The Fox and the Hound (1981) - A Heartwarming Disney Movie

"The Fox and the Hound": A Nice, Heartwarming, Uplifting, Dull Disney Movie

The Disney movie "The Fox and the Hound" (1981), directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich and Art Stevens, marked a very subtle passing of the torch. Producer Wolfgang Reitherman, who had been an animator at Walt Disney Productions since the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" days and had directed every animated Disney movie from "101 Dalmations" through "The Rescuers," made this his last Disney movie, this time as a producer. He was still heavily involved in the Disney movie creative process, and even brought his son's pet fox in to help the animators model their characters. One of those animators was a talented young man just starting out named John Lasseter. Young Mr. Lasseter had his first animation assignment contributing to "The Fox and the Hound"'s climactic fight scene. Today, John Lasseter runs the whole animated Disney/Pixar Film show, just as, in his own way, Reitherman did in his day, and arguably is the single most powerful man on the creative side in animation since Walt Disney himself. Competition from the Pixars and the DreamWorks, the Rankin/Basses and the Ghibli Studios come and go, but transitions like that show the continuity at Disney and why it maintains its hegemony over the years. Disney thinks in terms of decades when other studios struggle to see past their next project.

Copper is so cuddly

Widow Tweed (Jeanette Nolan) takes in the orphaned red fox Tod (Mickey Rooney) because he reminds her of a child. Her neighbor, Amos Slade (Jack Albertson), is a hunter who around the same time brings home Copper (Kurt Russell), a hound puppy, to join his hunting dog, Chief (Pat Buttram). Tod and Copper become fast friends and intend to stay that way forever. They play together all the time, which isn't such a good thing for their owners.

Why, nice to meet you!

Slade places Copper on a leash because Copper always is leaving to play with Tod and is never around when Slade wants him. When Tod comes over to play anyway, he awakens Chief, who along with Slade chases him back to Tweed's house. Slade threatens Tweed and tells her to keep Tod away from his property. Tweed explains to Tod that dogs like Copper and Chief are born and bred to kill red foxes like him, so Tod has to stay away from them henceforth. Tod still wants to be best friends with Copper.

Could it be... true love?

When hunting season arrives, Slade goes out with his dogs. When they return, Tod goes to visit as usual, but Copper stiffly tells him that he is a hunting dog now, and he can't be friends with a fox. Slade and Chief find Tod there and almost catch him, but Tod runs outside. Chief chases Tod to some train tracks, but gets hit by a passing train and badly wounded. With Slade and Copper blaming Tod for the accident and wishing to destroy him, Tweed decides to leave Tod at a game preserver for his own safety.

Happy times for the Fox and the Hound

At the preserve, Tod meets Vixey (Sandy Duncan). Slade and Copper are determined to kill Tod and his new companion, so they enter the game preserve illegally and track them through the forest, setting traps. When a bear startles Slade, he falls into his own trap and loses his gun. Copper can't protect Slade from the bear, and things look bad for both of them. Tod intervenes to save them both, though, falling with the bear over a waterfall. Copper and Slade then appear, Slade with his gun, and it is unclear whether he will kill Tod or not.

Say your prayers, varmint

"The Fox and the Hound" was an adaptation of a 1967 novel by Daniel Mannix. Almost everything was changed from the novel, which was very dark with a lot of killings, but it did provide a central structure. Production commenced around the time that the previous animated feature Disney film, "The Rescuers," was released. The studio went through a lot of turbulence during this Disney film's development, as the old guard led by Reitherman was moving on and a new crop of animators was being ushered in. Veteran Don Bluth, who had played a key role on the animation of "The Rescuers," raided the Disney film animation ranks for his own new enterprise (which resulted in "The Secret of NIMH" not long after "The Fox and the Hound" was released), delaying release of the Disney film by a year as the studio rushed to train new animators. There were conflicts between one camp led by Producer Reitherman and the other led by Director Art Stevens, with Stevens eventually winning. Riven by factions, the studio barely survived the turmoil. In the end, the animation in this Disney film was of the usual high quality, but the harmony that had existed for fifty years was gone.

Do what I want or you'll be pushing up daiseys!

In terms of the quality of this Disney fillm, there are many who love it, and others who are bored by it. Unlike the animated Disney film features before it, "The Fox and the Hound" hammers home a message about how society shapes us into who we are and what we can do. Disney films aren't usually "message" movies, so it was somewhat surprising that the studio would go that route. One can read into this Disney film cautionary notes about prejudice and the importance of getting along. There are no tragic occurrences like in "Bambi," and it is a good family Disney film that makes some cry at the end in joy, not sadness, but there is an underlying sense of sadness that pervades this Disney film.

You can hear him cackling

A sequel, "The Fox and the Hound 2," was released in 2006, one of the last of the non-theatrical Disney film sequels before that process was terminated by Lasseter and the other reigning bosses at Disney. It covers happy times when Copper and Tod played together as youngsters, before the real world intruded. The Blu-ray edition came out on the film's 30th anniversary in 2011 and includes the sequel "The Fox and the Hound 2" as well as a lot of new bonus material.

That is a pretty cool bear animation

"The Fox and the Hound" is heart-felt and contains a strong message, which makes it ideal for the sentimental viewer and less so for those looking for a little unpredictability and adventure. It will make you think and relate to the characters in ways that are unusual for a Disney film. It isn't quite the classic that some would like to think it is, but rather a solid Disney film that lies somewhere in the middle of the Disney film pack.

Below is the theatrical trailer.

2013

Read More

The Aristocats (1970) - Everybody Wants to be a Cat!

The Aristocats: Yeah, I'm a Cool Cat, Baby, Wanna See Me Meow?

Walt Disney Productions labored over its films, sometimes taking decades to get them done. "The Aristocats" (1970), based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, already was in production at the time of Walt Disney's untimely passing from lung cancer in 1966. The essential Disney team was still intact for this production, some for the last time - The Sherman Brothers and George Bruns did the songs and soundtrack, Wolfgang Reitherman directed, Phil Harris, Sterling Holloway and Thurl Ravenscroft were on hand for key voices - and, while there are the first, tiny signs of a decline in quality, this is still a worthy entry into the Disney animated feature film canon.

Aren't they cute?

It is Paris, 1910, and cat Duchess (Eva Gabor) and her three kittens Marie (Liz English), Berlioz (Dean Clark) and Toulouse (Gary Dubin) live with retired opera singer Madame Adelaide Donfamille (Hermione Baddeley) and her butler Edgar (Rodd Maude-Roxy). Madame loves her cats, and tells her lawyer she wants her fortune left to Duchess and her kittens until their deaths, then to Edgar.

Edgar just getting himself into trouble

Edgar is impatient and has no intention of waiting for a bunch of kittens to die naturally. He drugs the cats and plans to take them far out into the wild and release them. Two hound dogs, Napoleon (Pat Buttram) and Lafayette (George Lindsey), intervene, and Edgar leaves not only the cats, but the sidecar of his motorcycle with several of his personal items. Edgar later comes back and has a struggle retrieving the items from Napoleon and Lafayette. An alley cat named Thomas O'Malley (Harris) sees Dutchess' plight and volunteers to guide her family back home to Paris.

Edgar had a lot of trouble with Napoleon and Lafayette

The group heads sets out, hitchhiking part of the way and meeting some English geese tourists, Abigail (Monica Evans) and Amelia (Carole Shelley) Gabble, who eventually have to leave to take their drunk uncle Waldo (Bill Thompson) home. They then meet Scat Cat (Scatman Crothers) and his mates at O'Malley's "penthouse pad." They sing the tuneful "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat." O'Malley later asks Dutchess to stay with him and forget about the mansion, but she says she must take her family back because Madame expects it.

Dutchess always seems to be like this around O'Malley

Once they make it back to Madame's mansion, O'Malley sadly leaves. Edgar catches the cats and puts them in the oven, but the cats tell Roquefort (Sterling Holloway), their mouse friend, to run and get O'Malley. O'Malley tells Roquefort to go and get Scat Cat and his band. Egar locks the cats in a trunk that he is going to send to Africa, but O'Malley, Scat Cat and Frou Frou the horse (Nancy Kulp) intervene. A battle ensues between Edgar and the animals.

There's those crazy cats again!

There are unavoidable similarities between "The Aristocats" and previous Disney films, particularly the style and plot of "101 Dalmations." At least they hadn't started copying exact scenes at this point. The animation is controversial, as it has a sketchy look that may or may not have been deliberately used to create the desired carefree effect. The colors are good, there is a lot of humor, and the jazz songs are energetic and fun though not particularly memorable. Maurice Chevalier liked the idea of this film so much that his very last performance was the title song (the fact that the Sherman Brothers' father had written his big hit "Living in the Sunlight, Loving in the Moonlight" probably didn't hurt).

Scat Cat wailing

The voices are perhaps the best thing of all, as Phil Harris has the perfect amiable "with it" tone for the savior O'Malley, while Eva Gabor gives Dutchess just the right upper crust "isn't that interesting" tone. Several voices were done by then-current television stars, such as Gabor, Kulp and Lindsey, which foreshadowed the excesses to which this practice would reach in the 1990s and 2000s. It works well here because the voices really do fit the characters and were distinctive. Throw in slapstick humor in several places and you have a fine film that, if you examine Disney films closely, feels like another winner - and, indeed, it was, scoring well at the box office.

The songs are the film's high points

At heart, the film has a lot of charm. Everybody loves kittens, and the film moves at a relaxed pace that gives you time to enjoy them. Berlioz and Toulouse playing the piano together is lots of fun, and the two squabbling hounds Napoleon and Lafayette are a high point in Disney animation. The story itself is clever, it is all about relying on your friends to survive and the bonds you create while doing so.

Dutchess playing the harp, O'Malley listening

There are a few things that keep the film from being a true classic. The animation was beginning its slide towards being cartoony (see "Robin Hood"), and does not have the pristine look of "Sleeping Beauty" or "Peter Pan." It is not poor, as the animation crew of the '50s was still largely intact and knew what it was doing, but the animation undeniably is not up to earlier standards. Some of the alleycat characters, such as Shun Gon (Paul Winchell) the Chinese cat, are drawn a little too broadly in order to distinguish them and may offend modern sensibilities - but you could also make the case that they are poking fun at stereotypes, though it is easier to criticize. Besides, they are just cats! There also are some anachronistic elements from '60s culture, such as psychedelic lighting, that are fun but do date the film. Some scenes are scary, such as a speeding train, but almost every Disney film has scary aspects.

The Gabble sisters are a great addition

Disney quietly de-emphasized this film for a while, and the reasons are unknown, but Disney never really promoted this much since its release. A sequel was planned for 2007, then cancelled without explanation. The Gold Classic Collection disc was withdrawn around the same time, and a planned 2-disc release for 2008 was cut to one "Special Edition" disc. The current Disney regime is not too into bringing out sequels for the older films, so it may be some time before a sequel ever appears. A 2-disc Blu-ray edition and new single-disc DVD were released in August 2012.

Edgar is in a HEAP of trouble

"The Aristocats" was a worthy send-off for Walt, but the decline had begun. The film is lots of fun and very affecting in places, but not among the true Disney classics. It is probably, though, Disney's best film until the Disney Renaissance began in 1989 with "The Little Mermaid."

Below is the Special Edition trailer:

Read More