The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 American animated buddy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens. Mickey Rooney and Kurt Russell respectively star as the voices of Tod and Copper, with Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson (in his final film role), Sandy Duncan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, John Fiedler, John McIntire, Dick Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Keith Mitchell, and Corey Feldman in supporting roles. Loosely based on the 1967 novel by Daniel P. Mannix, the film tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a red fox named Tod and a hound named Copper, as they struggle against their emerging instincts and the realization that they are meant to be adversaries.
Walt Disney Productions first obtained the film rights to the novel by Daniel P. Mannix in 1967; however, actual development on the film would not occur until spring 1977. It marked the last involvement of the remaining members of Disney's Nine Old Men, which included Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Though they had involvement in early development of the film, it was ultimately handed over to a new generation of animators following the retirement of the old animators. As such, it was the first film for future directors, including Tim Burton, Brad Bird, and John Lasseter. During production, its release was delayed by over six months following the abrupt departure of Don Bluth and his team of animators. Further concerns were raised over the handling of the scene in which Chief is hit by a train, which was originally planned to result in him dying. After debating the handling of the scene, the filmmakers decided to change the death into a non-fatal injury by which he suffers a broken leg.
The film was released to theaters on July 10, 1981, by Buena Vista Distribution. It was a financial success, earning $39.9 million domestically and receiving mixed reviews from critics. It was nominated for three awards, of which it won one. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive animated film produced to date, costing $12 million. It was re-released to theaters on March 25, 1988. An intermediate follow-up, The Fox and the Hound 2, was released directly-to-DVD on December 12, 2006.
Plot
After a young red fox is orphaned, Big Mama the owl and her friends, Dinky the sparrow and Boomer the woodpecker, arrange for him to be adopted by a kindly farmer named Widow Tweed, who names him Tod. Meanwhile, her neighbor, hunter Amos Slade, brings home a young hound puppy named Copper and introduces him to his hunting dog, Chief, who is at first annoyed by him but then learns to love him. One day, Tod and Copper meet and become best friends, pledging eternal friendship. Amos grows frustrated at Copper for constantly wandering off to play and places him on a leash. While playing with Copper outside his barrel, Tod accidentally awakens Chief. Amos and Chief chase him until they are stopped by Tweed. After an argument, Amos threatens to kill Tod if he trespasses on his property again. Hunting season comes, and Amos takes Chief and Copper into the wilderness for the interim. Meanwhile, Big Mama, Dinky, and Boomer attempt to explain to Tod that Copper will soon become his enemy. However, he naively insists that they will remain friends forever.
The following spring, Tod and Copper reach adulthood. Copper returns as an expert hunting dog who is expected to track down foxes. Late at night, Tod sneaks over to visit him. Their conversation awakens Chief, who alerts Amos. A chase ensues, and Copper catches Tod but lets him go while diverting Amos. Chief catches Tod as he attempts an escape on a railroad track, but an oncoming train strikes him, resulting in him falling into the river below and breaking his leg. Enraged by this, Copper and Amos blame Tod for the accident and vow vengeance. Realizing Tod is no longer safe with her, Tweed leaves him at a game reserve. After a disastrous night on his own in the woods, Big Mama introduces him to Vixey, a female fox who helps him adapt to life there.
Amos and Copper trespass into the reserve and hunt Tod and Vixey. The chase climaxes when they inadvertently provoke an attack from a grizzly bear. Amos trips and falls into one of his own traps, dropping his rifle slightly out of reach. Copper violently fights the bear, but he is almost killed by it. Tod comes to Copper's rescue and battles it until both he and the bear fall down a waterfall. As Copper approaches Tod as he lies wounded in the lake below, Amos appears, ready to shoot Tod. Copper positions himself in front of Tod to prevent Amos from doing so, refusing to move away. Amos, understanding Tod had saved their lives from the bear, decides to spare Tod for Copper, lowers his rifle, and leaves with Copper. Tod and Copper share one last smile before parting.
At home, Tweed nurses Amos back to health, much to his humiliation. As he lies down to take a nap, Copper smiles as he remembers the day when he first met Tod. At the same moment, Vixey joins Tod on top of a hill as they both look down on Amos' and Tweed's homes.
Voice cast
Mickey Rooney as Tod, a young fox who, after being orphaned, was raised by Widow Tweed, and becomes Copper's best friend Keith Mitchell as Young Tod Kurt Russell as Copper, a young hound who becomes Tod's best friend, and whom Amos Slade raises to become a hunter Corey Feldman as Young Copper Pearl Bailey as Big Mama, an owl who cares for and advises Tod Jack Albertson as Amos Slade, Copper's owner, an old hunter who develops a hatred for Tod Sandy Duncan as Vixey, a young vixen with whom Tod falls in love Jeanette Nolan as Widow Tweed, an old farmer who is in charge of raising Tod Pat Buttram as Chief, Amos Slade's old, stubborn dog John Fiedler as The Porcupine, a forest dweller who offers shelter to Tod John McIntire as The Badger, a grumpy forest dweller Dick Bakalyan as Dinky, a sparrow friend of Tod, always accompanied by Boomer Paul Winchell as Boomer, a woodpecker friend of Tod, always accompanied by Dinky "Squeaks the Caterpillar" is listed as playing "himself"
Production Development In May 1967, shortly before the novel won the Dutton Animal Book Award, it was reported that Walt Disney Productions had obtained the film rights to it. In spring 1977, development began on the project, after Wolfgang Reitherman had read the original novel and decided that it would make for a good animated feature, as one of his sons had once owned a pet fox years before. The title was initially reported as The Fox and the Hounds, but the filmmakers dropped the plural as the story began to focus more and more on the two leads. Reitherman was the film's original director, along with Art Stevens as codirector. A power struggle between the two directors and coproducer Ron Miller broke out over key sections of the film, with Miller supporting the younger Stevens. Miller instructed Reitherman to surrender reins over to the junior personnel, but Reitherman resisted due to a lack of trust in the young animators.
In an earlier version of the film, Chief was slated to die as he did in the novel. However, the scene was modified to have him survive with a broken leg. Animator Ron Clements, who had briefly transitioned into the story department, protested, "Chief has to die. The picture doesn't work if he just breaks his leg. Copper doesn't have motivation to hate the fox." Likewise, younger members of the story team pleaded with Stevens to have him killed. He countered, "Geez, we never killed a main character in a Disney film and we're not starting now!" The younger crew members took the problem to upper management, who would also back Stevens. Ollie Johnston's test animation of Chief stomping around the house with his leg in a cast was eventually kept, and Randy Cartwright reanimated the scene where Copper finds his body and had him animate his eyes opening and closing so the audience knew that he was not dead.
Another dispute erupted when Reitherman, in thinking the film lacked a strong second act, decided to add a musical sequence of two swooping cranes voiced by Phil Harris and Charo. These characters would sing a silly song titled "Scoobie-Doobie Doobie Doo, Let Your Body Turn to Goo" to Tod after he was dropped in the forest. Charo had recorded the song and several voice tracks which were storyboarded, and live-action reference footage was shot of her wearing a sweaty pink leotard. However, the scene was strongly disliked by studio personnel who felt the song was a distraction from the main plot, with Stevens stating, "We can't let that sequence in the movie! It's totally out of place!" He notified studio management, and after many story conferences, the scene was removed. Reitherman later walked into his office, slumped in a chair, and said, "I dunno, Art, maybe this is a young man's medium." He later moved on to undeveloped projects such as Catfish Bend.
Animation
By late 1978, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Cliff Nordberg had completed their animation. Thomas had animated scenes of Tod and Copper using dialogue Larry Clemmons had written and recorded with the child actors. The film would mark the last one to have the involvement of Disney's Nine Old Men, who had retired early during production, and animation was turned over to the next generation of directors and animators, which included John Lasseter, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Tim Burton, Brad Bird, Henry Selick, Chris Buck, Mike Gabriel, and Mark Dindal, all of whom would finalize the animation and complete the film's production. These animators had moved through the in-house animation training program and would play an important role in the Disney Renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s.
However, the transition between the old guard and the new resulted in arguments over how to handle the film. Reitherman had his own ideas on the designs and layouts that should be used, but the newer team backed Stevens. Animator Don Bluth animated several scenes, including of Widow Tweed milking her cow, Abigail, while his team worked on the rest of the sequence, and when she fires at Amos' automobile. Nevertheless, Bluth and the new animators felt that Reitherman was too stern and out of touch, and on Bluth's 42nd birthday, September 13, 1979, he, Gary Goldman, and John Pomeroy entered Ron Miller's office and turned in their resignations. Soon after, 13 more animators followed suit in turning in their resignations. Though Bluth and his team had animated substantial scenes, they asked not to receive screen credit.
Following the resignation of the animation staff, Miller mandated their immediate departure from the studio by noon that same day and subsequently rescheduled the film's release from Christmas 1980 to the summer of 1981. New animators were hired and promoted to fill the ranks. To compensate for the lack of experience of the new animators, much of the quality control would rely upon a network of veteran assistant animators. Four years after production started, the film was finished with approximately 360,000 drawings, 110,000 painted cels, and 1,100 painted backgrounds making up the finished product. A total of 180 people, including 24 animators, worked on the film.
Casting