The Secret of NIMH

I have to admit that I don't think I've ever watched The Secret of NIMH before. I know several friends have tried to get me to watch it in the past, but for what ever reason I've never taken the time to sit down and watch the movie.

Last night I fixed that mistake.

While the movie shows it's age, it is still a wonderful work of art. I do frown on the inclusion of the mysticism in the film - an element that was not present in the original novel it was based on - but it also adds an interesting element to this interpretation of the story. The Nicodemus character is a classic seer or wise man of the NIMH rats, and the similarity between him and the Great Owl really makes you wonder if he might also be a shaman shape shifter.

Unfortunately, due to the movies short runtime (82 minutes), it seems like much of the story was rushed and missing much of the exposition needed to explore the characters of Jenner and Justin in any depth. It would be nice if Dreamworks would remake the movie as a full length (100+ minutes) feature.