I’ll admit, I was a little worried about watching The Fox and the Hound for the first time. This is mainly due to viewing other not bad but definitely below average animated Disney movies that came out around the same time such as Oliver and Company and The Aristocats. I am thankful to report that I was wrong as this movie managed to surprise me in ways I never thought a movie like this could.
A baby fox is separated from his mother Ala Bambi style and is left with no one to care for him. That is until a couple of friendly birds grab the attention of a sweet old farm lady named Widow Tweed to discover the baby fox and take him in as a pet named Tod. Tod spends most of his days causing mischief and being curious like any animal his age would. That is until Tweed’s mean neighbor Amos Slade, brings home a young blood hound named Cooper and plans to train him for hunting along with his older hunting dog named Chief. Both Tod and Cooper discover each other and instantly become friends much to the dismay Chief and Amos. Amos then takes Cooper and chief away on a hunting trip leaving Tod heartbroken. Months later, Tod has grown into a full adult and when Cooper finally comes back Tod begin’s to realize that their friendship may be damping as many prejudices get in the way of what once was something special.
The story actually has a good amount of weight especially halfway through the movie. The friendship between Tod and Cooper is adorable to watch when they are kids and it makes it very sad to see when their grown up counterparts find out that their friendship might have more complications than either of them realize. I also like that there really is no bad guy. Even Amos, despite his meanness, isn’t really that evil; he's just a rather short tempered farmer and even Widow Tweed knows that. However, it's not all perfect. The side characters are kinda forgettable, especially the two birds who have a whole side plot dedicated to them about trying to capture a caterpillar for food. The owl named Big Mama is alright and I can see why she was needed for the story but even she can overstay her welcome from time to time.
Also, (I hope I'm not giving too much away) they try to make it look like a character died which aggravates Cooper and puts a damper on his and Tod’s friendship when in actuality it turns out the character's okay. I’m not gonna say who that character is for spoiler reasons, but I felt like it would be a lot more impactful plot wise if that character actually stayed dead. They also introduce a romance during the third act with Tod and a female fox which at first I thought was kinda pointless, but when I stepped back and thought about everything else that happened in the movie. It actually made sense in the long run and to be fair it can be rather touching to see some good things happen to Tod after going through some difficult situations.
The hand drawn animation is beautiful and timeless. It really captures the beauty of being in the countryside and in the woods. Character designs are also really good. They’re cartoony but also realistic in their movements (with the slight exception of the birds). The main animals look and move realistically for the most part but they still have that human characteristic that makes them relatable to the audience. Now on the other hand, The music is honestly not the best that Disney has ever done. Of course being Disney, there are some songs in the mix but they aren’t anything memorable or even that good to begin with. The music score itself on the other hand is decent and works when things are calm or intense.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that The Fox and The Hound is an amazing Disney movie, but there are so many good elements that make this movie enjoyable that it’s really hard for me not to deny it’s worth. The movie’s heavy messages and story, likable main characters and pretty animation make this movie worth taking a look at. It’s a movie I was happy to watch and I may come back to viewing this whenever I’m in need of something good to put on.
(Final Grade: B)