Yeah I don't think many of us remember these two films. So back well before the Disney renascence began, the first
Rescuers film was seen as Disney's greatest film after
Mary Poppins as well as signalling a new golden age for Disney animation in general. At the time, the animation side of Disney was drowning and I guess when this film came out, there was indeed a light at the end of the tunnel for Disney. I know I have said this before, but with Disney being who they are nowadays its hard to imagine a time when they weren't doing as well as they are today. Additionally up until
Ralph Breaks the Internet (
Winnie the Pooh can count as the first sequel film in the canon, but for marketing purposes here in the UK its not part of it and it was also stand alone from the original film too), this was the only animated Disney film that's part of their animated classics canon to have a sequel in the same canon whereas most other sequels remained separate from such (probably due to their lack of quality). So to bring this series of advent calendar posts to an end, here's my series review of what many believe is one of the greatest Disney films ever made and its sequel that everyone seemingly forgot about:
The Rescuers
In the first film, a little girl named Penny (voiced by Michelle Stacey) sends a plea for help in the form of a message in a bottle in the Devil's Bayou where she is being held captive by a greedy redheaded and wicked pawnshop owner Madame Medusa (voiced by Geraldine Page) who tries to use Penny to retrieve for her a very rare artifact that can make her a very rich person. Meanwhile the message in a bottle ends up in New York where a secret organisation within the United Nations known as the Rescue Aid Society, reads it before sending their best agents out to deal with the cry for help. The agents in question are two little mice called Bernard (voiced by Bob Newhart and him and his character share a common dislike for flying) and Miss Bianca (voiced by Eva Gabor of which has Hungarian heritage like her character) and both of them set out to investigate and save Penny before things take a turn for the worse. So the question you have is whether I see this film as one of the so called greatest Disney films that critics make it out to be. Truthfully it is certainly up there as one of their best films. I guess what makes people forget about it is just because Disney have made a number of other great films since this film came out. Its a very fun film with some heart warming moments, lots of comedy where necessary and at the time it was one of Disney's most creative of works and can still be considered that today. I enjoyed it very much and if you are after an adventure film with all of that, then this is the film for you. 9/10
Down Under
So as the first Disney sequel film to be part of their animation canon, this film was considered to be weaker than the first but bought a number of first time things for Disney. To begin with, it was the first of their animated films to be made completely digitally over the style they used before and they achieved this by using a digital ink and paint system designed in collaboration with Pixar pre-
Toy Story called CAPS. So with all that, this meant that the film and future animated films that followed can take advantage of using 3D elements alongside traditional 2D elements. So the film is set in Australia in the outback where a young boy called Cody (voiced by Adam Ryen) is captured by a poacher called Percival C. McLeach (voiced by George C. Scott) who has been after a so called golden eagle (voiced by Frank Welker) and wants to use Cody to get said eagle, tricking the local rangers in the process. A mouse nearby catches wind of this and uses a secret outpost to send a telegram to the Rescue Aid Society for help. Bernard (reprised by Bob Newhart) and Miss Bianca (reprised by Eva Gabor in her final film role before her passing) are sent to Australia to help save Cody where they make new friends and learn some things in the outback in the process. This sequel isn't too bad and does show off some very revolutionary visuals at the time it came out. It does have a plot that almost feels all too familiar with the first film. Parts of it are an improvement over the last film. I just think that maybe this film wasn't necessary and it looked as though Disney made it so it was destined to fail as it came out the same time
Home Alone came out. But anyway, for what it is, its OK. Not great and nowhere near as great as the other renaissance films that came out at the time. But OK with great and innovative visuals for the time it came out. 7/10
To me, both films are pretty good. Disney did well with both of them and anyone looking for a more adventurous film over everything else, you'll definitely get a kick out of these two films. Its just a shame that many of us forget that Disney made these little films and even when seeing them today, they can be considered gems. But yeah, not much else to say. But please do give them a watch. 8/10
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