The Aristocats, 1970. This movie was the last that Walt Disney had oversight on. It seems to be an original story, not based on a book or fairytale, but a combination of their two previous animal movies, Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp. It is a simple plot, with a non-scary villain, a rather stupid butler who wanted to get his inheritance faster. He could have simply poisoned the cats, or thrown them in the river, but he was taking them somewhere. Where? I saw the content warning at the beginning and wondered where it was in the film- it’s an extremely racist depiction of a Chinese cat. Ugh. I liked the main characters. It was a nice romance, and a perspective of children looking at their parent dating (was their father dead, or just out of the picture?) There were a lot of voice actors in this, and some that just seemed to be thrown in for comedic effect- the two dogs, the geese sisters and their drunk uncle. Little mouse Roquefort in his deerstalker was the sweetest, and actually a necessary character. He was voiced by Sterling Holloway, who did Winnie the Pooh and Cheshire Cat. The long, strange chase scene with the dogs was straight from Saturday morning cartoons.
Robin Hood, 1973. Disney World opened in 1971, and I think the company was gaining their feet post-Walt. He still had influence on this, because his idea for a Reynard the fox movie was combined with the tale of Robin Hood, to make it about anthropomorphic animals. I don’t think it would have been as good with human characters. They again gave priority of voice actors over animation, but the voices of Robin Hood and Prince John were perfect, and the others southern accents were used in a comedic manner. Apparently at one point in development it was supposed to be set in the south.The voice of Little John the bear is the same as Baloo the bear ( if it ain’t broke…) The blacksmith dog has a cast on that travels between feet- is it implying that he’s faking, or did the animators just not notice? I love the rooster bard, the kids and the fiery Scottish nurse hen. I wish there was more Maid Marian, but at least she wasn’t a victim/rescue object. The songs: the hamster dance was derived from the opening song, and I have always loved “Not in Nottingham”.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, 1977. I remember watching this on tv a lot as a child. It leant itself to segmentation. Such a gentle, sweet story, and I loved the idea of characters coming out of a book ( I also love animated characters interacting with their animators). The story starts with live shots of a boy’s bedroom, before going into the book and introducing the characters in song. Pooh Bear is “fat and proud of that.” That attitude makes him being stuck in a hole later less shaming somehow. I just got the joke about the gopher not being in the book! He’s not an original character. Unlike many movies that have a book as a frame, the narrator and book itself interact with the characters. Eyeore gets his tail, Pooh tries to deceive bees, Pooh gets stuck in Rabbit’s hole, Rabbit attempts bear butt art, there is a blustery day that destroyed Owl’s house, we meet Tigger and he incites nightmares about heffalumps and woozles, Pooh promotes gun ownership, the entire wood was flooded, Owl enacts eminent domain with Eyore’s urging, Rabbit has an intervention for Tigger that backfires, Tigger and Roo get stuck in a tree and Tigger is rescued by the narrator, and Rabbit learns that he can’t coerce agreements under duress, and also he can bounce.
“All stories come to an end, Pooh”
“Oh bother.”
The Rescuers, 1977. I loved the Rescuers book series, and I remember not liking the changes between the books and the movie. The movie is “suggested” by the books, I don’t think I have seen that wording used before.
In the books, the mice are dedicated to comforting prisoners, not rescuing, that was a Miss Bianca thing. Actually, I don’t think I actually watched this. The mice are so cute! I like that they have to solve a mystery and there is real drama and heart in between the slow bits, maudlin music and extensive chase scenes. Villain is a sad copy of Cruella, but I like the other bit parts, like Orville the Albatross. This movie seems inspired by the Don Bluth films….** *brief research* **oh. Here’s the Deep South adventure they wanted, I guess.
Huh, two movies in one year, and then the next movie didn’t come out until 4 years later. Want to follow along with my challenge? I can send you my list.
