The Secret of NIMH facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Secret Of NIMH |
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|---|---|
| Directed by | Don Bluth |
| Produced by | Don Bluth Gary Goldman John Pomeroy |
| Written by | Don Bluth Robert C. O'Brien Will Finn Gary Goldman John Pomeroy |
| Starring | Elizabeth Hartman Derek Jacobi Dom DeLuise John Carradine Arthur Malet Hermione Baddeley Peter Strauss Paul Shenar Shannen Doherty Wil Wheaton |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Studio | Aurora Productions Don Bluth Productions United Artists |
| Distributed by | MGM/UA Entertainment Co. (theatrical) 20th Century Fox (2007 DVD release) |
| Release date(s) | July 2, 1982 (USA) October 22, 1982 (Brazil) |
| Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$7 million |
| Money made | US$14,665,733 |
The Secret of NIMH is an animated movie directed by Don Bluth and released by his studio United Artists in 1982. The movie was based on Robert C. O'Brien's children's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. (The main character's name was changed to "Brisby", so that its audiences would not take its sound for the Frisbee toy.) Bluth began the idea of creating this movie after disagreement with Disney over The Fox and the Hound. Before that he worked with the previous Disney animated movie which was also about mice: The Rescuers. Later he made another animated movie about mice called An American Tail, which came out in 1986.
Contents
The story
A widow mouse lives with her children (Martin, Teresa, Cynthia and Timothy). On her journey, she meets a comic, love-seeking crow, a group of rats and the National Institute of Mental Health. After the deaths of the enemy leader and magician, a magical amulet manipulates and restores a house shaped stone block from drowning in the mud.
Cast
- Elizabeth Hartman as Mrs. Brisby* John Carradine as Great Owl
- Dom DeLuise as Jeremy
- Derek Jacobi as Nicodemus
- Arthur Malet as Mr. Ages
- Hermione Baddeley as Auntie Shrew
- Peter Strauss as Justin
- Paul Shenar as Jenner
- Aldo Ray as Sullivan
- Shannen Doherty as Teresa Brisby
- Jodi Hicks as Cynthia Brisby
- Wil Wheaton as Martin Brisby
- Ian Fried as Timothy "Timmy" Brisby
- Tom Hatten as Farmer Paul Fitzgibbons
- Lucille Bliss as Mrs. Beth Fitzgibbons
- Joshua Lawrence as Billy Fitzgibbon
- Edie McClurg as Miss Right
- Norbert Auerbach as Councilman 1
- Dick Kleiner as Councilman 2
- Charles Champlin as Councilman 3
* It was Hartman's final movie.
Sequel
In 1998, MGM released a direct-to-video sequel called The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue. In the sequel, Timothy goes to a place called Thorn Valley because he wants to become a hero like his father. His brother Martin has turned evil (although he does not want to), and Timothy must fight him in order to save the Rats of NIMH. At Thorn Valley Timothy learns from a young girl mouse that the mice who were thought to have been killed during the escape from NIMH are still alive, so he and the rats try to rescue them.
The sequel was hated by the fans of the first movie and the movie critics because of its clichéd and familiar storyline, and because many people thought that the magic of Don Bluth's dark and original NIHM was destroyed by the sequel, because MGM toned down the darkness of the story.
Images for kids
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Mrs. Brisby meets Nicodemus. Backlighting techniques are used in this scene to give Nicodemus's eyes a bright glow. According to the 2007 DVD release, Bluth wanted Nicodemus and the Great Owl to be seen as aspects of the same character, accounting for some similarities in their designs.
See also
In Spanish: The Secret of NIMH para niños
