Review By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

The 1970’s was the beginning of a rocky period for Disney. Their first animated feature of the decade, The Aristocats, was a huge success, but it seemed to continue the slow downward spiral in quality that had plagued the Disney animated films since the mid-to-late 1960’s.

What made matters worse was that the death of the company’s founder in 1966 did not guarantee the company a sure-fire direction of what film project to engage in next. But they pressed on and continued with an animated film adaptation of the classic folk hero Robin Hood, now released on DVD.

The story begins as the corrupt Prince John, along with his sidekick Sir Hiss, trick the true king into leaving Nottingham so he may assume the throne. He then has the town’s sheriff tax the peasants into utter poverty.

Taking matters into their own hands, the heroic thief Robin Hood and his partner Little John begin stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Frustrated by this turn of events, Prince John organizes an archery tournament in order to lure the two would-be town heroes with the prize being a kiss from Robin’s love interest, the beautiful Maid Marion.

The Disney adaptation of the classic fable is one of the more unique ones. It expands on the growing trend of using increasingly animal-based characterizations, which here is done with every character.

This was becoming increasingly done in Disney animated films of the times starting with The Jungle Book, the last animated feature Walt Disney fully oversaw prior to his death. While many flinched at this being done for Robin Hood at the time, it works very well for the film as it helps to make the fairly adult story more appealing to children as well as add to the dignified English dialogue of the script.

On the plus side, the film is consistently jovial, bouncy, funny, and loose. The brisk pacing and rather brief running time keeps it constantly entertaining for its audience.

Also adding to this is the top-notch performances of the voice actors and the upbeat folk musical numbers. However, the loose, paper-thin plot, constant slapstick humor, and the slightly limited and often recycled animation, the latter due to dwindling studio funds at the time, keeps this film from reaching the high standards of early works like Pinnochio and Cinderella.

The DVD’s picture quality is in a new digitally-transferred 1:75:1 anamorphic widescreen and the sound is in impressive Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. The DVD is also packed with plenty of special features.

Some of the special features will be lots of fun for the film’s child audience. Robin Hood’s Merry Games contains a trivia game called Archery Trivia Challenge, and a memory game called Rescue Maid Marian.

There’s also three song selections (“Ooh-de-lally”, the Oscar-nominated “Love” , and “The Phony King Of England”), which you can view with or without lyrics appearing on the screen. One of the special features with a wider appeal is a ...