Robin Hood (1973)

 

While a number of adaptations have been made out of the legend of Robin Hood, one of the best-known versions of the story is probably the animated adaptation by Disney from 1973, notably the first animated film from the studio to be made without any involvement from Walt Disney. Despite negative statements from critics and even some of the animators who worked on it, including Don Bluth, the film has achieved a bit of a cult following over the years, primarily stemming from its availability on home video. Like many people, I watched this movie a lot on VHS when I was a kid, and at least once when it was released on DVD, though I hadn’t watched it again for several years. In honor of the film’s 50^th anniversary, I decided to revisit it once more, finding it be quite an underrated Disney feature and a reminder of why I liked it so much as a kid in the first place.

Robin Hood (Brian Bedford) and Little John (Phil Harris) are outlaws in Sherwood Forest who steal from the rich to give back to the poor citizens of Nottingham, evading the Sheriff (Pat Buttram) at every turn. The two reach a new level of infamy, however, when they successfully steal from the immature Prince John (Peter Ustinov) while disguised as fortune tellers, which quickly earns them a high bounty. While disguised as a blind beggar, Robin uses the stolen wealth to give back to the townspeople, during which he cheers up a young rabbit named Skippy (Billy Whitaker) after the Sheriff swipes his birthday present. Later, Friar Tuck (Andy Devine) looks for Robin Hood to inform him of an upcoming archery tournament, getting Robin’s interest when the prize is a kiss from Maid Marian (Monica Evans), his childhood love and King Richard’s niece.

 

Robin Hood (Brian Bedford) finds out Maid Marian will be at the tournament.

While probably not the most accurate retelling of the Robin Hood legend, historically or otherwise, the version of the story presented here is still enjoyable on its own merits and is very easy to follow. Although Robin lacks his band of Merrie Men as seen in other versions, instead being accompanied only by Little John, one could argue that this provides fewer characters to keep track of and gives the duo more screen time to be properly explored. While the plot is generally more light-hearted, it can get surprisingly emotional at times, some of which may even bring you to tears.

As with many classic Disney films, the animation holds up really well, making good use of the animal designs to reflect the characters’ personalities and display emotion in some creative ways, as well as having a visual style that stands out from many other Disney features heavily involving animals. That said, it’s difficult to ignore that Disney’s corner-cutting from around this time is most apparent here. Xerography aside, there are some noticeable instances of recycled animation throughout to save money, the most obvious being the reuse of the Sheriff of Nottingham’s walk cycle in several shots. More eagle-eyed Disney fans can spot instances of recycled animation from several preceding Disney films, with the Robin Hood characters redrawn in their places. I am not one of those people and can’t really provide a list of my own without copying someone else’s, although such lists are not too difficult to find online.

 

A clever display of expression with a snake body.

One interesting thing about the film’s development is that it was originally going to be an adaptation of the Reynard the Fox stories, but was ultimately shelved for the title character not being heroic enough for a Disney film. When Robin Hood was entering production, the decision was made to repurpose concepts form this earlier version, which explains why the characters are animals rather than humans as in most adaptations. It should be noted, however, that the characters from Robin Hood would later be portrayed as humans when they appeared in ABC’s Once Upon a Time series.

Admittedly, some possible personal bias makes it difficult to pick any standouts amongst the voice cast, but one highlight would have to be Peter Ustinov as the evil and childish Prince John, backed up by Terry-Thomas as his snake advisor Sir Hiss. Brian Bedford and Monica Evans also stand out as Robin Hood and Maid Marian respectively, the former having a good repertoire with Phil Harris as Little John and the latter being Evans’ final film role, with the romance between Robin and Marian feeling believable. There are few songs in the movie, but they are memorable nonetheless, with Roger Miller, who also voices the rooster minstrel/narrator Alan-a-Dale, performing most of them and being the main reason behind their memorability, with “Whistle Stop” and “Oo-De-Lally” standing out as particularly iconic. In an odd legacy for this movie, the song “Whistle Stop” was sampled and sped up for the (in)famous Hampster [sic] Dance song, though this sample was re-recorded when the song was officially released as a single.

50 years following its original release, Robin Hood holds up as one of Disney’s most underrated films and is perfect for animation fans of any age, with the caveat that purists of the source material may be more critical of this adaptation. On that note, it has been announced that a live-action remake of this film is in the pipeline, though I am not really looking forward to it.