The Rescuers Discussion

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DC Fan
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Re: The Rescuers Discussion

Post by DC Fan »

This movie...WAO!

Never watched it as a kid. However, I did have the audio cassette of the story and listened to it in the car on my way to school. In fact, I found it on YouTube.Thought it was long but it was just over 11 minutes long.

First time I watched was on DVD when I got it and I was very impressed by it. For a movie that was made in the late 70´s feels more like an animated movie from the 80´s. There are a few rough moments in animation but not at all in the level of The Fox and the Hound. The only bad thing, for me, is the opening song "Someone´s Waiting For You" (that won Best Song ?).

This is a movie that, if Disney cared, should do something to make it popular/well known. To me, this one deserves it much better than Oliver and Company and it´s much better than the sequel too.

I´m glad that the DVD already had a very good video transfer and that the blu ray made it even better.

So sad there weren´t Extras of the Making Of and will never be.
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JeanGreyForever
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Re: The Rescuers Discussion

Post by JeanGreyForever »

I'm glad you liked it a lot!

This is my favorite film from the Dark Ages and it was also the biggest blockbuster Disney had at the time. Even the animators working on it felt that this was their best film since Walt passed away and in some European countries, the movie made even more than Star Wars which was released the same year. I heard that in the 80s, films like Robin Hood and The Aristocats were considered the B-List pictures, but The Rescuers was the only one from this era that Disney felt was an A-List prestige title like the majority of the Walt-era films. Disney clearly considered it a success because they planned a TV show on it (which became Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers) and their first animated sequel film. The only other Disney film they turned into a TV show at the time was Jungle Cubs and The Jungle Book was considered their final blockbuster film to cap off the Walt era so clearly they considered The Rescuers on the same level.

I think the failure of the sequel is why the film is so undermarketed and unknown these days which is a pity since the original film truly deserves better. And as someone who despises the sequel, that's especially upsetting that it permanently tarnished the legacy of the original.

I actually like the songs from the film a lot. The song you mentioned was nominated but it didn't win at the Oscars.

The DVD actually was considered a pretty terrible transfer and the Blu-Ray restoration gets a lot of flack as well for not being as cleaned up as it should. A major fan of The Rescuers claimed the colors were altered on the Blu-Ray. It's a pity that bonus extras are so scarce and lacking in the film. I wanted a full-making of documentary. And definitely featurettes on the voice actors, the original books, Walt's original treatment of the film, all the deleted songs (some of which are available on The Lost Chords: The Rescuers), an extended art gallery, and maybe even Mickey's A Christmas Carol which was released alongside a reissue of the film. Finally something on the legacy of the film and how the animators loved it most from the post-Walt era and how the film spawned a sequel and nearly a TV series.
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Re: The Rescuers Discussion

Post by blackcauldron85 »

This is pretty neat!!

The Mona Lisa of Thumbnail Sketches
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2021/0 ... tches.html
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Re: The Rescuers Discussion

Post by Disney's Divinity »

I was looking at screencaps of Mim earlier and I had a random thought: I wonder if Medusa's design was somewhat inspired by Madame Mim's brief "beautiful" transformation? I know Cruella played a big role in the making of Medusa as far as her driving craziness, mannerisms, attitude, and so on (she never manages to match Cruella, unfortunately), but there are a several things about the character's look that are similar to that Mim design--the rounded, almost nonexistent chin, the large, green eyes, the pointed nose. Both designs have a very "white trash" flair to them, too, at least to me. :lol:

I often think that beautiful!Mim design is vaguely like what Mim would've been like in that early version of the film when the character was more Maleficent-esque, as far as her figure (maybe a smaller chest though, lol). Only with better clothes and more serious expression. Perhaps those leftover designs sat around unused and they looked back at them when forming the next villainess, Medusa?
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