Timothy Brisby
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Timothy Frisby is a fictional character the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and the movie, The Secret of NIMH, which was based on the book.
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[edit] Storyline
A young Mouse, and the youngest son of Mrs. Jonathan Frisby, the heroine of The Secret of NIMH by Don Bluth. He also appears in the same role in the books Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien under the name Timothy Frisby. He also appears in O'Brien's daughter Jane Leslie Conly's sequels to the story, Racso and the Rats of NIMH, and R.T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH. (details on the name difference are below)
In the original story Timothy is the catalyst of the main plot. He contracts a deadly case of Pneumonia in the beginning and must stay bundled up in order to survive. Unfortunately, "Moving Day" has come. This is when the farmer who owns the land the Brisby family live on begins to plow the field, and the various animal families living in the field must temporarily move to a new location shortly after Winter. However, Timothy cannot be moved in his condition. Mrs. Frisby has but three options, take the rest of the family and let poor Tim die, or risk him dying by moving him in his condition, or consult with The Great Owl whom in turn directs Mrs. Frisby to a race of hyper intelligent Rats for help.
Timothy's survival is the key motivation behind Mrs.Frisby's quest in the film and the book (As Mrs. Frisby). Although his appearance in the movie was limited, in the book Timothy is said to be the most potentially intelligent of all of Mrs. Frisby's children to make up for his physical frailty. This frailty was caused by a supposed event where Timothy was bitten by a spider at a younger age, thus stunting his physical growth somewhat.
Timothy is often described as being a very thin mouse, although somewhat good looking to some accounts later on. He is generally depicted as having light grey or very light brown fur. He is often associated with the color green in his clothing, which makes sense considering green is often thought to represent Genius.
Although massively intelligent and insightful, Timothy is known as somewhat of a Hypochondriac due to his body easily succumbing to illness. Timothy generally appears to be very calm and insightful in his young age.
[edit] Future
Although his years as a young adult are chronicled in Jane Leslie Conly's sequels, as well as the animated sequel, there seems to be almost no unanimously concrete source as to what will become of Timothy.
Even Don Bluth has stated on the Question and Answer section of his website, that if he himself had ever done a sequel, he would have made Timothy somewhat of an anti hero antagonist in the story, where as his older brother Martin would become the main protagonist.
[edit] Voice
Timothy Brisby was voiced by Ian Fried in The Secret of NIMH. He was also played by Ralph Machio of Karate Kid fame in the Secret of NIMH II.
[edit] Family
Timothy has 3 siblings, Martin Frisby (older brother), Teresa Frisby (older sister), and Cynthia Frisby (younger sister) Timothy himself was the third born child on the four.
His relationship with his younger sister Cynthia is usually handled with either modest brotherly love, to outright mentorship. As Cynthia is often portrayed as possibly being somewhat Dyslexic, Timothy is often in turn shown to be determined to help his sister out with this. Usually Tim is shown as being somewhat neutral to his older sister Teresa. His relationship with his brother Martin has been interpreted in many ways, although generally the two are shown as having a very close relationship. Although there are some interpretations as well as the animated sequel itself, that show that the brothers also have the potential to be at each others' throats. It greatly depends on the depiction of Martin himself. Out of all the children of Mr and Mrs. Frisby, Timothy is seen as being the most unpredictable in the future. He could either be extremely close to his family, to being very neutral, to even being on extremely bad terms as has been portrayed a few times.
He has his mother Mrs. Frisby, and his late father Jonathan Frisby (Whom was killed in events prior to the film and book) Timothy may have been the closest of all the children to Jonathan, whom he supposedly has much in common with as far as personality goes. The book makes a point of this.
[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, since it is pronounced in the same manner as 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 equivalent.
