A little orphan girl named Penny gets kidnapped by the
wicked Madam Medusa, so she can fetch her a rare diamond in a small hole that
she can fit in that leads to a Pirates Cave where an oceanic tide rises
and floods the cave. Penny sends a message in a bottle as a plea for help, and
a bunch of mice from a rescue organization inside the United Nations, find the
Bottle and send two mice to rescue her. The plot does have an interesting and
creative premise, but is it really as good as we remember it? ON WITH THE
REVIEW...
Usually in stories with talking mice, we're either just focusing on their world, or we have two subplots involving the mice characters and the human characters, and while this plot or idea is nothing new (Like the mice in “Cinderella” for example), I do like the idea that it's the mice that have to save a human, not to mention that the fact that they have an organization of helping people in need. Yeah, it's silly, and Disney has done it before, but it's done really well, and really backs up of the films moral of no person being too small to be a hero. Our two main characters are Bernard and Bianca voiced by Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor, and they not only make a great couple, but they're probably the only great thing that this film has to offer. Bernard is this socially awkward reluctant superstitious character, and while not being laugh out loud funny, he's still a fun and likable character. Bianca, however, is perhaps my favorite character in the film. Instead of her complaining, cares only about looking good, crying, and always getting into danger, she's the complete opposite! She's actually fun, adventurous, optimistic, caring, charming, and classy! I mean she's the kind of character that you want to go on adventures with! So our main characters are great, but of the rest of the film is...well..."eh".
The villain Madame Medusa has to be one of Disney's weakest villains. She's not fun or interesting; she's pretty much all bark and no bite. On top of it, is it just me, or does she resemble the famous Disney villain Cruella Deville from Disney's "One Hundred And One Dalmatians"? She looks and acts fancy, but has a major temper problem, just like Cruella. She drives just as crazy as Cruella does. She kidnaps people for her own benefits again, like Cruella. Her hideout is some place dark and abandon, much like Cruella’s choice of hideouts. Even her appearance and facial expressions at times reminds me an awful lot of Cruella. My brother and I even noticed it, when we were kids. So yeah, despite having a different scheme, she's really not all that original, or heck, is not that great of a villain in general. Actually, Cruella was originally going to be the villain of this movie, and the resemblance is so obviously similar that I wish that Disney decided to go with their original option. She also has a bumbling sidekick named Snoops, who's really not all that fun or memorable, he's actually more of an annoyance. The only somewhat cool and threatening villains in the film are Medusa’s two pet Alligators. While not having any dialogue, they still come off as threatening and intimidating characters, who also get a few funny moments, my favorite being the Organ scene. However, they're still not as great as all the other previous Disney villains, and the comedy scenes that they have, while funny are still forgettable.
The little girl that our heroes have to save, while being cute and innocent, I don't know, I sometimes feel like that the film makes so overly cute that it at times becomes annoying. I don't hate her, I just feel like the film overdoes the cute factor to this character. The other characters that our heroes come across such as an Elderly Cat; the hillbilly Muskrat couple; a Dragon Fly; and the Swamp critters (Who are as the same size as the mice), while cute and entertaining, there's really nothing that makes them stand out as memorable supporting characters. The only supporting character I really enjoyed is the Albatross that flies our main characters to their destination. He's funny; has the right amount of over the topness; gets some really funny lines; always has a tendency to crash or get into trouble; and even has Goofy's screams.
Now the film itself, while being cute and entertaining, for a Disney film it's pretty bland. The animation, while not bad, it's just not as great or spectacular as most Disney films are, it's actually pretty mediocre and not all that cool and memorable. It's also very scratchy as well. The comical scenes that this film has, while entertaining and can give you an occasional laugh, they're really not all that funny or memorable either, especially when comparing it to the previous comical stuff that Disney has created. When the film tries to be exciting and suspenseful, I honestly wasn't all that invested to the dangers that our characters had to go through. Even the songs in the film aren't that great. The majority of the songs are sung by Shelby Flint whenever a scene becomes emotional and whimsical, and while they're not bad, and can be very atmospheric; they really slow the film down, don't feel needed half of the time, and are pretty forgettable. The only song I find myself humming is the national anthem for the mice's "Rescue Aid Society", which isn't a great song either, but it is still catchier compared to all the other songs in the film. I should also mention in the original cut of the movie, there's a brief picture of a topless lady as our characters are flying through the city. While it's cut out of current releases and something I won't hold against the film, my question is WHAT THE HELL DISNEY? I can overlook the controversial "Little Mermaid" poster; I can defend the Priests boner in "The Little Mermaid" by saying that it's one of his crooked knees that was poorly drawn; I’ll buy the whole SFX subliminal message in “The Lion King”, instead of it being SEX; but this I sadly cannot defend or overlook, not to mention that this is before the controversies I just mentioned.
While being cute and entertaining and having two great leading characters, this is sadly one of Disney's lesser good animated films. The villain is lame; most of the side characters aren't as great or memorable as the side characters in most Disney films; the animation is dull; the comedy isn't all that funny; and the songs are forgettable. I still watch it because it is entertaining, but outside of it, it's really not one of Disney's best. I hear its sequel is better than this film, but I'll have to see it to believe it. A film like this would usually get my love or hate rating, but since this is a Disney film, I'm going to give it my worth watch rating, since you expect more from Disney than this.
RATING 2/5
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