The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue

The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue
VHS cover art
Directed by	Dick Sebast
Written by	Sam Graham Chris Hubbell Additional Material: Jymn Magon
Based on	Characters by Robert C. O'Brien
Produced by	Paul Sabella Jonathan Dern
Starring	Ralph Macchio Dom DeLuise Eric Idle Hynden Walch Meshach Taylor Arthur Malet William H. Macy Andrea Martin Harvey Korman Andrew Ducote
Edited by	Jeffrey Patch
Music by	Lee Holdridge Songs: Lee Holdridge Richard Sparks
Production companies	MGM Animation MGM Family Entertainment Overseas Animation: Wang Film Productions
Distributed by	MGM Home Entertainment
Release date	22 December 1998 (1998-12-22)
Running time	69 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6,000,000

The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated musical adventure film produced by MGM Animation and the sequel to the 1982 animated film The Secret of NIMH. In the film, Timothy Brisby, the youngest son of Mrs. Brisby and her late husband, Jonathan, travels to Thorn Valley, hoping to become a hero like his father. Some time later, Timmy meets a young female mouse named Jenny and learns from her that the mice who were presumed dead during the escape from NIMH are still alive, so he and the rats mount a rescue operation.

The sequel was created without the support or input of the original film's director Don Bluth. The film is unrelated to Racso and the Rats of NIMH, the sequel to the book on which the original film was based. Bluth expressed his disapproval with the decision made for it.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike the first film, the sequel used digital ink and paint.

Plot[]

The film begins with a prophecy detailing how one of the children of Mrs. Brisby and her late husband, Jonathan, would save Thorn Valley from NIMH. Their youngest son, Timothy, is chosen, but his older brother, Martin, believes he should have been. Martin decides to prove his worth and goes off to find his own adventure. Jeremy flies Timmy to Thorn Valley and is given a great welcome by its residents and becomes a student to its leader, Justin and Mr. Ages. Over the years, Timmy is trained both mentally and physically to overcome any challenge by adapting, improvising and thinking on his feet. Timmy hopes to one day become a great hero like his father, but has trouble listening to orders and thinking things through.

During a scavenger mission, Timmy meets a female mouse named Jenny McBride, whose parents were two of the mice that tried to escape from NIMH but were thought to have died; she explains that the mice in fact survived, but have been trapped ever since and also reveals NIMH is preparing an unknown plan that will occur on the next full moon. Thorn Valley's council declares it would be too dangerous to save the mice, but Timmy decides to help Jenny after learning Martin has also been captured. They manage escape by piloting a makeshift hot air balloon and begin their rescue mission to NIMH. During the journey, Timmy and Jenny begin to fall in love, but are attacked by a hawk and crash into the forest, where they meet a caterpillar named Cecil, who scares the hawk away.

Seeking help, the group visit the Great Owl but instead find Jeremy, the long-time acquaintance of the Brisby family, posing as the Great Owl. Timmy and Jenny learn that Cecil has teamed up with Jeremy to trick the forest animals into paying them money, but during a musical number, their scheme is exposed and they escape with Timmy and Jenny in tow and take them to NIMH. Timmy and Jenny manage to sneak inside and find Doctor Valentine’s experiments worse than ever, turning rats and other creatures into evil minions and the human scientists acting like mindless animals.

Timmy and Jenny are reunited with Justin and the others rats who’ve come to help. Timmy is tasked to stand guard, but abandons his post to find Martin, causing everyone to be captured by stray cats turned minions, Muriel and Floyed. Timmy, Jenny and the others are taken to the head scientist, Doctor Valentine, only to find Martin is the true mastermind. Following his capture, Doctor Valentine turned Martin insane with his brainwashing device, but with his heightened intelligence, he took control of the lab and brainshed Valentine and the others to become his slaves. Martin plans to use an army of lab rats riding a flock of ravens to take over Thorn Valley and asks Timmy to join him, but he refuses. Timmy is locked in a cage, while Martin drags Jenny away to make her his queen and has Justin and the other rats locked away.

Timmy begins to lose hope and blames himself for the situation until Cecil returns and encourages him not to lose hope as everyone makes mistakes. With renewed hope and determination, Timmy finds a way to escape and begins to devise a plan, taking all that he’s learned and finally begins thinking things through. Timmy manages to trap Muriel and Floyed and goes to rescue Jenny while Cecil releases Justin and the others from their cages. Timmy saves Jenny, defeats Martin and tricks his army into flying in the wrong direction.

Timmy and Jenny then leave to find the others, only to find that a fire has broken out. The survivors flee, while Timmy goes back to save Martin, but not before he and Jenny profess their love for each other. On the way to Martin, Timmy is attacked by Muriel and Floyd, but he sends them down an elevator shaft. Timmy eventually finds Martin, and they are able to escape through the lab's skylight with some help from Jeremy, who then takes them to safety. The group returns to Thorn Valley, where Martin has regained his sanity as Timmy receives a hero's welcome by its citizens, including his family. The prophecy has been fulfilled and Timmy becomes a hero just like his father.

Cast[]

Reception[]

Upon its release, the film received largely negative reviews by critics and fans of the first film. Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin gave the sequel a C- grade and said, "Alas, this Bluth-less direct-to-tape sequel [...], about a mouse's transformation from misfit to hero, has none of the original's heart or craft, and all of the sappy songwriting and patchwork plotting common to further adventures."^[1] The Chicago Tribune's Harlene Ellin gave it one and a half stars out of four, adding that "the uninspired continuation [...] clearly wasn't worth the wait".^[2] The Radio Times panned the film's "sub-Saturday morning level of animation and art design," the "surprisingly grim tone," the "frenzied pace" and "extremely choppy" writing.^[3]

TV Guide gave the film two stars out of four.^[4]

Music[]

The music for Timmy to the Rescue was composed by Lee Holdridge with lyrics by Richard Sparks, with an official soundtrack album released on compact disc on November 17, 1998 by Sonic Images.^[5] It contains 17 tracks featuring instrumental themes from the film performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of London & Venezuela, including six vocal songs by various cast members.^[6]

Songs[]

All lyrics are written by Richard Sparks; all music is composed by Lee Holdridge.

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue

• Official website
• The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue at IMDb
• The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue at Rotten Tomatoes