Voice Cast:

Auntie Shrew.......................Herimone Baddeley

Billy Fitzgibbons..................Joshua Lawrence

Cynthia Brisby.....................Jodi Hicks

Council Rats.........................Norbert Auerbach, Charles Champlin, and Dick Kleiner

Great Owl............................John Carradine

Farmer Fitzgibbons.............Tom Hatten

Jenner.................................Paul Shenar

Jeremy................................Dom DeLuise

Justin..................................Peter Strauss

Martin Brisby......................Wil Wheaton

Miss Right...........................Edie McClurg

Mr. Ages.............................Arthur Malet

Mrs. Fitzgibbons.................Lucille Bliss

Mrs. Brisby.........................Elizabeth Hartman

Nicodemus.........................Derek Jacobi

Sullivan..............................Aldo Ray

Teresa Brisby.....................Shannen Doherty

Timothy Brisby..................Ian Fried

 

History

In September 1979, a group of eleven animation staff from Walt Disney Productions broke off to form their own independent studio, spearheaded by Don Bluth, John Pomeroy, and Gary Goldman.  After undertaking several smaller projects, they partnered with Aurora Productions (also established by breakoffs from Disney). The Secret Of Nimh was the first film (of three) by Aurora Productions and the first full length feature film by Don Bluth Productions (later The Bluth Group). It was also the last film by The Bluth Group as they declared bankruptcy in 1984. The Secret Of Nimh is based off of the novel Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH of which the rights to had been offered to Disney multiple times but were turned down until Aurora got hold of the rights. The name 'Mrs. Firsby' had to be changed to 'Mrs. Brisby' due the name sounding extremly familiar with the 'Frisbee' flying discs.

 

Parallels In Real Life

-- It may surprise fans of The Secret of NIMH (and/or Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH) to know that NIMH, The National Institute of Mental Health, is very much a real organization, doing pretty much the same kind of research...focusing on human mental health concerns and advances.

-- A 2013 article on the NPR website revealed startling news that Steven Goldman, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester (New York) teamed up with his wife to study the effect of human "glial" cells (which are similar to neurons) to determine how they play a role in the learning process.  So how did they decide to proceed?  Yep - you guessed it: they injected the brains of (newborn) mice with human glial cells, which actually resulted in mice which could learn faster than normal mice...even though those mice were still quite capable and willing to interact with normal mice.  Does that sound familiar?  The neuroscientists at the university published a study outlining the research they had done, and its results. 

(Robert Streiffer, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in response to this study [which has raised some serious ethical questions], had this to say: "Maybe bioethicists have been a little bit too cavalier assuming that a mouse with some human brain cells in it is just your normal old mouse.  Well, it's not going to be human, but that doesn't mean it's a normal old mouse either." )

Another recent experiment involves gene modification in mice to extend their life span, in yet another strange parallel of The Secret of NIMH story.