stunning is the movie's use of colour to enhance moods. The dark blues and blacks of the stunning 'lantern elevator' descent into the rats' city, and the tractor scene - the background starts out in subdued tones and ends up flaming red as the action peaks. One reviewer at the time wrote "I felt as if I was watching the invention of color, as if I was being drawn into the depths of the screen."

The characters are beautifully conceived and drawn, and the voice characterisations are spot-on (including the animation debut of Dom de Luise as Jeremy). And, significantly, there is only one song, and it's not sung by a character (significantly, 'Balto', one of the few animated films since which can hold a candle to NIMH, followed the same principal). Jerry Goldsmith's score supplies the emotional power for the rest of the soundtrack.

Even more importantly though, the film is incredibly emotionally potent, and not in a sentimental, kiddy way. It has genuine choke-you-up power which will appeal to adults. Bluth ditched the double storyline of the book, relegating Jonathan Brisby's more substantial role in the novel to a short piece of background information revealed in an explanatory flashback. Personally I think this was the right decision. To do otherwise would have been to take the spotlight off Mrs Brisby, and probably diminish the film's coherence and power.

So, Don Bluth achieved his goal: his debut feature film was the greatest animated achievement in 40 years. Sadly, it was also his only masterpiece. He peaked on his first outing, and afterwards declined into mediocrity, while Disney picked itself up and overtook him. In fact, ironically, there were signs of this in 'The Fox and the Hound', which despite being plagued by Bluth's departure amongst other catastrophes, turned out to be Disney's best movie since the 60's, even if it would still be the better part of another decade before they started hitting their marks consistently.

Today NIMH enjoys the sort of cult following it deserves. It's just a damn shame that its greatness isn't more widely acknowledged, and an almost equally great shame that a generation later it was cursed with one of the most insulting, wretched sequels in cinematic history. It's an important film, and it's a great film. In the two decades since it was released, only a small handful of animated films have approached its stature.

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p13

07/07/2014 13:45 par tellurikwaves

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p12

07/07/2014 13:42 par tellurikwaves

Fiche technique
Titre : Brisby et le Secret de NIMH
Titre original : The Secret of NIMH
Réalisation : Don Bluth
Scénario : Don Bluth, Gary Goldman,
John Pomeroy et Will Finn d'après Robert C. O'Brien
Direction de l'animation : Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy
Musique : Jerry Goldsmith
Producteurs exécutifs : Rich Irvine et James Stewart
Producteurs délégués : Don Bluth,
Gary Goldman et John Pomeroy
Société de distribution : United Artists
Budget : 7 000 000 $
Langue : anglais
Format : Couleurs - 1,85:1 - Dolby SR
Durée : 82 minutes
Dates de sortie :  États-Unis : 2 juillet 1982
France : 8 décembre 1982
 

Š-DR-BRISBY & LE SECRET DE NIMH de Don Bluth (1982) p11

07/07/2014 13:38 par tellurikwaves