Robin Hood *** (1973, voices of Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Roger Miller, Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas, Andy Devine) – Classic Movie Review 3473

Robin Hood is a fox who teams up with a bear version of Little John to oust Prince John (a lion) with Sir Hiss the snake as his pal in producer-director Wolfgang Reitherman’s 1973 American-British cartoon feature. Produced by Walt Disney Productions, it is the 21st animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series.

The familiar, time-honoured story is based on the legend and follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John and the people of Nottingham fighting the excessive taxation of Prince John, while Robin wins the hand of Maid Marian (voice of Monica Evans), also a fox. So there are no surprises here, then.

Perhaps Robin Hood is not really a good subject for a Disney animated film and it doesn’t turn out particularly well, thanks to the poor idea of having Robin’s Merry Men as anthropomorphic animals (the Merriest MENagerie) rather than people (why?), the low-voltage story, the feeble songs and the ordinary drawing.

But the famous voices help, particularly Peter Ustinov as Prince John, Terry-Thomas as Sir Hiss the snake, Andy Devine as Friar Tuck and Phil Harris as Little John, who gets one of only two good tunes, ‘The Phoney King of England’ (by Johnny Mercer). ‘Love’ was Oscar nominated for Best Song but it lost to The Way We Were.

Brian Bedford voices Robin Hood, Roger Miller is Alan-a-Dale (a rooster), Carole Shelley is Lady Kluck (a chicken), Pat Buttram is The Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf) and George Lindsey and Ken Curtis are Trigger and Nutsy (vultures).

Although at least five of the voice actors are British, American character actors are cast in the traditional medieval roles. So Friar Tuck and the Sheriff of Nottingham have American accents and mannerisms, while country singer Roger Miller is the movie’s songwriter and narrator. This may not go down too well back home in Nottingham.

Nevertheless, it is pleasant enough and entirely acceptable for children who haven’t seen any of the classic movie versions of the story, including even Disney’s own live action version of the legend, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952).

Famous versions include Robin Hood (1922), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and Robin Hood (2010),

Disney were planning a movie about Reynard the Fox, but he was thought an unsuitable choice for a hero. Story-writer Ken Anderson kept the central element of an animated fox in Robin Hood. Kind of an odd decision, that. Disney have picked up the animated fox idea again in the wily con artist fox called Nick Wilde in Zootropia (2016). Nick’s design is heavily based on Disney’s Robin Hood.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3473

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