The Secret of NIMH

Why fans of his film always feel the need to attack Disney I will never understand. This is a charming tale, it's a little darker than Disney (although not as dark as, say, Watership Down) but suitable for children of around 9 and up. The animation is excellent, the story makes a number of changes to the plot of the book but they are generally reasonable - however it still can't compare to the best of Disney. An excellent film that deserves a wider audience, but NOT by any means a masterpiece of the form.

Especially for 3.99. That's a steal. I might get it for when I'm on holiday on the plane!

I havent actually bought this off iTunes, because I've had it on video since I was a kid! I think its a great film and should be seen by everyone.

Don't let iTunes and their childish looking promotion fool you. This film was more decent than any Disney film made around that time! A wish to portray Robert C. O'Brien's animal fantasy in a style that was even initially considered too frightening and violent for children! For the record, this film is not necessarily a story about friendship, or an odyssey to another world of fantasy and enchantment, so don't rely too much on the trailer narration. It’s a film that legitimately portrays how much danger a widowed mother would put herself through to look after her family. An innocent field mouse with a son suffering from pneumonia, the plough season, the farmer's cat and standing up to many other obstacles and intimidating characters on her journey. The general animating and eye-catching scenery couldn't have been made better. As far as I know, the film tends to take advantage of its artform to emphasise the action scenes not covered in the book. In addition, absolute wondrous music and mature dialogue. And guess what? No sing-a-longs either! YAAY!!! Just one piece sung off-screen called "Flying Dreams" (pukepukepuke!). And as a word of caution, you may have to excuse Don DeLuise (Jeremy) and his bizarre sense of humour! The concept for the NIMH rats is a little questionable, but apart from that, as well as being a fully qualified family film, it’s also a good piece of debut filmmaking from Don Bluth that is definitely worthy of appreciation. If only his follow-ups were just as good.