Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

One of those weird children’s literature staples from the ’80s and ’90s was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O’Brien’s book about small animals that seemed like a spiritual sibling of Redwall and Watership Down. It was adapted into an animated movie in 1982, The Secret of NIMH, which was Don Bluth’s (An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Anastasia) directorial debut. MGM has had the book rights since 2015, and now the new movie has a director in visual effects supervisor James Madigan.

If you were raised in the ‘80s, you likely remember Don Bluth’s classic animated film The Secret of NIMH. The film, based on the Robert C. O’Brien book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, was surprisingly solemn and a bit dark for an animated kids movie, which is part of what made it so special. That adaptation wasn’t entirely faithful to the source material, but it’s still quite a treasure. MGM has now secured the rights to O’Brien’s book, with plans to adapt it into a new series of films (yes, more than one) taking us back into the world of Mrs. Frisby and friends.