Another underrated Disney movie is celebrating its anniversary this month. Today, it’s the 35th anniversary of one of my long-time favorites from my childhood (for 10 years to be exact), The Fox and the Hound. Tod and Copper went from being the best of friends, to the worst of enemies in a several-year-span. On one hand, it’s sad; but on the other hand, it’s just the animals’ instincts naturally growing along with them. Overall, The Fox and the Hound is a cute but rather depressing movie with the only amount of light being provided by those two birds, Dinky and Boomer, trying to catch that caterpillar. Plus, there’s an awesome black bear fight, courtesy of Glen Keane! A scene that was undeniably ripped off by Balto, 14 years later.
Well, I’m sure it would all look like My Little Pony compared to The Plague Dogs. I haven’t seen it yet, but I read about how it is one of the most depressing things in the history of Western animation.
Of course, since Disney doesn’t want their audience to be totally upset, they didn’t let Chief get killed off, like in the original novel by Daniel P. Mannix. So, this adaptation garnered mixed reactions from people who read and love the novel.
Now for some behind-the-scenes facts! This is the last Disney production Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy (who eventually returned to work on Pocahontas), and nine other animators worked on, before leaving to start up Don Bluth’s studio to beat Disney to a pulp! Traitors! Fortunately, after three years of losing to Bluth at the box office, Disney gave him a taste of his own medicine in 1989, when a certain undersea film came out, and knocked out Charlie the dog!
Back to The Fox and the Hound, not only it was a moderate success with critics and the box office (during the dark age of Disney, which began after Walt’s death), but it’s also notable for boosting the careers of a whole lot of people who became major contributors to the Renaissance era and beyond. These include:
- John Lasseter (one of Pixar’s founding fathers, and creator of Toy Story)
- John Musker and Ron Clements (directors of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Great Mouse Detective)
- Andreas Deja (supervising animator of Jafar, Scar, Gaston, and Hercules)
- Tim Burton (some guy into horror, surrealism, and Danny Elfman’s music)
- Glen Keane (supervising animator of Ariel, Aladdin, the Beast, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Rapunzel)
- Brad Bird (creator of Family Dog, director of Warner Bros.’ Iron Giant, and Pixar’s The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and a fan of the code A113)
- Randy Cartwright (animator of Aladdin’s Carpet)
- Chris Buck (co-director of Frozen and Tarzan)
- Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline)
- Mark Dindal (director of The Emperor’s New Groove, Cats Don’t Dance, and the god-awful Chicken Little)
- Mark Henn (supervising animator for Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, and Basil of Baker Street)
And, to me, the strangest one of them all is Guy Vasilovich, creator of Moville Mysteries, a Nelvana show so hideous that it makes Duckman look like Sleeping Beauty (and you know how Duckman loves to sleep with beauties 😉)!
If you’re a huge animation buff like myself, that list should be like an A-list to you! Not to mention, The Fox and the Hound is the last production where Disney’s Nine Old Men, such as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, had major involvement in.
So in the end, The Fox and the Hound may be more popular than Basil of Baker Street, but people still overlook it. I understand, since, like I said, it’s not a very cheery film compared to, say, The Jungle Book. Well, here’s some oddball advice for you: if you see a DVD of The Fox and the Hound 2, SMASH IT WITH A RAW WHOLE CHICKEN!!! And wash your hands afterwards.
Best of friends or not, Tod and Copper are still MUCH better than a certain pair of ugly girls on Nickelodeon. And no, I’m not talking about Sam and Cat.
Oh, I almost forgot. The co-director of this movie, Richard Rich, went on to make garbage, a.k.a. The Swan Princess and Alpha and Omega.
D.J. Berry 