Happy 40th Anniversary GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

On July 2nd, 1986,

A little film about a mouse who dresses and acts like Sherlock Holmes during QUEEN VICTORIA's Diamond Jubilee was released in Cinemas everywhere in the United States, Canada, etc.

And at the right moment too as VANCOUVER's SKYTRAIN had just opened on DECEMBER 11 1985 so I guess many people when they weren't attending EXPO 86 decided to hop aboard the SKYTRAIN circa 1986 just to go to the FAMOUS PLAYERS cinemas such as the 2-Screen VANCOUVER CITY CENTRE CINEMA in GRANVILLE STREET which right now is a TOM LEE MUSIC,

Or whatever CINEMA was playing the film in 1986 like the 

former FAMOUS PLAYERS CAPITOL 6 In Downtown Vancouver for example

Either way or another, this film was a big hit when it released

because it had been roughly a year since the infamous release of THE BLACK CAULDRON that almost sank the DISNEY company due to company politics, etc.

MORAL was also at an all-time low. 

That's because the animators had been exiled from BURBANK and relocated to GLENDALE after the failure of CAULDRON in 1985.

So this meant it made submitting their work or even recycling certain visual effects very difficult due to the distances between BURBANK & GLENDALE.

Because this all predated the modern internet.

(The internet of the 1980s was all text based BBS systems)

there was no remote work involved..... sort of.

The only way the Animators could talk to the Disney Upper Management was either through in-person meetings or through the Telephone

Using SALLY to represent the animator

and CONNIE BENGE as the Executive....

Both are from DOUG.

or via driving all the way from GLENDALE to BURBANK and vice versa.

Using Hank Hill's 1986 Ford Ranger 

just to be period Accurate.

But despite the negativity of the move to a new building, the animators made the most of it

Like I said about 101 DALMATIANS earlier in January 2026, MOUSE DETECTIVE was made as a MAKE-OR-BREAK film as it came shortly after CAULDRON bombed at the BOX-OFFICE,

ironically not against a DON BLUTH film but rather against SACHARINE CANADIAN BEARS.

When MOUSE DETECTIVE premiered, the money it made in the BOX OFFICE was more than what DISNEY imagined and even managed to recoup the costs that CAULDRON could not.

It really was that successful. 

Because of all that, 

It was a blend of DISNEY MAGIC that the new Animators who replaced the NINE OLD MEN could muster after the 20 years the studio that stagnated in which they bounced back.

The film also allowed for a much better blending of the 2D Acetate Cels and CGI.... sort of.

The way it was done was that the CGI was made in the computer first

This was before DISNEY invested in PIXAR's image computers

for their CAPS Systems.

Although the Documentary mentions a mechanical hand with a Ballpoint pen, I call baloney on that.

What I think the animators really used to transfer the Wireframes onto animation paper was one of those line plotters

Like this HEWLETT PACKARD plotter here.

Once the CGI line plotted drawings are complete, they're sent to the character animators who draw on a separate piece of paper their assigned character

Once the Character animation is cleaned up, both the Character Animation and the CG Wireframes are sent to the XEROX Department

Where they get painted onto cels with the finest acrylic paint imaginable

And thanks to the Anime GOLDEN BOY, I now know that the painters also had to make sure they shake the cels slightly to get rid of the AIR BUBBLES since certain CEOS and Art Directors can be very picky about the presentation of the cels when exposed to bright lights under the camera.

After the paint dries, it's all sent to the Camera Department to be photographed on 35mm Film stock

And this is the end result

The casting is all superb here.

The late actor VINCENT PRICE portrays the villain RATTIGAN.

I've heard that RATTIGAN is a favorite roll amongst PRICE during his later years in life.

Probably because of his cunning and snivvy personality that's so befitting VINCENT PRICE.

Of course, We can't forget about BARRIE INGHAM

He portrays BASIL of BAKER STREET.

He's sort of the MOUSE Equivalent of SHERLOCK HOLMES but if you've watched the movie or even read the book that the movie's based on, BASIL is different than his human namesake.

This BASIL is sort of a lovable scoundrel who wants to help out but at first, he wants to do things his own way.

Hmmm... Gives me SNAKE PLISKKEN vibes

Here's an interesting piece of trivia:

Last year on JULY 2 2025, Pete Emslie of THE CARTOON CAVE made a post about the film detailing the impact the film had on him.

And he also shared two photo scans of when He met in person both VINCENT PRICE

& BARRIE INGHAM.

and shared to the two of them his CARICATURES of both actors.

If you're wondering about my Screenshots, I'm using a 35MM Italian Print of  the movie I found on ARCHIVE.ORG which explains the grain, color depth, and open-matte aspect ratio.

And bits of where the Camera fulcrum accidentally reveals the acetate celluloid nature of the artwork and Camera Desks

No wonder DISNEY prefers their WIDESCREEN Prints of this film since it emulates how

cinema houses always close the Projection apertures to maintain full widescreen.

and it's no wonder why DISNEY switched to DIGITAL INK & PAINT IN 1989.

I had a hard time finding a Blu-Ray and I wasn't in any position to make an AVERMEDIA Capture of the film on DISNEY+ since I have a hunch the film is not in 4K & HDR10 like BLACK CAULDRON is so I instead used this print from ARCHIVE.ORG because I can.

As for why I mentioned FAMOUS PLAYERS instead of CINEPLEX ODEON, 

I read on CINEMA TREASURES that in the 1980s and later the early 1990s,

FAMOUS PLAYERS & CINEPLEX ODEON each had exclusive distribution rights from respective studios.

And FAMOUS PLAYERS was often the preferred Cinema chain for DISNEY in CANADA so that's why.

I could be wrong though.

Let me know in the comments if they did play DISNEY MOVIES in 1980s CINEPLEX Locations.

Clash of the Canadian Comedy DUO-BOB & DOUG MACKENZIE vs. TERRANCE & PHILLIP+The origins of the GREAT WHITE NORTH skits, the everlasting appeal of the MACKENZIE BROTHERS outside of CANADA, and my opinion on why the CRTC takes things way too far

HAPPY CANADA DAY my fellow readers.

In celebration of my Country's 159th birthday, Let's do a CANADIAN style post regarding DUOS from the Great White North.

First is the MACKENZIE BROTHERS, a duo first introduced to the masses back in the early 80s.

These are characters portrayed by DAVE THOMAS and RICK MORANIS wearing WINTER GEAR, drinking beer, and commenting on the state of things regarding CANADIAN LIFE in the 1980s.

All while ending each of their sentences with "EH" and often at times calling each other HOSERS or KNOBS.

(For the record, I never use those stereotypical verbal terms... Ever.)

They're regarded as mainstays of this Canadian Comedy tv series called SCTV, or SECOND CITY TV if you want to be more specific. 

And then there's TERRANCE AND PHILLIP.

These BEADY EYED, FLAPPY HEADED Comedy Duo is a favorite of the four boys from SOUTH PARK, COLORADO, mostly for the fart jokes and their potty mouths.

The 1999 film BIGGER, LONGER, & UNCUT largely focuses on the DUO and the influence generating controversy amongst the parents of the quiet little Mountain Town of SOUTH PARK.

Ok... Some might interpret this post as mocking my COUNTRY....

 I'm not. Really. I'm being honest.

But what the Mackenzie Brothers and Terrance and Phillip represent is the mocking of the infamous CRTC's demands for CANADIAN CONTENT in Broadcasting! Even if it's against the wishes of Creators both in Television & the Web.

Seriously, this is all true story stuff.

Let's step back in time to 1980 shall we.

When SCTV was being brought to other stations across the COUNTRY and beyond, it was seen as an attempt to break away from being HYPER-LOCAL to the people in TORONTO.

But then things hit a snag once the show was brought over to EDMONTON, ALBERTA.

The executives at CBC EDMONTON

wanted more representation of their home country but to combat how the episodes were shown down in the UNITED STATES, an additional 2 minutes was mandated to include more IDENTIFIABLE CANADIAN CONTENT in order to comply with these strict GOVERMENT BROADCAST REGULATIONS.

Or as fellow Canadian Blogger DAVID GERMAIN of his own blog insinuates:

The EDMONTON EXECUTIVES said to the face of to the SCTV production crew: 

"YOUR SHOW IS NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH!"

RICK MORANIS & DAVE THOMAS did not appreciate that VAGUE DEMAND by CBC EDMONTON.

"We're already using CANADIAN ACTORS, WRITERS, PRODUCERS, FACILITIES."

Said MORANIS & THOMAS.

And it's true.... sort of.

While the Cast is indeed CANADIAN, there were actually were three AMERICAN ACTORS who were part of the SCTV Cast.

Those were JOE FLAHERTY,

ANDREA MARTIN

and HAROLD RAMIS

So the cast wasn't exclusively CANADIAN but SCTV was indeed filmed entirely in TORONTO, ONTARIO.

Anyway. Back to the EDMONTON's demands circa 1980:

"What more do you want from us? Do you want use to sit in front of a giant map of CANADA drinking beer and wearing toques?"

MORANIS again questioned.

Well..... This was an unintended ELEVATOR PITCH....

for what would become the GREAT WHITE NORTH skits on SCTV.

Basically amounting to what I mentioned in the beginning paragraphs.

Here's an example of their skits:

To the shock of MORANIS & THOMAS, 

GREAT WHITE NORTH, which was nothing but 2 minute filler Mocking MORANIS and THOMAS' own culture, wound up being the most popular segments on SCTV.

It got to the point that some of these 2 minute filler segments found it's way into AMERICAN TV.

Example was when NBC

ordered a 90-minutes worth of segments for the 1981 season because the CANADIAN DUO provided good affiliate feedback and requested that the characters be included in every program.

Despite how beloved the DUO as well as the Segment have become for viewers, both in CANADA and USA,

I've read the SCTV production staff HATED the 2-minute segments and the characters because it was GRADE-A executive meddling from the stubborn meddlers of the province of ALBERTA.

Sure, both the EXECUTIVES and CANADIAN & AMERICAN VIEWERS got what they wanted... but think about how the SCTV crew felt.

RICK MORANIS was actually more critical of the skits due to what he perceives as pandering to the network and the executives as well as enforcing the stereotype of a Drunk Canadian which was something he doesn't want to be remembered for.

His cohort DAVE THOMAS on the other hand was actually PROUD of the skits.

In my mind, I prefer the original interpretation of the DUO which is to mock the CRTC's demands on CANADIAN CONTENT.

DOUBLY SO since back in 2023, PARLIAMENT under former PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU approved the INFAMOUS BILL C-11 which would rewrite the Streaming Algorithm to allow for more CANADIANS to catalog content from within the COUNTRY......

And I'm reading that under the premiership of current PM MARK CARNEY, that hefty fines would be placed to networks who don't provide more CANADIAN CONTENT.....

or is it to fund more CANADIAN CONTENT? 

I'm a little lost.

Sorry for going off tangent like that but I'm a huge RICK MORANIS fan and I do feel for him in the midst of the executive demand drama back in 1980.

He had every mind to mock the CRTC's demands, the CRTC got their two minutes of CANADIAN CONTENT just like they wanted, and international audiences loved the skits, 

And MORANIS got greater fame as DARK HELMET in SPACEBALLS

And yes, I plan to watch THE NEW ONE when it arrives in theaters in SPRING 2027.

As for TERRANCE AND PHILLIP, 

They're sole purpose from a production Stand-Point is to mock the OUTRAGE CULTURE of the late 90s.....

In particular, Parents reacting negatively to children trying to watch Adult Programming

Kyle's Mom SHEILA has been crusading against 

TERRANCE & PHILLIP since the 1997 episode DEATH.

I've looked and while I think TREY PARKER & MATT STONE were inspired by SCTV's GREAT WHITE NORTH skits, 

The reality is that TERRANCE AND PHILLIP were meant to satirize MORAL GUARDIANS and their outrage on what is adult or not.

So the duo might have been inspired by when a certain preacher in MISSISSIPPI watched an episode of MIGHTY MOUSE: THE NEW ADVENTURES and misinterpreted a scene of MIGHTY smelling a flower too hard and he ended up snorting it.

Though I looked and the the episode DEATH is actually inspired by a 1994 incident involving BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD & fire.

At a time when BEAVIS' pyromania took things too far

and MTV was forced to clean their act.

So any similarities to TERRANCE & PHILLIP and BOB AND DOUG are virtually nil.

Anyhow, HAPPY CANADA DAY 2026 to you all.

After today, 

my regularly scheduled blogposts will resume....

Starting with this special surprise that's scheduled tomorrow: