
The Great Mouse Detective is not only a great pseudo-adaptation of Conan Doyle's works, but it is also one of the most intelligent films in the Disney canon. It is actually an adaptation of the children's book Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, though spiritually, it is a Sherlock Holmes film. But unlike many of Disney's other straight adaptations, it has enough originality and flair to earn the title homage.

Any other website could detail the plot of The Great Mouse Detective, but we're here to discuss the impact. This film is as thrilling a mystery as any of Conan Doyle's works, and that's in no small part down to the likability of Basil, an obvious expy of Sherlock but still uniquely his own. Rattigan, likewise, is truly monstrous, not afraid to feed his own henchmen to cats, and will stop at nothing to succeed. The power play between them is just as exciting as any Sherlock Holmes story our film, but The Great Mouse Detective has something else those other films didn't: the most thrilling of climaxes.

The Great Mouse Detective can be viewed as part of Holmes Cinematic Canon, our as a well-made pastiche, but what cannot be argued is that it is clever, exciting, excellently realised, and worthy of being counted alongside Rathbone, Downey Jr, Cumberbatch, and the many other great Sherlock's on screen.
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