stunt_muppet

So, yeah. The Great Mouse Detective? Still awesome. And even funnier now that I get the whole Holmesian pastiche on which it's based. I mean, I think I always knew that Basil and Dawson were analogues to Holmes and Watson, since I can't remember a time when I didn't know who Sherlock Holmes was, but before I was just aware of the vague idea. Watching it now, I see some of the specific references - the "Napoleon of Crime"? The obvious Final Problem parallels at the end? The Basil Rathbone sampling? It's glorious.

And really, it works quite well as a Holmes-esque story in its own right; Basil's as mercurial, intense, and completely socially disfunctional as his inspiration, within the bounds of a children's film. It does buy into the unfortunate stereotype of Watson/Dawson as an ineffectual bumbler, but I suppose that's only to be expected.

And oh, Vincent Price. You roll those R's, my good man. You roll them with gusto.

But really, why didn't this movie get its own Disney Channel spinoff series?* I would've watched that. I want Basil and Dawson to have lots and lots of adventures together and be brilliant and possibly parody/reference a different Holmes story every episode.**

*I don't care if there wasn't a Disney Channel at the time. The Little Mermaid got one; don't see why this shouldn't. *sulk*
**And sweet mercy, if it wasn't bad and wrong and childhood-killing, I would ship them. Sort of. In a totally PG-rated way. And maybe write fic, if that wasn't a fundamentally pointless thing to do given the homage nature of the movie.

I consider that a well-spent hour and a half, anyway.