Mrs. Brisby und das Geheimnis von Nimh

Ein Zeichentrickfilm, der angenehm anders ist und den ich mir auf jeden Fall irgendwann gerne noch einmal ansehen werde. Er hat eine einfallsreiche Geschichte, deren Hauptheldin eine fürsorgliche Mäusemama ist und nicht irgendeines von ihren Teenager-Kindern. Ab und zu ist der Film außergewöhnlich spannend und actionreich (der Kampf mit der Katze) und manchmal sogar gruselig (die Eule). Im Finale fließt Blut und es kommt der Tod… Heutzutage würde so ein Film sicherlich gut ankommen, weil er sowohl für Kinder als auch für Erwachsene gedacht ist. Und die Erwachsenen müssen sich nicht dafür schämen, dass sie sich ein "Märchen“ ansehen. Und was ich nicht vergessen darf: Mrs. Brisby und das Geheimnis von Nimh hat eine großartige Musik von Jerry Goldsmith. (02.09.2015)

Don Bluth’s peak film is an entirely exceptional work in the context of American animated films for children. Though Bluth and his collaborators made several changes in comparison with the source work (which lacks the fantastical elements and charmingly burlesque moments), they superbly captured its essential strength, which consists in the main character. In The Secret of NIMH, that main character is not the typical man or boy who embarks on great adventures and faces many dangers, thus demonstrating his courage and fearlessness, while adopting traditional values and setting out on the path to adulthood. Robert C. O’Brien, author of the book on which the film is based, made the central character a mother whose stable motivation is her effort to save her children. It is surprising, or rather simply a sad consequence of patriarchy, that such a powerful and meaningful motif appears only sporadically in fairy tales and adventure stories. Despite their effort to make the original story accessible to children through straightforward attractions, the filmmakers made excellent use of the character’s potential and even subordinated the visual rendering of the film to it. The narrative consistently emphasises the fact that Mrs. Brisby finds herself outside of her familiar environment and suppresses her fear because she is driven by her concern for her children. Her actions are not an expression of reckless courage or defiance of traditional heroes, as they are always based on a visible combination of fear and determination. After all, the fantasy elements incorporated into the film, differentiating it from the book, do not seem inappropriate thanks to the fact that they serve primarily to make these attributes of the main character more palpable. In the same way, the visual aspect ingeniously balances the ghostly bleakness of the world into which Mrs. Brisby ventures with the warm and bright colours associated with the safety of home – see the shots in which she literally represents a light defying the darkness as she is surrounded by bleak scenery with a threat of danger. Add to this a complex parallel storyline about man’s inconsiderate relationship to animals, or rather to nature and the environment, which is developed through the motif of a community of escaped lab rats that have gained intelligence under the influence of the experiments they have undergone, and the result is a captivating epic film about the adventure one little mouse that is essentially educational, with the ability to spur a discussion between children and their parents. (05.05.2013)