THE WACPINE OF 'THE FOX AND THE HOUND'

Though predictable and fairly simple, the plot of The Fox and The Hound feels more contained and personal compared to most other Disney animations. It also has a powerful message to deliver to audiences, and that message still feels relevant today. Mostly forgettable and unnecessary musical numbers and an overemphasis on goofy secondary characters as well as a build-up to a mostly nonexistent finale are the only weaknesses of the plot. The second half stuffs the film with one cliche after the other, which lessens the magic of the beautiful first half.

The Fox and the Hound remains one of Disney's smaller and more intimate productions and one that most strongly conveys a sense of deep friendship, loyalty and the challenges of growing up in different landscapes. In terms of subject matter and execution, this is a very mature family film. There are plenty of upsetting and touching moments. The bear fight at the end is one of the most intense sequences I've seen in a family film, it's just as scary every time. It's followed by a bittersweet ending, one of Disney's most emotional ones.

With a small but focused cast, The Fox and The Hound allows itself to be one of the more well-crafted character pieces in Disney's library. The Old Lady is one of the sweetest human characters in any Disney movie and her love for Tod is heartbreakingly beautiful. Vixey is an unnecessary addition, though, as she’s hardly relevant to the overall plot.

The animation is fluid and colourful as ever and the music has its moments but doesn't quite reach the heights of the greatest Disney soundtracks.

The lovingly down-to-earth characters and the deep friendship depicted in the story help to keep the film intriguing enough, despite a slower pace and simpler premise. To this day, The Fox and The Hound remains one of the most genuine buddy movies in film history.

It's difficult to find this film fresh or original in any way. It pulls successful elements from many other Disney films (Bambi, anyone?), just creating a different mix of these elements. The amazing thing is how Disney manages to reuse old elements to tell new stories, but a more inventive conclusion would have been great.

The Fox and The Hound remains as powerful and touching as back when I first watched it. It's one of Disney's more mature animated films, with a subject matter most adults will find familiar. It's another movie with plenty of material to enjoy for children and adults alike.

WACPINE RATING: 7.71 / 10 = 4 stars

Sadly, by 1981, Disney had run out of great stories around which to build their animation features. This is a loose adaptation of Daniel Mannix' tale of a fox cub "Tod" who suffers the tragic loss of his father at the hands of mankind and roams the countryside befriending all the animals - including a puppy "Copper" and an old widow - before becoming, himself, a target for the hunters. Necessity leads him to again team up with his now fully grown hunting-hound pal to stay ahead of the pursuing pack and shotgun!. The animation lacks the vibrancy of the studio's earlier hand-crafted work and the story/personalities are all bit pedestrian for me, I'm afraid. It looks good and Mickey Rooney, Corey Feldman, Kurt Russell and the dulcet tones of Jack Albertson (his final role) all light it up a bit but unfortunately the days of this kind of gentle fantasy adventure have long since seen their heyday.