Dr Frankenollie wrote:Lazario wrote:Um... I love Robin Hood.
Why?!
Well, first of all because they had the idea to mix the tale of Robin Hood with country-folk music (of course that's going to be first, it's the first thing they give us in the movie). Disney is very vague to the public, I think, in their musical influences. So I never know exactly who they're trying to tap into with their songs but I'm always somewhat interested to find out. But in this case, like in The Rescuers, I don't know who Nancy Adams is supposed to be or where she's from. As a matter, it seems only in the case of Pete's Dragon did Disney get the actual singer/songwriter they wanted the singer of the part's songs to be styled after. So, I never assume Adams or Shelby Flint are really famous singers that Disney are using as inspiration but instead are performers to help bring a music style to the Disney movie. At any rate, I love "Love" and its small place in the movie. Then there's "Whistle Stop" and I don't think the fact that it inspired "The Hamster Dance" is a signal of the song's worthlessness but instead of how damn catchy and well-written it was. Then there's "Not in Nottingham" and I know I'm not alone in thinking that's a very sad song. It wouldn't be so sad if it weren't really able to capture that feeling of sadness and hopelessness of the fictional citizens of the town. It may be easy, since we about-never see these characters as a group cheering on Robin at, let's say, the archery competition. That they show up here for what looks like the first time and they're all sad and depressed and not comically like Eeyore, which would be making this the first / only time since
Lady and the Tramp where we don't meet a group of animal characters smiling like dopes. (Oh, ALRIGHT- there was the wolf pack meeting scene in
The Jungle Book too, but that's it. Two exceptions.)
I found Robin Hood to be a very, very likable rendition of the character (and, really, think to my childhood - I was maybe 9 when I saw this and who was his competition? Kevin Costner? Is that guy ever likable?) as I did Marian and Tuck and Cluck. Prince John and Sir Hiss are very funny together, Ustinov gives a wonderfully campy performance as John. John is a very well animated villain, and the whole thumb-sucking thing is a great gag. And I know he's not scary, but do you know who sort of is? That's right: the Sheriff of Nottingham. With his sharp, beedy eyes and that creepy sense of entitlement he has- he invades people's personal space and, as he robs and threatens them, he smiles and chit-chats and warmly butters them up in a way. As their focusing on those coins they can't afford for him to be taking, we the audience are getting a major hosedown. He's like an out-of-control used car salesman mixed with a gropey Uncle. Sherwood Forest is shown to us as a real closeknit, friendly, open community where people are very casual and at-home with each other, he acts the same way. And, while everyone is tensed up around him, he absolutely demolishes people expecting they'll kind of treat him like he's one of them. And when they don't, he really adds insult to injury (in the case of beating the money out of the dog's cast or pushing Friar to actual violence).
If
Robin Hood has a serious flaw, it's the source material. What can Disney really do that they haven't done before to make a woodland forest look compelling and visually interesting? Especially when I understand they didn't have the money / resources to do another
Sleeping Beauty type job on it? Since these were some of the very first Disney movies I ever saw, I will always have a real fondness for the
Winnie the Pooh /
Rescuers era of animation where, compared to their previous style, the films look downright gritty and aged right out of the box. With that kind of treatment, the warmth or coldness of the characters really pops like it never did before. For instance, compare this to
Bambi. And don't listen to anyone else, just really take those characters in... They're stiffer than boards, harder than rocks, and frozen solid. Even Bambi's mother. Okay, o-KAY, there's always an exception: Thumper. The kid voices help in his case and Feline's, exclusively. Don't try to tell me the other rabbits are exceptions too- they're conformists, none of them stand out apart from Thumper and all sound alike. And we all know how annoying Bambi the actual character is. He's equally as clueless and naive as Pinocchio but without a reason to be. He was just born? Bite me. And I suppose Thumper is 2 years old (or months, if that makes you feel better). The characters were created with an expressed purpose and Bambi is an unlikable moron so that he'll turn transparent at a moment's notice and blend into the film's gorgeous backgrounds, meanwhie becoming overshadowed by the icy, stabby music. Robin Hood, Little John, Tuck, Cluck, and maybe Marian as well, feel closest to real people you might know. They're not meant to be absurdly blind or daft characters, they're mildly and naturally observant and all take appropriate action where expected. So they also kind of act more like real people than characters in many previous Disney films.
Dr Frankenollie wrote:Perhaps I exaggerated my dislike for the film in my last post (and I suppose some could find it very mildly entertaining) but the animation is mostly recycled; the character concepts are unoriginal and rendered forgettable. Also, there are many pointless sequences included seemingly only to reuse animation (like Sir Hiss/Kaa's hypnosis of Prince John and the dance scene in the forest).
I noticed certain shots that were repeated, although the one that stuck out the most to me was the elephant's trunk that was snatched up when he was trying to blow it and the animal chase train crash and pile-up, both of which I believe were from
The Jungle Book. I didn't catch the
Snow White reference until Disney's DVD pointed it out (if the movie's so weak, you'd think this would be the kinda thing they'd like to have kept to themselves). But, story goes the
Snow White moment was an homage. Out of respect. Not meant as a rip-off. However, the hypnotizing snake repeat is without question the biggest example of unoriginality I can think of. Not that I haven't come to expect that kind of thing from Disney. In general, not direct repeat-animation.
