The amulet: it's not mentioned in the book (which is very different from the film). I think in the film Nicodemus says that Jonathan made the amulet for Mrs Brisby, though that's not really much of an explanation - like Nicodemus' levitating cane, glowing eyes, and spinning viewscreen doodad, these items are apparently magical. I suppose it's up to the viewer to decide how magic fits in.
The injections: in the film, the rats are given the injections and suddenly become able to read English. In the book this is a much longer process - they are taught to read by the scientists, put through other experiments. The injections, according to Nicodemus, slowed the aging process and increased the lifespan of the rats and mice (after all, if you're investing all that time on an experiment, you want to maximise your time with the subject, not have them die after three years and start all over with a new set of animals).
Inheritance: you mean genetically? It's likely the children would have inherited some of their father's altered genes, extended lifespan, higher intelligence etc. - Mrs Brisby does say that the children are better at reading than she is.
And yeah, in the film Nicodemus says that Jonathan could never tell Mrs Brisby because of the slowed aging process - "you would have grown old while he remained young". Which really doesn't make sense - I mean, if I aged and my husband didn't, I'm sure I'd notice!
Oh, yes, if a pig comes by Castle Dracula on a Tuesday, playing a banjo…
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