The Rescuers or The Rescuers Down Under?

[DC Fan]

Which movie do you prefer: The Rescuers or The Rescuers Down Under?

For me...The Rescuers. And I was a kid of the 80s and 90s so Down Under should have been more appealing. Still, aside from some music in The Rescuers I like it much more. The dark atmosphere, the mystery, the pace...

In The Rescuers there´s nothing like that. The complete opposite. But worse than that it´s that: where are the Rescuers? They´re not doing anything and just meet Cody at the end of the movie.

For me, the only good things Down Under are: the animation and the new updated design for Bernard and Bianca.

[Lady Cluck]

Rescuers Down Under for the amazing score, the setting, and more appealing characters. Rescuers bores me to tears in some parts, but Medusa is a better villain than McLeach.

Both are relatively mediocre overall though.

[DisneyJedi]

I think I like Down Under best mainly because of the setting and the flight scene(s). Before Avatar or even How To Train Your Dragon, we had The Rescuers Down Under.

Oh, and I do think McLeach was way more intimidating than Madame Medusa. Sure, the latter is cruelty personified, but she got he butt handed to her by animals. Oh, did I mention that if Disney were for sequels at the time, Cruella De Vil would have been in Medusa's place. Imagine that.

[Kyle]

As a kid, for the longest time I didn't realize that down under was a sequel at all. heh

I guess I would say down under, but I haven't seen either in their entirety since I was a kid to be honest. I barely remember anything about them. Need to rewatch them some time.

[DisneyFan09]

As a kid I would definitively say "Rescuers Down Under", I thought it was superior in every single way. It's score, animation, pace and frankly more fun and engaging as a whole. However, I didn't detest the first movie either, despite that I thought it was inferior. I think I should give the first movie a shot.

[NeverLand]

Rescuers Down Under

[justcuttinhair]

Again, as mentioned before, "The Rescuers Down Under" is commonly loved and cherised by many a-child-of the 80's! Agreed, the story is a bit more fun...score is lush! and the animation is gorgeous...it should have a lot more praise for the design and animation..it is truly has some beautiful moments. One a side note* I have always loved the colors and the way the light is show during the "restaurant" scene/initial proposal. But, "The Rescuers" does have a soft spot in my heart, as does "The Aristocats"...2 of the best from the dark ages; the other being "Fox and the Hound".

[carolinakid]

The Rescuers, although I like them both. I like The Rescuers' songs and Medusa is a fabulous villainess. Down Under, I like for the animation of Marahute and for Joanna the goanna, who I think is a great sidekick.

[ProfessorRatigan]

The Rescuers. The first film has better atmosphere, a better plot, a more outlandish and entertaining villain (though McLeach is good, Medusa is just...god, she's such FUN to watch), better character animation (it was the swansong for many of the Nine Old Men, after all), and just more heart in general. Plus, it doesn't leave a long, dangling plot thread at the end, unlike Down Under. (Seriously, Bernard, Bianca, Cody and co. are going to fly off into the night sky and leave the other animals McLeach chained up to DIE? This is a huge problem.)

[Jay]

The Rescuers. I have always loved this movie even as a kid I watched it all the time. I just think it's a cute story with a lot of heart. I agree with ProfessorRatigan that the film has great atmosphere. And the songs are lovely. And I love Medusa. She is one of my all time favorite villains. She is hilarious and masterfully animated by Milt Kahl and brilliantly voiced by Geraldine Page. It's a shame she is pretty much forgotten especially since Milt Kahl put his all into her being his last character.

I haven't seen The Rescuers Down Under in a long time so I don't remember to much honestly. The animation is good. And I really like Joanna she is a fun sidekick. And McLeach is a wicked, sinister villain voiced by the great George C. Scott. I'll have to watch it again but I've always preferred the first film overall.

[ProfessorRatigan]

And I love Medusa. She is one of my all time favorite villains. She is hilarious and masterfully animated by Milt Kahl and brilliantly voiced by Geraldine Page. It's a shame she is pretty much forgotten especially since Milt Kahl put his all into her being his last character.

This. Andreas Deja really helped me appreciate the animation of that film, and that character in particular, on his blog, posting the roughs, the break-downs, the model sheets and all the various designs Medusa went through. Kahl, for better or worse, IS considered the finest draftsman of the Nine Old Men, and Medusa really was his tour-de-force performance. He was spurred on a lot by his desire to 'top' Marc Davis's Cruella De Vil animation. And that amuses me to no end. Even Cruella seems to get shoved to the side these days. Same with Captain Hook. These two use to be seen as, like, Mt. Rushmore Disney Villains. Even more so than Maleficent. But, ever since the Princess Brand became a thing, Disney refuses to merchandise anything that isn't Princess Related... Hence, characters like Madame Medusa (and Professor Ratigan and the post-Lion King villains, etc.) get shoved to the side.

[Jay]

And I love Medusa. She is one of my all time favorite villains. She is hilarious and masterfully animated by Milt Kahl and brilliantly voiced by Geraldine Page. It's a shame she is pretty much forgotten especially since Milt Kahl put his all into her being his last character.

This. Andreas Deja really helped me appreciate the animation of that film, and that character in particular, on his blog, posting the roughs, the break-downs, the model sheets and all the various designs Medusa went through. Kahl, for better or worse, IS considered the finest draftsman of the Nine Old Men, and Medusa really was his tour-de-force performance. He was spurred on a lot by his desire to 'top' Marc Davis's Cruella De Vil animation. And that amuses me to no end. Even Cruella seems to get shoved to the side these days. Same with Captain Hook. These two use to be seen as, like, Mt. Rushmore Disney Villains. Even more so than Maleficent. But, ever since the Princess Brand became a thing, Disney refuses to merchandise anything that isn't Princess Related... Hence, characters like Madame Medusa (and Professor Ratigan and the post-Lion King villains, etc.) get shoved to the side.

I agree. Cruella and Hook were both very popular back in the 90's when I was a kid. Actually I remember not a lot of people knowing about Maleficent. I remember watching a music video for the Haunted Mansion on a Darkwing Duck VHS that featured Maleficent over and over again. I had not seen Sleeping Beauty yet and thought she looked so cool. There was also an advertisement for the movie on my "Return of Jafar" VHS and she was heavily featured and I kept thinking "I've gotta see this movie!" Then I cam home from school one day and my mom had bought the VHS and I was all excited and said "Where did you get it from?" And she said "Blockbuster." And I was freaked out and said "So we have to return it!" And she laughed and said no.

So I watched it and loved Maleficent. I would act her out and would go on and on about her to my friends and they were all like "Who the hell are you talking about?" They never even watched the movie because they thought it was too "old". Well fast forward now they're all like "OMG mALEFCIENT IS da best vill1llain EVaAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!111!!!!1!!"

I feel like Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty in general became more popular when the princess franchise became a thing and Mally was the head villain in the Kingdom Hearts games. And yeah these days Disney only seems to care about the movies made during Walt's life(minus The Sword in the Stone), star an official Disney princess and The Lion King. It's sad because there are so many great movies I grew up watching that receive no attention. Disney should just re-release all their movies more often and release a ton of merchandise along with them.

I WANT A MEDUSA DOLL DAMNIT!

[ProfessorRatigan]

Yeah, I remember when Hook and Cruella were plastered on EVERYTHING. And had action figures, plushes, t-shirts, figurines, snowglobes, DOLLS galore. Mattel started a line of Disney Villains Dolls in the 90s and the only ones they ended up making were the Evil Queen, Glenn Close's Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook, Ursula and Maleficent. I think they had planned to do animated Cruella, but the line got cancelled. And from the Captain Hook doll's packaging, it seemed like they had planned to do a whole line of Male Villains, because he was touted as the 'first' in a male doll line...first and last, sadly. (Could you imagine how nice deluxe *90s* Mattel dolls of Gaston, Jafar, Frollo or Hades could have been!? I guess they weren't big sellers or something. But those dolls are STILL some of the nicest toys these villains ever got. I would argue that, doll-wise, they still ARE the best.

And I remember when Maleficent was obscure. I think you're right about the Princess Brand and Kingdom Hearts catapulting her popularity, because the only people I knew growing up who had even heard of Maleficent were hardcore Disney fans. Funny story, the release of Sleeping Beauty on VHS in the 90s, the 1997 release, actually dropped on my birthday, September 16th! So, that ended up BEING my birthday present. I remember wanting it so badly and finally unwrapping it and watching it for the first time. And Maleficent was so cool. I still remember how shocked I was when she told Phillip, "Now shall you deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of HELL!" For some reason, that really shocked me. It's odd. Frollo's constant invocation of 'hellfire' never had that impact. Silly, I know, but, with Frollo, it just didn't seem like he was SUMMONING Hell, like Maleficent.

It's sad because there are so many great movies I grew up watching that receive no attention. Disney should just re-release all their movies more often and release a ton of merchandise along with them.

I WANT A MEDUSA DOLL DAMNIT!

I've said this for years...and gotten all sorts of angry feedback for it. I've always felt the Platinum and Diamond Edition lines were mistakes. "Here, these are the only 10 or so films we've made that matter!" But, when you criticize the line, fans get so butthurt about it. All the films should be treated equally. Ideally, I've always wanted something akin to the Criterion Collection for the Disney titles. Great audio and visual transfers, classy packaging and educational special features for ALL the classics. But, apparently, The Lion King and Cinderella are just more worthy than Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, Hunchback, etc...

[justcuttinhair]

It is sad that so many of these "secondary" films are relegated/regarded as second tier. Personally, I find the production and concept evolution of these films fascinating. "The Rescuers" has a interesting development stage and due to the fact it was one of the final productions utilizing the "Nine Old Men" who were still with the company. I am of the opinion that ALL of the films should have had some sort of "making of" featurette. I encourage all of you to look on YouTube and view clips of Milt Kahl speaking of his work on "Madame Medusa".....good stuff

[robinhood21]

I prefer the original movie.

[Disney's Divinity]

I've always preferred The Rescuers Down Under over the original. The sequel does have a few too many similarities in plot, but mostly I think it improves on the original and deviates enough that I don't consider it a copy-cat sequel like most of the quick buck DTV fodder Disney put out later.

I believe the main reason I prefer the sequel is that the villain/victim are both more entertaining or, rather, less irritating. I don't hate children, but Penny has just always irked me. Maybe they pulled the tearstrings too far or tried too hard to make the character "cute," I don't know. Whatever the reason, I've always been annoyed by her. Cody looks a little too much like a boy counterpart to Penny for it to be a coincidence, which is a laziness in design I don't like, but, while I wouldn't call him a compelling character or a bland one, the main thing he has over Penny is that he doesn't get on my nerves. *shrug*

There's something about Medusa that always came across too overdone, like they were trying so hard to hit the heights of Cruella, Maleficent, etc. (Which I've read was partly true for Milt Kahl, who specifically wanted to one-up Marc Davis' Cruella, I believe? I may be wrong, that's just something I've read before. EDIT: Welp, it was mentioned by others in the thread above, so at least I know I wasn't off there.) Don't get me wrong, I think she is a good villain all things considered, but she's too bumbling to be as threatening as McLeach.

As far as sidekicks go, Joanna, Jake, and Marahute are much better than those in the first film. The swamp animals, Rufus, and Snoops in the first film are alright though. I wish we could have had Orville over Wilbur, but that couldn't really be helped with the voice actor having passed. I'd say the new character is entertaining, too, and his personality differentiates him from Orville. The bits with the hospital mice is funny, but nothing in either film made me laugh like Orville getting sucked into Medusa's search boat although Joanna comes close several times.

I think the films are tied where voice acting and animation are concerned. I do prefer the ink/paint of the original over caps in general and the first film has some beautiful backgrounds, but the sequel has great animation for Marahute, Joanna, and McLeach along with some great backgrounds of its own (if not quite as pretty and atmospheric as those in the first film). The first film wins with me as far as music.

Overall, I'd say both are good films. And Bernard and Bianca have the same charm in both films, although thankfully Bianca is a little less of a hopeless and flirtatious damsel in the sequel. Down Under feels more epic where the first has more of a smaller scale quaintness to me. Both are satisfying depending on what you're in the mood to see.