Robin Hood. The classic, Chaotic Good outlaw hero that steals from the privileged elite to aide the struggling poor. The dude's story has been told and retold through literally every entertainment medium in existence. Manuscripts? Novels? Theatrical Plays? You name it, Robin Hood has probably appeared in it in some form. Why, you ask? Because the Robin Hood stories always have a nice, well-rounded cast of characters with simple plot hooks. You would have to be completely and utterly incompetent to screw up a story about Robin Hood. And the simplicity of Robin Hood's adventures means that writers have a lot of wiggle room as long as you adhere to the basic formula. Robin Hood gets mad at the corruption of the government, becomes a vigilante that specializes in thievery, recruits a band of like-minded burglars, and has a final showdown with Prince John and/or the Sheriff of Nottingham (or both, depending on the version). But there's one form of Robin Hood that outshines all the others. The 1973 animated film, Disney's Robin Hood.
What's so special about this film? It turned Robin Hood into an anthropomorphic fox. This film's entire gimmick is that the characters are anthropomorphic animals. Which seems to be more of a stylistic choice, considering how little bearing is placed on the character's species outside of a few one-off jokes. Seriously, the only reason why Robin Hood is a fox is because Robin Hood's main characteristic is that he is a cunning and mischievous burglar, and foxes are often associated with cunning, mischief and thievery.
Our story begins with a rooster minstrel named Alan-a-Dale who immediately lampshades the dozens of interpretations of the Robin Hood stories, and proceeds to share the version that the Animal Kingdom follows. Alan-a-Dale narrates the entire movie, but unlike most narrators, actively interacts with the cast, and even sings some of the films more iconic songs. He's a walking framing device for this film's story, but given that Alan-a-Dale in the original myths was a minstrel/bard (a musical performer who uses music to tell a story) it works perfectly. Anyway, we are quickly introduced to our heroes, Robin Hood and Little John, walking through the forest. *singing* Laughin' back'n'forth at what the other one's got to say. Reminiscin' 'bout this an' that an' havin' such a good time, ooh-dee-lally, ooh-dee-lally golly, what a day. *talking normally* Dang, that song is catchy. Anyway, while Robin Hood and Little John are enjoying themselves, they get ambushed by the Sheriff of Nottingham, and escape after a quick chase. Which is then followed by Little John questioning the the moral ambiguity of stealing from corrupt nobility and giving the money to the poor. Naturally, Robin Hood takes a moment to remind him (and the audience) that their heists are completely justified, since they only steal money from people who are intentionally hoarding their wealth and stagnating the economy out of basic greed.
We get an introduction to Prince John (no relation to Little John), the main antagonist of the film. Prince John and his snake companion Sir Hiss tricked the king of England (King Richard the Lionheart, who apparently was an actual English king that existed in real life) into mounting a holy crusade across the countryside, while Prince John usurps the throne in his absence. And they gloat about it, because nothing says "super villain red flag" like gloating about tricking your older brother into slaughtering heretics while you shamelessly overtax the common folk to fuel your all consuming greed.
Most of Disney's Robin Hood consists of Robin Hood, Little John and their friends mostly goofing around, making Prince John look like a fool (which admittedly is not hard to do, his whole shtick is that he's a whiny man-child with an inflated ego). The film doesn't really have a major plot moving things forward, as it's more of a string of smaller adventures that just happen to connect with each other. It isn't until the final act that there are immediate stakes at risk. And it actually kind of works. If I could explain this movie with one word it would be whimsical. And that kind of whimsy is, dare I say, lost on other films of its time. Heck, this film has more feel-good vibes than most modern Disney films. Though that might be the nostalgia talking.
First thing I want to talk about, Robin Hood himself. He's portrayed as he should be; a hope-bringing trickster hero with unfathomable amounts of swagger and moxie. Also, I refuse to live in a world where Robin Hood isn't voiced by Brian Bedford, because 90% of the aforementioned charm of the character comes from his performance. Actually, the voice acting in general is really good. Everyone here brings a earnest, genuine performance in their respective roles. I will comment that there are an unusually large amount of Southern accents in this film. Normally I wouldn't comment on it, but the fact that Robin Hood is a distinctly English concept, and almost all of his stories (including this one!) take place in England. The only characters that actually speak with anything resembling an English accent are Prince John, Robin Hood himself, and Maid Marian. Speaking of...
Maid Marian is honestly the only real thing that I can criticize. Not that she herself is a bad or poorly written character, not at all. Maid Marian is Robin Hood's love interest and childhood friend. And as far as secondary female Disney characters go, she's alright. The problem with Marian is that she doesn't really get much stuff to actually do. She shows up, plays with some kids, is used as bait to lure Robin Hood to an archery contest (it makes sense in context), gets rescued/engaged with Robin Hood, and does a cute little dance with the rest of the outlaws. She rather suspiciously disappears during the final showdown between Robin Hood and Prince John's forces, and only reappears towards the end of the film, during Robin Hood's marriage. "But Spencer!" You cry. "This film was made during the 70's, and is an adaptation of a story originating from a culture that always gave the female lead the short end of the stick!" But allow me to remind you all that in the original stories (which go back as far as 1377), Maid Marian was established as an unusually competent fighter and swords(wo)man. So much so that in some versions, Marian could straight up beat Robin Hood himself in a one-vs-one sword duel (Robin Hood is usually portrayed as being the better of the two at archery, to compensate). And it makes you wonder what kind of finale we might have gotten if Marian fought alongside Robin Hood directly.
But the most important thing about the relationship between Robin Hood and Maid Marian is that IT'S NOT LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!!! …Unless you count "childhood friends being separated for years only to reunite and rekindle their love for each other" as love at first sight. I don't. And childhood friend romance is a trope that I will gladly take over love at first sight. But that's not the point. The point is, it's one of the few classic Disney romances I actually like. It just feels a bit more genuine or believable to me. Also, really quick side note. Maid Marian is stated to be the niece of both Prince John and King Richard. But she's a fox, and they are both lions. So either she was adopted or somebody on that family tree has some interesting genetics. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. Yes, I know that the reason she's a fox is to make the romance between her and Robin Hood look less weird. Just a fun(?) bit of useless trivia you may not have realized.
But let's talk about Prince John for a moment. I absolutely adore him as a villain, but not because he's a hyper competent Dark Lord or something. He's a greedy, self-centered ill-tempered brat with mommy issues. And Prince John was a real life person, who was greedy, self-centered, ill-tempered, and had mommy issues. It's weirdly realistic to how he was in life. The only change they made was the removal of his shameless womanizing, which most likely was removed to keep the film family friendly. But anyway, Prince John is honestly one of the funniest Disney villains. He is by far the least intimidating, and the least complex, but sometimes you just want a Doofenshmirtz style villain you can laugh at. If I want a serious, complex Disney villain, I'd watch Hunchback of Notre Dame for Judge Frollo.
The supporting cast is pretty good. You have Alan-a-Dale narrating the whole film, but he physically interacts with the cast, even helping Friar Tuck apprehend a sneaky Sir Hiss during the archery contest. Friar Tuck meanwhile is doing everything he can to help the people of Nottingham through his church an faith, and serves as a more lawful counterpart to Robin Hood. Also, a quick side note, I always thought Friar Tuck was supposed to be a mole when I watched this film as a kid, but it turns out he's actually a badger. Anyway, I also liked the kids, who have grown to idolize Robin Hood, and one of them even has a kid-sized bow and hat to emulate Robin's ensemble. The Sheriff of Nottingham (yes I do have to call him that since no version of the Robin Hood story ever specifies his name) is very much a love-to-hate antagonist. He's a heartless jerk that routinely harasses the townsfolk of Nottingham to "collect taxes" even though this really just amounts to unjust robbery. I mean, the dude demands that Friar Tuck pays the taxes on his church. In medieval England. The same country and time period where the church was exempt from taxation. Of course, this is also the time period where the Pope had more political power than the entire Royal Family combined and could easily order the Sheriff to be hanged (or worse) for the sheer audacity of demanding tax payment from a man of the cloth, but if the Pope was in this movie, a lot of the film's plot simply wouldn't happen.
In regards to music and sound, it's soundtrack is very country-inspired, with a lot of lutes and whistling. The only real exception to this rule is "Love" which is the song that's performed during Robin Hood and Marian's romantic stroll through the forest. It's a more traditional ballad that honestly sounds like a 30's-40's era Disney song. Not that that's a bad thing. I already mentioned the voice acting, and sound design in general adds a certain charm to the film.
Overall, Disney's Robin Hood is a wonderful family film that's nice to sit down with your nostalgic friends who want to reminisce about both this and that, and have such a good time. It's not a complex story that needs further analysis to find meaning. What you see is what you get; Robin Hood and his friends running circles around a spoiled prince and his goons, while also helping out struggling commoners everywhere they can. Throw in a romantic subplot for good measure. There's not a whole lot you can actually criticize about the film, aside from Marian's lack of impact in the finale and arguably the reused animations for the dance scene (some people view it as a neat little Easter egg for hardcore Disney fans). With that being said, Disney's Robin Hood is "Good Enough to Make a Grown Man Cry, and That's OK." If you like Robin Hood, anthropomorphic animals, or both, go watch this film. …Okay, I acknowledge that this film probably won't make you cry, it's not a particularly sad or emotional experience. But I rate things based on movie quotes, and Officer Earl from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a goldmine of memorable quotes.
