The Fox and the Hound

 1/4

Starring (voices): Keith Coogan, Corey Feldman, Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, Jack Albertson, Sandy Duncan

Rated G

"The Fox and the Hound" will make you want to cry.  Not the "good" cry that comes from watching a great tragedy like "Grave of the Fireflies."  The kind of crying that comes from watching "Saving Private Ryan" at age five.  I realize that I used that analogy when describing "The Poughkeepsie Tapes," but it applies here as well.  I wanted to turn this movie off halfway through and never look back.

The story is a simple one.  Tod (Coogan) is an orphaned fox who is taken in by the kindly Widow Tweed (Nolan).  Next door, the sadistic hunter Amos Slade (Albertson) has just adopted a hounding named Copper (Feldman) to train has a hunting dog, much to the chagrin of Amos's current canine, the elderly Chief (Buttram).  Improbably, Tod and Copper become best friends despite the fact that they are natural enemies.  And that's exactly what they become after Amos takes Copper away for the winter.

Watching "The Fox and the Hound" is Disneyfied masochism.  Tod is the central character, and the only one with enough of a personality to truly identify with.  And then with the Disney gift for manipulation, the filmmakers unleash the curses of Job upon him.  Let's see: his mother is murdered before the opening credits, he's shot at more times than one can count, attacked by Amos, the Chief and Copper, abandoned by those he thought loved him.  The list goes on.  Disney movies are infamous for opening the tear ducts, but Tod is put through so much suffering that it feels like watching Simba find his dead father played on loop for 90 minutes.  There's only so much a person can take!

On top of that, this is just bad filmmaking.  Key relationships are rushed.  Tod and Copper become best friends in about three minutes, including a montage with a Disney song.  I get that this is an animated film and corners had to be cut, but this is not enough time for the audience to have much of an emotional investment in their relationship.  I cared about Tod, but not Copper.  When the inevitable shift in Copper from friend to enemy occurs, it doesn't register emotionally.  In many ways this is a tragedy, but there's not enough time for the happiness to offset the misery that must occur.

The voice acting is effective, I guess.  The cast do their jobs by being just under the maximum level of teeth gnashingly nasty (Albertson) or sickeningly sweet (everyone else).  Pearl Bailey has some nice moments as the mother hen (even though she is in fact an owl).  But her dialogue is too thin for her to do much.  A romance develops between Tod and a fellow fox named Vixy (Duncan), but to call it rushed would be an understatement.  They meet cute, fall in love, break up and make up all in the space of about sixty seconds.  Uh huh.

I hated this movie.  It made me miserable watching it.  I felt sad at the abuse inflicted on this poor fox and angry at how shameless the filmmakers were in manipulating me to feel that way.  This is the Disney heartbreak without the joy.

Comments

  1. BitcherMay 28, 2021 at 7:39 PM

    This is without a doubt, one of your most laughably bad reviews. It’s clear you understand very little about what makes a compelling film. Please get a day job and don’t ever call yourself a legitimate film critic, you soulless hack

    ReplyDelete

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