Rox et Rouky

This is without a doubt one of Disney's most under appreciated classics. Great animation, fantastic voice acting and lovable characters and before all the PC nonsense that bogs down most newer Disney productions. This is Disney at its best, much better than the likes of Hunchback, Tarzan, Pochonatas, Hercules, Aladdin etc. If you haven't seen this one, give it a try, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise!

I really liked the way this film followed two different characters on their life journeys. It was a departure from the usual Disney plot structure. These characters are well fleshed out and engaging. The only reason I didn't rate this higher was because of a certain unbelievable bridge scene.

This is a film that both delighted me and deeply upset me, because it seemed so happy, and yet, so unfair at the same time. The two best friends, the "Fox and the Hound", meet again after they are fully grown adults, or, when they are old enough to face the fact that their friendship was never meant to be. That broke my heart, because it was such a beautiful friendship, unfairly tarnished by a cruel world. If only our world was a happy place, where races and cultures didn't matter, and if only we could recognize those characters as our friends, and not our enemies simply because of our ethnic differences. Years later, Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" brought up that same point with a vengeance. And, like "The Fox and the Hound", it shows how much that beautiful friendship between people won't last because of how society determines our friends and enemies. It makes no sense, and it's unfair. What's more, Tod, the fox, endures more than any other character in the film. Other characters, and especially the hunter, discriminated against him without thinking. And we the audience had to endure seeing him go through this misery, all because he was born a fox! It's insane! Sadly, it's true to life. And that is the main reason it was made for kids, to point out how wonderful a friendship is, and how ridiculous it is to tarnish it because of a racial or ethnic difference! And although this film runs on the standard Disney formula, with the songs, the comic relief, the love interest, and the villain, this film really touched me, because I wanted to see their friendship go on. And although it did go on in some form, there is always that feeling of "he doesn't belong" being uttered by many of the other characters. Why? Well, this film asks children and adults alike, that very question.

Looking back as child having watched this film, it never struck me for anything more than fuzzy/singing/talking animals that pandered to all my childish wants and needs. After all, that's why you watched Disney movies as a kid, right? It's just what you did in your childhood.

Now, watching it again, about to embark on adulthood and all that it entails, it really moved me. How Todd and Copper, a young fox and a hound were the best of friends. Todd having been taken in by a kindly old women and nursed backed to health while right next door, Copper, owned by a mean and bitter old hunter, is being groomed as hunting dog.

Yet, like children, they don't judge. They don't know about the differences between each other and they don't care. They just want to play hide and seek. It is when they grow older that they realize that it was never meant to be. How sometimes societal rules can stamp out the most innocent of ventures. Much like becoming an adult, reality sets in. Life is unfair.

It's a truly beautiful movie, for it's simplistic yet universal message and unlike the vast library of previous Disney inventions, as stated before, it lacks the happy ending. The proverbial feel good formula that is the frame work for all Disney movies. It's because of it's bittersweet delivery and surprising realism, that it's become a lifeline to my childhood that I will carry with me for as long as I live.

This has got to be one of the most underappreciated Disney classics yet. The Fox and the Hound is probably the most heartwarming Disney film yet. It mixes humor, action, and romance as well as any other Disney film, except for a select few such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, or Tarzan. Nevertheless, I cannot believe this is rated only a 6.6. Several Disney films that are rated above this movie come nowhere near close to it in quality (i.e. Snow White, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, etc...). I cannot comprehend how it is rated so low...9/10 (Ranks right up there with the likes of Robin Hood and Pinocchio).