Discuss The Secret of NIMH
Discuss → Movies → The Secret of NIMH → General
Science versus magic
posted by theburbsSTAFFMOD on April 14, 2017 at 5:45 PM
I was watching this movie with my boyfriend this morning and he made an interesting point. It was during the scene where Mrs. Brisby's necklace stops the cement block from being sucked into the mud. He said it was a deux ex machina ending, and then mentioned that up until that point the movie had been science-based, but then at the end magic comes into play.
What do you think? I adore this movie, but was it a lazy ending to have the necklace be "magical" and solve everything?
Reply by Rocketeer Raccoon
on December 2, 2017 at 8:14 PM
You've made an interesting point there, but I'd say why not both? I think science and magic can easily co-exist, Nicodemus was a sorcerer after all, we do see him magically pull his staff towards him after all. Perhaps Nicodemus unlike the other rats gained not just far greater knowledge but also came to possess his magical powers, which he gained from science when they were changed in the lab of NIMH. As for the amulet, who knows how it came to be but I don't think it really matters, I love this film, it's my all-time favourite film.