ANI-MOVIES, *The Fox And The Hound

The Fox And The Hound was Disney's 24th full-length animated theatrical release based on the book by Daniel P. Mannix which has a radically different ending from the one adapted for the movie. This was Disney's first movie in the 80s and its biggest challenge was the transition of a new generation of animators, one of which was Don Bluth who with others all left halfway through the film's production to go off on their own and animate The Secret Of Nimh. Other new animators that worked on this as their first major production were Tim Burton, Brad Bird, John Lassiter, and Henry Selick, so this was the launching pad for many of the studio's future alumni. The movie was the highest grossing animated title of the year which helped as it was the most expensive film of its kind at the time. This success helped bring about a direct-to-video midquel 25 years later, although the original was considered the last of Disney's classic animated movies before the company's renaissance which had the unfortunate side-effect of condemning The Black Cauldron into the realm of obscurity.

An abandoned baby fox gets adopted by the old widow Tweed that she names Tod and he becomes friends with her neighbor Amos' new pup Copper under the tutelage of the older hunting dog Chief. Tod and Copper have fun together during the fall, but Amos takes Copper on a long winter training journey. Once springtime comes around, Tod has grown up and tries to rekindle his friendship with Copper who is now a better hunting hound, but when Chief gets hurt chasing Tod away, Copper threatens to get back at him. Tweed takes Tod out into a game preserve to ensure his safety, even though that doesn't stop Amos and Copper to hunt down Tod along with his new fox friend Vixey. An encounter with a ravenous bear causes Tod to rescue Copper with the faithful hound protecting him from the trigger-happy Amos, and the old friends part ways.

The Fox And The Hound had mixed reviews when it first came out but still did well as it was the only American animated film that was released that year intended for children. This was the final film that Disney's two remaining Nine Old Men who were the studios main animators when they first opened in the 1920s. The casting for this was masterful with Corey Feldman and Kurt Russel voicing both the young and older Copper, Mickey Rooney as the older Tod, Sandy Duncan as the pleasant Vixey, Pearl Bailey as a helpful owl, Pat Burttram as the ornery Chief, and veteran cartoon voice actor Paul Winchell playing a featherbrained woodpecker. Again, the original source material was supremely edited down for its animation adaptation whose finale makes the one for The Little Mermaid look tame, but Disney did manage to pull off a good enough production. The film does suffer from serious pacing issues and filler sequences that padded out the runtime, but it is ultimately an enjoyable watch for the whole family.