The Game's Afoot! {The Great Mouse Detective fansite}

{ Trivia }

Note: These bits of trivia were from my own observations or findings. The word 'trivia' itself means 'useless facts' so at times I am using that term to the fullest here! I will do my best at not duplicating similar bits of information from other sites such as Internet Movie Database. Since there is so much trivia for this film, I will add other bits of information that come to mind or discovery. I would please ask that if you want to use any of these bits of trivia for your own web site that you give credit to where you originally found them. If you wish to add something or find an error in any of these entries, please e-mail me. Thank you!

  • The original Basil of Baker Street book is set in the year 1885, whereas the film takes place during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June, 1897.

  • When Dawson finds Olivia in the boot crying, she shows him a newspaper clipping about Basil solving a case about an abducted mouse named Lord Upton Trupshaw. In the article, the abduction occurred Wednesday the 18th. By checking old calendars in the 19th century, the only Wednesday the 18th before June, 1897 happens in 1896 on November 18. Incidentally, Disney fans know this as Mickey Mouse's first film debut birth date.

  • In Basil of Baker Street, Basil cannot play the violin, and when he does, Dawson cringes and exclaims it sounds like several cats screeching. Instead, he plays the flute.

  • While Olivia says Basil's name repeatedly and respectively throughout the film, Basil never addresses her by her first name, nor does he pronounce her surname, Flaversham, correctly in her presence. He only addresses her with "My dear" or "Young lady."

  • During the entire scene inside the toy shop, Olivia never utters a single word, staying true to Basil's earlier line, "And not a word out of you. Is that clear?" Yes, this bit of trivia is found at Internet Movie Database, but I was the one who originally submitted it!

  • When Olivia starts the music box of the blaring firemen band, Dawson leaps into Basil's arms in fright. This is clearly a reference to the Hanna-Barbera animated series, "Scooby-Doo" (1969) when a frightened Scooby would leap into Shaggy's arms. At least it seems like a reference since Scooby leapt into Shaggy's arms A LOT! Also, "Scooby-Doo" was a show about solving mysteries.

  • As Olivia moves closer to the baby carriage (next to the bubble-blowing Dumbo toy), listen to the creaking sound effect of the rocking. The rocking chair effect is recycled sound from Dumbo (1941). It's used while a mother kangaroo rocks her baby during the song, "Baby Mine."

  • There are some identical character movements in the film that are parallel to characters in other Disney films. For example, when Basil catches Olivia, she falls harshly into his chest and looks up to him briefly. This similar movement occurs with Ariel and Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid (1989), and with Jasmine and Aladdin in Aladdin (1992). Incidentally, all three films were directed by Ron Clements and John Musker.

  • An additional character movement I would like to point out is during the verbal harassment Ratigan gives to Basil after he tricks him. Basil is seething with anger as his adversary playfully teases and insults his sailor disguise: "Oh, by the way, Basil, love your costume!" The way Basil stands there so stiffly is very parallel to Roger Radcliff from One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) as Cruella De Vil also berates him: "Why, you horrid man!"

  • In some beautiful concept art, there are many unused scenes or ideas during the storyboard sequences. Some of these include: an older version of Olivia, Basil on top of the head of a carriage horse and telling it to go to Buckingham Palace, and Mrs. Judson exclaiming that it was Ratigan who kidnapped Olivia.

  • An early idea was to have a stool pigeon assist Basil in receiving information, but was soon dropped when the writers felt he should figure everything out on his own. In the Eve Titus book, "Basil and the Pygmy Cats," Basil used a stool pigeon named Cyril to discover Ratigan became the ruler of Bengistan, a mouse kingdom in India.

  • Bing Crosby was considered as a role model for Basil, but when it came to the artwork, the character seemed too mellow. According to one of the animators, Rob Minkoff, Barrie Ingham was chosen, "because his interpretation of the character established his whole attitude and gave us the perfect timing and movements."

  • Despite having no previous acting experience, eight year-old Susanne Pollastchek was chosen for the role of Olivia due to her sincere and naturalism in her vocal performance.

  • As with many recording sessions at Disney Studios, the actors performed their lines solo. Barrie Ingham himself has stated he met up with Vincent Price at the film's premiere, but has never met Olivia's voice actress, Susanne Pollatschek.

  • In 1985, a year before voicing for Basil, Barrie Ingham played another detective of Scotland Yard named Inspector Roger Crimmins in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode, "Sing a Song of Murder."

  • Composer Henry Mancini would later write the music score for another Sherlock Holmes spoof titled Without a Clue (1988) starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley.

  • Basil appears as a bronze statuette, or the device to take Drake Mallard to his secret headquarters, in the Disney Afternoon series, "Darkwing Duck" (1990).

  • Due to the poor reviews of Steven Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes, Disney almost removed everything Sherlockian to this film. The "All New! All Fun!" movie poster is proof when Basil is wearing a normal suit instead of his traditional Inverness coat and deerstalker hat. Rumors also began of changing the British voice cast with American actors for the U.S. release.

  • Basil Rathbone's voice is from an excerpt of a Sherlock Holmes radio show titled "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League." This makes the second time Rathbone's voice has appeared in a Disney film, the first being the narrator for "The Wind in the Willows" sequence of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). Some often have said that Ratty's deerstalker is a homage to the actor portraying the legendary detective in many films.

  • The characters tend to have things in common with their voice actors. For example, during the behind-the-scenes featurette, Val Bettin wears reading glasses to read a portion of the script while Barrie Ingham does not. In the film, Dr. Dawson also needs reading glasses while Basil can read things without them. The same applies to Vincent Price when Ratigan applies glasses to read things.

  • An actual name holds the real inspiration behind The Great Mouse Detective film. William D. Cottrell (1906-1995), a Disney Legend, was a long-time fan of Sherlock Holmes, and it was this Animation Imagineer that conjured up a 'dog' detective for an animated feature. When Meitantei Holmes (Sherlock Hound) already existed, they switched to a mouse world and based the story from the Eve Titus series. A tribute for Mr. Cottrell comes in the form of a window in Disneyland's Main Street and is very fitting for the Sherlockian fan. The window reads: "Detective Agency: We Never Sleep- W. Dennis Cottrell, Private Investigator." See Photo.

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