Martin Brisby
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Martin Brisby is a fictional character from the movie The Secret of NIMH, as well as the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, on which the movie was based.
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[edit] Story
A young male mouse, Martin is the second of four children born to Jonathan Brisby and Mrs. Brisby and the eldest son. He appears in The Secret of NIMH movie and as Martin Frisby in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. He also appears briefly in the two semi-official sequels written by O'Brien's daughter Jane Leslie Conly. Finally, he made an appearance as the main antagonist in The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue, the animated sequel to the first film.
In the story, Martin is one of Mrs. Brisby's children and wants to take on more responsibility in order to become more of a Man of the House. His character deviates between the book and film, possibly more so than the other Brisby/Frisby children. The book describes Martin as being relatively well mannered. Although slightly impetuous and maybe even a little mischievous, he is in general a well behaved young Mouse. In stark contrast, the movie version of the character was a considerably more disruptive character, portrayed as somewhat of a loudmouth braggart wishing to prove himself. Although this is a big difference from the book version, many claim that the core element of the restless eldest boy of the family was left intact, and that a disruptive personality actually gave Martin a lot of character. To many, Martin seems like the rebel of the family, possibly even something of the family Black Sheep.
Although he isn't as essential to the plot as his younger brother Timothy, he and his siblings are still a major motivation behind Mrs. Brisby's actions in the story. He generally spends the duration of the first story helping to take care of his siblings until Mrs. Brisby's return.
In the book, Martin is described as being a large and well-built mouse, with a dark and handsome complextion like his father. He has scruffy head fur, and is often pictured as having a light brown fur color with peach-ish fur on his stomach area. In the movie, he is still arguably the largest of his siblings and seems to be somewhat overweight. Martin also appears to be the strongest of the four children. His clothes are often Blue.
Although disruptive and mischievous, Martin seems to show signs that he has a very serious side to his personality, which comes out with very little hesitation and no panic during the film's climax. He also seems to care a lot about his siblings and mother, which some speculate is the reason he wants to prove himself so much. He exhibits similar traits in the book, although to a less pronounced extent.
[edit] Future
Like his siblings, Martin's future is highly ambiguous. It seems to be rather hard to predict what possible path Martin will walk down. Many speculate that, like his brother Timothy, Martin would eventually succumb to his desire to see the Rats of NIMH in Thorn Valley and also go. Some also believe that he would probably stay at the farm and start his own family, being a little more on the ground so to speak than his brother Timothy Brisby, as he does in the Conly sequels. However, many argue that Martin may not be as simple a character as many seem to think, and a few critics of the Conly books feel his potential as a character should have been expanded on more like Timothy. Many believe he would eventually go to Thorn Valley and never return, choosing to live a more on the edge life. Here, he has been shown as being many things from a Sentry, to a woodsman of sorts, to even something of a craftsman or expressionist. In a few interpretations and fanfiction, it is suggested that Martin may have held a deeply rooted distrust of his father due to the fact that Jonathan seemed to have a rather blatant preference to Timothy, whom many have thought Jonathan would find more of an heir to his legacy and is "more of what he wanted in a son". Although Jonathan is almost always depicated as also loving Martin, there are those that like to think perhaps Jonathan may have unintentionally hurt Martin by not fully accepting him for himself. Very slight hints to this were also present in the books, albeit very slight. In many stories, where Jonathan is brought back through various means, his reconciliation with Martin is often a major plot point.
Martin is quite a hard character to predict the outcome of. But the movie and books' small but highly dedicated fan base continue to express their own interpretations and discussions on various subjects of the storyline.
Don Bluth once posted on his Question and Answer section of his website, that if he had ever been given the chance to make sequel as opposed to the one MGM produced, he would have made Martin one of the main protagontists, and possibly made Timothy as somewhat of an anti hero antagonist. Very ironic considering what happened in the sequel that was produced without Bluth, where Martin is turned evil by a machine at NIMH. Many found this one of the most ludicrous things about the second movie. As Martin was one of the most memorable characters from the first film, many were also very upset by the decision to make Martin the villain, believing that the character they all knew from the first movie couldn't possibly turn to evil. This was but one of many reasons why The Secret of NIMH II was considered almost an insult to the original movie, the book, and its fans.
[edit] Voice
Martin was voiced by Wil Wheaton, the youth who would go on to play Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as become somewhat of a geek culture phenomenon and a rather respected voice actor. In the sequel movie, Martin was voiced by Phillip Glasser whom also voiced Fievel from An American Tail, another Don Bluth film. There was also an evil version of the character in the sequel voiced by former Monty Python star Eric Idle.
[edit] Family
Martin's mother is Mrs. Brisby, and his father is Jonathan Brisby, who died before the events in the first book and movie. Martin has an older sister, Teresa Brisby, a younger sister, Cynthia Brisby, and a younger brother, Timothy Brisby.
His relationship with Cynthia in fandom ranges from either neutrality, to being extremely close. As opposed to the more rule-abiding Teresa and Timothy, many feel that the relationship between Cynthia and Martin is just begging to be strong. Cynthia is described as more of a free spirit, and as even a tom boy by some fan interpretations. Being as how Martin and Cynthia have the most chance of being the odd ones out of the family, this strong bond may be very possible. Martin has an argumentative relationship with his sister Teresa, as is depicted in the movie. Even in the book, Martin and Teresa had been known to bicker from time to time. Although most attribute this to the two simply being the eldest children. In most cases, Martin cares for Teresa a great deal. Martin's relationship with Timothy ranges from an extremely close brotherly relationship to being literally at eachothers' throats. Most agree that they are extremely close. Martin has been interpreted as being extremely protective of his little brother.
[edit] Frisby to Brisby
In the original book by O'Brien, the family name of the main characters is Frisby. However, when Don Bluth was about to release the movie there were worries that trouble would be caused by using the name Frisby, as it was the same name of the famous Frisbee toy. To avoid copyright infringement, the last name was dubbed as "Brisby" at the last minute. Although Brisby usually relates to the movie versions of the said characters, and Frisby the book versions, they are basically the same thing.
