Robin Hood (1973)

I love this movie so much

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

best movie i've ever seen.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

ROBIN HOOD is a Disneyfied version of the popular folk legend, positing the various familiar characters as various animals. Thus Robin himself is a charming fox, and one of the villains is a lisping snake played by the great Terry-Thomas. Overall I found this to be a much better production than expected given its reputation; the music is toe-tappingly good and the voice actors work hard to add emotion and meaning to their voices. There's little to complain about regarding the old-fashioned animation, which has real character. Peter Ustinov is a particularly oily delight as the villain of the piece. The plot moves along at a fair old whack and it's all very light-hearted and comedic without being silly or juvenile. In fact, it might just be one of the most entertaining Robin Hood films to come out of Hollywood.

Despite my profile picture, I have a relative dislike towards Robin Hood, in the same just barely watchable realm as One Hundred and One Dalmatians. While I do admit that the characters and the songs are enjoyable and get deserved credit (despite some that have little purpose and need more), there are major historical inaccuracies that affect not the characters themselves (like in Pocahontas), but what they do. Robin Hood is set in 1192 (at least the ending is, when King Richard returned from the Third Crusades), but the movie features Happy Birthday, balloons, farthing coins, badminton, arrow shooters that are reminiscent of rifles (Trigger's bow and arrow is automatic, includes safety, and is called "Old Betsy", as if Trigger's successors would go on to invent firearms) and football player-esque guards (including a fight song during the "beautiful brawl" in Little John's words). The climax is also virtually nonexistent, leading from a castle escape to the cliché of a character faking death to fool the enemy, and then cutting straight to a wedding with nothing else. Did I mention that some of the animation is more obviously recycled than in other Disney movies?There is actually still hope for Robin Hood, as the Most Wanted Edition (and later the 40th Anniversary Edition) features deleted scenes including an Alternate Ending (you don't have to buy it to see these scenes, they're on YouTube). When I saw the Alternate Ending for the first time, I was baffled at how much better it is compared to the anticlimactic normal ending. Not only is there more climax and suspense overall, but there are some dark tones which contrast the rest of the film very well, and Maid Marian and King Richard get more screen time. The Sheriff of Nottingham isn't incarcerated in this ending (possibly because he acted only as an enforcer to John's laws, rather than acting of his liberated will), and even though there isn't Allan-A-Dale, I found more satisfaction with the Alternate Ending, so thank goodness it wasn't forgotten by Disney.Overall, I would give this a 5 for the normal ending and a 7 for the Alternate Ending, averaging to a 6. It isn't terrible, but it's the kind of film I'd expect to have a 6.7 instead of a 7.6.

When I was young, I loved watching Disney films with my family. From Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs to Brother Bear, I loved every film. So, with Robin Hood being one of their classics, you'd think I'd like it too! Unfortunately, even when I was young, I never cared much for this film...but I couldn't stop watching it either. Why is that? Was it the animation? The characters? The story? The anthro characters?Let's talk about the story. If you know the legend of Robin Hood, then this movie is nothing new. It's basically Robin Hood and his buddy Little John robbing the rich and giving to the poor. It's a classic Robin Hood story that's been told many of times, but Disney does manage to find a way to make it creative, which is the use of anthropomorphic characters. Sadly, the story does fall apart near the middle once half of the villagers are jailed, cause by then it seems like the story is on fast-forward as it races towards a, surprisingly, tense action- packed finale. The ending also suffers from being classic Disney fare, UNLESS you look at the alternate ending, which actually ends the story a bit better and a better explanation pertaining to Prince John's punishment.Thankfully, the characters save this movie from being almost boring. First, you got the main man himself, Robin Hood. Portrayed as a fox, he is the prince of thieves, but not your standard thief. Instead of going for the poor, he goes for the rich to give to the poor. His design is decent for the time, though he suffers from the 'Disney Big Eye Syndrome' at times, especially when the film focuses on his face straight-on. There's also his friend and cohort, Little John, whom I'm just gonna say this, is a straight copy of Baloo from The Jungle Book in terms of both design and characteristics. Yes, I know this film does copy from the aforementioned Jungle Book and I will touch on it in a bit, but if you want to know what Little John is like, watch Baloo in that film and you'll see tons of similarities. Moving on, we got Maid Marian, who is sadly very under-used. Unlike other adaptations of the tale, here she is literally only in three scenes: The beginning where she is playing bad-mitten and kisses one of the rabbit kids, the archery scene and finally the ending. You'd think she would have a good amount of screen time, but she ends up being wasted in her role (Though, I'll give the film this: Her design does make her cute). As for the villains, they are some of the funniest villains Disney had made in a while. I like how Prince John, while ruthless, is more or less reduced to a momma's boy and when stuff doesn't go to plan, ends up sucking his thumb. His assistant Sir Hiss, though, ends up being much like Maid Marian as in being wasted potential. As for the Sheriff Of Nottingham, well, dude's a douche. I was tempted to peg him as the worst character but he is saved by one thing: His voice actor. Voiced by the late Pat Buttram, he manages to bring a bit of goofiness to the character and, at times, a bit of Mister Haney in there as well. With the rest of the characters, they're just there and somewhat forgettable, with a few having some cool moments, so there is not much to say.Like all of Disney's classic animated films, the animation here is beautiful at times. The backgrounds are a treat to look at and the characters are animated realistically but keeping their animal traits in the movement as well. But, there is a problem with the animation. The problem being is that it, well, is infamously known for copying a lot of sequences and animation cells from the previously released films 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs', 'The Aristocats', and 'The Jungle Book', with the most infamous scene in the film being the Dance Scene near the middle of the film. Not only are moves reused from the previous aforementioned films, but it is a shot-for-shot remake of all the dance scenes from those films. Sure, you can attribute this to a smaller budget, but they could've at least made some newer dance animation cells for this film instead of reusing so many from those films.Now let us return to a question I asked earlier: Why did I return to watch this film so many times even though I never cared for the film? Well, it wasn't because of the anthro characters, the story, nor the animation. It was because it was a Disney film that, to me, didn't feel like the usual Disney fare. Unlike their previous films, this one felt more like a live-action film then a animated film, if that makes sense. I think that's why I returned to watch it constantly. It felt like a mature Disney film then what they were known for back in the day.In conclusion, Robin Hood, while it has it faults, ranks up there as one of Disney classic animated films, I still do recommend this film to any Disney fan out there.

Even after all these years, this film is still in my top 5. Excellent songs, excellent plot, excellent ending! When I was little I wore out my VHS copy of this to near death, but I still have it today. The story of Robin Hood has been told time and time again, in live action, theatre, and animation. In my opinion this classic telling of the story is the best by far. There is just something so charming about depicting the characters as animals that makes them more friendly, lovable, and great story tellers themselves. This story always struck me as having that fairytale element and I feel that something like that could never be done justice in live action. Overall it is a story best told by foxes.