12. Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse (1983, TV)

IMDB score = 6.1/10

Holmes and Watson? = Peter O’Toole and Earle Cross

Synopsis = In this animated tale, detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate a cursed family.

Defense by Paul Thomas Miller:

While not totally faithful, this is pretty close to the proper Hound of the Baskervilles story. In fact, given that it is aimed at kids, it is more faithful than you might expect. The deaths are all kept in and (despite the early-Scooby-Doo type poor animation) the Hound itself is pretty scary.

But the real defense for the Good-ness of this film can be found in the comments section of it's appearance on YouTube. This one from Murat Ersahin is as good as any:

"I have watched this animation many years ago, when I was a little child. So, this movie bring me to those days for a while. Thank you for sharing..."

Murat's childhood love for the film is clear. Carry on reading the comments and you can see this film served as an introduction to Canonical Holmes for loads of kids. They enjoyed it and some of them would have gone on to look deeper in the world of Holmes.

One of the big joys of Holmesiana is sharing with others. It is through interaction with people from all walks of life that this ridiculous hobby is kept fresh and entertaining. It must never be forgotten that bringing people to the table from as many different walks of life as possible makes for more of the interesting, fun and varied conversations that make Holmesiana so thrilling. In the 1980s (and perhaps a few times since) this film will have done that.

There is no need to speak of the specific cinematic merits of this adaptation (although they are there). This Holmes is Good Holmes because, for many, it was a great introduction to the great detective (and potentially the great community too).