Robin Hood
1973
D: Wolfgang Reitherman
**********
Pros: Story, Voice Case, Most of the Animation
Cons: Some Recycled Animations, Some Overly Goofy Moments
Robin Hood is one of my biggest nostalgic Disney films, and it’s also a great testament to the cultural power and influence that the company possesses. There was talk about adapting the legendary Reynard the Fox, a character of great mystique since at least the Middle Ages. However, since Reynard was too ambiguous a character for Disney’s wholesome image, they eventually hit upon the idea to turn Robin Hood into a fox. The narrator, Alan-a-Dale (Roger Miller), is possibly depicted as a Rooster as a reference to Chanticleer. As a result, Reynard never got a 20th Century revival in mainstream, and this 1973 movie remains the definitive version of Robin Hood to many people. In fact, to this day I stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the idea that Robin Hood is anything other than an anthropomorphic fox.
The story is a straight-forward telling of the legend, with Prince John (Peter Ustinov, an effeminate, maneless lion) taxing the poor of Nottingham with Robin Hood’s (Brian Bedford) thwarting him. Robin’s lifelong friend and sidekick Little John (Phil Harris, a bear) plays the rational straight-man to our hero’s cunning romantic, which I find preferable to more recent depictions of him as a big idiot. Apparently, the intelligent version of Little John is the more traditional one, so that’s one more hit for the Disney version. The Prince is aided by the lupine Sheriff of Nottingham (Pat Buttram), who is a bit too fat and comical for the role, despite Buttram’s memorable voice.
A particularly intriguing character is Sir Hiss (Terry-Thomas, complete with his distinctive tooth gap). In addition to being a typically cute cartoon snake, he’s also the least naturally malicious of the villains; he mostly goes along Prince John’s plans out of cowardice/ sycophancy despite his occasional amusing, constructive nagging of Prince John for his stupidity. He’s clearly the most intelligent of the bunch, seeing through the good guys’ tricks while getting no regard for it. Almost as if to underscore his banal villainy, he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body: he’s horrified at the Prince’s decision to execute Friar Tuck (Andy Devine) and is overjoyed to see Robin Hood survive the movie’s very suspenseful and effectively thrilling climax. At the end he seems fully acceptant of his just punishment.
Maid Marian (Monica Evans) is also a notable character. Beautiful yet modest, she displays kindness toward the peasant children and is a loving fiancée for Robin. She displays bravery by pleading with John for Robin’s life and defecting to Sherwood Forest without being an obligatory modern action girl. Still, she’s a bit more open to love than real-life potential tradwifes from what I hear. Then again, she didn’t have a diet of chick-flicks to teach her whatever vague rules women judge men by. Her lady-in-waiting the amusingly robust Lady Cluck (Carole Shelley, a hen), provides an effective foil for her. It strange that one of the most traditional, yet balanced and developed Disney princesses is a furry.
Overall, the voice cast is very good and appropriate for the roles. I generally prefer voice actors over celebrities in cartoons, but I admit that the latter ages like wine. What seems faddish and cheap at the time grows into a nice bonus for dedicated cinephiles. It especially helps that some of them are character actors with very distinctive voices like Peter Ustinov, Pat Buttram, Andy Levine, and Terry-Thomas. Ustinov also displays some legitimate VA chameleon skills when he voices King Richard (a maned lion). Other cast members include George Lindsey and Ken Curtiss as the henchmen Trigger and Nutsy (vultures), John Fiedler and Barbara Luddy as two church-mice, Candy Candido as a crocodilian captain, and J. Pat O’Malley as a bloodhound blacksmith.
The animation is overall solid. I know a lot of people complain about the xerography method that dominated this era of Disney, but I think it as a valid and practical innovation. Unfortunately, it did make it easier for Disney to shamelessly recycle some of its earlier animations from prevous movies and Robin Hood is guilty of its share of that. That’s really my greatest complaint about the movie; the only other moment of cringe is Lady Cluck’s football rush during the archery tournament battle. The music is passable and has some memorable moments.
Because Robin Hood himself is such an effective, admirable, and charismatic hero, everyone wants to adopt him as an ideological mascot. Left-leaners celebrate how he stole from the rich to give to the poor, while libertarians more cogently point out that he was rebelling against unjust taxation and was a skilled archer who used the skill for very 2nd Amendment-adjacent reasons. Still, pretty sure the Trads have the best case considering that he was a Catholic integralist in a movie which had a positive depictions of the Middle Ages.
One of the reasons why Robin Hood has stood a test of time (despite Disney’s mild embarrassment of it) is that it’s the most straight adaptation in modern cinema that most of us grew up with, although it doesn't go into the rivalry between the Normans and the Saxons. Every subsequent adaptation has been somewhat unfaithful and deconstructive. Even if Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) is much more entertaining movie than people give it credit for, it’s hardly definitive. Robin Hood is an earnest, fun modern swashbuckler and an unapologetic depiction of traditional heroism, which is why it’s remained with us to this day. That’s why it’s so refreshing in a sea of deconstruction, and that’s why it’s one of the iconicanthropomorphic stories out there.
MOVIE PITCH: ROBIN HOOD 2
Despite not trusting modern Disney with anything now (especially Robin Hood), it would be cool to see a traditionally animated sequel to this movie. Years later, Robin Hood and Marian are married with children, but trouble arises when The Sheriff of Nottingham comes back for revenge. In this movie, he’s far more intimidating: he’s lost weight and a good bit of sanity from his long time in prison, and he’s out for blood. Reynard the Fox (possibly Will Arnett) could show up as an antagonist who means to manipulate the Sheriff’s vengefulness as a power grab.
Robin has to go back and fight, with a tearful separation from Marian. Marian, not going down the action girl route, remains to tend to the kits while using her position in royalty to handle the political aspects of the conflict (a la Princess Leia in the Legends Universe). At one point she’s cornered into using some modest combat skills to protect the children.
There could also be a redemption arc involving Sir Hiss, who’s been spending years in a monastery atoning for his past. He holds some key information, and the heroes have to learn to trust his perceptiveness (unlike John), and he learns to find his courage.
The voice acting could have some challenge with mimicry, but the Sheriff’s voice could be channeled into something creepy while not being off-model. There could be some well-researched sword-play.
QUOTES
ROBIN HOOD [as a fortune teller]: Your name will go down, down, down in history, of course.
JOHN: Yes, I knew it! I knew it! You hear that, Hiss? Oh, you can’t. He’s in the basket.
HISS: I knew it! I knew this would happen! I tried to warn you, but no, no, no, you wouldn’t listen. You just had to. Ah, Ah! Seven years bad-
[John smashes a mirror over his head]
HISS: …luck. That’s what it is. Besides, you broke your mother’s mirror.
JOHN: Ah! Mommy! [sucks his thumb] I’ve got a dirty thumb.
LITTLE JOHN: You know something, Robin? You’re taking too many chances.
ROBIN: Chances? You must be joking! That was a bit of a lark, Little John.
LITTLE JOHN: Oh yeah? Take a look at your hat. That’s not a candle on a cake.
ROBIN: Hello! This one almost had my name on it, didn’t it? They’re getting better you know. You gotta admit it, they’re getting better.
SKIPPY: That old Prince John doesn’t scare me!
TOBY: I’m scared of Prince John, he’s cranky.
CLUCK: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
MARIAN: Or forgetful.
[Robin has just burned a pot of food]
ROBIN: Sorry, Johnny. Guess I was thinking about Marian again. I can’t help it. I love her, Johnny.
LITTLE JOHN: Look, why don’t you stop moonin’ and mopin’ around? Just, just marty the girl.
ROBIN: Marry her? You don’t just walk up to a girl, hand her a bouquet, and say, “Hey, remember me? We were kids together. Will you marry me? No, it just isn’t done that way.
LITTLE JOHN: Aw come on, Robbie. Climb the castle walls. Sweep her off her feet. Carry her off in style.
ROBIN: It’s no use, Johnny. I’ve thought it all out, and…it just wouldn’t work. Besides, what have I got to offer her?
LITTLE JOHN: Well, for one thing, you can’t cook. [sniffs at what’s left of the food and sneers]
ROBIN: I’m serious, Johnny She’s a highborn lady of quality.
LITTLE JOHN: So she’s got class, so what?
ROBIN HOOD: I’m an outlaw, that’s what. That’s no life for a lovely lady. Always on the run. What kind of future is that?
[Enter Friar Tuck]
FRIAR TUCK: Oh, for heavens sake, son. You’re no outlaw. Why someday you’ll be called a great hero.
ROBIN: A hero? Do you hear that, Johnny? We’ve just been pardoned.
LITTLE JOHN: That’s a gas, we ain’t even been arrested yet.
JOHN: I sentence you to sudden, instant, and even immediate DEATH.
HISS: Well, I tried to warn you, but no ,no, no, you wouln’t listen. Your traps just never work. And now look what you’ve done to your mother’s castle.
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