I saw it back in 1986 when i was 5 and lived in San Diego about 3 times and loved it! i was creeped out by Ratigan, had a crush on that cute stripper mouse chick and had some merchandise like stuffed Basil, readalong book with cassette and coloring books with stickers from Cookie Crisp.
I never saw it in theaters because I was born in 1987 (about early 1988 actually), but I still have the first VHS tape of it that my parents bought for me from 1992. It’s funny that you mention Cookie Crisp cause on the Aladdin DVD commentary the Disney animators said that they knew they were successful when they saw Basil on front of a cereal box.
And since you saw it in theaters, I have to wonder what you thought of An American Tail being released after it. To me it kind of predates the whole A Bug’s Life vs Antz comparisons.
I wasn’t born yet, but like Flik-E, I still have the VHS movie of it. I love it!! 
I never even owned the VHS, so I didn’t see this for the first time until a few weeks ago.
I’ve never gotten to see this movie! But me and my sister might try looking for it pretty soon.
Ooh, Leirin, you’ll love it!!
Harry, I reckon 90% of the forum members here are born in the 90s. I happen to be a late 80s kid ('89 actually, the same year ‘The Little Mermaid’ was released), so unfortunately I wasn’t even conceived yet to watch Basil!
To all those who have yet to watch The Great Mouse Detective, it’s a jolly good film. It reminded me of the recent Sherlock Holmes in many ways for its unconventional protagonist and reluctant sidekick, and it’s not surprising… there have been mash-up trailers of the two. 
This was one of the only Disney movies I did not own on VHS when I was an inkling. We virtually owned everyone released to date save this one and the original Rescuers.
I did see this on youtube last year, and I loved it! Defintely underappriciated, and Basil is a freakin’ champion!
I really like this movie. it’s funny that most people don’t know about it.
I’ve never even seen it 
Yep, it was released in that awkward phase between Walt’s death and the 90s Animation Renaissance. Great movies were released in between those two phases, but they’re often forgotten.
I’ve heard about it, looks really good. Never actually seen it myself, though. I’m more of an nineties kid as I was born in '95 xD
Hey, I was born in '95 too! But that’s no reason to miss out. I saw almost every Disney movie when I was small, and I’ve only discovered maybe 4 or 5 of them in the last couple of years.
You both are the same age as my sister!
That’s neat. 
No, you are NOT alone. I saw it when it came out in 1986 – and it immediately became one of my favorite Disney features. It wasn’t heavily promoted, didn’t have a lot of songs, and was somewhat under the radar, but somehow that little gem managed to sneak through (later, the directing team that made it would go on to make Little Mermaid). The computer-aided scenes in the clock tower just awed me (though later in life, I realized that by accident or on purpose (probably just coincidence at that point in history, though who knows), that whole clock-tower scene is lifted from Hayao Miyazaki’s earlier film “Lupin III: Cagliostro Castle” from… I think 1982? Don’t believe me? Watch the two side by side and compare their clock tower scenes!)
I saw it in a small theatre in upstate New York somewhere (not at home in California) that summer… and I believe I saw it 3 times before it left the theatres. Also, it had a longer name. I believe it was “The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective” … and for subsequent re-releases and video, Disney shortened it to just “The Great Mouse Detective” both on the film prints itself and the posters/merchandising for it.
But yes, to this day, it remains one of my favorite Disney films, with everything that made the classic Disney films classic in an era when most were anything BUT classics.
Very interesting. I’ve been wanting to see Castle of Cagliostro, so I guess I’ll have to watch both films soon.
OMG Lupin III. I saw the car chase and it was epic. I want to watch the rest, heard it’s a great spy movie.
OMG, I LOVE Great Mouse Detective !!!
My favorite character is Fidget, the litttle peg-legged bat. I had diffaculty walking as a kid and struggled with several other disabilities as well, so I was alwys able to relate to him in a way. 
Basil is cool alright, but to me FIDGET RULES !!!
My favorite is Watson.