Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of NIMH is an 1982 animated film adaptation of the Newbery-winning book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, written by American author Robert O'Brien. The title of the movie was later used for newer editions of the book. It was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Aurora Pictures, and released by United Artists.
The film tells the story of a widowed field mouse, Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman), who attempts to find help to save her son Timothy (Ian Fried). Timmy has taken ill with pneumonia, and therefore cannot leave the Brisby home to avoid the spring plowing. Following advice given by the Great Owl (John Carradine) Brisby encounters the Rats of NIMH, who have escaped from a laboratory where human experiments made them intelligent. The Rats help Brisby to protect her family.
NIMH is clearly a reference to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, a connection that is explicit in the film version. The story has elements of animal rights activism, but in the end the Rats of NIMH simply wish to gain peace and independence by moving away from human settlement, where they consider their theft of electricity from humans wrong.
The name Brisby was originally recorded as Frisby but was changed during post-production to avoid potential trademark problems with the word Frisbee.
The film was followed up with The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue (in 1998). There have been rumors about a movie titled The Secret of NIMH 3: The Beginning to be released in 2001, however, no such movie has been made yet, although an erroneous IMDB entry exists for it.
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Crew members
- Directed by Don Bluth
- Produced by Don Bluth, John Pomeroy and Gary Goldman
Cast members
(all voices)
The main charcters
- Elizabeth Hartman - Mrs. Brisby
- John Carradine - The Great Owl
- Dom DeLuise - Jeremy
- Derek Jacobi - Nicodemus
- Arthur Malet - Mr. Ages
- Hermione Baddeley - Auntie Shrew
- Paul Shenar - Justin
- Peter Strauss - Jenner
The Brisby children
- Shannen Doherty - Teresa
- Jodi Hicks - Cynthia
- Wil Wheaton - Martin
- Ian Fried - Timothy
The Fitzgibbons family
- Tom Hatten - Farmer Fitzgibbons
- Lucille Bliss - Mrs. Fitzgibbons
- Joshua Lawrence - Billy Fitzgibbons
Other characters
- Aldo Ray - Sullivan
- Norbert Auerbach - Councilman #1
- Dick Kleiner - Councilman #2
- Charles Champlin - Councilman #3
- Edie McClurg - Miss Right
External links
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