MovieChat Forums > The Great Mouse Detective (1986) Discussion > The little girl gets kidnapped - twice

The little girl gets kidnapped - twice

posted 10 years ago by JurijFedorov
7 replies | jump to latest

I love Sherlock Holmes and I think that this cartoon did a great job of showing him to children. For me as an adult it was entertaining but not a good enough Holmes movie. And furthermore Basil did make huge mistakes in this film.

First they take the little girl with them on their search for the kidnapping bat. Off course it goes wrong. They knew that the rat :-) had her father because he wanted him to build a toy. So they knew that the daughter could have been used as extortion - which she was!

Then they take her to the queen's palace even though they know that it's filled with bad guys. And again they fail to watch over her. Even her father was doing other stuff while she was being kidnapped. So 2 times in one day they took a little girl to a place where they knew that there would be bad guys. She was the rat's biggest asset throughout this movie. If she would just have stayed at home the rat probably couldn't have forced the father to build a toy queen, or caught Basil while he was looking for her, and he couldn't have kidnapped her again and put Basil in danger, again.

[–] a_rarden 10 years ago

I think she would have been in far more danger staying in one place than she was on the constant move with Basil. Leaving her at Basil's home with no protection but a mere maid would have been a piece of cake for Ratigan.

I've never read a Sherlock Holmes book, but I've seen movies, and he's made mistakes in all of them. If there were never any mistakes, there'd never be any suspense, and without suspense, movies and booms would be boring!

[–] norman-dostal 9 years ago

Read the books- they're amazing. He's probably 99% correct in his stories.

[–] brinatello_j78 10 years ago

I agree with a_rarden about keeping Olivia at Basil's flat with just Mrs. Judson (she's his landlady, but there's always been confusion due to her attire). Fidget saw her in the window, thus, he could have sent thugs to break in and kidnap her. Basil said she couldn't accompany him and Dawson because it was no place for children. Yet, it became important for her to come when it was her father they were looking for. Since Basil was searching for clues in the toyshop, he appointed Dawson to watch over her. That made it the doctor's responsibility, and he failed.

As for the second kidnapping at Buckingham Palace, Olivia came along because they didn't have time to take her back to Baker Street. Once again Basil couldn't look after her, not when he was rescuing the queen and fighting with Ratigan. The one who should have been watching her was her own father, but he, much like Dawson, became distracted by all the chaos.

A kidnapping had to occur both times in order for the plot to continue the way it did. They were motives to keep pursuing after Ratigan, not just to stop his main scheme. It added more intense moments to the movie, too.

[–] Farseer_2122 10 years ago

In the books sherlock makes mistakes as well. In the one involving the kkk he sends the man who was threatened back to his home with instructions(tho I can't remember exactly what) and on his way home the man is killed. As I read it I thought it would have been better to keep the man closer but sherlock sends him off. He even edmits his error in the story

[–] norman-dostal 9 years ago

I think you're confused. Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle take place in the late 1800s. There was no KKK then. And it's England, not the states. Sherlock Holmes, in his sixty stories, makes very few errors.

[–] angmc43 9 years ago

"The Five Orange Pips"

[–] norman-dostal 9 years ago

well, shut my mouth!!