Jonathan Brisby, the 2nd sexiest mouse around (after his wife). One of the coolest, suavest, chic characters from The Secret Of NIMH.


Why is he so brilliant? I shall reveal all:


The rats owe everything to Jonathan. A quick history lesson:
In the beginning there were lots of rats living around a market place. They thrived there, eating all the leftover food and playing in the square. Then the men from NIMH came and grabbed lots (63) of them. They were taken to NIMH, 20 of which were given jabs. Jabs that made them unbelievably clever. So they kept on getting jabs and were holed up in NIMH for a good few years. Until they were intelligent enough to escape. That they did, out of those cages.

Then there were they mice. Jonathan was amongst the mice recieving the jabs. as the rats were escaping, Jonathan made a point of saying
"Hey dudes we're in the same boat let us out".

So the mice came with them. There were either 11 if you believe the film, or 8 if you believe the book and the film's sequal.

They rats and mice escaped through they ventilation shaft. A wind kicked up, and the mice were blown away ¹. Except for Jonathan and a Mr Ages. That was lucky!

The last obstacle for their freedom was a wire screen. There was no way the rats could get it open. They would have been stuck in NIMH forever, if it wasn't for Jonathan. He crawled through a gap in the screen and opened it from outside.

And so they all escaped. Read the book for how they got to the farm and hence the rosebush. Jonathan continued to help the rats, and that was how he died. Helping the rats. he was caught by the farmer's cat as he was drugging it's food.


So there you have it. JB, hero of the rats, and if you've seen the film you can see that some of them aren't that grateful.
Sullivan ungraciosly exclaims:"Jonathan Brisby is dead!" when Mrs Brisby come to the rats for help. Implying that just because she's the widow of the rats' saviuor, doesn't mean that it's a significant fact. Skum.

The rats did erect a statue for him in Thorn Valley though. 'bout time too. Notice that whilst they also did one for Timothy in NIMH 2, nobody bothered thinking about poor Nicodemus.



Jonathan is naturally cool. Look at him, find a picture of him and look at it. He should be on the cover of Another Time Another Place.


He has proved an invaluable aid to Mrs Brisby and their sprogs. Teaching them to read and all. As he's an intelligent fiend, he has to have the dignity to wear clothes, along with his family. Very dignified.


Unfortunately we can't hear his voice. The only opportunities for that was in the films, and of course he was dead in both of them. Shame.


The song lyrics have been moved, btw. Right here. The wording will be slightly different but that's not as important as Jonathan!


This peice here kinda wrecked me when I first read it:

"Mrs. Brisby stopped. Memories of a long night flooded into her head. The longest night of her life, cold and crisp outside, with the stars blinking down from the black void of the heavens, as she stood in the chill and waited. And waited. The night that Jonathan didn’t come home.

No. No the dead don’t come back."

(From All Soul's Night by Kkatman)

Not forgetting Mrs B's killer line from the movie:

"He'll be back tommorrow. I wish Jonathan were here."


I felt that maybe I need one firm place to firmly explain why people like Jonathan so much. A figure a list would be most ideal.

1. He looks cute

2. He's such a tragic character. He's died, leaving behind a loving wife and four children. If you've read The Diary Of Jonathan Brisby, you'll understand the turmoil going through him.

3. Food 4 thought here. Think about it. Jonathan was once an ordinary wild mouse. Then his life changes. He's captured and given jabs. Now he's something else, more than a mouse, a freak (as he described himself as). Reflect on that now.


Those great pictures were done by Ken Singshow, and have been borrowed from Robin's Fan Fiction Archive. Thanks for letting me use them!