35 Reasons The Secret of Nimh is the Greatest
The Secret of Nimh has just turned 35
years old. Released in the glorious and legendary Summer of 1982, it
was not a hit at first (some blame for it's box office failure can be
attributed to a little movie called E.T.), but it has remained a pop
culture touchstone all these years for a good reason. In fact, at
least 35 good reasons.
35 - It's in good company
MGM's theatrical roll out of Nimh was
poorly planned and executed, but it was not the only flop of 1982
that would later become fondly remembered: Tron, Blade Runner, and
The Thing were also getting ignored in theaters that summer.
34 – This Poster
Artwork by Tim
Hildebrandt
33 – It's Wil Wheaton's cinematic
debut!
That's right, Wil's first movie theater
appearance was playing the voice of Martin, Mrs. Brisby's oldest son.
32 – Peter Strauss loves it!
The actor who stars as Justin, the
captain of the guards, loved the movie so much that he named his son
Justin!
31 – It's never out of print
The Secret of Nimh was largely
discovered by fans on home video. As a result, it has gone on to be
one of the most consistent sellers in the MGM library. It has never
gone out of print and has been released on virtually every home video
format known to man.
EVERY format...
30 – It ushered in 80s darkness
Nimh was the first of many 80s “kid's
movies” to feature a dark tone. It was followed by movies such as
The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Black Cauldron, Return to Oz, and
The Never Ending Story. Not to mention Bluth's other dark tales.
All of these movies were flops, yet they are all vividly remembered
and cherished by those who grew up with them.
29 – Watch the movie, play the game
Like many movies and TV shows of the
era, Nimh got it's own board game, complete with unique artwork.
28 – It taught us sarcasm
With this simple exchange, a generation
of kid's learned to smirk:
Jenner: “We were just talking about
you...”
Justin: “That's refreshing, Jenner.
Usually you're screaming about us.”
27 – Kenny Loggins loves it!
Kenny stepped out of the Danger Zone
long enough to record a children's album called “More Songs from
Pooh Corner” and covered Nimh's theme song “Flying Dreams” with
Olivia Newton John and raved about the movie in the album's liner
notes.
26 – It inspired these awesome
tattoos
25 – It is lavishly animated
Don Bluth famously broke away from Walt
Disney Studios due to their lack of innovation, increasingly low
budgets, and poor quality animation. His team taught themselves
classic animation techniques that Disney had long abandoned and
created a movie the likes of which had not been seen in decades. The
character animation, detailed backgrounds, and vivid color palette
are still impressive today.
24 – The book is also excellent
Robert C. O'Brien's book on which the
movie is based is fantastic. The most significant difference is that
the book contains no magical elements, but aside from that, the
adaptation is very faithful.
23 – That sword fight, yo
The climactic battle between Justin and
Jenner is an epic sword fight that was animated by Bluth himself.
And in a cool, subtle showcase of Bluth's artistry, you'll notice the
background change during the fight. At first it starts out cold and
gray, but as the fight intensifies, so do the colors in the
background.
22 – It inspired awesome fan art
Don Shinoda
Adam McDaniel
Steven Martin
21 – Jerry Goldsmith loved it!
Goldsmith loved the work he had done
for the movie so much that he stayed on the project for an addition
three weeks without pay. It was also his first animated movie.
20 – Paul Shenar, the voice of the
devil
Paul Shenar turned heads with his
portrayal of Orson Welle's in the TV movie “The Night that Panicked
America.” Though he had a long and successful career as a working
actor, he never had a breakout role. But as the voice of Jenner, the
movie's sinister villain, he created a memorable foe worthy of James
Bond's rogue's gallery.
19 – It features real peril
Part of the dark charm that The Secret
of Nimh has is that it features characters in real danger. The
amount of deadly peril Mrs. Brisby is constantly facing shows that
Don Bluth doesn't pull any punches. Bluth's philosophy was that as
long as you give them a happy ending, kids can take anything.
18 – It's not a musical
This is not a song and dance musical,
as was tradition for animated movies. Aside from “Flying Dreams,”
the End Title track by Paul Williams, as well as a “lullaby”
version within the story, there are no songs in the movie.
17 – Movie merch: from obvious to
oddball
If you wanted some sweet movie swag,
you could get your usual array of collectibles, such as coloring
books and t-shirt iron-on patches. But you could also get
cross-stitch patterns, should you be so inclined.
16 – It had the best United Artists
logo
The original release featured the early
80s era United Artists logo, which happens to be the best version.
15 – The comic book had its own
soundtrack (on paper)
The comic book adaptation tried to
recreate the movie's epic score during the climactic house raising
scene by putting actual music notes in the artwork.
14 – It inspired some great fan
fiction
When the internet was young, fan pages
with fan fiction ruled the web. Most of it bad, but with a few
diamonds in the rough. One real standout in the Nimhfan fiction community was a sequel to the
movie called “Second in Command” by the late Paul Gibbs. Another
fun story was “The Secret of Sherwood Forrest” - a clever mash up
of Nimh and Disney's Robin Hood by Edwin Ross Quantrall. There was
also some story called “Darkest Days” by a guy named Badbird
(Rumor has it, he now goes by the highly offensive name
WatershipDownSyndrome on some obscure site called Laser Time).
13 – Justin's introduction
In one of the movie's many clever
moments, Justin is introduced as yet another threatening figure to
Mrs. Brisby, only to be revealed that he was playing a joke. There
is almost no reason for this little interaction, but it it is a
great, subtle moment that builds character.
12 – The View-Master discs were
excellent
View-Master discs took special artistry
to create. Artist Pete Dorsett was considered one of the best, and
he cited The Secret of Nimh as some of his finest work created for
the format.
11 – There were three NimhCons
Nimh's Internet presence in late 90s
consisted of a small, but dedicated group of enthusiasts. And on
three different occasions, a group of fan site creators and their
fans got together for their very own Nimh Convention.
10 – A voice cast to die for
Unlike previous animated movies that
largely relied on a stable of voice actors, Nimh employed a full cast
of actors from stage and screen. And, boy, did they create magic.
Every voice is perfect, whether it be wise old sage Nicodemus,
Justin's devil-may-care charmer, Sullivan's reluctant henchman, or
Auntie-Shrew's invasive busybody, not one false note is uttered.
9 – In got name-checked in a Bloom
County strip
8 – It avoided the obvious love story
There is unmistakable chemistry between
Mrs. Brisby and Justin (even more obvious in the book), yet the movie
resists the natural urge to go there, and instead leaves only hints
of a possible future at the end while our two heroes remain chaste.
A lessor storyteller would not have shown such restraint.
7 – The Kiss
But that didn't stop this pic from
blowing up the Internet. No one knows the origin of this image, but
it is assumed that one of the movie's animators was responsible, due
to the character models being spot on. This version was enhanced by
fan artist MAB.
6 – A focus on family
The book featured two parallel stories:
Mrs. Brisby needing to move her house, and the Rats of Nimh needing
to evacuate their colony without a trace. Don Bluth wisely chose to
focus the movie on Mrs. Brisby and her struggle while leaving the
rats to be largely mysterious.
5 – 96% on Rotten Tomatoes
That is, if you care about such things.
4 – It's about one mother's courage
Ultimately, what makes the story of
Nimh truly click is Mrs. Brisby herself. She is not a born hero. In
fact, she is in way over her head. She is full of fear and
reluctance at first, but gradually, she begins to find her courage –
even going so far as to volunteer for the same risky mission that got
her husband killed – not to mention risking death to stop a tractor
or by entering the home of The Great Owl – a natural predator or
hers. And she does it all to protect her family.
In a genre with a history filled with
princesses that needed to be rescued by male heroes, Mrs. Brisby
broke the mold. Not only did her perseverance save her family, but
she also saved the Rats of Nimh from certain extermination.
3 – John Carradine was drunk
According to producer Gary Goldman, John Carradine showed up for his
recording session high on painkillers and tipsy from a martini. He
did every line in one take and refused do any more. Luckily, they
were good takes.
2 – There is a very dirty joke hidden
in the movie
When Mrs. Brisby meets Jeremy, he tells
her he's looking for “Miss. Right” and that when he finds her,
he'll feel it “Way down in my wishbone...”
1 – Elizabeth Hartman, the true heart
and soul of the movie
Mrs. Brisby is The Secret of
Nimh, and Elizabeth Hartman is Mrs. Brisby.
Anyone who has seen Hartman's debut in
A Patch of Blue would have assumed she was destined for greatness.
Her gentile performance earned her rave reviews and an Oscar
nomination for Best Supporting Actress. And yet, her career stalled.
But why?
Elizabeth Hartman was haunted by
personal demons brought on by her near-crippling depression. She
received many acting offers, but lacking the energy or confidence to
perform. She turned many jobs down. Eventually, the job offers
stopped coming. Having been reduced to b-movies and bit parts of TV
shows, The Secret of Nimh offered her a shot at redemption.
Though she had never done voice work,
Hartman absolutely owned her performance as the shy, timid mouse who
had to rise up to the challenge. Her performance was both harrowing
and heartbreaking. No more so was her virtuoso performance evident
than in the movie's climactic “House Raising” scene. When
disaster strikes and her house is left in near ruin due to Jenner's
sabotage, Mrs. Brisby hears her children crying out for help.
Oblivious to the destruction and the fact that they can no longer be
saved, her children ask if they are almost moved, to which Mrs.
Brisby replies “Soon, now.” She tries to put on a brave face for
her children, but her trembling voice cracks, revealing her true
emotions – she has resigned herself to the fact that all is lost.
It is such a small moment, but the performance by Hartman is
absolutely stunning. It is impossible to imaging another actress
doing this part justice.
On June 10, 1987, Elizabeth Hartman committed suicide.
So powerful is Elizabeth Hartman's
performance that when Nimh fans are asked what they think Mrs.
Brisby's never-revealed first name is, most simply answer:
“Elizabeth.”
* Full disclosure: I am a Secret of
Nimh super-fan. I used to operate MaximumNimh.com – one of the
largest Nimh fan sites on the internet, specializing is cataloging
collectibles and merchandise from the movie and books (You can still
view it on Archive.org
– caution: it's hideous). Though there is no way to prove it, I
believe that I have the largest collection of Nimh memorabilia in the
world (outside of someone who actually worked on the movie, that is).
I even own a 35mm pint of the movie. If you search “Secret of
Nimh fan fiction” on Bing, my story “Darkest Days” is the
second result. I attended NimhCon 2000 (that's me with long hair).
I also provided the rare View-Master discs for the restoration linked
above.
