Robin Hood (1973)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Reitherman

Writers:

Larry Clemmons (story)
Ken Anderson (character and story conceptions)

Release Date:

8 November 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Meet Robin Hood and his MERRY MENagerie!

Plot:

The story of the legendary outlaw is portrayed with the characters as humanoid animals.

Plot Keywords:

Cross Dressing | Animal As Human | Dungeon | Burning Building | Money

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Roger Miller	...	The Rooster (voice)
Peter Ustinov	...	Prince John - a Lion / Richard the Lionheart (voice)
Terry-Thomas	...	Sir Hiss - a Snake (voice)
Brian Bedford	...	Robin Hood - a Fox (voice)
Monica Evans	...	Maid Marian - a Vixen (voice)
Phil Harris	...	Little John - a Bear (voice)
Andy Devine	...	Friar Tuck - a Badger (voice)
Carole Shelley	...	Lady Kluck - a Chicken (voice)
Pat Buttram	...	Sheriff of Nottingham - a Wolf (voice)
George Lindsey	...	Trigger - a Vulture (voice)
Ken Curtis	...	Nutsy - a Vulture (voice)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Certification:

Peru:PT | West Germany:o.Al. (w) | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | South Africa:A | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | Canada:G

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

'Tommy Steele (I)' was the original choice to perform the voice of the title character, but he was dropped shortly after recording sessions began.

Goofs:

Continuity: Trigger's quiver appears and disappears at random - particularly noticeable during the scene when Robin takes the place of Nutsy.

Quotes:

Hiss: I tried to tell you, but no, no, no, you wouldn't listen. Your traps just never work. And now look what you've done to your mother's castle.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Emperor's New Groove 2: Kronk's New Groove (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Whistle-Stop

Disney's Red Headed Step-child

I loved this movie as a kid, as did just about every person I know. So it works for the youngins. As an adult, and an animation fan, I was surprised to learn that this movie is sort of the Disney studio's secret shame. I had nothing but fond memories of it, after all. And I could name at least a dozen Disney films that I would have put ahead of it on my Most Crappy list. I very recently watched it on television after many years, and yes, it is definitely flawed. The quality of the animation is terrible, and the lack of an over arching story makes the whole thing seem frivolous, like it was made for TV and not for a big studio release. There are holes in the narrative, scenes that should exist that don't, and scenes that have no reason to exist that do. And I think the somewhat random decision to cast the film with animals lends to the Saturday morning vibe as well.

But there's enough cool things peaking out from under all the half-assery that rescues the film just enough for it to be enjoyable. Peter Ustinov turns in an excellent, excellent performance as Prince John, at turns hysterical and genuinely nasty. Brian Bedford oozes easy going charm as Robin. He's probably turned in the second most likable performance of the character captured on film. He's just unfortunately delivering it through the poorly animated mouth of a cartoon fox. And though the actual quality of the animation is poor, some of the character animation is pretty clever and expressive. And I have to applaud the choice to add Roger Miller to the mix as a folkie, possibly pot-smoking minstrel rooster. His character adds a cool, Earthy vibe to the proceedings and as others have mentioned, his song, Not in Nottingham, actually sort of works as a blues song. Weird.

So Robin Hood is definitely not the epic tale Disney was capable of churning out in its hey days, but I dug it as a kid, and I still dig it today. You know, looking back at all my reviews on this site, it seems I mostly leap to the defense of classically bad films that I like anyway. That's OK, I guess. Someone has to.