Rating: G | Runtime: 82 minutes
Release Date: July 2nd, 1982 (USA)
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) / United Artists
Director(s): Don Bluth
Writer(s): Don Bluth, John Pomeroy, Gary Goldman & Will Finn / Robert C. O’Brien (novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH)

There blows an ill wind.

Don Bluth goes so hard with the Great Owl that his, “Oh, the fields know of Jonathan Brisby.” starts to sound more like a damning portent than a hopeful one. But I do love a figure only known through whispers and laments who gets revealed as a legendary, unsung hero to his family and therefore ensures their status as a precious commodity to be guarded at all costs by those he helped save.

This is just a really lovely and gorgeously animated adaptation of Robert C. O’Brien’s Newbery-winning novel about a mother’s desperation to save her family without needing to sacrifice her youngest son in the process. And through a ton of happenstance, she unwittingly takes up her late husband’s mantle as protector of all oppressed animals struggling to survive mankind’s penchant for abject cruelty.

I wonder how many Generation X vegans have The Secret of NIMH sitting on their shelves as a formidable text for their life choices. Probably more than a few.

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A scene from THE SECRET OF NIMH.