The story centers on Mrs. Brisby, a widowed field mouse whose husband Jonathan has recently been killed. She is living with her four children in their summer home in Farmer Fitzgibbon's field. It is harvest time and they would normally be moving to their winter home, but one of her sons, Timothy, is seriously ill with pneumonia and can't be moved. If they don't get out, though, the harvester will be coming through the field and will shred their home- and them, if they're still there.
On Friday night, I went over to my sister's house after work because we had to practice some music for our upcoming choir concert. Afterwards, we decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch an animated film we hadn't seen in years: The Secret of NIMH. I actually didn't remember a lot about the plot; I had a vague recollection that I had enjoyed the movie and that it was about mice and rats, but that was about it. My sister had recently read the book that the film was based on, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and wanted to compare the two so we pulled out the old VHS tape and had a go at it. The story centers on Mrs. Brisby, a widowed field mouse whose husband Jonathan has recently been killed. She is living with her four children in their summer home in Farmer Fitzgibbon's field. It is harvest time and they would normally be moving to their winter home, but one of her sons, Timothy, is seriously ill with pneumonia and can't be moved. If they don't get out, though, the harvester will be coming through the field and will shred their home- and them, if they're still there. Mrs. Brisby is not completely without help, however. She has gotten some medicine for Timothy from Mr. Ages, an old friend of her late husband, and Auntie Shrew- a neighbour- helps her disable Fitzgibbon's tractor and delay the harvest. She also has made friends with a clumsy young crow named Jeremy who she rescued from the farmer's cat, Dragon. Not knowing what to do, she gets Jeremy to fly her to the home of the Great Owl to ask him for advice. He tells her to go to see a group of rats who live under a rosebush elsewhere on the farm and ask for Nicodemus, their mystical leader. Though afraid, Mrs. Brisby is determined to do whatever it takes to save her family, so goes to the rosebush. She is at first turned away by a fierce guard but meets, to her surprise, her husband's friend Mr. Ages, who now has his leg bandaged up. It turns out that he's acquainted with the rats and he escorts Mrs. Brisby into the rosebush; she is astonished to see that the rats have electricity and other technology in use. Mrs. Brisby and Mr. Ages meet up with Justin, the Captain of the Guard, who takes them to see the ancient Nicodemus. From him, Mrs. Brisby discovers that some years before, her husband and Mr. Ages as well as the rats were subjected to experiments in the National Institute of Mental Health- NIMH- and injected with some formula which boosted their intellect and slowed their aging process. Due largely to the efforts of her late husband, they escaped the institute and now live on the farm, using electricity stolen from the Fitzgibbon farm. Most of the rats have come to consider this wrong and they have come up with a plan to leave the farm and live independently. There's a small faction of the rats, however, led by one named Jenner, who wish to remain at the rosebush, stealing what they need from the farmer. Nicodemus gives Mrs. Brisby a mystical pendant which he says has magical powers when worn by someone with a courageous heart. The rats, because of their gratitude to Jonathan Brisby, agree to help Mrs. Brisby move her house. First though, someone must drug Dragon the cat so that they can work safely. It must be a mouse, because the hole by which they can enter the house and reach Dragon's food dish is too small for a rat to fit through. It's dangerous work; Jonathan was killed during an earlier attempt, and it's also how Mr. Ages injured his leg. Mrs. Brisby bravely says that she will do it, but after emptying the drug into Dragon's dish, she gets caught by Farmer Fitzgibbon's son and put in a cage.
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