357 Wondertwins.

The film Nina Takes A Lover hadn’t been on TV in forever, but it was on the other day after I drew this page.  What are the chances huh? 

Anyway, the other day I found the pan & scan version of The Secret Of Nimh for $5 at the store.  Normally I’d hold out for the widescreen version, but who can afford to be picky these days?  Certainly not I. 

I bring up this discovery because the voice of Mrs. Brisby (Frisby in the book) is pretty close to the voice I hear, in my mind, when I write for Nina. Just play the clip, close your eyes, and imagine Nina speaking Brisby’s lines.

This isn’t the scene I would choose to showcase Elizabeth Hartman’s performance, but it was the best I could find that didn’t have embedding disabled.

Fun fact: Wil Wheaton and Shannen Doherty both provide voices for Brisby children.

Unfun fact: Elizabeth Hartman fell to her death from a fifth story window in 1987.

The Secret Of Nimh is one of those movies that’s really good if you can suspend your disbelief. A lot of stuff is never explained, like how the rats ended up with a magic necklace, or a remote viewing portal. The inscription on the back of the stone is kinda lame too: You can unlock any door if you only have the key. Yes… that is how doors and keys work. I guess it comes across as much more magical when you’re 6. I think it would have been better if Nicodemus’s line “courage of the heart is very rare, the stone has a power when it’s there” had been the inscription, but what do I know? I’ve never produced a cult classic animated feature.

Even with its flaws The Secret Of Nimh is still one of my favorite movies. In the end I’m a sucker for magical artifacts that run on love. If you ever want to see a fat man get misty just sit me down for the last scenes of Nimh, and watch me pretend that I have a hair in my eye.