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50 free The Great Mouse Detective trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Great Mouse Detective is the Disney film that kept the animation studio alive. Made for a slashed $10 million budget after The Black Cauldron flopped, retitled by Michael Eisner because Basil sounded too English, and finished in a single year, it earned enough in 1986 to convince management the department was worth keeping, setting up the Disney Renaissance. These 50 questions cover Basil, Dawson and Olivia's chase after Professor Ratigan, Vincent Price's gleeful villain and the 1950 comedy that got him cast, Basil Rathbone's sampled voice as Sherlock Holmes, the computer-animated gears of Big Ben and the anime that inspired them, Henry Mancini's score, the Eisner-era retitling saga, and Eve Titus's original Basil of Baker Street books. Every answer is sourced from Wikipedia's coverage of the film and the books, so you can check anything that surprises you. Play in sets of 10 and see if you can match the world's greatest criminal mind.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year was The Great Mouse Detective released?
1986
It arrived a year after The Black Cauldron flopped, and its modest success helped keep Disney animation alive.
Q 02What is the name of the mouse detective hero of the film?
Basil
Author Eve Titus named him after Basil Rathbone, the actor best remembered for playing Sherlock Holmes.
Q 03Who voices the villainous Professor Ratigan?
Vincent Price
Price said that if anybody but Disney had asked him to audition, he would have been offended.
Q 04The Great Mouse Detective is based on which children's book series?
Basil of Baker Street
Eve Titus wrote five Basil books between 1958 and 1982, illustrated by Paul Galdone.
Q 05The mouse detective's first name honours which actor?
Basil Rathbone
Rathbone's own voice, from a 1966 recording, is used for Sherlock Holmes in the film, 19 years after his death.
Q 06Which Sherlock Holmes story was sampled for Holmes's voice in the film?
The Red-Headed League
The 1966 Caedmon Records reading by Basil Rathbone provided the dialogue; no Nigel Bruce recording was available for Watson.
Q 07Who voices Basil in The Great Mouse Detective?
Barrie Ingham
The Royal Shakespeare Company actor won the part within six minutes of his audition.
Q 08What is the name of Basil's Watson-like companion?
David Q. Dawson
Dawson, a retired army surgeon just back from Afghanistan, narrates the film.
Q 09What is the name of the young mouse whose father is kidnapped?
Olivia Flaversham
Basil famously keeps mangling her surname; her father Hiram is a toymaker.
Q 10What kind of creature is Ratigan's henchman Fidget?
A bat
Fidget has a crippled wing and a peg leg, so he cannot fly.
Q 11Why does Ratigan kidnap Mr. Flaversham?
To build a clockwork replica of the Mouse Queen
The robot queen is meant to name Ratigan Supreme Ruler of all Mousedom.
Q 12What is the name of Ratigan's pet cat?
Felicia
She ends her film chased by Toby into a pack of Royal Guard dogs.
Q 13Which animal is Toby, whom Basil borrows to trail Fidget's scent?
A Basset Hound
Toby is Sherlock Holmes's dog, living upstairs at 221B Baker Street.
What is the name of the tavern where Basil and Dawson go in disguise?
Q 21Which Disney CEO ordered the film's original title changed?
Michael Eisner
He felt the name Basil was too English after Young Sherlock Holmes underperformed in 1985.
Q 22Which 1985 film's poor box office prompted the film's retitling?
Young Sherlock Holmes
The rename annoyed animators so much that one wrote a satirical memo renaming Disney classics.
Q 23Which animator wrote the satirical memo giving Disney films generic titles?
Ed Gombert
Titles like Seven Little Men Help a Girl later became a category on Jeopardy!
The Rat Trap
Chemical tests on Fidget's checklist trace it to the tavern near the junction of the sewer and the Thames.
Q 15Where does the film's climax take place?
Big Ben
The gears of the clock were rendered by computer, the first extensive use of CGI in a Disney film.
Q 16What do Basil, Dawson and Flaversham build to chase Ratigan's dirigible?
An airship from a matchbox and balloons
A Union Jack serves as the makeshift craft's sail.
Q 17The clock strikes what hour as Ratigan falls from Big Ben?
10:00
The vibrations of the chimes send him plunging; he tries to drag Basil down with him.
Q 18In which year is The Great Mouse Detective set?
1897
The story opens with Olivia's birthday in Victorian London.
Q 19How many directors are credited on The Great Mouse Detective?
Four
John Musker, Dave Michener, Ron Clements and Burny Mattinson all share the credit.
Q 20Which directing duo, later famous for The Little Mermaid, worked on the film?
Ron Clements and John Musker
Clements first pitched the adaptation in 1982; Musker was one of the original directors.
Q 24Eisner cut the film's planned $24m budget to roughly what figure?
$10 million
He also moved the release up from Christmas 1987 to July 1986, leaving one year to finish.
Q 25Which 1950 comedy led the filmmakers to their choice of voice for Ratigan?
Champagne for Caesar
They had been studying Ronald Colman's performance in it as a model for Basil when Price caught their eye.
Q 26Who voices Olivia's father, Mr. Flaversham?
Alan Young
Young, the voice of Scrooge McDuck, was chosen for his authentic Scottish brogue.
Q 27How was Candy Candido's voice altered to create Fidget?
The tape was sped up
His natural deep voice survives in one line: a character shouting at an eight-legged bum.
Q 28Basil's design was ultimately inspired by which actor?
Leslie Howard
Animators had first modelled him on Bing Crosby before switching to Howard.
Q 29Ratigan's imposing stature was based on which Disney executive?
Ron Miller
Miller was a 6'6" former Los Angeles Rams football player; Ratigan had originally been thin and weaselly.
Q 30Which animator supervised Ratigan?
Glen Keane
Critic Charles Solomon singled out Keane's work on Ratigan when naming the film among the decade's best.