When it comes to Richard Rich, he is rather inconsistent. The Swan Princess was surprisingly good, while The Fox and the Hound is one of Disney's most touching and underrated films. The Black Cauldron was okay thanks to John Hurt and the music but suffered from badly underdeveloped characters, while The King and I had a lot of problems but not quite as bad as it is made out to be. I'd say his weakest films are The Trumpet of the Swan, while not terrible it wasn't exactly good either and this, The Scarecrow, an example of a film that had its good points but a lot of bad ones too.
What I did like about The Scarecrow was the story. It was a very interesting concept and worked well. The film started off very nicely with a nicely done prologue in the viewpoint of Bebe. Bebe is a character you either love or hate, while I don't love her I can tolerate her. She is humorous and narrates the prologue fine, but I have never always been accustomed to her voice which dependent on who you are can grate. I have to say though, the weakest part of the story was the conclusion, I personally think there could have been a stronger finish to that. For me it came across as rather rushed and perhaps predictable, and the last few minutes have a that's it? feeling to it.
If I had to sum up the animation in one word, I'd say inconsistent. There are some beautiful backgrounds in fluidity and colour, and Polly is nicely drawn. Plus I loved the lovingly rendered dance sequence. However, the editing is rather choppy especially in the later part of the film, and I personally didn't entirely like how Max was drawn. His colours seemed washed out and his movements didn't always convince.
The music is also mixed. The incidental music is lovely, with some poignant melodies and some nostalgic like rhythms(ie. what sounded like the jitterbug at one point). Where The Scarecrow is not so successful is in the songs. In Your Arms is wonderful, and When She Looks At Me is also pretty pleasant, but the first song is overlong and very forgettable with some very uninspired lyrics, while some of the other music was so out of place they took away from any authenticity. And out of the singing really only Polly's singing voice really wowed me. Everyone else ranged from good to reasonably adequate.
The dialogue has its moments. The prologue was nicely written, and I liked Scarecrow's slang, but Grisham's came across as somewhat lame. And the pacing while brisk to start with, meanders towards the end. Then there are the characters. My two favourites are Polly, who is beautiful and has a nice personality, and the broom who is quite endearing and sweet without speaking. Bebe is tolerable, and Scarecrow/Feathertop is likable enough if occasionally too serious. Max is okay sometimes, but when it comes to comic relief and giving advice that is a different story. Speaking about comic relief, it doesn't gel really in The Scarecrow. It does try, with Max and Cheswick. But with Cheswick the running gag about his big belly becomes tiresome and unfunny after the second or third try. The worst character? Easy for me- hate to say it, but it was the villain Grisham, who is a contender for the most annoying villain in an animated film ever.
The voice acting is variable. Polly and Feathertop are reasonable, but Ray Porter trying no doubt to do something with his awful dialogue no doubt overacts dreadfully. In fact, I am sorry to say Grisham's voice is one of the main reasons why he comes across as annoying, as well as his uninspired motive.
So in conclusion, I wouldn't say it is awful, but it isn't exactly good either. It has a great story and decent protagonists but with better music and a better villain it could have been better. 5/10 Bethany Cox
