And The Rats Of Nimh

Teachers Get Into Book Battle Fun

A traditional student reading contest at Woodland School is taking a new turn, as the school's teachers teamed up to also take on the reading challenge.

According to school librarian Nancy Darby, who organizes the annual Battle of the Books for fourth- and fifth-graders at the school where the students participate in a knowledge quiz contest after reading the same 15 books between November and May.

"Last year, for the first time in the state of New Jersey, I held a Teacher Battle—and this year there were 27 staff members on four teams, competing," Darby said.

The teachers battled it out on June 10, and Darby the students were engrossed watching their teachers being quizzed on the same books they'd read. 

"Teacher teams burst into the gym, dancing to music and rallying the entire school audience," she said. "The teachers clearly demonstrated team spirit and entusiasm for reading by modeling the behavior."

Among the books read by the teachers were "Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians," "Becoming Naomi Leon," "Charlotte's Web,"  "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH," "We'll Never Forget You, Roberto Clemente" and "Who Was Leonardo DaVinci?" The four teams and teachers participating were the Bookworms (Philip Jones, Jeanne Vecchione, Amanda McGrath, Tiffany Pillard, Shannon O'Shea, Rita Brown, MaryPat Brown and Diane Bell), B-R-A-I-NYacs (Brian Kilroy, Diane Langworthy, Anita Brower, Stacey Modugno, Marilyn Brown and Rebecca Lostan), Rock Stars (Dr. Christopher Huss (principal), Christine Ryan, Jen Ronkiewicz, Nancy Braunstein, Nicole Panos and Lauren Valera) and the Toes-in-the-Sand (Adam Yenish, Linda Pepe, Suzanne Wisher, Dorothy Stolfi, Harriet Stambaugh, Kathy Brown and Jackie Gartner).

The Secret of NIMH Blu-ray Review | Movie Scribes

, This Don Bluth-directed film follows the adventures and travails of widowed mouse Mrs. Brisby as she endeavors to care for and protect her children. She enlists the help of a local colony of extraordinary rats, which have been affected by genetic testing done by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). With their help (and a touch of magic), Mrs. Brisby takes on the gargantuan task of moving her cinderblock home from the reaches of Farmer Fitzgibbons’ plow.

This may sound like a simple, straightforward plot, but O’Brien and Bluth bring a depth and mystery to it that is quite compelling. The film has a dark undertone throughout, with serious peril and even a few somewhat gruesome scenes as well. The protagonists are very likeable and the forces against them provide excellent conflict. It may have been created for children, but adult fans of the fantasy genre would enjoy The Secret of NIMH as well.

I recall seeing NIMH as a child in grade school, and while I enjoyed it, I also remember it scaring me from time to time. Honestly, I’m surprised it has retained its Rated G classification, due to the darkness of the subject matter and the utterance of “damn” by one of the rats as well. There is also some fighting violence, including bloody wounds and stabbings. As such, I would not recommend NIMH for young children, but possibly for middle grades on up.

In its day, the animation in Bluth’s film ranked near the quality seen in his competitor Disney’s features. The background sets are beautiful, not belying the limited budget with which Bluth was given to work. The Blu-ray transfer here is fairly good, although the clarity seems to be limited by the source material. The soundtrack, which is also lovely, has transferred passably in this edition. If the demand warrants it, MGM studios may consider a further refurbishment of the animation and sound for future issuances of NIMH.

The cast list boasts quite a few names– in addition to the lovely Elizabeth Hartman as Mrs. Brisby, NIMH includes Derek Jabobi ( The King’s Speech ), Dom DeLuise (An American Tale), Shannen Doherty (“Beverly Hills, 90210″), Wil Wheaton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”), John Carradine (The Grapes of Wrath) and Peter Strauss (“Law & Order: SVU”). Hartman does a marvelous job as Mrs. Brisby, DeLuise brings some well-needed levity to the story, and little Shannen and Wil are so precious as her young children.

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Racso and the Rats of NIMH

R-T, Margaret, and the rats of NIMH

The Secret of Nimh

Mrs. Frisby and the rats of Nimh, reproducible activity book