I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective is one of the most underrated Disney villains ever created. He’s so smug, so pompous, and at the same time so incredibly dangerous (see Disturbing Disney #17 for details), you wonder how anyone could possibly forget about him. It helps that Ratigan was brought to life by the legendary Vincent Price (that master of horror and villainous behavior). In fact, Ratigan is so smug that when he leaves Basil and Dawson in a trap meant to utterly destroy them (well, Basil in particular, Dawson is just collateral damage as far as Ratigan is concerned), he’s left a recording to serenade Basil in his final moments. This song is “Goodbye, So Soon.”
In the film itself you actually don’t hear a lot of this song because it’s covered over by dialogue and other sound effects, but it really is a neat little song. The gist is simple: Ratigan has enjoyed the challenge Basil has given him over the years, but now that he’s won and Basil has lost, it’s time to say goodbye and move on to the better things in life (like taking over the Mouse Kingdom).
Goodbye so soon And isn’t this a crime? We know by now that time knows how to fly So here’s goodbye so soon You’ll find your separate way With time so short I’ll say so long And go So soon Goodbye
You followed me, I followed you We were like each other’s shadows for a while Now as you see, this game is through So although it hurts, I’ll try to smile As I say
Goodbye so soon And isn’t this a crime? We know by now that time knows how to fly So here’s goodbye so soon You’ll find your separate way With time so short I’ll say so long And go So soon Goodbye
In case you’re wondering, yes that is Vincent Price performing the song. In his last few years he often spoke of Ratigan as being one of his favorite roles (having wanted to play a Disney villain for some time). I’ve always found it funny that Ratigan took the time to record a song just for Basil and it speaks to just how long this plan has been in development. Of course, Ratigan leaving to enact the rest of his plan is ultimately what allows Basil to escape the trap (it’s a common failing in villains, leaving the hero in peril assuming their demise is a sure thing), but that’s a story for another day.
Let me know what you think about “Goodbye, So Soon” in the comments below and have a great day!
One of my favorite Disney animated films is the underrated The Great Mouse Detective (1986) which should be held in high esteem because it paved the way for the Disney Renaissance to begin with The Little Mermaid. The story features several memorable songs, my childhood favorite being “Let Me Be Good to You.”
To recap: Basil and Dawson are searching for the hideout of the notorious Ratigan, who has taken little Olivia captive to ensure her father finishes a mysterious invention. Using his eccentric methods, Basil deduces that the entrance to Ratigan’s lair can be found at a seedy pub on the waterfront. Inside, a number of musicians are performing for the rowdy crowd with very little success, that is until a certain female mouse named Miss Kitty (Melissa Manchester) takes the stage.
“Let Me Be Good to You” starts off as a simple ballad with no hint as to what’s coming:
Dearest friends, dear gentlemen Listen to my song Life down here’s been hard for you Life has made you strong Let me lift the mood With my attitude
Hey, fellas The time is right Get ready Tonight’s the night Boys, what you’re hopin’ for will come true Let me be good to you
You tough guys You’re feelin’ all alone You rough guys The best o’ you sailors and bums All o’ my chums
So dream on And drink your beer Get cozy Your baby’s here You won’t be misunderstood Let me be good to you
The audience is clearly moved, but things are just getting started! After disappearing behind the curtain, Miss Kitty returns to reveal a burlesque outfit (to the extreme delight of the audience) along with a pair of backup dancers. The song transitions to a big-band style number (the piano is completely drowned out by the brass) and features a long instrumental break while a drugged Dawson finds himself onstage dancing with the girls.
Hey, fellas I’ll take off all my blues Hey, fellas There’s nothin’ I won’t do Just for you
So dream on And drink your beer Get cozy Your baby’s here Hey boys, I’m talkin’ to you
Your baby’s gonna come through Let me be good to you
The craziest thing about this song is it nearly got cut from the film on the grounds that it was too ‘adult’ to be in a children’s film (to which I say “Seriously? And the messed up things in The Black Cauldron, Pinocchio and Dumbo weren’t??”). They managed to keep the sequence in by arguing that since the characters in question were mice and not human, young viewers wouldn’t make the connection to anything inappropriate. And that’s true from my experience: it wasn’t until I was a lot older that I realized what I was really seeing in this scene.
The animation on Miss Kitty is really well done, especially when she’s wearing her ‘sexy’ outfit. It’s drawn in such a way that it looks revealing but it doesn’t really show anything inappropriate (although one should remember this film is set in the Victorian era and showing this much skin in public was considered scandalous in polite society).
In my opinion, over thirty years later, “Let Me Be Good to You” remains one of the best sequences of the pre-Disney Renaissance era and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Let me know what you think about this song in the comments below and have a great day!
As you’ve read through this series, you’ll note that many of these ‘disturbing’ moments come from the villains in the story and The Great Mouse Detective is no exception. Based on the Basil of Baker Street book series by Eve Titus, the film follows the titular Basil, a mouse detective who operates on the same deductive principles as Sherlock Holmes (and it just so happens Basil’s tiny home is located at 221B Baker Street).
His nemesis and obsession is the evil genius Ratigan (voiced brilliantly by Vincent Price). Ratigan is “the Napoleon of crime” with ambitions of taking over the mouse world. He himself is a giant rat, but he hates to be reminded of it, to the point that he will have his own henchmen killed if they refer to him as a rat.
For most of the film, Ratigan presents himself as a perfectly poised gentle-mouse, but there are hints that he’s hiding a big secret. For one, every time he gets the least bit upset, all of his henchmen quake in terror, as if expecting some monster to come out. Second, especially when Ratigan finds out that Basil is on the case of the missing toymaker, the rat is visibly seen holding back a wave of fierce anger (so much so that his face turns bright red), just barely managing to hold it back.
But the final straw comes when Basil ultimately ruins the villain’s plans to take over Mouse England. A furious Rattigan makes a run for it in his dirigible, with the young Olivia (the toymaker’s daughter) as a hostage. Basil gives chase however in a hastily rigged craft of his own (aided by Dawson and Olivia’s father) and they chase Rattigan all over London before the rat, distracted by Basil jumping aboard, crashes headlong into the clock face of Big Ben!
Deep inside the clockworks and gears, Rattigan seeks to eliminate Basil once and for all (and at least be rid of his nemesis even if his plans are ruined), but Olivia foils this by biting down on his hand, distracting him long enough for Basil to trap his cape in some gears before leaping down to rescue Olivia (who was kicked into the works by Rattigan) from being crushed. Basil saves the young mouse just in the nick of time and when the trapped Rattigan sees the pair getting away…his anger finally boils over, leading into one of the more disturbing sequences in the pre-Disney Renaissance canon.
Technically speaking, this sequence is historic because it’s one of the earliest uses of CGI animation in a Disney film (though not the first). The clock gears of Big Ben are all computer animated, with the hand-drawn characters laid on top. According to the animators, this is what allowed them to create the sequence where Ratigan runs in, up, and through the gears during the chase. I also love to draw attention to Henry Mancini’s music for this scene: as Ratigan comes into frame behind Basil, listen closesly as the music starts. The melody is on a piano and is broken down into several interlocking segments with differing rhythms; just like the clock gears in Big Ben!
As Basil and Olivia reach the top of the clock tower, we look back to see a monstrous Ratigan, all poise and polish gone, running on all fours up through the gears, clothes in tatters, inarticulately growling as he pursues his quarry. He’s partly in shadows, and partly lit up by lightning flashes, which only adds to his menace. We can see now why his henchmen were so afraid; beneath that calculating veneer…Ratigan is a complete monster!
As the enraged rat gets ever closer, Basil tries desperately to get Olivia to safety before the villain can get to them, but their craft is just out of reach. Finally, just as the rat leaps for Basil, he tosses Olivia to her father, who catches his daughter with relief. But the nightmare is just starting for Basil: he’s in the clutches of Ratigan as they fall all the way down onto the hands of Big Ben in the pouring rain. The rat is determined that this time, Basil isn’t getting away from him: “there’s no escape THIS time Basil!” He uses his claws, visibly razor sharp, to slash and maul the detective, wanting to make him suffer for daring to humiliate the rat time and time again. It’s a spine-chilling moment, as you can hear Basil’s groans of pain (though in typical Disney fashion there isn’t a trace of blood to be seen).
Ratigan moves in for the kill and with one blow sends Basil flying off into the abyss (just missing the hands of his friends) and seemingly to his death. An overjoyed Ratigan crows that he’s finally won! But a voice from below replies: “On the contrary, the game’s not over yet!” Unbelievably, Basil has taken hold of the wreckage of the dirigible and Ratigan’s special bell, which he now mockingly rings. Just at that moment, the clock strikes the hour and the vibrations send a stunned Ratigan tumbling off, but not before he latches onto Basil and brings the mouse down with him!!
It seems to be the end for both Basil and his nemesis, but the detective has one last trick up his sleeve: when he fell, he took the propeller from the dirigible with him, and now he uses it to fly back up to his friends as the storm finally passes.
Despite the happy ending, this scene with Ratigan always scared me as a child: the transformation is so complete that he doesn’t seem like the same character anymore. And that scene where Basil gets literally mauled by this monster, it’s hard to believe sometimes that this movie was made for children. Because if you really think about it, if that scene were done realistically, there should be blood everywhere, not to mention broken bones from that fall onto the clock hands. It amazes me that in the very next scene Basil isn’t bandaged up in a few places.
What do you think of Ratigan’s final transformation into a horrific monster? Did this scene disturb you also? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
It pains me to see that The Great Mouse Detective (1986) often falls under the radar of Disney fans. The film is really quite important to the history of animated film: after the debacle of The Black Cauldron (1985), Disney’s animation department was at serious risk of being eliminated. But the great success of The Great Mouse Detective the next year proved to the powers-that-be that Disney could still find success in animation and because of this, a little film called The Little Mermaid was given the green light (paving the way for the Disney Renaissance).
Based on a series of children’s books entitled Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, the film follows the adventures of the titular “great mouse detective” Basil, who lives in a tiny home at 221B Baker Street (sharing his residence with Sherlock Holmes and Watson). When Basil’s eccentric life is interrupted by Dr. Dawson and a little girl named Olivia whose father was kidnapped, Basil finds himself thrust into the greatest case of his career: stopping that master of crime, Professor Ratigan!!
Ratigan might just be one of the greatest animated Disney villains, as he was brought to life by the master of horror himself, Vincent Price. Price had always wanted to be a Disney villain, and in an interview he gave, he called his performance as Rattigan as one of his favorites. In fact, Price’s acting influenced how the character was animated. Originally, Rattigan was going to be this rather weak-looking and snivelling character, but Price’s unforgettable voice changed all of that.
Ratigan, as his name implies, is a very large rat; but in a world where mice make up the majority of the population, he has taken great pains to pass himself off as a mouse, and won’t stand to be referred to as a rat. “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” serves as Ratigan’s introduction to the audience, as well as highlighting how evil and devious he is.
The song begins with a spoken prologue, where Ratigan informs his gang that the time has come for his greatest plan to be put into motion, “the crime to top all crimes.” All we know for now is that it will take place on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and that it will be “a night she will never forget” and that he will be “the supreme ruler of all Mousedom!!” This declaration begins the song proper, as Ratigan brags about all the crimes he’s done before: robbing the Crown jewels, drowning widows and orphans and robbing many other places based on the amount of treasure laying around.
From the brain that brought you the Big Ben Caper The head that made headlines in every newspaper And wonderous things like the Tower Bridge Job That cunning display that made London a sob
Now comes the real Tour de Force Tricky and wicked of course My earlier crimes were fine for their times But now that I’m at it again An even grimmer plot has been simmering In my great criminal brain
During this part of the song, one detail that sticks out right away is Bartholomew, the really, really drunk gang member who is more interested in lapping up the champagne instead of listening to Ratigan’s plan and song.
Even meaner? You mean it? Worse than the widows and orphans you drowned? You’re the best of the worst around Oh, Ratigan Oh, Ratigan The rest fall behind To Ratigan To Ratigan The world’s greatest criminal mind!
Oh, Ratigan Oh, Ratigan You’re tops and that’s that To Ratigan To Ratigan
In fact, he gets so drunk, that as the gang is preparing to toast Ratigan mid-song, Bartholomew pipes up “To Ratigan the world’s greatest rat!!”
Of course Ratigan is not amused. And as the rat in mouse’s clothing tells his drunken lackey “…I’m afraid you’ve gone and upset me. You know what happens when someone upsets me…” he pulls out a bell and gives it a ring, and as this very action causes the rest of the gang to squeak in terror, you know something bad is coming.
As it turns out, Ratigan has a rather fat cat at his beck and call. As the overfed kitty stalks up for her next meal, the oblivious Bartholomew launches into a spine-chilling refrain of “Oh Ratigan, Oh Ratigan, you’re the tops and that’s that…” This use of the song is what we musicologists call “musical irony”, in that the lyrics praising Ratigan are contrasted with the increasingly sinister sounds that are building to the mouse’s death by cat. To further add to the suspense, you don’t actually see the moment happen: all the audience see’s is the shadowy profile of Bartholomew suspended above the cat’s mouth and then….*GULP* Now thoroughly cowed, the gang hysterically launches into the final verse (lest Rattigan summon the kitty again) and the status quo in Ratigan’s lair is re-established.
Even louder We’ll shout it! No one can doubt what we know you can do You’re more evil that even you Oh, Ratigan Oh, Ratigan You’re one of a kind To Ratigan To Ratigan The world’s greates criminal mind!!!
Seeing how casually Rattigan can dispose of anyone who “upsets” him (though we don’t really get to see him upset until the climax), this one sequence has made it clear that Rattigan is very, very dangerous (a lot more dangerous than even Basil is aware of). And also because of this scene, Ratigan remains one of my favorite Disney villains.
Film Music Central 