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Last year (2014) at Otakon, I re-birthed my Yu gi oh fandom by accident. This year, it seems I've re-birthed my Rats of NIMH fandom. Back when I was about twelve or thirteen, I had invisible friends of several of the rats from three book series. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me go back to the beginning.
The fandom started for me with the movie The Secret of Nimh, which was based on the novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien. Justin the Rat was my first rodent imaginary friend despite having been in love with Mickey Mouse and Speedy Gonzales for many years prior to that. I also developed an imaginary friend out of Mr. Ages because I was always sick and he was doctor mouse in that book. I thought if he could cure me than mice couldn't be that bad. This was the series that made me love rodents, by the way. Probably not a surprise to anyone, really.
I think I read the book for the first time when I was third or fourth grade. It was confusing because there was no real magic in the book like in the movie. There were no "glowing eyes" or magical amulets that lifted the Frisby (by the way, did anyone else ever notice that the name was quietly changed to "Brisby" in the Don Bluth movie? I never noticed that until I got older and IMDB.com was born, but....) house to the lee of the stone. But I will say this, I actually now prefer the book over the movie. Jenner wasn't technically a bad guy in the books. He just had a difference of opinion, and thankfully, poor Nicodemus didn't die, either!
The best thing about the book over the movie for me was that Justin the rat had a much bigger role than he'd had in the movie. I really liked that he was the one who rescued Mrs. Frisby from the cage. Better than what they had happen in the movie.
Around the time I went to middle school I discovered the other two books. These two were written by O'Brien's daughter, Jane Leslie Conly. After re-reading the original book (which I had recently reacquired, it seems I remember...) I picked up Racso and the Rats of Nimh. I fell in love with the Rats all over again. This time there was no farmer, just the amazingly innovative city they'd developed in the forest called Thorn Valley. Racso, Jenner's son, was my first wise-ass imaginary friend, and he was soon followed by tech expert Arthur as we had recently gotten our first computer! Of course Justin was in the book too, and his character, and Timothy Frisby got more development than in the first book. (Yeah, because when I was in middle school I totally understood what "character development" was. Right, self. -rolls eyes-)
It was with this book that my mind began developing little stories about the Rats. I never wrote them down because I didn't have the means to do so back then. I didn't really start writing down "fanfiction" until The Boxcar Children series came into my life, but that's another story all together. The ability to SEE my imaginary friends developed much stronger, too. I could see Justin and co. sitting on my kitchen counter, on my shoulder as I went to school, and even "clues" to where they would be after school. Yeah, my imagination was lit on fire by this book, and I love Jane Leslie Conly for it.
But it didn't stop there. For there was another book. The last book was called RT, Margret, and The Rats of NIMH. I was really enthralled with it because of the story. In the book, two human children get lost in the woods, and the Rats help take care of them until the winter when they must return to human civilization. A new rat character named Christopher was introduced. Because this is the second book to take place in Thorn Valley, the world of the intelligent rats was expanded. Because of the way it was written, my imagination went there a lot. It probably helped that the backyard I had at the time was overgrown and looked a *lot* like a forest. I even had a secret spot where "Justin" would leave things for me to do in order to help the Rats keep their secret base in the backyard. Ugh, I miss that house now. Not so much what hapepned in it because there were a *lot* of bad things that happened, but...well, I'm sure you guys understand!
So I'm sure you guys are also wondering what's brought me back to memory lane where these books are concerned. Well. We have a mouse in our kitchen. And he freaks me out. I was musing how much it's crazy he freaks me out. Because all of the mice and rats in the books are brown or gray like him. I have even had a talk with him. I told him I didn't want to set a trap and kill him. I just wanted him to leave. Hell, it worked on Golden Girls when Rose and Dorthy did it. I figured if I showed some compassion....update: It didn't. We found he'd gotten into all our chips and things right after that. LOL. But yeah, that's really what started it.
The fandom started for me with the movie The Secret of Nimh, which was based on the novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien. Justin the Rat was my first rodent imaginary friend despite having been in love with Mickey Mouse and Speedy Gonzales for many years prior to that. I also developed an imaginary friend out of Mr. Ages because I was always sick and he was doctor mouse in that book. I thought if he could cure me than mice couldn't be that bad. This was the series that made me love rodents, by the way. Probably not a surprise to anyone, really.
I think I read the book for the first time when I was third or fourth grade. It was confusing because there was no real magic in the book like in the movie. There were no "glowing eyes" or magical amulets that lifted the Frisby (by the way, did anyone else ever notice that the name was quietly changed to "Brisby" in the Don Bluth movie? I never noticed that until I got older and IMDB.com was born, but....) house to the lee of the stone. But I will say this, I actually now prefer the book over the movie. Jenner wasn't technically a bad guy in the books. He just had a difference of opinion, and thankfully, poor Nicodemus didn't die, either!
The best thing about the book over the movie for me was that Justin the rat had a much bigger role than he'd had in the movie. I really liked that he was the one who rescued Mrs. Frisby from the cage. Better than what they had happen in the movie.
Around the time I went to middle school I discovered the other two books. These two were written by O'Brien's daughter, Jane Leslie Conly. After re-reading the original book (which I had recently reacquired, it seems I remember...) I picked up Racso and the Rats of Nimh. I fell in love with the Rats all over again. This time there was no farmer, just the amazingly innovative city they'd developed in the forest called Thorn Valley. Racso, Jenner's son, was my first wise-ass imaginary friend, and he was soon followed by tech expert Arthur as we had recently gotten our first computer! Of course Justin was in the book too, and his character, and Timothy Frisby got more development than in the first book. (Yeah, because when I was in middle school I totally understood what "character development" was. Right, self. -rolls eyes-)
It was with this book that my mind began developing little stories about the Rats. I never wrote them down because I didn't have the means to do so back then. I didn't really start writing down "fanfiction" until The Boxcar Children series came into my life, but that's another story all together. The ability to SEE my imaginary friends developed much stronger, too. I could see Justin and co. sitting on my kitchen counter, on my shoulder as I went to school, and even "clues" to where they would be after school. Yeah, my imagination was lit on fire by this book, and I love Jane Leslie Conly for it.
But it didn't stop there. For there was another book. The last book was called RT, Margret, and The Rats of NIMH. I was really enthralled with it because of the story. In the book, two human children get lost in the woods, and the Rats help take care of them until the winter when they must return to human civilization. A new rat character named Christopher was introduced. Because this is the second book to take place in Thorn Valley, the world of the intelligent rats was expanded. Because of the way it was written, my imagination went there a lot. It probably helped that the backyard I had at the time was overgrown and looked a *lot* like a forest. I even had a secret spot where "Justin" would leave things for me to do in order to help the Rats keep their secret base in the backyard. Ugh, I miss that house now. Not so much what hapepned in it because there were a *lot* of bad things that happened, but...well, I'm sure you guys understand!
So I'm sure you guys are also wondering what's brought me back to memory lane where these books are concerned. Well. We have a mouse in our kitchen. And he freaks me out. I was musing how much it's crazy he freaks me out. Because all of the mice and rats in the books are brown or gray like him. I have even had a talk with him. I told him I didn't want to set a trap and kill him. I just wanted him to leave. Hell, it worked on Golden Girls when Rose and Dorthy did it. I figured if I showed some compassion....update: It didn't. We found he'd gotten into all our chips and things right after that. LOL. But yeah, that's really what started it.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-22 05:46 pm (UTC)From:We don't like killing mice either. Back at the old house we'd fine a container or a cup to catch them in and let them outside; the one time Dad used a glue trap he regretted it when he heard the mouse struggling.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-22 05:52 pm (UTC)From:you could totally get away with reading that book, Sara. It's only 200 some pages. It's basically what we'd call today a Novella rather than a novel.
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Date: 2015-08-22 05:55 pm (UTC)From:Awesome. XD I'll either check out a copy from the library or buy it used. I need to catch up on my reading and make another library run soon anyway.
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Date: 2015-08-22 06:12 pm (UTC)From: