The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 American animated mystery comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 26th Disney animated feature film, the film was directed by Burny Mattinson, David Michener, and the team of John Musker and Ron Clements, who later directed Disney's hit films The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. The film was also known as The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detectivefor its 1992 theatrical re-release and Basil the Great Mouse Detective in some countries. The main characters are all mice and rats living in VictorianLondon.

Based on the children's book series Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, it draws heavily on the tradition of Sherlock Holmes with a heroic mouse who consciously emulates the detective; Titus named the main character after actor Basil Rathbone, who is best remembered for playing Holmes in film (and whose voice, sampled from a 1966 reading of "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League"[2] was the voice of Holmes in this film, 19 years after his death). Sherlock Holmes also mentions "Basil" as one of his aliases in theArthur Conan Doyle story "The Adventure of Black Peter".

The Great Mouse Detective was released to theaters on July 2, 1986 to positive reviews and financial success, in sharp contrast to the box office under-performance of Disney's previous animated feature film The Black Cauldron (1985). As such, the new senior management of the company were convinced that their animation department was still a viable enterprise and this set the stage for the Disney Renaissance.