Review: Robin Hood (1973) (DMC #52)
“Oo-de-lally!” Welcome back, fellow Disnerds! This week we watched Robin Hood, the 1973 animated version and the fifty-second film in the Disnerd Movie Challenge. You can find our synopsis below if you either haven’t seen this before or it’s been a while. For the rest of you, continue on for our review!
Synopsis
There are many variations of the legend of Robin Hood, and the animal kingdom has their own as well. A wandering minstrel rooster named Alan-a-Dale tells the animals’ version of the story, starting with telling how England’s King Richard has gone off to fight in the Crusades. Meanwhile, the king’s younger brother, Prince John, a maneless lion, has assumed power and is taxing the citizens to the point of poverty. One day, Robin Hood (a fox) and his close friend Little John (a bear) are walking through the forest when the Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf) and his guards try to apprehend the two outlaws. Robin and Little John manage to escape. Little John questions whether Robin is being too careless and if they are doing right by robbing the rich to feed the poor. Robin reassures his friend that there is nothing to worry about and that they are doing the right thing. Robin hears an approaching entourage of guards. Prince John and his snake adviser, Sir Hiss, have arrived in Nottingham to collect taxes. Prince John claims King Richard’s crown for himself, and the two congratulate themselves on their plot for Sir Hiss to use his hypnosis on King Richard, persuading him to leave. Meanwhile, Robin and Little John disguise themselves as a female gypsies in order to rob from Prince John. Although Little John is reluctant, he goes along with Robin’s plan. Prince John stops his coach and allows the “gypsies” to tell his fortune. Robin tricks Prince John into parting with his gold while Little John steals gold hubcaps and gold coins from a treasure chest. Once Prince John realizes he has been robbed he orders his guards to give chase, but the coach’s wheels fall off and the prince’s plan is foiled. Robin and Little John escape and return to the residents of Nottingham. Back in Nottingham, the badger Friar Tuck visits a disabled canine blacksmith named Otto to deliver some gold stolen by Robin Hood. However, the sheriff arrives and takes the gold from Otto as a form of tax collection. Friar Tuck is outraged, but the sheriff dismisses his concerns. The sheriff later goes to the home of a family of rabbits, who are all celebrating Skippy’s birthday. The sheriff takes the farthing Skippy received as a birthday present. A blind old fox arrives at the home asking for funds for the poor, and the sheriff steals the gold from the fox’s mug. After the sheriff leaves, the fox reassures Skippy and reveals he’s really Robin Hood in disguise. Robin gives Skippy his bow as a birthday present, and Skippy and two of his sisters, Sis and Tagalong, run off to practice with the bow. Robin leaves Skippy’s mother with a bag of gold, assuring her that there will be happiness in Nottingham again someday.
Skippy, Sis, Tagalong, and their turtle friend Toby are outside when Skippy accidentally fires an arrow from his new bow into Prince John’s backyard. He sneaks into the yard and meets Maid Marian, a young vixen and King Richard’s niece, and her lady (hen)-in-waiting, Lady Kluck. He is at first afraid Marian and Klucky will turn him over to Prince John, but they reassure him that they are nothing like the prince. The kids ask Marian about her previous relationship with Robin Hood, and Marian wistfully shares how they used to be sweethearts. The kids play a small game of make-believe with Marian and Klucky, and Marian kisses Skippy for having “rescued” her, much to Skippy’s embarrassment. Later, Marian talks to Klucky about how much she misses Robin, wondering if he even remembers her after so many years apart. In Sherwood Forest, Robin daydreams about Marian and lets his and Little John’s food burn. Robin admits to Little John he can’t forget about Marian and loves her too much. Little John tells Robin to just “marry the girl.” Robin is skeptical, believing Marian deserves better than the life he can provide her. Friar Tuck arrives and tells them about an archery tournament, revealing that the winner gets to kiss Maid Marian. Robin and Little John disguise themselves again and attend, but Prince John is using the tournament to trap Robin Hood. Little John manages to trick Prince John with his disguise, and the prince dismisses Sir Hiss to go find Robin Hood. Friar Tuck and Alan-a-Dale stop Sir Hiss by trapping him in a barrel of ale. Although Robin Hood's disguise as a stork fools almost everyone, including the Sheriff of Nottingham, his skills in the tournament are enough for Prince John to deduce the truth. Robin Hood wins the tournament, but Prince John reveals Robin Hood to the public. Prince John declares that traitors to the crown must die, and Robin defiantly counters that the crown belongs to King Richard. Prince John throws a tantrum and sentences Robin to death despite Marian’s pleas for mercy. The execution is halted when Little John holds Prince John at knifepoint to convince him to let Robin go, and a skirmish ensues when the sheriff tries to attack Little John. Robin and Marian reunite and confess their love for each other, while Robin and Little John fight off Prince John’s guards while escaping to Sherwood Forest. Even Lady Kluck joins in and takes down several of Prince John’s guards, yelling “long live King Richard!” until Little John takes her with him to the forest. Prince John frees a drunken Sir Hiss from the barrel, but tangles him around a pole after the snake upsets him. Deep in the forest, Robin and Marian catch up on lost time and become engaged. That evening, Little John, Friar Tuck, Lady Kluck, and many of the residents of Nottingham throw a dance party in celebration of Robin Hood and denouncing Prince John as “the phony king of England.” The song reaches the castle, and the sheriff and Sir Hiss enjoy singing it, much to Prince John’s anger. In retaliation, the prince orders all taxes to be increased among the citizens.
Most of the Nottingham population is jailed because they can’t afford to pay the high taxes. A deep depression falls over Nottingham, and Friar Tuck does his best along with his mice friends, Sexton and his wife, to use the church’s bell to keep everyone’s hopes up. Sexton and his wife offer up their last farthing to Friar Tuck to help the poor. The sheriff arrives and takes every bit of money from the poor box, angering Friar Tuck. After the sheriff threatens Friar Tuck, the badger loses it and shoves the sheriff out of the church, attacking him. The sheriff’s vulture lackey, Trigger, blindsides Friar Tuck and allows the sheriff to arrest him for treason. Prince John is frustrated he still can’t capture Robin Hood, but when Sir Hiss informs him Friar Tuck has been jailed, the prince creates another trap by declaring Friar Tuck will be hanged. The next day, the sheriff, Trigger, and another vulture named Nutsy prepare a noose. Robin, disguised as the blind old beggar again, learns of the hanging. He and Little John immediately resolve to jailbreak all the prisoners, including Friar Tuck. That night, Little John captures Nutsy, allowing Robin to disguise as the vulture and steal the sheriff’s jail keys while he is sleeping. Little John sneaks into the jail and frees Friar Tuck, and the two begin freeing the prisoners. Meanwhile, Robin scales the castle tower into Prince John’s room and begins stealing all his bags of gold, using his arrows as a pulley system to slide them down to the jail cell. Friar Tuck leads the group out of the jail. Sir Hiss wakes up and attempts to stop Robin, dragging Prince John and his bed with him and waking up the confused prince. Prince John tries to stop the citizens of Nottingham from running off with his gold, but in vain. As the group escapes to Sherwood Forest, Skippy’s mother frantically realizes Tagalong is left behind, and Robin scrambles back to get her. He is trapped by the castle’s falling gate, but sneaks Tagalong through the gate into Little John’s arms. Robin dodges the arrows of the castle guards as he climbs up to a tower. The sheriff ambushes him with a firelit torch and attacks. The tower is set ablaze, causing Robin to slip outside and climb to the highest terrace until he can no longer escape. Robin jumps into the moat below while the guards fire their arrows, and it appears that Robin is killed. However, he survives, much to Little John and Skippy’s delight and Prince John’s anguish. Sir Hiss criticizes Prince John and points out that the castle is on fire, causing Prince John to cry out and suck his thumb at having ruined his mother’s home, but not before chasing Sir Hiss around with a wooden beam. Some time later, King Richard returns, pardons Robin Hood, and imprisons Prince John, Sir Hiss, and the Sheriff of Nottingham for their crimes. Robin Hood and Maid Marian are married, and King Richard quips to Friar Tuck that he now “has an outlaw for an in-law.” Skippy joins the happy couple on their honeymoon, remarking that since they will be having kids someone will need to keep their eye on things. Little John drives the coach carrying Robin and Marian, and Alan-a-Dale cheerfully closes the story by stating “that’s the way it really happened.”
Thoughts Before Watching
Kevin: Oh man, I love this one! It ranks high up on my list of Disney animated films, if only because it’s so hilarious! My siblings and I love to quote this movie, and although I can’t whistle very well, Alan-a-Dale’s opening whistle is a catchy number to try imitating. Honestly, I know this movie pretty well, so I’m not sure if I’ll come away with anything new. Instead, I expect that most of my post-movie thoughts will be things I already know about. With that said, I wonder how this will compare since we saw The Story of Robin Hood earlier this year.
Megan: This is a fun one! I remember my younger siblings especially loved to play and dance to the intro music, and the way they laughed at lines like “Who’s drivin’ this flyin’ umbrella?” often made me laugh more than the movie itself! It’s definitely got some highly quotable moments, and it has some pretty fun female characters as I recall. It’s been ages since I last watched this movie—I probably last saw it on VHS, now that I think about it. It’ll be fun to revisit this one.
Thoughts After Watching
Lady Kluck is the best!
Kevin: The side characters in Robin Hood are some of the best Disney has to offer throughout the animation eras. They’re far more fun to watch than Robin himself (more on that later). One character in particular stands out among the others, and that is Lady Kluck. This woman… er, hen… is the unsung hero of this movie. She may not be in the original story, but she is a welcome addition to the Disney version. Not only is she a loving and supportive lady-in-waiting to Maid Marian who encourages the young vixen’s romantic feelings for Robin Hood in spite of their social class differences, but she is also a certified badass. From the moment we meet her, Lady Kluck shows no qualms about making fun of Prince John. As someone connected to royalty, it would be easier for Kluck to hide her true feelings rather than openly show disdain for the current monarch in power, lest she find herself accused of treason. I mean, in one shot she even hits Prince John right on the head! Robin Hood and the rest of the lower class citizens of Nottingham certainly have reasons to be wary of challenging those in power, yet several of them choose to anyway. For many of the downtrodden folks, they have nothing else to lose. Lady Kluck’s position is different. Her position certainly gives her some privilege that other side characters don’t have, and she’s willing to sacrifice her position for the sake of what she believes is right. That said, it’s problematic because King Richard joined the Crusades and no one in the film appears to take any issue with that, including Lady Kluck. (Granted, Sir Hiss confesses that he hypnotized King Richard to join, but there’s still the fact no citizen is shown to disagree.) Even so, it’s still clear that Lady Kluck is acting according to her conscience by openly defying Prince John and supporting Robin Hood’s goals. Additionally, she is physically tough, as demonstrated by her single-handed takedown of Prince John’s rhinoceros guards shortly after Robin’s attempted execution. Every moment Lady Kluck is on screen is just simply fantastic!
Women Supporting Women
Megan: Lady Kluck really is one of the best characters in this movie! In fact, she’s one of the reasons this film passes the Bechdel test. The moment we meet her she’s playing a rousing game of badminton with Maid Marian. Though she may be a lower-ranking lady-in-waiting, that doesn’t stop her from competing her hardest and even good-naturedly teasing Marian while they play, saying “As your lady in waiting, I’m waiting!” Even better, both Lady Kluck and Maid Marian encourage each other, calling out when the other has made a good shot. This is the first time we’ve seen such an example of female best friends in all of Disney’s animated (or even live action) films so far. Only the three good fairies in Sleeping Beauty come close to competing with the friendship between Lady Kluck and Maid Marian, and honestly, the fairies still fall short because of their constant bickering. Of course, with Maid Marian being the love interest of the story, her character does get a bit more preference. As the film progresses, we see that it is Lady Kluck who is asking Maid Marian about her hopes and desires, and encouraging her to go after the man she’s in love with, not the other way around. Thus, we don’t really get to see what Lady Kluck’s goals or desires are in life. Still, I really enjoy seeing an example of two female characters who spend more screen time supporting each other and laughing with each other rather than bickering with each other (or worse, fighting over a man). And, like I said before, this film passes the Bechdel test because these women actually have conversations about things other than the male characters in this film.
A Shoutout to the Single Mom
Megan: I would like to just give a shoutout to the single bunny mom who has FOURTEEN kids!!! When I watched this movie as a kid I used to think this was just a party with all the local bunnies, but upon this latest viewing it’s clear—those are all her kids!!! I mean…wow… Props to her for keeping all her bunny children happy in a time when the local politics have put the whole town in poverty. She really doesn’t get enough recognition in the movie for all she must have gone through in order to raise those children. Now, of course, this is partly supposed to be a joke, playing off how real rabbits procreate, but joke or not, I feel for that single mom trying to raise FOURTEEN kids all by herself. No wonder she’s so grateful to Robin Hood! We never hear a word about the bunnies’ father, but in this town where a predator prince and a predator sheriff run everything, it’s quite possible the bunnies’ father could have been killed for speaking out against their tyrannical rule. There is another bunny seen in the film—the one who shares his crumbs with a family of mice while in prison. One could theorize that perhaps he was the bunnies’ father, only if he were, one would expect a tearful reunion once the whole family is imprisoned, or perhaps after the jailbreak. We see neither, so I think it is safe to assume this is just another, unrelated bunny. It’s also entirely possible the bunnies’ father was the stereotypical deadbeat dad who abandoned his family. It would explain why no one ever talks about him, but for me personally I like to think he was a better father than that, and only death would keep him away from his family.
The side characters are more interesting than the protagonist
Kevin: Let’s be honest, this really isn’t all that surprising. Generally, the protagonist is the character the audience identifies with the most, while side characters can sometimes be the ones the audience wishes to be. In the case of Disney’s Robin Hood, our hero and protagonist is honestly… well, boring. As an embodiment of a centuries-old legend, the Disney version of Robin Hood is lacking in qualities that elevate him beyond just the typical hero. His character is doomed from the start to be set up as the stereotypical good guy who has little to no flaws. The most fascinating thing that happens to Robin is during the archery tournament, where (in this viewer’s opinion) he lets his arrogance get the better of him in order to win the tournament, which allows Prince John to recognize him and nearly have him executed. This moment is probably the only instance where Robin deviates from his hero archetype into a more interesting character because we get to see the consequences of his actions. In contrast, all of the film’s secondary characters are more fun and wonderful to watch, including the aforementioned Lady Kluck, as well as other awesome characters like Little John and Friar Tuck. These particular two aren’t quite as memorable to me as Lady Kluck is, but they still dominate the screen any time they appear. Between Little John’s comedic quips and excellent ability to carry a tune, to Friar Tuck’s initial monk-like reservation to full on fighter, the two merry men are part of what brings a lot of life into this movie. Included in this list of memorable secondary characters are Prince John and Sir Hiss, quite possibly the best villain/sidekick pair until Jafar and Iago came along. And we can’t forget about the Sheriff of Nottingham, the third member of the villains who also has tremendous screen presence. He’s a bit separated from Prince John and Sir Hiss, but he still serves as the last part of a trifecta of hilarious, if inept, group of villains. The side characters are one of the major things I love about this movie. I recognize that it’s not a faithful retelling of the original Robin Hood legend, so its appeal to me is entirely based on the characters, particularly the characters that aren’t Robin Hood himself.
A lack of quality animation
Kevin: Robin Hood is an interesting movie to say the least. It was the first Disney animated film to use fully anthropomorphized animals in its story. As far as my memory recalls at the moment, this wouldn’t be done again until Zootopia, over 40 years later. And as much as I love this movie, for being the first of its kind for the studio it’s just a bit of a shame that the animation is the one thing that doesn’t hold up well. It’s not… bad, exactly, but it’s a perfect example of how far Disney deviated from the style that defined its earlier eras. This style has been hit or miss with some of the other films from this current era, but you really start to see how strange it looks in this movie. There are several moments where characters appear to “float” through the scene because the walk cycles don’t match up with their environments. Additionally, because the animators were intensely pressed for time, they recycled so much animation from other movies. This film has probably the most amount of recycled animation to date, so much so that your brain starts to notice it.
Not without its sexism…
Megan: For all the progress this film makes in furthering female character development and storylines, this film doesn’t escape without elements of sexism. Maid Marian, for all the Bechdel-test-passing conversations she has with Lady Kluck, still falls into the “damsel in distress” trap, calling out to Robin to rescue her. Sure, she gives a vulture a pie in the face, so she’s not totally helpless, but it’s telling that even Lady Kluck—a lady by title—tells Maid Marian “Run for it, lassie! This is no place for a lady!” before Klucky herself charges into battle in the iconic scene against the rhino guards. All the while, Marian runs away. In the case of male characters like Robin Hood and Little John, they are literally able to profit off of sexism. They’re able to use the assumption that women would never be bandits to avoid suspicion when they dress as female fortune tellers in order to steal from Prince John. Even Prince John himself tells Hiss incredulously, “Female bandits? What’s next?” Robin Hood and Little John make off with loads of gold all because they know men (like Prince John) think so little of women that no one would suspect women to be thieves. (No man but Hiss, it would seem.) Like I’ve said before, I enjoy stories where women are able to use these assumptions to their advantage, but when men do it, it just feels wrong.
Chill out, Skippy! Not everyone needs to have fourteen kids!
Megan: Watching this film as an adult, I found it kind of amusing how obsessed Skippy is with Robin Hood and Maid Marian having kids. I know several of my married friends complain that the one question everyone asks after you get married is “So when are you having kids?” Skippy seems to be the embodiment of that, though in a child form. Sure, he grew up with thirteen other siblings, so naturally his view of the world is a bit biased toward huge families, but I find it comical that Skippy first asks Maid Marian “You gonna have any kids? My Ma gots a lot of kids.” Maid Marian literally just finished telling Skippy and the other kids that she and Robin Hood were sweethearts a very long time ago and never even kissed, and Skippy jumps straight to “You gonna have any kids?”! Then at the end of the movie, Skippy invites himself along on Robin Hood and Maid Marian’s honeymoon, telling Toby, “Well, Robin Hood’s gonna have kids, so somebody’s gotta keep their eye on things.” First of all, how long does he think Robin Hood and Maid Marian will be gone? Because I’m pretty sure fox babies don’t come along nearly as quickly as bunny babies. Secondly, why is Little John letting the kid come along?! I almost wonder if this was some misguided attempt to leave off the film with some strange sequel potential.
Animated or live action?
Kevin: So, it’s hard to compare this to The Story of Robin Hood. While essentially being the same story, they are told differently and in different mediums (not to mention one is human-centric while the other is entirely animal-based). Both movies have their strengths and weaknesses. Still, I have to say that I prefer the animated version. I’m just far more partial to animation in general, and I have more viewing experience with this one than I do the live-action film, so there’s some history there. Even after this recent re-watching I still see the animated movie remaining high up in my list of favorite Disney animated films.
Megan: I don’t know where I stand on this. I like both versions for what they do with the story. The animated film definitely wins some nostalgia points and some catchy soundtrack points, but in general the story of Robin Hood, no matter the iteration, doesn’t usually rank high for me (unless it’s a retelling where we see Maid Marian or a female Robin Hood taking the lead). I do like that both films included some fun female characters, so I guess they land at about the same score for me.
Verdict
Kevin: 7
Megan: 6
Final Score: 6.5
What did you think of Disney’s animated version of Robin Hood? How do you think it compares to the 1952 live-action The Story of Robin Hood? Please share with us in the comments below!
