The Fox and the Hound (1981)

Directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich & Art Stevens. Starring (voices) Jack Albertson, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey, Keith Mitchell, Corey Feldman, Dick Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Sandy Duncan. [G]

Another animal-centric fable from Disney, pleasantly old-fashioned and rough around the edges, borrowed from a novel by Daniel P. Mannix, depicting the unlikely friendship that grows between natural enemies when they’re too young to know better: a fox and a bloodhound. Bucolic country trappings infused with cheery humor and sweetness, and the honest moral is well-integrated into the story: an allegory for tolerance and friendship and how we’re not born prejudiced, but rather “learn” it from familial and societal influences…although wouldn’t it have been nice for the characters to have found a way to resolve their differences without someone’s life needing to be saved? That’s the kind of thing that can even turn around the bigotry of Edward Norton skinheads, after all. Although cute, the initial friendship scenes are a little rushed—within about five minutes of their introduction, they’re separated for a few seasons so they can grow up and grow apart—but kids will grow attached to the congenial critters without the interference of a manipulative hand. Folksy, upbeat songs are immemorable, but too infrequent to mind. A direct-to-video sequel was released in 2006.

71/100