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The Secret of NIMH

The Secret of NIMH

Adventure · Animation · Drama · 1982

A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.

Movie details

The Secret of NIMH

“Right before your eyes, and beyond your wildest dreams.”

1982 Adventure · Animation · Drama 1h 23m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Secret of NIMH?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Don Bluth

Written by

Don Bluth · Will Finn · Gary Goldman · John Pomeroy

Elizabeth Hartman

Elizabeth Hartman

Mrs. Brisby (voice)

Derek Jacobi

Derek Jacobi

Nicodemus (voice)

Arthur Malet

Arthur Malet

Mr. Ages (voice)

Dom DeLuise

Dom DeLuise

Jeremy (voice)

Hermione Baddeley

Hermione Baddeley

Auntie Shrew (voice)

Shannen Doherty

Shannen Doherty

Teresa (voice)

Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton

Martin (voice)

Court is in session

Put The Secret of NIMH on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.