Toon Talk: Robin Hood DVD
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(c) Disney
ROBIN HOOD: THE CAST Robin Hood featured an all-star cast of Disney voice favorites:
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What the film cannot escape is an overall feeling of cheapness. Surely, director Wolfgang Reitherman and his animators didn’t think that the pre-video audiences of the 1970’s would notice an abundant reliance on “reused�? animation, but there it is for us digital-aged viewers to freeze frame and scrutinize. Most glaringly apparent in the “Phony King of England�? number, sharp-eyed Disney fans will recognize Maid Marian’s dance as Snow White’s and the Merry Men band as Scat Cat and company from The Aristocats. There’s even some “Jungle (Book) love�? going on with Little John and Lady Kluck here. And it doesn’t stop there; there are several moments when the film even “cannibalizes�? itself, for example reusing the Sheriff’s gangly walk on several occasions.
To be fair though, one can’t be entirely too judgmental on this subject for the film was from a time when the animation unit was struggling to survive. And certainly, it doesn’t detract those who may be a little less obsessive about their Disney knowledge (ahem). Even with its faults, this Robin Hood still scores a bulls-eye as a rollicking romp through the Middle Ages.
As with this year’s earlier re-release of The Fox and the Hound, not a lot of effort was put into the bonus content. In addition to the “Fast Play�? feature and a “Disney Song Selection�? (with sing-along lyrics onscreen of selected songs, including the Oscar-nominated love balled titled … “Love�?), the new bonuses include a deleted “alternate ending�? (seen in storyboard format and depicting a church-set confrontation between Prince John and … Maid Marian?) and two set-top “Merry Games�? (the “Archery Trivia Challenge�?, wherein your “knowledge and speed�? of Sherwood Forest trivia “sharpens your aim�?, and “Rescue Maid Marian�?, which is tougher then it looks). The bonus short is the appropriately-themed Ye Olden Days, a black and white Mickey Mouse short co-starring Minnie and Goofy (still billed as “Dippy Dawg�?). The one stand-out is the “Robin Hood Art Gallery�?, available in two viewing options. Skip the staid stills and go straight for the video option; with its informative narration and continuous movement, it serves as an adequate - if definitely “poor man’s�? version of - a “making of�? feature. Pictures include concept art (when the characters were still - shock! - human), early character designs (such as Little John as an elephant and Friar Tuck as a bulldog) and abandoned ideas, such as missing Merry Man Will Scarlett.
Toon Talk Rating: C