Disney Movie Challenge
Robin Hood (1973)
Robin Hood is the first animated film made that Walt Disney himself had nothing to do with. Not wanting to stray far from other Disney films the team looked to the familiar story of Robin Hood and made it into a musical. They decided it would be more interesting if they turned all the characters into different animals. The idea was a big hit at the company and the movie went into production.
The story is the familiar Robin Hood tale. Robin steals from the rich and gives to the poor, he is the best archer, and he loves Maid Marian. Both Robin and Marian are foxes. You also have the usual cast of characters. Little John (a bear), Friar Tuck (a badger), The Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf), and Prince John (a lion). There are a few other characters like Sir Hiss (a snake) who is Prince John’s sidekick and Lady Kluck (a chicken) who is Maid Marian's lady in waiting, and Allan-a-Dale (a Rooster) acts as our narrator.
The movie is an odd one. I still can’t figure out how I feel about it. While I have seen other Robin Hood films I have never seen this one. Maybe having a vague familiarity with the story made something feel off for me. But I think it is just the way the story is told. In the beginning we go on a side story with some kids that doesn’t include Robin and just feels unnecessary. Also the whole love story just feels strange for a kids movie. There is a scene where Robin and Marian take a romantic walk with a love song playing (Here is the full scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aM85ygxYbI ). The song is actually called “Love” and it was nominated for Best Song at the Oscars that year. The scene reminded me of the “Can You Read My Mind” scene in Superman when Superman and Lois have a romantic flight. Maybe it just seemed too sappy for an animated film about anthropomorphic animals.
Saying all that there are some good times to be had in the film. The voice actors are impressive and the character interactions are fun. It's weird having Phil Harris as Little John in this one because this is the third movie in a row he has voiced a major character. Having him back as a bear (he was Baloo in The Jungle Book) just felt right as him as a cat in The Aristocats didn’t quite work for me. There are also lots of fun scenes. The archery competition and the castle robbery at the end are both great.
The songs are also a mixed bag. “Love” is a sappy song but the songs by Roger Miller like “Oo-de-lally” and “Not in Nottingham” are pretty good. I will be honest I didn’t know who Roger Miller was before watching this movie but looking into it he was a pretty prolific country singer. While I’m not usually a fan of country music I do think he was perfect for the role and his songs work really well.
Overall: A mixed bag of a movie. As the song “Not in Nottingham” says “sometimes ups outnumber the downs” and that sums up this movie for me. It doesn’t hit it out of the park but the hits are more than the misses.
Random Facts
The film originally was planned to take place in the old west. That is why some classic western stars like Any Devine, Ken Curtus, and George Lindsey were cast. Also why country singer Roger Miller was probably asked to voice the Rooster and write songs for the film.
The last Disney animated film scored by George Bruns. He scored the previous 5 Disney animated films and always created something unique.
During the chase at the end of the archery scene you can hear a snippet of “On Wisconsin”
Known for reusing scenes from earlier Disney Movies. Here is a comparison of one of the scenes and the other films that were reused. https://youtu.be/Uf9PMbpH_j8 also here is brief overview about how it was a common practice for Disney to do that not just in Robin Hood. https://youtu.be/JU21shbaVBo
First Disney film since Bambi not to have any human characters on screen.
A favorite film of Director Byron Howard who would go on to co-direct Zootopia.
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