Robin Hood is a 1973 American animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Produced and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it is based on the English folktale "Robin Hood". Taking place in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, the story follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John, and the inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John, and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian. The film features the voices of Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Peter Ustinov, Pat Buttram, Monica Evans, Terry-Thomas, Roger Miller, and Carole Shelley.
The idea to adapt Robin Hood into an animated feature was dated back to Walt Disney's interest in the tale of Reynard the Fox following the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The idea was repeatedly shelved for several decades. In 1968, Ken Anderson pitched a film adaptation of Robin Hood, incorporating ideas from Reynard the Fox by using anthropomorphic animals rather than humans. The project was approved, becoming the first completely "post-Walt" animated feature and the first with an entirely non-human cast.
Robin Hood was released on November 8, 1973. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but it was nonetheless a box-office success, grossing $33 million worldwide against a production budget of $5 million. The film's reputation has improved over time, although some retrospective reviews have criticized the heavy use of animation recycled from previous Disney films. It has since become a cult classic.
Plot
In Medieval England amongst anthropomorphic animals, minstrel Alan-a-Dale narrates the story about an heroic outlaw named Robin Hood. He and his friend Little John live in Sherwood Forest, where they frequently rob rich people to give the money to poor people, while narrowly escaping capture by the Sheriff of Nottingham.
One day, the arrogant, greedy, and immature Prince John (who has usurped the throne from his brother King Richard after his aide-de-camp Sir Hiss hypnotized Richard into fighting in the Crusades) travels through Sherwood Forest on his way to Nottingham. Disguised as fortunetellers, Robin Hood and Little John rob the royal coach, embarrassing Prince John, who offers a very large reward for Robin's capture. Despite this, Robin continues his heroic missions, much to the gratitude of the Nottingham townspeople who are being overtaxed by Prince John, including a seven-year-old rabbit named Skippy who idolizes Robin Hood.
One day, local priest Friar Tuck meets Robin Hood and Little John at their forest hideaway, bringing news that Prince John will be hosting an archery tournament; the grand prize will be a kiss from King Richard's niece, Maid Marian, who was childhood sweethearts with Robin Hood and is still frequently on Robin's mind. Unaware that it is a trap set by Prince John, Robin, disguised as a Devonshire stork, competes in the contest, while Little John attends the contest disguised as the Duke of Chutney. Robin wins the competition; however, Prince John, who knows that only Robin Hood can shoot as well as the "stork" can, sees through Robin's disguise and sentences him to death. Maid Marian pleads for Robin's life; while they proclaim their love for each other, Little John gets Robin released by threatening Prince John with a dagger in his back. Suddenly, the Sheriff of Nottingham intervenes, and Prince John again orders Robin's death. Robin, Little John, Maid Marian, and her lady-in-waiting Lady Kluck fight Prince John's soldiers. During the fight, Robin proposes to Maid Marian, which she accepts.
Robin, Maid Marian, Lady Kluck, and Little John escape into Sherwood Forest, where Robin and Marian share a romantic evening. Arriving back at Robin's hideout, they are surprised to find the Nottingham villagers waiting for them. Little John sings a song that mocks Prince John's fraud and incompetence, which becomes extremely popular among the townspeople. When Prince John learns about the song, he is so offended that he triples the taxes on the villagers, all of whom are soon jailed when their money runs out.
Visiting Friar Tuck's now-empty church, the Sheriff of Nottingham takes the last farthing from the poor box. When Friar Tuck finally snaps and begins assaulting the Sheriff in his rage, he is arrested for high treason. Prince John orders his execution, planning to trap Robin Hood when Robin comes to rescue the Friar.
The night before the execution, Little John breaks into the jail and frees Friar Tuck, who then helps Little John free the other villagers. Meanwhile, Robin Hood sneaks into Prince John and Sir Hiss's bedroom and steals all the bags of money from the sleeping prince. Sir Hiss wakes up, realizes what is happening, and wakes up the prince. The Sheriff of Nottingham, who has fallen asleep while guarding the prison, also wakes up, and he, Prince John, and the castle guards try to stop the townspeople from escaping. Little John and the villagers escape, but Robin is trapped while rescuing Skippy's younger sister Tagalong. The Sheriff chases Robin with a lit torch, setting the castle on fire. Cornered, Robin evades Prince John's archers by jumping from a turret into the moat and swimming to safety. Sir Hiss, fed up with Prince John's constant abuse and failures, criticizes him for the plot, which resulted in his mother's castle being burned. Infuriated, Prince John chases Sir Hiss through the flames.
Some time later, King Richard returns from the Crusades. He pardons Robin Hood, forgives the villagers' taxes, and imprisons Prince John, Sir Hiss, and the Sheriff of Nottingham for their crimes. Robin and Maid Marian are married and ride off together, with Little John and Skippy in tow.
Voice cast Brian Bedford as Robin Hood, a talented archer and smart-aleck outlaw who is portrayed as a red fox. Monica Evans as Maid Marian, the niece of Prince John and King Richard and love interest of Robin Hood who is also portrayed as a red fox. Phil Harris as Little John, Robin Hood's loyal best friend who is portrayed as a brown bear. Roger Miller as Alan-a-Dale, a minstrel who serves as the narrator of the film and is portrayed as a rooster. Andy Devine as Friar Tuck, the priest of Nottingham who is portrayed as a badger. Peter Ustinov as Prince John, the cowardly and ruthless Prince Regent of England and Maid Marian's uncle. Ustinov also voiced Prince John in the German version of the film. He is portrayed as a scrawny lion without a mane. Ustinov also voices King Richard, John's older brother, the rightful King of England. Unlike John, Richard is depicted with a mane. Terry-Thomas as Sir Hiss, Prince John's advisor who is portrayed as a snake and may be representing Guy of Gisbourne due to that fact the character was originally going to be an assassin. Carole Shelley as Lady Kluck, the lady-in-waiting of Maid Marian who is portrayed as a hen. Pat Buttram as the Sheriff of Nottingham who is portrayed as a wolf. George Lindsey and Ken Curtis as Trigger and Nutsy, respectively, the Sheriff's guardsmen who are portrayed as vultures. Billy Whitaker, Dana Laurita, Dori Whitaker, and Richie Sanders as Skippy, Sis, Tagalong, and Toby, respectively, local children of Nottingham who idolize Robin Hood. Skippy, Sis, and Tagalong are white rabbits while Toby is a tortoise. John Fiedler and Barbara Luddy as the Church of Nottingham's Sexton and his wife who are portrayed as church mice. Luddy also voices Mrs. Rabbit (Skippy, Sis, and Tagalong's mother). Candy Candido as the Captain of the Royal Guard who is portrayed as a crocodile. J. Pat O'Malley as Otto the blacksmith who is portrayed as a bloodhound.
Production
During production on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Walt Disney became interested in adapting the twelfth-century legend of Reynard the Fox. However, the project languished due to Disney's concern that Reynard was an unsuitable choice for a hero. In a meeting held on February 12, 1938, Disney commented: I see swell possibilities in 'Reynard', but is it smart to make it? We have such a terrific kid audience ... parents and kids together. That's the trouble – too sophisticated. We'll take a nosedive doing it with animals.For Treasure Island (1950), Disney seriously considered three animated sections, each one of the Reynard tales, to be told by Long John Silver to Jim Hawkins as moral fables. Ultimately, the idea was nixed as Treasure Island became the studio's first fully live-action film. In the next decade, the studio decided to make Reynard the villain of a musical feature film based on Edmond Rostand's Chanticleer, but the production was scrapped in favor of The Sword in the Stone (1963).
In October 1968, Ken Anderson went on a fishing trip with Disney Studios president Card Walker. There, Walker suggested that a classic tale should be the subject for the next animated film after The Aristocats (1970). Anderson proposed the tale of Robin Hood, to which Walker responded enthusiastically. Back at the studio, Anderson relayed the idea during a story meeting on The Aristocats which was met with approval. In a follow-up meeting, with Wolfgang Reitherman, Bill Anderson (no relation), and Larry Clemmons, Ken Anderson was assigned the job to begin "exploratory animal character drawings". On his own, Anderson blended his ideas for the character Robin Hood by conceptualizing him as a slick fox that still used his skills to protect the community.
Additionally, Anderson wanted to set the film in the Deep South desiring to recapture the spirit of Song of the South (1946). Anderson explained, "Basically I had a wonderful time on Song of the South, and I know that all of my friends in animation did. They loved the part I played and I loved the part they played ... And so it was an attempt on my part to get the best of that sort of thing and get it going on again, bring it up-to-date." However, the Disney Studios executives had precautions because of the racial controversy surrounding Song of the South. Reitherman further overruled Anderson's creative suggestion by setting the film in its traditional English location as inspired by The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952). Clemmons came on board the project to write a story outline with dialogue that was later storyboarded by other artists.
As production went further along, Robin Allan stated in his book Walt Disney and Europe that "Ken Anderson wept when he saw how his character concepts had been processed into stereotypes for the animation on Robin Hood." According to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, one such casualty was the concept of making the Sheriff of Nottingham a goat as an artistic experiment to try different animals for a villain, only to be overruled by Reitherman who wanted to keep to the villainous stereotype of a wolf instead. Additionally, Anderson wanted to include the Merry Men into the film, which was again overridden by Reitherman because he wanted a "buddy picture" reminiscent of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Little John was the only Merry Man retained in the film, while Friar Tuck was put as a friend of Robin's who lived in Nottingham, and Alan-a-Dale was turned into the narrator.
Because of the time spent on developing several settings, and auditioning actors to voice the title character, production fell behind schedule. In order to meet its deadline, the animators had no other choice but to recycle several dance sequences from previous Disney animated films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Jungle Book (1967), and The Aristocats (1970) that are used in the "Phony King of England" scene.
Casting