'Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape' - Movie Review

An animated children's movie set in a world populated by anthropomorphized animals, mostly dogs. The technology we see is approximately that of our world in 1900. Sherlock Holmes is a dog detective pursuing "White Storm," a Robin-Hood-like character (another dog) who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. I think I watched this because of the implied connection with "Sherlock Hound," one of Hayao Miyazaki's earliest works (1984, a TV series he directed the first few episodes of). That association is only an implication: this is a recent Chinese production (I watched it with English voices) that has no association with the other series.

The movie uses clues and Sherlock's detective skills to insert educational science moments: the one I remember most was the last in the film, where changes in air pressure in our eardrums from rapidly changing altitude was explained. I thought this was done surprisingly well, all things considered. It is, overall, rather charming and a likeable movie.

One failing (to my mind) is a scene part way through the closing credits which sets up Moriarty as an upcoming Sherlock adversary for a sequel. Bizarre and unnecessary.