The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective (later re-released in 1992 as The Adventures of The Great Mouse Detective) is a 1986 American animated mystery comedy film produced by the then-new Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. It was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements in their directing debut (who went on to direct several other popular Disney hits such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog and Moana).

The film is based on the novel series Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus (which in return is based on the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes).

Synopsis
Basil embarks on the greatest case of his career when London's master toymaker is kidnapped. He ends up pitting his wits against his old adversary, Professor Ratigan, who wants to become `supreme ruler of all mousedom'.

Why It Can Solve A Mystery

 * 1) Great animation, voice-acting (Vincent Price is phenomenal as Ratigan) and songs.
 * 2) Although we've seen human-like mice in fiction loads of times before, a Sherlock Holmes mouse is something new.
 * 3) The protagonist, Basil, is humorous and easily lovable.
 * 4) Pretty cool action scenes. The Big Ben chase is the best example.
 * 5) The film saved Disney from going bankrupt due to the critical and expensive financial failure of The Black Cauldron. This one was a critical and financial success, in contrast to the latter, despite being out-grossed by An American Tail, during competition between Disney and their former colleague, Don Bluth, who would go on to work for 20th Century Fox and produce Anastasia, who would later be acquired by Disney in 2019 as part of their acquisition of 20th Century Fox, and Anastasia is now a de facto Disney Princess.
 * 6) Nice humor, for example, Ratigan's pet cat Felicia is very funny.
 * 7) To Ratigan, the world's greatest criminal mind!
 * 8) The characters are brilliantly designed.
 * 9) Funny running gags, such as Olivia keeps on correcting Basil about her last name and Basil says "Whatever.", and Ratigan being made fun of as a rat which he dislikes.
 * 10) Olivia Flaversham, the tritagonist is adorable and cute.
 * 11) Ratigan's iconic villain song The World's Greatest Criminal Mastermind.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some scenes, especially the beginning and the scene with Ratigan attacking Basil, can be too intense for younger viewers.
 * 2) The Let Me be Good to You scene, while funny, seems to be tossed in for no reason, plus the singer will anger parents who believe she's sexualized or objectifying women because she says a racy line in her song and wears a showgirl costume.
 * 3) The pacing can feel a little too quick. The film could've used extra running time for better development. For example, the sequence "Let Me Be Good to You", while entertaining, boils down to just filler.
 * 4) Basil can be unlikable sometimes, mainly due to his prickly, arrogant and self-centered nature of ignoring Olivia and Dawson, and only offering to help them once he realizes Olivia's case might be the solution to finally capturing Ratigan.

Reception
The Great Mouse Detective received positive reviews from critics and audience members alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 81% critic approval rating with an average rating of 6.99/10, while the audience approval rating is a 79% with an average rating of 3.93/5. On Metacritic, the movie has a critic score of 73/100, while the audience score is an 8.0/10.