Robin Hood

1973 animated feature

Rating: 15/20 (Jen: 15/20; Emma: 14.5/20; Buster: 805/20)

Plot: Prince John's making Nottinghamians' lives miserable while older brother King Richard is away. He's taxing the hell out of people. Thankfully, they've got the titular hero to rob from the rich and give to the poor.

Well, I kind of shot my proverbial wad by writing about my favorite part of this movie in the Disney villain post. I love Ustinov as Prince John, really one of my favorite voice performances ever. It makes the character although I do like how he's animated, too, and it's just so much fun hearing Ustinov say things like "Poppycock!" Or any of these:

"Forgive me a cruel chuckle." (Something I might start saying more often.)
"I've got a dirty thumb."
"That insolent blaggard!"
"Not so hard, you mean thing."
"Seize the fat one!"

His laugh is perfect as well, something I would never dare imitate but wish I could. Ustinov is King Richard, too, and gets to jump in at the end to make a terrible pun and then laugh about it. I've always had a soft spot for this movie, maybe because it was born when I was or maybe because it's something I remember seeing as a little kid. It's cheap Disney, the animators lackadaisically animating backgrounds that are really static and seemingly recycling characters from other movies. Continuity errors, especially involving Prince John's rings, drove us all a little nuts. This seems a little quick and sloppy, but it's not without its charms. The characters are memorable enough. Sometimes, I think the guy who does Robin Hood's voice (Brian Bedford) was miscast, but it's heroic enough. Terry Thomas is great as Sir Hiss, a great character anyway. That snake's got personality, and I'd imagine that's a difficult animal to animate with personality. It's always good to hear Andy Devine and Pat Buttram (unfortunate name), those kinds of great voices that first makes you wonder if cowboys really sounded like that and then makes you wish that you lived in an America where people really did sound like that. And Phil "Baloo" Harris. This guy could have made a living just voicing animated bears. I could have done without Maid Marian although she is kind of foxy, but I like the other auxiliary characters just fine--Lady Kluck, that little rabbit who looks up to Robin Hood, the vultures Trigger and Nutsy. Oh, and it was cool seeing that Duck and Cover turtle from the nuclear bomb PSA get more work. While the backgrounds and setting details might bore you, there's plenty of animal variety to keep this thing lively. I also like the music a lot. That opening theme with the whistling is something I always hum or whistle spontaneously and try to remember where it came from. And "Oo-De-Lally" doesn't exactly sound traditionally minstrel, but it's a fun little number. Robin Hood was always one of my favorites when I was a kid, and it's still fun to watch as an adult. What I really wish is that the Disney people would remake this using all the original voices. They don't have to change anything with the sound, but it could use an animation make-over. I'm sure that would piss a lot of people off, but I think these voices deserve better animation.