Toby (The Great Mouse Detective)

Toby is a Basset Hound from Disney's 1986 feature film The Great Mouse Detective. He belongs to Sherlock Holmes, who lives above Basil. He is voiced by Frank Welker.

Role in the film
In the movie, Toby is the dog of Sherlock Holmes, who lives above Basil of Baker Street. Although he is Holmes' dog, he helps Basil solve cases, too, and is perhaps Basil's most loyal friend (next to Dr. Dawson). When Basil, Olivia, and Dr, Dawson go to find Toby, Olivia and Dr. Dawson both ask who Toby is and then he appears as Basil calls him. Basil introduces Dr. Dawson to Toby first, to which Toby sniffs Dawson and growls at him, but Basil tells Toby to back down. Then Toby smells Olivia and immediately takes a good liking to her and she gives him one of Mrs. Judson's cheese crumpets to eat and she also rubs his belly. Then Basil asks Toby to sniff out Fidget the bat's hat in order to find Fidget, who will lead them to find Olivia's father, who was kidnapped by Fidget earlier in the film. After Toby sniffs out Fidget, Basil, Dr. Dawson and Olivia climb on him and he takes them to a toy shop in town, where Fidget is stealing stuff for his boss, Professor Ratigan. When they arrive, Toby's howl warns Fidget, who hides. Toby allows Basil and Olivia to get off, but he growls at Dr. Dawson and sneezes, causing Dawson to tumble into Basil. Then Basil tells Toby to sit, but he remains standing; however, when Olivia tells Toby to sit, Toby obeys and sits. Later on, as Fidget tries to escape out the door with Olivia in his bag, Toby growls at him, but Fidget manages to take another exit. Toby then takes Basil and Dawson back to Baker Street. Later on, when Basil and Dawson discover that Fidget has been drinking beer from a pub where the sewer connects to the waterfront, Toby takes them to the waterfront and Basil tells him to stay put to (which he does). After escaping Ratigan's traps and rescuing Olivia, Basil calls for Toby to take them to Buckingham Palace, where Ratigan and his minions are trying to kill the Queen and rule the kingdom. When they arrive, Basil, Dawson and Olivia manage to save the Queen Mouse from being fed to Ratigan's cat, Felicia, and Toby manages to chase Felicia away. Toby tries to catch Felicia but she manages to escape through a fence, where she is attacked by the royal guard dogs. After the case is solved and Ratigan and his minions are defeated, Toby is last seen listening to Basil's next case, in which a lady mouse has lost her ring.

Trivia

 * In a comic, Mystery of the Inca Treasure, even though Toby didn't appear in the comic, he made a minor appearance bringing Olivia and Fidget to the carnival and enjoys caramel apples with them in the end.
 * Toby's barks are the same ones heard from Pongo in 101 Dalmatians and Old Yeller from the movie of the same name. Additionally, his howling is the same as Trusty from Lady and the Tramp, and his snarl is also the same as Copper from The Fox and the Hound.
 * Toby's design (apart from being a basset hound) is very similar to Copper from The Fox and the Hound and Lafayette from The Aristocats.
 * The scene where Toby (accidentally) scares the horse wagon comes from Lady and the Tramp.
 * In the 96 page book version of The Great Mouse Detective, Toby has the ability of talking unlike his film counterpart who only barks, growls, or howls.
 * Toby is similar to Bruno in the sense that both have been cared for like good boys by heroes (Cinderella, Basil) they almost see the evil cats are trying eating mice and chased the cats away from mice.
 * Toby and Felicia are the only "real" animals in the movie, in the sense that they do not speak and behave just like every cat or dog.