Day 27: The Rescuers (1977)
The Rescuers seems to have been extremely popular when it was first released, but has fallen by the wayside a bit since. You certainly don’t see much mention of The Rescuers or The Rescuers Down Under in the parks, or much merchandise. I think this is a shame, because I really like these two movies. They’re not favourites, and the fact that we watched them a lot as children probably contributes to the warm and fuzzy feelings I have towards them, but I think they are great stories and have some wonderful characters that often get overlooked.
As a child, of course it was the characters that resonated with me. I adored Miss Bianca and used to tie my blanket round my head and say that I was her. She wears a headscarf - I’m not just insane. As an adult...I just want to be her even more! She’s funny and impulsive, and the perfect match for the level-headed Bernard, who is also very cute. One of the joys of this movie is how well-matched these two characters are, and how equal, and how we get to watch their relationship develop in a way that never seems forced. From the very beginning, you can see they’re perfect for each other and bring out the best in each other.
As far as the other characters are concerned, they are a fun and colourful bunch. There’s no standouts though apart, of course, from Medusa. Medusa is cruelly overlooked as a Disney villain! She’s delightfully wicked and insane and must be one of the meanest villains there is. The animation of the character is also masterful - all her mannerisms suit her perfectly and little moments like when she pulls of her eyelashes are a joy to watch, and really show the Disney animators’ commitment to quality.
Watching as an adult I started to appreciate the background animation as well. There is a noticeable improvement in the animation from movies such as Aristocats and Robin Hood. This is really a beautiful movie. Although a lot of the backgrounds seem very static and removed from the foregrounds, they’re so pretty that you don’t really mind. I love the way you can see the brush strokes in some of the background paintings and the sombre colours really reflect the tone of the movie.
Overall, for a comedy adventure, this movie could be said to be a little bit depressing. It’s nice to see Disney going for the slightly heavier themes, rather than just light-hearted comedies, but is this movie a bit too serious for young kids? I definitely wiped away a tear or two during the ‘Someone’s Waiting for You’ sequence. All of the songs are sort of wistful and weepy, but that one especially - especially for a big soppy girl like me! Overall, I like the sombre tone and the fact that there are real emotional stakes here - after all, the movie revolves around the kidnap of a little girl, it shouldn’t be all alligators playing the organ and people saying ‘Suffering Sassafras!’
NB - I noted that there was quite a lot of brilliant child-friendly, olde-worlde cussing and expostulating in this movie, which I am all for. We should have more movies where the characters say ‘Landagotion!’ and ‘Suffering Sassafras!’
I don’t know why The Rescuers has fallen out of fashion over the years, because it really is great. The character of Miss Bianca is one of my absolute faves and in Medusa the movie has a very engaging villain. Perhaps the fact that it’s not really a musical has meant that it was overshadowed by the more flamboyant 90s movies, or maybe the movie’s darker tone puts people off, or maybe it’s just the fact that is comes from the dreaded DISNEY DARK AGES and gets written off. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t deserve it and it’s time to bring it back!