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| Picture Description: Robin Hood is a fox, wearing a green tunic, yellow boots, and a hat with a red feather sits between his pointed ears. He stands upon a castle ledge in front of a wanted poster of himself on the stone wall. He grins, pulling back his bow, ready to fire an arrow. The Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman and David Hand The Cast: Robin Hood (a Fox) – Brian Bedford Little John (a Bear) – Phil Harris The Sheriff of Nottingham (a Wolf) – Pat Buttram Prince John & King Richard (two Lions) – Peter Ustinov Sir Hiss (a Snake) – Terry-Thomas Maid Marian (a Vixen) – Monica Evans Lady Kluck (a Chicken) – Carole Shelley Friar Tuck (a Badger) – Andy Devine Allan-a-Dale (a Cockerel) – Roger Miller Certificate: U The Plot: The story of the legendary outlaw gets hit by the Disney stick. Our cunning hero, Robin Hood, and his best pal, Little John, rob the rich to feed the poor, outwitting the spoiled brat, Prince John, at every turn. The Review: Oo-de-lally! There are countless renditions of Robin Hood, but this is probably as charming as it gets. Allan-a-Dale (Roger Miller) is a rooster, a minstrel, and our narrator, telling the story as it happens, usually through song. The song in the opening credits is created primarily by Allan-a-Dale’s mouth-noises; it’s folksy, goofy, and though the animated critters playing on-loop is a little annoying, it does an excellent job of introducing us to the cast. The great thing about 'Robin Hood' is the choice of animal for each character: Robin Hood is a cunning fox, the Sheriff of Nottingham is a wily wolf, and King Richard is a lordly lion. In contrast, his brother Prince John doesn’t have a mane, but his whiskers make for a fabulous villainous moustache. I particularly like the idea of Maid Marian and her unlikely friendship with her lady-in-waiting, Lady Kluck. Marian is a vixen, and as her name suggests, Kluck is a hen. Their relationship is probably the most wholesome example of female friendship I’ve seen in an animated film, let alone 'Robin Hood'. Also, Lady Kluck is this tiny Scottish badass, who takes on some of Prince John’s rhino guards and tackles them as if in an American football match. The animation is somewhat clunky (more on this shortly), but it’s still wonderfully entertaining. Robin and Maid Marian get three scenes together, and that
it. Their love song, “Love Goes On and On,” is damned catchy, and the couple’s
romantic wander through Sherwood Forest is surprisingly beautiful. Also, just
look at how long Maid Marian’s eyelashes are!  Picture Description: It's an extreme close-up of Maid Marian's face. Her fox ears are covered by a pink shawl. She smiles dreamily. While
the voice-actors are familiar from previous Disney films, they are top-notch.
Terry-Thomas (best known as the plummy villain in 'Those Magnificent Men in
Their Flying Machines') is marvellous as Sir Hiss, a very posh and very
put-upon snake. His character-design is particularly fun as his coils become
folded arms when he’s put-out or fending off Prince John’s rage.  Picture Description: Sir Hiss the snake glares to the left. He sits in a basket with his tail dangling. His coils are folded under his chin like a pair of arms. Whenever Hiss whispers in Prince John’s ear, his forked tongue is accompanied by a high-pitched noise, and his relationship with the prince (if you can call it that) is the primary source of humour. At one point, Sir Hiss flies around with his head in a balloon and his tail acting as a propeller. To whoever came up with that bogus idea, I tip my imaginary hat. Robin and Little John dress in drag to fool Prince John. While Harris can’t manage a woman’s voice, Bedford’s fake fortune-teller is brilliant.  Gotta go fast! Picture Description: Sir Hiss's head is encased in a large, pink balloon. He smiles as his tail spins like a plane propeller, moving him through the blue sky.
And yet, 'Robin Hood' isn’t afraid to get dark. We see most of the townsfolk in chains, in jail for not paying their taxes. There is a storm, and after beating the Sheriff of Nottingham with a stick, Friar Tuck is arrested. Prince John uses this to trap Robin Hood, by threatening to, er, hang the friar. I enjoyed the idea of a man of the church (or badger, in this case) ultimately going against “turning the other cheek,” but it escalated far too quickly for my taste as a child. I think it really works because the film’s pace slows down considerably until that moment. Nevertheless, I was delighted to find Ustinov provided the voice of Prince John and King Richard, who we only really see right at the end of the film. Regardless, they sound like two completely different people, especially as this portrayal of Prince John is perhaps a more extreme version of the real-life prince. Here, he is a spoilt mummy’s boy, loudly sucking his thumb at any mention of her. However, for all its folksy charm, 'Robin Hood' often falls short with its animation. Some of the characters don’t move when they probably should, while some movement cycles are often repeated. As many have pointed out, it also borrows heavily from previous films, like 'The Jungle Book', 'The Aristocats', and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Little John is voiced by Phil Harris, who you might recognise as Baloo’s voice in 'The Jungle Book'. Until I did my research, I was under the common misconception that this was to save money and time, but director Wolfgang Reitherman just wanted to “use stuff that worked,” despite taking longer to do. Consequently, this choice is very distracting and takes you out of the movie in the worst way. For all its faults, Robin Hood remains very dear to my heart. The characters are bold and memorable, and their cries of “Oo-de-lally!” always brings a smile to my face. The songs are catchy, and the humour is weird, but that’s just how I like it. The animation might not be up to the highest standards (which could be said for most Disney films made in the 70’s), but that adds to the charm. The Verdict: 3 STARS OUT OF 5 The Sources: Film poster (identical to the picture from my old VHS copy) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Robin-Hood-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B00004R99Q (Picture) Maid Marian – those eyelashes, though! https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2016/09/18/pause-to-swoon-over-these-disney-looks-of-love/ (Picture) Sir Hiss makes do with what he’s got. https://cokieblume.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/robin-hood-review/ (Picture/GIF) Look at him go! https://tenor.com/search/robin-hood-snake-gifs Recycling animations: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070608/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv “People often think that the recycling of animation that was used in this movie was done to save time and money. This is not true, as Floyd Norman (former Disney animator) revealed that recycling animation was Director Wolfgang Reitherman's decision, and he did it because he wanted to use stuff that he knew would work. In reality, it's harder and takes longer to redraw an existing sequence.” |
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