Ok i'm saying these things never having read the Books. So Purely Movie Brisby.

But Did Johnathan like luck the hell out and somehow find the Smartest mouse lady on the planet or is she like the offspring of Old experiments or in this universe mice have the brain power naturally to learn to read if only someone teach her? OR

and NSFW for a moment. Did John er transfer some of the waves hands Stuff that made him smarter into her?

Because She's supposed to be a base line mouse.

Her and john's Kids are geniuses. Thats a given.

But Brisby Learns to Read.

And Higher then normal problem solving

On the Other Hand Mrs. Shrew is also smart enough to be like Pull THIS THING.

So.

I mean Theres Jeremy too but crows are scary and he's exempt from this.

Because there is also Dragon. who is a completely normal Cat.

But also the Great Owl!

Like idek

I have read the books, so I could potentially weigh in here!

It's really never explained, tbh

In the books, most of the animals are treated as pretty intelligent, regardless of NIMH tampering, and they also exhibit some questionably anthropomorphic features that are never questioned (such as mice understanding the concept of marriage in the first place, because Jonathan is Mrs. Brisby's husband in both versions)

I think the idea is that maybe normal animals could reach a semi-human level of intellect if another animal was able to communicate the concepts to them?

For instance, Jonathan may have been able to teach Mrs. Brisby to read, where no human ever could have, because he himself was a mouse and could communicate within her natural frame of reference and knew how to meet her on her own level

Which would make the biggest effect of the experiments NIMH did the fact that the communication gap between humans and animals was able to be bridged, enough that human attempts to demonstrate complex concepts could be picked up on and understood

(Well, that and the added longevity)

Thank you that seems very likely and fits well enough I'll use it.

:|b No problem~

Theorizing on shit is one of my favorite things

XD it's been driving me a bit batty ever sense i saw she could Read.

Yeah |D

My understanding from the books is that she can just barely read, with great effort, and it doesn't come at all naturally to her, whereas her children (and Jonathan before her) took to it like ducks to water because of the NIMH drugs

But even that is still really impressive for a completely normal field mouse, so I think it bears the explanation of 'it only works because another mouse, with enhanced intelligence, took a lot of time and effort to help her through the basics from her own reference level'

nods i could see it. but in the movie it was like a Very big point they made about the Fact that Yeah the mice and rats from NIHM can read and oh yeah... so can Normal mouse Brisby >.>

Yeah |D The movie is definitely very different than the book, in some respects more than others

WHAT IS THE MAGIC

coughs

But in that case the movie was just really lightly skimming over the subject

Probably for pacing reasons

HAHAHAHAH

Movie magic

There is not a single hint of magic in the books

RUDE???

That was entirely for drama and sparkly coolness

I'm Keeping it because Brisby is magic

(That said, the book is...honestly kind of slow reading)

(I almost prefer the movie version)

I just wish the stone had been more tied into the plot than just Sparkly Day-Saving McGuffin Asspull

Like, what they did with it was cool!...but they really did not integrate it into the rest of the plot well, at all

Yeah but i can over look mcguffin with all the other really great things they did with it.

/nod

Tiny overwhelmed, outmatched. scared mindless, young mother and widow Getting shit done because She HAS to?

To a little girl thats just the best role model i can't even

The biggest major changes in the book are that 1) Nicodemus lives(and also isn't nearly as old and decrepit), and 2) Jenner is not an asshole but is merely Strongly Opinionated, and he runs off from the colony with six supporters without really causing any trouble beyond 'shit, what if they're discovered and NIMH follows them back to us'

Nicodemus' death was also manufactured for movie drama

Those sound Like changes I wouldn't mind. it would have made Her triumph stronger actually Thinking about it. Rather then magic if The pully had just worked.

(Also, the terrifying Brutus in the movie is actually just a big blustery teenage guard in the book who Mrs. Brisby is kind of maternally exasperated with because he refuses to listen to her)

(And then he's very apologetic when he finds out who she is)

And yeah, in the book the moving of her house is efficient and flawless, emphasizing the competence of the rats

The biggest drama is that the shrew holds up the proceedings by angrily defending the cinderblock from the rats while Mrs. Brisby is still being broken out from her cage, and the rats can't talk her down until Mrs. Brisby arrives and tells her they're not a bunch of thieves and ruffians :v

As I recall, the shrew actually bit Brutus on the leg she was so mad

Sadly, my favorite scene in the movie - the shrew sabotaging the tractor - doesn't happen; the tractor breaks down on its own

So the shrew defending the cinderblock in the book kind of takes its place as showing her as genuinely caring about and trying to defend her neighbors, although it's not nearly as cool or dramatic

The ladies in this are so great

They sure are :|b

The one thing I regret is that we never get to see a female rat in the movie

That was a bit odd

You see a couple in the book, but you see a lot more in the sequel

Mind you, the sequel - and its sequel, which I haven't read at all - aren't written by the original author

They were written by his daughter after his death

Thats always..fun

They're very different in tone from the first book

The first sequel, Rasco and the Rats of NIMH, is terrific. The second sequel is a hideous horrible abomination that you should avoid at all costs.

very amused