The Secret of NIMH 2 (Musical Hell Review #71)

The sick kid from The Secret of NIMH is prophesied to be a great hero, proving once again that prophets don't know everything.

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[TheNumnutRandomness]

You'd think that someone in the city would want to dedicate a statue to the one mouse who kept everyone from getting poisoned and saved her entire family from drowning horribly.
No, but let's give a statue and throw a parade to the whiny butt who did the absolute bare minimum of "heroing"

[sweeney]

One thing they kept from the first movie was the fact that the original rats of Nimh have a slowed aging process. It was a very powerful scene when Nicodemus revealed to Mrs. Brisby that her husband never told her about his connection to the rats cause he didn't want her to know that he was going to outlive her. It was a really heartbreaking scene. So if anything this dumb movie got right is that the rats like Justin haven't aged.

[akanesaotome]

So... he save their town and all they got him is "Jonathan Brisby and son" statue instead of "Timothy Brisby" statue. And no statue for his mother at all. Yeah, that's seems fair.

[LoverofLiszt]

There's at least one thing that's almost smart about Martins plan, and that is to attack under the full moon.
1. Most of Thorn Valley will be asleep and unprepared.
2. They're flying on pigeons, not owls or other nocturnal birds, so they'll need the extra light from the full moon to see properly.

Also, what's THE derogatory term for pigeons?
FLYING. RATS.

*Curtains drop*

[Bobsheaux]

I wonder why caterpillars in fiction are never portrayed as the children they're supposed to be...

[MrXemnas]

6:41 WHOA WHOA...hold the phone. Wasn't the whole point of moving to Thorn Valley because the rats wanted to become completely self-sufficient and not rely on stealing from humans? Ugh, this friggin' sequel, i swear...

[emiliobustamante]

"Good night children. sorry to keep you a prisoner!"
Thats hilarious

[DrGregoryHouseIT]

That must be a new level of dedication, finding THREE voice actors, NONE of whom can sing worth a damn.

[jenneacoleman-cubero]

I'm still confused on how Timothy's the youngest of the Brisby kids. Wasn't the order supposed to be Teresa, then Martin, then Timothy and then Cynthia? Also, if Thorn Valley's people had worshipped Jonathan so much, why didn't they bring his wife and children to live with them?

[coffeebeans]

Geez...Why does the animation look like something you'd see in one of those 90's educational PC games?

[mariic]

"Remaking Watership Down with Muppet bunnies."

Should we tell her about Watership Fraggle?

[jadesmith]

"Make the Most of Your Life" sounds life "Welcome to Duloc" from Shrek played straight as something grand and not something funny.

[thekoolkitty]

Okay, can I just say for the record how much I loathe the idea of Martin being the villain in this movie? He was my favorite character in the original Secret of NIMH, and I felt so much for him, Teresa and Cynthia. Timmy was almost a non-figure in the story given that he was sick in bed the entire time, but the other children helped anchor us in the stakes and better represented what Mrs. Brisby was fighting for. When the Brisby house almost sank, it was heart-wrenching seeing those three children we've grown to love over the course of the film trapped inside. So to have this sequel completely demonize and (in the case of the girls) ignore these characters who were so lovable in the original is incredibly upsetting. It's the same way I felt when Maleficent turned the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty into bad Three Stooge knock-offs.

[MrXemnas]

Also, I hate to play the "sexism" card, but damn if this movie isn't sexist. Mrs. Brisby gets no recognition for her heroism in the first movie and Timmy gets the glory and praise and statue at the end despite Jenny actually being the one who stopped the villain among other proactive heroism...what the actual hell, movie?

[camdenmiles]

1. Annoying cats that were adducted are tortured and experimented on by the villain (he himself was also experimented on)
2. Villain, along with the evil scientists who remorselessly experimented on the animals are set free
3. Annoying Cats (who are just as much of victims as the villains themselves) are left to die a fiery, melty and very claustrophobic death in a elevator, while villains who did the experiments get out alive and well.

That's a pretty ruthless way for are "heroes" to dispose of what amouts to 2 random mooks, at the least the other Thorn Valley rats had the common decency and tact to just drug Dragon in the first movie.

[metademetra]

So I recently saw the film again, and realized these people didn't even pay attention to the SMALLEST details.
-NIHM is like Lady and the Tramp in that you only see the humans' faces long enough to vaguely know what they look like. Meanwhile the scientists in the sequel have their faces front and center.
-The thing that made the rats smarter was an INJECTION, not any sort of shocking.
-Mrs. Brisby and Auntie Shrew should by all accounts be dead by now because of how slow Timmy should be aging.
-There were THIRTEEN mice that got the intelligence boost, not six.
-The Great Owl is supposed to be daunting to get to, so why is nobody questioning the ruse Jeremy is putting on.
-Cats aren't sapient in this universe.
-Most importantly, the whole damn point of going to Thorn Valley was to the rats didn't have to steal anymore. Having a scene where they steal things ruins the point of the first movie entirely.

I get the impression the writers never watched the original at all with how much they got wrong.

[movie]

I always think about how a proper sequel to _The Secret of NIMH_ should be handled.

First of all, it should have started off with the unveiling of Mrs. Brisby's statue. Mrs. Brisby gets a letter in the mail from Justin inviting her to the ceremony. She, and her entire family, get a ride on Jeremy as they enter Thorn Valley. They're greeted by Mr. Ages and Justin as they escort Mrs. Brisby, and her family to their living quarters.

While there the Brisby kids decide to spend some time exploring the town, before the unveiling starts. They agree to meet at a certain time, and go their separate ways until then. They're old enough to make their own decisions, but Timmy (being the youngest) is told to stay under constant supervision. The girls go shopping, while Martin and Timmy visit the library to learn more about their dad. Mrs. Brisby reunites with Justin as they catch up on old times.

After years of development and resources, Thorn Valley flourishes under Justin's watch, but faces resistance from those who believe he should step aside due to his age, and let the younger blood take control. Even though the rats of NIMH age slower than the average species, large amounts of stress and responsibilities protecting the Valley have decreased Justin's health by a considerable margin. At the same time, a spy from NIMH is suspected within the facility, and would cause great harm to Thorn Valley if information is leaked about its location.

That's basically what I came up with so far. If anyone has a better story in mind, feel free to brain storm.

[wiibrockster]

I can't blame Don Bluth for not approving of this abomination of a Sequel.

[thecinematicmind]

I think what’s ironic with this film is the original Secret of NIMH book had a sequel which they could had adapted. The only thing they would had to change is how to explain how Jenner had a son when he died in the first film.

[jenniferschillig]

If they wanted to make a Secret of NIMH sequel, why the heck didn't they just adapt one of the novels that Robert O'Brien's daughter wrote (Racso and the Rats of NIMH, etc.)? They'd have to tweak the story to bring it in line with the first movie (which rung some changes on the novel), but it would have been better than this dreck...and Bluth may have even been on board with it.