NEW ULM — The New Ulm Film’s Society’s animation series continues with a screening of the 1982 film, “The Secret of NIMH”.

The screening begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 at the New Ulm Public Library.

“The Secret of NIMH” tells the story of a field mouse, Mrs. Brisby who lives in a farm field. She is preparing to move her family before the plowing season, but her son Timothy is ill and cannot be moved from their home for three weeks.

To protect her son, she must find a way to delay the local farmer from plowing the field or safely move her son. She finds help from a group of escaped lab rats who knew her late husband. Unfortunately, political intrigue among the rats, a vicious cat, and human scientists are all obstacles in the way of saving Mrs. Brisby’s son.

“The Secret of NIMH” is based on a 1971 book by Robert C. O’Brien called “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.” The film was directed by Don Bluth who was a former Disney animator. He left the company, along with several other animators, to create their own animated films.

In the late 1970s, Disney animation was on a downward slide. Bluth and other animators wanted to return to the traditional animation style that Disney was abandoning. With “NIMH,” Bluth and his fellow animators worked to create strong characters and experiment with more labor-intensive animation.

One of the most striking animation choices was the use of different lighting techniques. Key scenes in the film feature glowing animation achieved through backlighting. This is most noticeable with the characters of Nicodemus and the Great Owl. Both have bright glowing eyes.

Another subtle technique was the use of shadow. In non-animated films, a shadow is created naturally, but for a two-dimensional cartoon, shadows need to be artificially created. There were 46 color palettes created to render Mrs. Brisby in different levels of shadow.

The extra work put into the film made “NIMH” stand out from other animated films from the era. The 1980s were the first and last time Disney faced serious competition in making cartoons.

Bluth had pitched “The Secret of NIMH” to Disney before leaving the company, but the idea was rejected. Disney was reluctant to make another animated film featuring a mouse. Disney had recently made a film called “The Rescuers,” which was also about a group of rodents trying to save a child.

Despite the similarities in stories, “Secret of NIMH” is not considered a knock-off of “The Rescuers.” Critics and audiences describe “NIMH” as a much darker story than the films produced by Disney.

In the nearly 40 years since the film was released, “NIMH” has taken on cult status. Audiences who viewed the film as children remember it as being scary.

“NIMH’s” status as a scary cartoon is due to the film’s perspective. Typically, cartoons are written for children and the main character reflects that perspective. “NIMH” goes against the norm with Mrs. Brisby. She is a unique main character for an animated film. Not only is Brisby a female main character in an adventure story, but she’s also a single mother.

Moms are rarely the focus of animated features and it was a perspective unfamiliar to a child audience. The focus on Mrs. Brisby gives the film a more mature tone and audiences were not expecting it, but most appreciated the change.

“NIMH” was a modest success when released in 1982, but despite critical praise, tough competition in theaters hurt its box office. The film did better on home video and cable television. “NIMH” developed a strong cult following and is remembered as a classic of animation.