The Fox and the Hound

As the 24^th Disney film, The Fox and the Hound is not as well known by some Disney fans; it takes place in the rural southern United States and is based on a book that was written by an American author.  This movie came out in 1981 and went through a long production due to several people who were working on it resigning from Disney (including Don Bluth who created Don Bluth productions which ended up becoming Disney’s rival); the famous film director Tim Burton also worked on the film.  When the film was released, it did very well financially but got mixed reviews from critics.  While they praised the voice acting and animation, they believed the film wasn’t ground-breaking enough.  There are still a lot of people who love this film, however (so much so that there are stuffed animals of the two main characters at the Disney store); and these two main characters were voiced by the very famous actors, Mickey Rooney and Kurt Russell.  After re-watching the movie, I wanted to read the book but it appears to be out of print; there are no new copies on Amazon and used copies were extremely expensive (hundreds of dollars).  So, I settled for a small collectible and much cheaper book from a used bookstore instead.  I hope everyone loves this movie as much as I do!  Whatever your thoughts I’d love to hear from you!

The Fox and The Hound (based on an obscure book) is about a baby fox named Tod who is orphaned, after his mom is killed by hunters, and then adopted by a woman named Widow Tweed.  Soon after Tod’s adoption, he meets a bloodhound puppy named Copper and they become best friends instantly.  Copper’s owner, however, a hunter named Amos Slade, does not like Tod and makes threats to Widow Tweed to kill Tod. Tod and Copper still vow to be best friends forever but, as they get older, they wonder if their friendship can survive.  This movie is one of the most fascinating movies I’ve reviewed as, at certain points, it doesn’t even feel like a movie for kids though it clearly is.  It has some good messages (like how even though our society can seem to think that people really different from each other can’t be friends they can still be the best of buds); and similar to Bambi (even though they are very different movies), it focuses on the timeless tale of man vs. nature, as Copper’s owner hunts wherever he likes, even doing so illegally at several points.  And well, a huge plus for this movie is that baby Copper is so stinking cute!!! (Tod is very cute too-I just have a bias towards Copper since my dog is part hound).  On a different note, this movie is definitely one of the most scary movies of The Bronze Age in my opinion.  While no main character dies, there are several scenes that might frighten younger kids (like a scene where Tod gets into a fight with a bear).  I also feel as if this movie isn’t as consistent as Disney movies have been in the past, as parts of it were hard to follow (there was a little “floundering,” perhaps for comic relief purposes); and the animation does look blurry at several points.  I would caution parents strongly for the distressing scenes that happen in the film (like multiple near misses with animal lives).  My personal favorite moral of this movie is that sometimes friendships/relationships need to be put on hold; while I won’t spoil anything for anyone, two friends do end up going their separate ways due to their family/living situations but they still have a strong and mutual respect for one another.  Sometimes when we aren’t sure if a friendship is safe, it is best to put in on hold.  Maybe we will, at some point, go back to that friendship.  Overall, The Fox and the Hound is story of both love and loss.

“Darlin’, forever is a long, long time.  And time has a way of changin’ things.”  Big Mama the owl