The Fox and The Hound

It's time for antoher movie review and this time I'm going back to 1981. Eight years before I was born to reveiw one of my favorite Disney movies which I also believe to be very underrated. Just as with before, I'll give you the plot, the characters, the villians and then my final thoughts. First up though it's Trailer Time.







The Plot


The plot for this movie is hard to describe but it is basically the story of a a hound dog and a fox becoming best freinds even though nature says they should be enimines and growing up together and learning their place in this place we call earth. There you go the basic plot  Now onto the characters.



The Characters


Now as usual I'll be breaking this down into main characters, supporting characters and villian.  Now while there is comic releif the film can move on without them so I'm not going to include the comic releif characters. Also since Todd & Copper age during the film, I will talk about them as kids and as adults.


Young Todd  voiced by Keith Mitchell




As a cub, Tod was very playful and loved having fun.  He actually sets the sotry in motion as you see after some hunters kill his mother, he is orphaned but the owl, Big Mama arranges for Widow Tweed to adopt him.  Tweed does adopt Todd and between that time, they develop a love and bond that is strong.  When Tod meets Copper they become best freinds, even though  by nautre they should not be freinds.



Adult Tod voiced by Mickey Rooney



As an adult, Tod remains his childlike nature and is still playful and he thinks that he and Copper can still be freinds. Even though Tod beleives differently and sadly Widow Tweed lets Tod into the forest as she can no longer care for him but in the Tod does find a new love.



Young Copper  voiced by Corey Feldman




"My name's Copper. I'm a Houndog". That is my favorite line of the film as it shows the boy's blindness to the world around them and how they just want to be friends. Copper is brought home by Amos Slade and as a pup, Copper feels that it is okay to play with Tod. Even though he is a fox and they share so many playful moments together and they spend many days together but as the grow older, they grow apart.

Adult Copper voiced by Kurt Russell






While Tod is still somewhat playful and an optimist as an adult, Copper has become a realist and now understands their place in the world and even tells Tod, "Those days are over"  referring to the time they spent together as children and now they are enemies and the most heartbreaking part of this movie is seeing Copper accompanying Amos Slade in hunting down Tod but in the end, Tod lives and the friends share one last moment together knowing that they will always have the memories.



Supporting Characters


Big Mama voiced by Pearl Bailey





While I said that Tod set the story in motion that is not entirely true as Big Mama is the one that arranged for the adoption to happen. Big Mama has to be one of my favorite character, she fills the mentor role in this film in helping the boys and guiding them but she also has to break the news to Tod of how the relationship between him and Copper is  going to change as they grow older. She is a sweet motherly figure that looks out for Tod and Copper and she sings my favorite song in this film, which we will be getting to shortly.


Widow Tweed voiced by Jeannette Nolan





While Big Mama was the motherly type, I found Widow Tweed to be grandmotherly and very caring. It was very obvious she loved Tod and wanted to protect and she would no matter what.  She had a lot of sass and was not afraid to speak her mind and stand up to Amos Slade, which she did on occasion.



The Songs


Best of Friends





Now I love this song and its message of how, you should be able to be friends with whomever you want. Also I see as a bit of foreshadowing. Odd, let me explain. You see as kids, they are happy to be with each other and can't think of not spending a minute without one another but as they grow older they grow apart and the lyrics talking about being eninmines which they unwillingly become.


Goodbye May Seem Forever




This is another heartbreaking moment right here. While this mostly a poem set to music, it still works. In this scene, Widow Tweed is letting Tod go into the forest but she starts tearing up at all the memories of the time they had spent togoether. Tod is not aware of what is going on until she leaves and to me that is the saddest part because he had no idea as he thought this was just a drive but no it was so much more.  By the way both of these will be on Music Fridays # 2: Sad Songs.



Villian

Amos Slade voiced by Jack Albertson




While Slade does serve as an anatagonist for the film and even though I have labeled him as the villian, I can't really sat that is true. He is cold and stern that is true but when looking at his actions I beleive he think he is doing what is right and is worried that Copper will get hurt by Tod. In the end, he has good intentions but bad delivery.



My Final Thoughts

This is certainly an underrated movie and one that I say any Disney fan should give a watch as it is a great story of freindship and growing up and growing apart but just have the tissue box close by as this film is going to make you cry.