The ruins of an interesting film can be seen here. I don't know much about the creation of this film, nor about its source material, but I don't feel especially compelled to. The Fox and the Hound features moments that try to attain the kind of drama of Disney's very earliest work, but by the end comes off as little more than a retread of past Disney films with much weaker animation and less compelling characters, despite some psychological content that might have held potential for more mature storytelling.
Structurally, this thing is a straight lift of Bambi. The first half details Tod the Fox and his days as a child learning the ways of the world. Interestingly, the film kicks off with a surprisingly dark tone, killing off the mother in the first scene and leaving an orphaned cub to be taken in by Tweed the widow. Already, some interesting themes are introduced as we see Tod make friends with the hound pup Copper, a friendship that's clearly doomed to tragedy. Aside from the obvious forbidden friendship, there are themes of man's relationship to nature in the widow becoming a mother figure to Tod. Clearly, this was the most character driven Disney feature in a long time for Disney. Does it pay off? Nope. Mostly, the first half of The Fox and the Hound prefers to waste time with a bunch of asinine comic set-pieces in which the twosome play tricks on Chief the hound and get the Hunter all riled up for some wacky redneck gags. In between this is a lot of cloying nothing that isn't half as cute as watching Bambi stumble his way through early life. It meanders and meanders without really making much of a point other than these guys enjoy each others company. There's also some side plot about a pair of woodpeckers trying to get a worm, but it adds up to absolutely nothing and mostly serves as annoying padding.
Then, like Bambi, we get the second half where Tod simultaneously discovers his sexuality and the horrors of life. This half works a bit better, with some moments of real power, but makes a fatal flaw with the relationship between Tod and Copper. Tod sends Copper on a vengeance fueled rampage against his former friend when he...gets Chief's leg broken. Now, had Chief been shown as a faithful friend and father figure to Copper, and had Tod gotten him killed (as, I believe, it was originally meant to be) this shift would have real gravitas to it. Instead, it comes off as unearned and random, totally against what we've come to know about his character. The rest of the film simply doesn't have the weight it needs because of this one fatal script flaw.
Which isn't to say there aren't those moments that truly work wonders toward the end. The bear scene in particular, though rather abrupt, is fantastically animated and legitimately thrilling, a triumph for greenhorn lead animator Glen Keane. The climax, in which the Hunter compromises his pride, is legitimately powerful as an ending, and in a better context would have been truly moving. Alas...whatever moments work here, they're constantly hindered by what comes before and after.
As animation, The Fox and the Hound is a real step down for the studio. Disney's newfound star, Don Bluth, stayed aboard for a time before packing his bags and walking out to start work on the vastly superior Secret of NIMH. His team's animation here reminds of their work on The Rescuers; very well done technical wizardry for pretty vapid scenes. A few of the Nine Old Men do scant work here and there, but none of it stands out. The best work is done by future star animator Glen Keane, whose bear scene has a remarkable weight and power to it, and whose Badger character is kind of fun too. Otherwise, the animation on this film is competent at best and mechanically dictated by adherence to animation principals at worst. It's a shame seeing technical elements so by-the book here. What's even more distressing is that it's still far better animated than the next Disney project, which will barely pass "Saturday Morning Cartoon with more in-betweening" levels.
One can see the process Disney was going through. Take an old framework like the plot to Bambi and update it to fit the trend of edgier animation that was going on at the time. It's too bound by convention to be anything but a pale retread, unfortunately, and it's unsurprising that the Disney exodus took place during the making of this and The Black Cauldron. Bluth moved to his new studio to make The Secret of NIMH, a great, dark fantasy feature that accomplished everything Disney was trying to, and various others left either with him or to start their own projects.
It's really a precursor to The Black Cauldron, a film that aims for the same goals to a much more prevalent and upfront manner while failing even more miserably as a film. They didn't call this the dark age for nothing.
Structurally, this thing is a straight lift of Bambi. The first half details Tod the Fox and his days as a child learning the ways of the world. Interestingly, the film kicks off with a surprisingly dark tone, killing off the mother in the first scene and leaving an orphaned cub to be taken in by Tweed the widow. Already, some interesting themes are introduced as we see Tod make friends with the hound pup Copper, a friendship that's clearly doomed to tragedy. Aside from the obvious forbidden friendship, there are themes of man's relationship to nature in the widow becoming a mother figure to Tod. Clearly, this was the most character driven Disney feature in a long time for Disney. Does it pay off? Nope. Mostly, the first half of The Fox and the Hound prefers to waste time with a bunch of asinine comic set-pieces in which the twosome play tricks on Chief the hound and get the Hunter all riled up for some wacky redneck gags. In between this is a lot of cloying nothing that isn't half as cute as watching Bambi stumble his way through early life. It meanders and meanders without really making much of a point other than these guys enjoy each others company. There's also some side plot about a pair of woodpeckers trying to get a worm, but it adds up to absolutely nothing and mostly serves as annoying padding.
Then, like Bambi, we get the second half where Tod simultaneously discovers his sexuality and the horrors of life. This half works a bit better, with some moments of real power, but makes a fatal flaw with the relationship between Tod and Copper. Tod sends Copper on a vengeance fueled rampage against his former friend when he...gets Chief's leg broken. Now, had Chief been shown as a faithful friend and father figure to Copper, and had Tod gotten him killed (as, I believe, it was originally meant to be) this shift would have real gravitas to it. Instead, it comes off as unearned and random, totally against what we've come to know about his character. The rest of the film simply doesn't have the weight it needs because of this one fatal script flaw.
Which isn't to say there aren't those moments that truly work wonders toward the end. The bear scene in particular, though rather abrupt, is fantastically animated and legitimately thrilling, a triumph for greenhorn lead animator Glen Keane. The climax, in which the Hunter compromises his pride, is legitimately powerful as an ending, and in a better context would have been truly moving. Alas...whatever moments work here, they're constantly hindered by what comes before and after.
As animation, The Fox and the Hound is a real step down for the studio. Disney's newfound star, Don Bluth, stayed aboard for a time before packing his bags and walking out to start work on the vastly superior Secret of NIMH. His team's animation here reminds of their work on The Rescuers; very well done technical wizardry for pretty vapid scenes. A few of the Nine Old Men do scant work here and there, but none of it stands out. The best work is done by future star animator Glen Keane, whose bear scene has a remarkable weight and power to it, and whose Badger character is kind of fun too. Otherwise, the animation on this film is competent at best and mechanically dictated by adherence to animation principals at worst. It's a shame seeing technical elements so by-the book here. What's even more distressing is that it's still far better animated than the next Disney project, which will barely pass "Saturday Morning Cartoon with more in-betweening" levels.
One can see the process Disney was going through. Take an old framework like the plot to Bambi and update it to fit the trend of edgier animation that was going on at the time. It's too bound by convention to be anything but a pale retread, unfortunately, and it's unsurprising that the Disney exodus took place during the making of this and The Black Cauldron. Bluth moved to his new studio to make The Secret of NIMH, a great, dark fantasy feature that accomplished everything Disney was trying to, and various others left either with him or to start their own projects.
It's really a precursor to The Black Cauldron, a film that aims for the same goals to a much more prevalent and upfront manner while failing even more miserably as a film. They didn't call this the dark age for nothing.