By David M. Pochron
In order to make the commentary easier to digest, I've broken it down into several sections where I discuss that topic in detail, instead of trying to lump everything together as one large text file. Also, a lot of the commentary assumes you have seem the film and know the general plot.
I was originally planning on renting the video and buying it if it was any good. However, since the video only cost $9.95 at Toys R Us, I decided to go ahead and buy it and write a more in-depth review over several days. (Priced to own, I guess.) Unfortunately, this film is nowhere near as good as the original, and it isn't worthy of having "The Secret of NIMH" in its title. On the other hand, it is so bland and stylistically different from the first film that it at least didn't tarnish the original for me.
First of all, it should be noted for the uninformed that Don Bluth (the creator of the original film) had nothing to do with this film. Animation-wise, it really shows. If everything else had been decent, I could have overlooked this. Unfortunately, since this sequel has so many problems, the lackluster animation only emphasizes how poor it turned out compared to the original film. While the colors are bright (too bright, if you ask me) the lines on the characters are thick and black, looking more like that of some of the low-budget animated television shows on the air today. Although the characters are fully animated, the animation seems stiff, jerky, or distorted in several scenes throughout the film. Finally, the film has a glaring problem of synching up the mouth movements of the characters to the actors' voices. A lot of footage appears to be animated with video post-production effects; it seems apparent the budget was low for this film or that it was incredibly rushed. (Or both.)
The backgrounds in the film are drawn mostly like the original film color and style-wise - at least the ones in the forests and grasslands are. However, the ones in the city are rather static and murky, and the one or two attempts at making a 3-dimensional multiplane background are done poorly with video post-production effects and only adds to the cheesy look of the picture.
Yes, like the original, this film has an opening prologue, and like the original, the prologue sets the mood for the rest of the picture. Unfortunately, in this case it is a bad thing because the prologue and title sequence are terrible! First of all, everything here during this sequence is shot with video tape rather than film, again making the sequel look incredibly cheesy. Second, the prologue introduces us to the original film as we see scenes of it running during the prologue. This of itself is fine, but they used an incredibly bad copy of the original film - it looks totally washed out and grainy. (Maybe this was on purpose to make the sequel look better?) Finally, in the original we hear Nicodemus setting up the story. In the sequel, it's Peter MacNicol from "Ally McBeal" fame doing the opening narration, yet he doesn't represent a character during the rest of the film at all! The amateurish nature of the opening title makes me wonder if it wasn't thrown together at the last minute in order to get the video on store shelves in time for Christmas? Also, the narrator mentions Nicodemus predicted NIMH would once again threaten the rats in their new home. When did he predict that? Certainly not before he died in the first film!
Why are there so many mice in Thorn Valley? (I'm assuming they're mice; it's possible that they're just badly drawn rats.) There weren't supposed to be any other survivors besides Johnathan - other than the "lost six" that we learn about as this film goes on, and they don't appear in Thorn Valley till the end of the film! So where did all the mice come from!? I didn't care for the statue of Johnathan Brisby, it's totally off model. Johnathan Brisby's hair didn't look anything like that; it should look a lot more like Mrs. Brisby's. Those legs looked too thin and human as well, compared to his design in the original film. The Thorn Valley rats (and mice?) all seem to have an elitist attitude now, and they sing about how their society is how all the world should be. (I find it hard to believe politics has suddenly gone away just because they moved from the rose bush.) These statements and others in the film make it seem like the rats have formed some sort of cult. Indeed, I wonder what Johnathan would think about having a statue of him put up in the middle of the rat's village? It's almost as if they're fixated on him and have deified him in this film. Actually, I'm kind of baffled why they would do so since the only thing he did for them was crawl through the grate at NIMH and release the door - not that difficult, really. Neither the original book nor the first film mention anything else he did other than giving of life in line of duty. So they could have just as easily put a statue up for Nicodemus (or even Mrs. Brisby), yet I didn't see one anywhere in their village!
I also thought the design for Thorn Valley itself was rather inappropriate. The rats are afraid of being discovered yet they have this huge circular farm out in the open for everyone to see! If I was the set designer for this film I would have had the rats living in the side of the cliff obscured from any sort of view. Also, what's with the "Grand Canyon" effect of Thorn Valley? I don't know any places in eastern United States that resembles that area - certainly not around Washington D.C. Also how come there's no thorns in Thorn Valley? I thought one of the points as to why no humans ever go there was because of its rather harsh nature. However, the filmmakers here decide to make Thorn Valley into some sort of idealistic Shangra-La.
So here is the moment many were waiting for. We finally get to see and hear what the new Mrs. Brisby looks and sounds like be. First bad news: Her voice is totally wrong. Debbie Mae West did the voice, and while she is a talented voice actress, she doesn't sound anything like the original. (I would have used Kath Soucie had I been the casting director on this picture.) The voice she uses sounds like a cliché for mother figures from 80's Saturday morning cartoons. If you can put that aside, her design is not that bad. She's traded in her cape for that hippie poncho we saw in the early promotional image, and I'm neutral about this change. But I like the touch of gray hair and glasses showing that she's aged a lot more than our kids have. (In fact, I did a drawing of her head once with glasses and it looks very much like her in this film.)
Auntie Shrew has also appeared to have aged a lot since the original film, which make sense. However, like Mrs. Brisby, her replacement voice doesn't really come close to the original. (And since when did she started liking the rats? I suppose it can be explained that someone told her about their true nature between the films, but it was jarring to see this after knowing how much fuss she put up about them in the original film.) Also, I see they had her and Martin arguing together again, perhaps trying to capture the feel of the original film? Unfortunately this scene comes off as a pale imitation of the original.
Martin is an adolescent at the start of the film, and I suppose his design is okay, though he doesn't look too much like the character from the original film. Later we see an adult Martin - but I discuss that in a separate section.
I approve of Teresa's design. I like the voice and I like her outfit, although I was surprised to see her dressed in such a domestic uniform. (She looks like a mom herself, but doesn't appear to have a family.) It's too bad we don't see much of her other than these early scenes and a brief appearance at the end of the film.
Cynthia has grown really fat! How did that happen? Other than this surprise, I'm neutral about her design. I guess it's OK; the same goes for her voice.
Timothy, the last of the Brisby children, gets his own section here since the movie is about him! The main idea of the film is his angst over trying to live up to his father's name. This is a good idea, however they executed it in such a cartoony way that it loses all seriousness and credibility by the end of the film. As for Timothy's design, I have no real problems with the way they designed him at his various ages, though he doesn't really look like a character from the first film. One problem: Why does Timothy ask about what NIMH is? He should pretty much know the story by now! I liked Timothy's ingenuity and how he caught the snake. I actually thought that was him sitting on a log so it fooled me too! However, I found it odd and disturbing that Mr. Ages was nonplused by Timothy's trap. You would think that as a mouse he would appreciate Tim coming up with a method to dispose of a predator. (That snake's design was too cartoony, however.)
Jenny is fairly cute, and I like her voice. It fits her character. I liked the little touch of Timothy surprised to see her able to read. I noticed Jenny invokes the "follow your heart" lyric from the original film's lullaby song when she tells Timmy that he should do what he feels he should do regarding the rescue of his brother Martin. Other than being a nice character, there isn't all that much else that is compelling about her. One major complaint with her design: Why did the artists give her a buxom figure? These are supposed to be intelligent naturalistic mice and rats, not humans in animal outfits! The flirtation between Timothy and Jenny is cute and is not overdone. However both of them seem to shy away from each other at various points in the film right when the other is warming up and then the opposite happens. Very strange.
Okay...When did Mr. Ages become leader of the rats? I thought Justin was the new leader of the rats? Furthermore, in the original film Mr. Ages is fairly anti-social and pretty much keeps to himself. I just don't buy this idea of him suddenly picking up and moving from the hay bailer to Thorn Valley with the rest of the rats. (At least in Mr. Ages we get one of the few original voices back for the cast, though.)
They totally ruined Justin. The new voice for Justin is a pale imitation of Peter Strauss'. (Who I assume wisely chose to stay clear of this project!) His new voice sounds wimpy and bland, and his line "Let's get out of here!" as they exit NIMH sounds ridiculously inane. And why is Justin leading a group of rats to steal stuff from some human? I thought one of the main reasons they moved to Thorn valley was to distance themselves from the notion that rats had to steal from humans, and that Thorn Valley was supposed to be far enough away from human society so the rats wouldn't be tempted to abandon the Thorn Valley project?! Apparently the writer did not pay attention to the first film nor the books very much.
I don't buy Justin's excuse that if Timmy and Jenny escaped that somehow humans would find Thorn valley (like I said about of the design of their village, it should be more than enough to give away anyhow) I mean, the mice or rats can't speak English, so how would humans ever find out? Torture it out of them in writing? So this plot point seems contrived. Justin comes off like an idiot in this film, and it is especially apparent when he shows up at NIMH claiming that he and the council changed their minds and that the other mice that didn't die in the ducts are now suddenly worthy of being in Thorn Valley. If he had his original voice and a better personality in this film, I might be able to accept his change of heart; but the wimpy way he states this line makes it lack credibility.
Major character change here! A lot of people are going to be angry about how they changed his character and made him into a total wimp. First of all they got rid of his neat glowing eyes and he now has normal eyes like the rest of the rats. Second, he can now talk! A lot of the mystery behind his character was in the fact that he never spoke a word and simply did his duty as the sentry. Third, the voice they chose for him sounds too much like a deep-voiced Darkwing Duck. Totally inappropriate.
First of all, why does Cecil wear clothes? He's not from NIMH, so he should just look like a regular bug. I suppose one could argue that he had contact with the Great Owl (though I doubt it) and might know of such things, but that still wouldn't explain why he has the intelligence to try pulling a con game on all the rest of the animals when he is supposed to be regular bug. Sloppy writing and design here. Still, it's ironic that Cecil (who looked so annoying in the promotional pics) actually turns out to be one of the most developed characters in the sequel (though I suppose that is not saying much, as all the other characters are rather vacuous). Side note: The other animals who are conned into Cecil's scheme, don't look anything like the wildlife drawn in the original film - they're totally off-model. And where did they get these gems and gold from? And why would Cecil need that anyhow? (Yet he doesn't see the value of a slingshot and thinks it's a twig?) It makes no sense at all in the context of the original film and book. At least the forest animals (once they've learned that they've been tricked) have the sense to chase Cecil and Jeremy out of the woods for good.
They damaged Jeremy's character as well. Although they managed to get Dom DeLuise to reprise his role (so the voice is accurate) he spends his critical time in the film as a partner (playing the now-missing Great Owl) to Cecil's con game. Since when did Jeremy decide conning the other animals was a good idea? That seems out of character for him. I noticed when Jeremy is tangled up in the string when he's playing the Great owl, it looks like a scene that was ripped off from the first film. (even takes place on a tree stump!)
A lot of things from the first film seem to have been totally forgotten about. Notice in the above section I never mentioned Jeremy and the "Ms. Right" he had met at the end of the original film? That's because she's nowhere to be found in the sequel, and no mention is ever made of her! (I guess she didn't turn out to be "Ms. Right" after all.) I think it's lousy when a sequel tries to undo the story elements of it's previous picture, and I cite "Aliens 3" as a perfect example. (Blech!) Also completely missing in action is Dragon, even though the early promotional image clearly showed him in the film. Looks like the story had a major rewrite before it went into production! It's just as well they left him out, as they probably would have ruined his character as well. And like Dragon, what happened to the Great owl? Other that Jeremy pretending to be him, we don't get any explanation for his being missing. I guess he died, and they don't mention it so as to not upset the younger viewers in the audience. Talk about a cop out! Finally, no mention is made of the amulet that played such an important role in the first film. I at least expected it to be somewhere on display in Thorn Valley, but that is not the case. Sometimes I wonder if the removal of the amulet was some sort of way satisfy the original film's critics of its presence? Fans of these characters and the amulet will not be happy with this film.
I absolutely hate the design for NIMH itself. Instead of trying to make a building design that follows real life, they make something that looks like a medieval castle and is totally out of place in the style of the original film. It's design even seems one dimensional. They could've gone for a sterile look of a research facility, but I guess they tried to make something that the target audience would relate to. I also don't understand its location. The city they've drawn it in looks more like Manhattan or somewhere in New York or New Jersey and not in Maryland where the real National Institute of Mental Health is located. The design for NIMH is probably the worst aspect of the film.
I hate the design for Dr. Valentine's character - he's drawn like a cliché mad scientist from some Saturday morning cartoon from the 80's. As a pseudo-villain, it makes him incredibly weak and uninteresting. Fortunately, we see very little of him. I found it ridiculous, however, that we get an opening scene of the film of him still searching for the rats on the Fitzgibbon's farm after all this time! Incidentally, in the original book, the scientist that works on the rats and mice is named Dr. Schultz. I don't know why they changed it to Dr. Valentine in the sequel.
The two cat characters that they introduce into the movie are named Floyd and Muriel, and act as Valentine's/Martin's thugs. They seem to be little bit too anthropomorphized and that they seem like they belong in an 80's era Saturday morning cartoon rather than a sequel to NIMH, so I had a marginally negative reaction to their presence. I don't know what to make of the scene where the cat starts talking to Dr. Valentine. Since we don't know who the real villain is at this point in the film, I thought it was totally absurd that the cat was talking to a human after he got the treatment. In retrospect however, now that I know who the real villain was it's possible he was simply talking to Martin, although he does refer to Dr. Valentine by name. So it doesn't make any sense to me. Also, we get a Death Cheat in this film: The cats survive the elevator crashing to the ground floor. (Interestingly, Tim is also surprised to see them alive. I wonder if MGM had a "no deaths" rule for the sequel and the writers were poking fun at this?)
"The Lost Six" refer to the six(?) mice that were lost down the ventilation shaft during the initial escape from NIMH. I kind of like that they actually implemented the obvious idea that some of the mice actually survived. A lot of fanfics assumed this, as did I; so I guess this is a plus for the film. The characters themselves (two of which are Jenny's parents - Helen and Troy?) are unremarkable, however. Question: Why are the mice in NIMH wearing clothes? They didn't have clothes when they were swept back down into the vents in the first film! The only thing I can think of is Martin decided to dress them!
The idea of having Martin turn evil and be the main villain is actually an interesting one, and one that totally caught me by surprise! (My jaw hit the floor the same moment Timothy's did. :) They hired Eric Idle to play adult evil Martin in a delightfully maniacal way, but in doing so he gets a British accent which makes no sense at all. Although this villain is a fun character (albeit a one-dimensional one, like Dr. Valentine) this aspect of the character is actually detached from the fact that it is Martin. In other words, it could have been any old mouse-villain and the character would still be as fun. However, if I had written Martin as evil, I would have done it in a completely different and less cartoony way that matches his character from the first film a lot more closely. Having said all this, I still think a lot of Martin fans are going to be outraged by their making him such a brooding character. I think the writers were trying to portray Martin as evil because of the device Dr. Valentine used on him, but I don't buy it because if that were the case, the other lost six mice would all be evil as well. So basically they're saying Martin really was evil all through his life, and I think that is what will outrage fans the most. (Note that despite Martin being my second-favorite character from the first film, I didn't end up enraged, because the sequel was so bland up to this point that even seeing an evil Martin offered some stimulating entertainment. :) Unfortunately, they totally cheapen Martin's turn to evil by completely undoing it at the end of the film, and when I say undo it I really do mean completely - he looks exactly the same as he did at the beginning of the film when Timothy left for Thorn Valley so long ago. (I guess turning him from evil un-aged him as well, eh? :| )
The scene of young Martin being effectively electrocuted by Dr. Valentine's device seemed rather sadistic, though again this film is so bland that I actually welcomed the (no pun intended) shock of seeing it.
I liked the cute irony of Martin's rat minions riding on the backs of pigeons. (For the uninformed, pigeons are often referred to as "flying rats" by people who live in large cities because they are such pests at times.) But it felt contrived that Martin had been planning to attack Thorn Valley for such a long time, yet never shared the location of the valley with his minions. Also, the idea that Martin would give the same set of directions to his minions as he did to Timmy when he first left for Thorn Valley is invalid, since Thorn Valley would be in a different direction when starting from NIMH versus the Brisby home! So Timothy's giving them an opposite set of directions was meaningless. (Which means I don't know how Jenny found Thorn Valley, either.)
The fire in the final scenes of the climax I supposed were used to evoke memories of the original film's climax, but somehow it doesn't evoke anything in me. (Looks more like the ending to An American Tail.) And what's with Timothy and Martin going up above the big fireball? I guess a writer is a "Die Hard 2" fan. I noticed the writers remembered to rescue the trapped scientists. :)
I complained about Justin worrying about Thorn Valley being discovered, and I have another complaint: Despite his worries, the rats set off fireworks in Thorn Valley? Oh yeah - no one will notice that!
They totally goofed up on Mrs. Brisby at the end - she looks exactly the way she did at the beginning of the film. Someone forgot to realize that unlike her children, she was not a product of NIMH, and has the lifespan of a normal mouse. Therefore she should have been much older at the end than she appeared. (Or, perhaps even deceased - a long time had passed while Timothy was away from his aging and the seasons changing.) Additionally, they similarly goofed up on Cynthia as well.
If I were Timothy, I'd feel weird having a statue put up of myself before I was dead. :)
I see they tried to do the end credits like the original movie, but instead of using the storyboard sketches, they simply took scenes from the final film and didn't even bother to given them a storybook look! At least the ending sound is decent, though it's no "Flying Dreams" by any means.
Yes, NIMH 2 has songs. Fortunately, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but a couple of them are still real stinkers.
"Make the Most of Your Life" The song for Timmy's arrival in thorn Valley isn't very good. this is one of the two production number songs in the film, and it indeed feels out-of-place in a sequel to NIMH. (Though this film is so cartoony, I suppose it doesn't matter much.) More disturbing however, is the above-mentioned scenes of how the rats in the song claim that the world should be just like how the set up their little society in Thorn valley. It comes off as simplistic and condescending to the viewer and I find it disturbing that the writers have given them such an elitist attitude.
"I Will Show the World" This song is about Timothy trying to live up to his dad's image, and it isn't too bad. It's still a little bit over the top for a NIMH sequel, but the melody and lyrics are pretty good. However I noticed that they switched out of the young singing voice for Timmy very quickly as I can tell whoever they had doing his voice couldn't sing that well. And much like The Lion King's "Hakuna Matata" number, they age Timmy during the song three separate times.
"Magic Mystery Show" Oh my God! Who in the world thought that the song about Jeremy as the fake Great Owl would be a good thing? This production number song is easily the worst song in of the film, feels forced in, and is much more how I envisioned all the songs would end up like. (Fortunately, that nightmare didn't happen for the most part.) Also, whoever did the dancing animation for the earthworms twisting together during this number apparently didn't realize that's how they procreate. :-) We also get "treated" to an "Optimouse" credit card gag during this musical number. Bleah. Shades of trying to copy Disney's anachronisms they place in their recent films. (Note to writers: This is not a good thing that should be mimicked!)
"Just Say Yes" This is a fun song sung by evil Martin, detailing his metamorphosis and tries to convince Timothy to join his side. It's out of place for something NIMH-related, but the lyrics were clever enough that I enjoyed it anyway.
"All I Had is Gone" I was expecting Johnathan's ghost to appear during this somber duet by Timothy's and Jenny, (ala "The Lion King"). Fortunately, that didn't happen. :) This song is probably the best singing moment in the film, as it is most like the musical style of the original film.
Many have complained about how the first film's use of magic de-emphasized the science that was in the original book. Well, this film pretty much strips any sense of reality and science that was in the original film! In addition to a clothes-wearing, con-artist bug living in the wild, we also get a totally absurd looking mad scientist device (which resembles an electric chair) of Dr. Valentine's that is supposed to be the basis why the rats and mice are smart. (The writers here seem to have ignored the fact that it was the injections that gave the animals their smarts, and not some hokey mad scientist device.)
The writers tried to throw in a joke about Timothy saying that Mr. Ages told him about how to make underwear wearable for three days without changing it. However, the real joke ended up being on the film itself because whoever wrote it apparently overlooked the fact that neither Timothy's nor Mr. Ages (nor most of the characters in the film) wear any underwear or pants at all!!
Actually, before going on this rescue mission to NIMH Tim and Jenny should have removed their clothing and tried to look as much like normal mice as possible (by not walking upright). Those things would certainly give them away to the scientists as being special.
By allowing the other scientists to be tricked by Martin and locked in caged like all the other animals, they sort of undermined the message of the original film against experimentation on animals. The scientists come off as too sympathetic and pitiful.
Major gaffe: Tim leaves the gold key Justin gave to him on the floor of the case (it's clearly visible!) as he's walking away yet later on he has it again and throws it to Jenny so she can free herself from Dr. Valentine's/Martin's mind-altering device!
What a coincidence, of the thousands of trees near Thorn Valley, that Timothy and Jenny's escape balloon would land right at the base of the Great Owl's old tree! Talk about contrived.
| Timothy (age 10) | Andrew Ducote | |
| Timothy (age 13) | Alex Strange | |
| Timothy (older) | Ralph Macchio | |
| Young Martin | Phillip Van Dyke | |
| Evil Martin | Eric Idle | |
| Reformed Martin (age 19) | Phillip Glasser | |
| Mrs. Brisby | Debi Mae West | |
| Teresa | Jamie Cronin | |
| Cynthia | Whitney Claire Kaufman | |
| Auntie Shrew | Doris Roberts | |
| Mr. Ages | Arthur Malet | |
| Justin | William H. Macy | |
| Brutus | Kevin Michael Richardson | |
| Jeremy | Dom DeLuise | |
| Jenny | Hynden Walsh | |
| Muriel | Andrea Martin | |
| Floyd | Harvey Korman | |
| Dr. Valentine | Steve Mackall | |
| Cecil | Meshach Taylor | |
| Helen | Darleen Carr | |
| Troy | Jamison Parker | |
| Narrator | Peter MacNicol |
Side note: Why are Timothy and Martin's ages so old? I'll assume these are their equivalent in human years, and that they are not actually that many years old.