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The Secret of NIMH
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(c) 1982
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"Flying Dreams" lullaby scene (PLAYS IMMEDIATELY)
(Non streamlined version 376K)
The Secret of NIMH, The Bluth group's first major feature although not its first production, kind of tells two stories that meet in the middle. One storyline is that of Mrs Brisby, a widow field mouse who has been left with her four children (Martin, Teresa, Cynthia and Timmy) to care for, one of which, Timmy, has contracted pneumonia after being bitten by a spider. On top of this problem, her house is a cinderblock in the middle of Farmer Fitzgibbons' field, and the field will soon be ploughed, destroying Mrs Brisby's home. Mrs Brisby can't stay with the plough coming, neither can she move while Timmy is ill.
The second part of the story tells that of the rats (and mice) of NIMH. The rodents of NIMH are former laboratory animals, given a mysterious experimental drug by scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health (a real organisation, available on the internet, although they seem to be hushing up the intelligence drug thing!) which causes the rats and mice to become intelligent although their leader, Nicodemus, seems to have got the most out of the treatment - he appeared to have gained magical or psychic powers.
At the beginning of the film Mrs Brisby visits the chemist mouse Mr Ages to ask him to make some medicine for Timmy. Mr Ages is a little annoyed at being disturbed from his experiments, but agrees to help. He mixes her some medicine and tells her that Timmy can't be moved while he is so ill, even if "Moving Day" is near. On her way home she rescues Jeremy the crow from being entangled in the string he has been collecting for his "love nest", as the farmers Cat, Dragon, sees and attacks him and Mrs Brisby. The two manage to escape, but Mrs Brisby drops the medicine she was carrying. Jeremy, however, finds it, and Mrs Brisby happily returns home to give the medicine to Timmy, clumsily followed by Jeremy. When she gets home she finds her neighbour Auntie Shrew there to warn her that she must be ready to move even if Timmy is seriously ill.
The farmer unexpectedly begins ploughing the next morning, but Mrs Brisby and Auntie Shrew manage to damage the tractor, stopping it short of the Brisby home and gaining some time while it is repaired. Mrs Brisby doesn't know what she can do, but the shrew suggests visiting the mouse-eating Great Owl for advice! Despite the small risk of being eaten, she does so.
Mrs Brisby is flown to the Great Owl's tree on the back of Jeremy the crow. The owl does not appear to to be too concerned at first, although he gives her the obvious advice that she must move before the plough comes again. On hearing that her husband was Jonathan Brisby, who, unknown to Mrs Brisby, was one of the rodents of NIMH, the owl seems much more enthusiastic about helping. He advises her to go to the rats to help move her home - to ask for Nicodemus. Mrs Brisby doesn't see how rats can move her cinderblock home to safety, but at this point she'll try anything.
Mrs Brisby, after initially being chased out of the rat's rose bush lair by Brutus, a large guard rat, meets Justin, the Captain of the Guard and he and the medicine mouse Mr Ages (also from NIMH) escort her to the rat's council chamber. There the sinister Jenner first opposes helping her, then changes his mind when he sees an opportunity to use Mrs Brisby's plight to kill Nicodemus and become the new leader of the rats himself...
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The future of the Bluth group was seen to depend on this film, and as such maximum work and effort went into its production. I think it remains one of the best films Bluth has made, although "Anastasia" is close visually.
There is a sequel planned for NIMH. Many NIMH fans are not looking forward to it, fearing that a low-quality direct to video production, motivated mainly by money-making interests will degrade the original. I think though, that even if it does turn out to be terrible, (which isn't yet certain!) NIMH is the masterpiece it was intended to be. I don't believe a poor sequel could deny this film its place in animation history.
David Pochron's "The Secret of NIMH" Page has more information regarding NIMH II.
Jeremy Hodges' page contains a library of NIMH pictures and WAV files
Try my experimental NIMH game! (requires Netscape 4.x / IE4.x and is under test)
This page was created Sunday 17 May 1998
