Before it all turns into Nightmare Fuel, Mr. Flaversham surprises Olivia with a beautiful birthday present: a toy flower that turns into a dancing mouse when you wind the key. She is awed and delighted by the gift.
Dawson's first meeting with Olivia. Upon arriving in London, Dawson finds the poor girl lost and crying in the rain. He comforts her as much as he can and offers his help, even going out of his way to escort her to Basil's office and sticking around to make sure she's all right. This whole exchange makes it clear right from the start what a good man Dawson is, bumbling aside.
Dawson: Hmm... I'm afraid I don't know any Basil.
Olivia:[gives him puppy eyes]
Dawson:[smiles] But I do remember where Baker Street is. Come along, we'll find this Basil chap together.
Mrs. Judson doting on Olivia as soon as she sees her sitting in Basil's armchair after she and Dawson arrive at Baker Street, and acting as a doting mother figure to her during their entire time together. She immediately takes Olivia's wrappings, squeezes the rainwater out of them, and says she'll bring hot cheese crumpets. The way that she fusses over her right from the start is really adorable.
Ratigan's henchmen aren't all bad; in fact, it's shown they're terrified for most of his song. Then they beg him to spare Bartholomew, arguing that his calling Ratigan a "rat" was a slip of the tongue and their boss is a mouse. When Ratigan summons Felicia anyway, they take off their hats with a sad expression. One even sheds a Single Tear in mourning for Bartholomew.
Ratigan even gets a brief one shortly after feeding Bartholomew to Felicia. He delicately wipes her lips with his handkerchief, clicks his tongue, and hugs her while she purrs contentedly. Say what you will about him being a mass-murdering criminal and her being a terrifying Fate Worse than Death to any sober mice...but they do love each other.
Ratigan: Oh Felicia! My precious! My baby! (hugs her) Did Daddy's little honey-bun enjoy her tasty treat?
Basil tells Olivia to stay with Mrs. Judson. Part of it is that it's dangerous to go after Ratigan, and the other part is that he trusts his housekeeper.
Sherlock Holmes is speaking respectfully to Watson while they're discussing a case. It speaks volumes of their relationship and his trust in the man.
Many moments from meeting Toby:
Basil takes the time to introduce Dawson to Toby, and orders Toby to be nice when the dog growls.
Toby sniffs out the cheese crumpets that Olivia packed. She hides at first but then smiles on seeing he's harmless. Olivia asks if he likes cheese crumpets, and feeds them to him. Then she starts rubbing his belly.
When Basil, Dawson, and Olivia go to the toyshop to try and track down Fidget, Basil is standing on the ledge and Olivia can't make the jump from Toby, so he reluctantly holds his arms out. When she jumps to him, he briefly holds her close before suddenly realising what he's doing and quickly puts her back down, and Olivia happily skips off.
A bit easier to miss than most examples on this page, but when Fidget gets away with Olivia, Basil gets pretty upset, but he's focusing on the fact that Olivia is in danger and never says anything about his link to Ratigan escaping.
Also, when Basil notices how upset Dawson is, he immediately stops ranting and realizes that maybe he Was Too Hard on Him. While he doesn't actually apologize for his rant, he does manage to comfort Dawson. It's quite Adorkable.
Basil: Dawson? I say, Dawson, old chap?
Dawson: Poor girl. I — I should have watched her more closely.
Basil: There now. It's not entirely hopeless. (Beat) We'll get her back.
Then Dawson finds the list that Fidget dropped, and reads it aloud with confusion. Basil looks at it, recognizes the handwriting, and praises Dawson for locating the clue that leads them closer to Ratigan, and Olivia.
Dawson snaps Basil out of his Heroic BSoD with some Tough Love, reminding him that Olivia is counting on them, as is the Queen and he needs to shape up or they may as well set off the trap now. Then he follows Basil's instructions, while screaming, to set off the rat trap early which ends up freeing them. As thanks, Basil catches Olivia and Dawson, asking them to pose for the camera that Ratigan set up.
Despite the fact that the guards are not supposed to interrupt the Queen — you can see that the real guards are standing stoically before Ratigan's men jump them— she takes the knocking in stride and invites them to come inside please. Unfortunately, it was a trap but it shows why she's loved.
The minute they make it to Buckingham palace, does Basil go to stop Ratigan? No; he heads straight to rescue the Queen from Felicia and Fidget. In fact, he grabs her just as Fidget is about to toss her, and quickly gets her to safe ground.
Basil only gets Flaversham's name right once: when Ratigan's plot is foiled but he and Fidget make their getaway, taking Olivia as a hostage. The detective asks her father for help in constructing a vehicle to follow the dirigible. Her father, a hostage for most of the movie, leaps in without hesitation.
Flaversham and Olivia's reunion about halfway through the movie...at least until Ratigan ruins it a moment later. They do reunite for real when Basil rescues her from Ratigan as well as the Big Ben in the climax, sharing a tight hug.
Basil's little smile when he's pedalling up to join the others after his Disney Death.
The Queen repays Basil for his heroism and service by knighting him, shown in a newspaper after the climax.
For the entire movie, Basil can't get Olivia's last name right because he's too focused on the case (despite getting it right when talking to her father). When the case is solved at the end, he gets it wrong again but by the warm look in his eyes and the way Olivia smiles and shakes her head, it's become something of an inside joke for them.
Just look at Basil after Olivia leaves. His voice almost breaks as he remarks to Dawson that she was alright after all. If this is anything to go by, he had grown used to her company and so this was clearly a difficult goodbye even for him. He may be Married to the Job and quite full of himself, but he indeed has a big heart beneath it all.
At the very end of the movie, after spending the whole thing warming up to Dawson, Basil doesn't know how to ask him to stay, until a new client comes in. What follows is a roundabout yet surprisingly heartfelt way of Basil asking him to stay.
Basil: Allow me to introduce my associate, Dr. Dawson, with whom I do all my cases. Isn't that right, Doctor?
Adding to that, Dawson only decides to leave after the case is over, when he could have left any time after bringing Olivia to Basil. This shows how much he was concerned about Olivia, and what a Nice Guy he is.
For fans of Sherlock Holmes and true crime/criminal justice, the fact that even the smallest of creatures have a genius detective and his faithful doctor to defend them, just as the humans have their own. And lives under the real Holmes to boot.
Mr. Flaversham refused to go along with Ratigan's evil plots, not caring about his own life or safety. But the second Ratigan hints harming his daughter, the toymaker immediately cooperates. He clearly cares about his daughter more than anything else in the world.
