The Rescuers

So I will NOT be seeing the movie that aired yesterday (The Fox and the Hound) and therefore will not be reporting on it, but since I hadn't yet reported on the previous movie, here goes.

The Rescuers is an interesting movie. On the way home, Sweetie commented how slow it was. I thought it was a good development. You have a little girl in peril (shock!) who gets rescued by a male and a female (now that is a shock). The male character, Bernard, is sort of a wavery character. Somehow I don't doubt that his mannerisms were based upon the voice, Mr. Bob Newhart. He is happy to do the job of the rescuer, but he has to be talked into it. He is very superstitious and just sort of goes along with Bianca, the female character, voiced by Eva Gabor.

It's interesting to note that this is Eva's second Disney movie, having already played Dutchess. Both characters were very upright and proper, but Ms. Gabor gets a stronger, more intelligent character to play in this movie. Miss Bianca is gentile and poised while also being headstrong and extremely diligent. She encourages Bernard to do all that he might and she is the driving force for him.

It's sort of a rags to riches story for Bernard. Usually, you have the lowly girl (Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Maria in the Sound of Music, Fred in Angel to name a few) who gets plucked up by the doting yet lovable strong man (Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, the Captain in The Sound of Music, the boy(s) who fall in love with Fred in Angel [you're welcome for not spilling anything Joe]) and her life is altered for the better. She learns new and incredible things, falls in love and is a better person. This is the total opposite. Bernard was the janitor and Bianca was the delegate from Hungary. A nice change I'd say.

Bianca is a wonderful character, but I would have liked her to have a little more depth. The villians always have a bit more depth to them than the female lead, which is rather frustrating. Madame Medusa is greedy, but she has a fear of mice, a raving temper, a terrible taste for fashion and makeup and a keen mind. Bianca is pretty, courageous and resourceful, but I think there was a little lacking.

I am very glad to say that there was not a huge amount of romance. A lot of the time, there is a love story in the background (Robin Hood, the Aristocats) but there wasn't one here.

The female villian is so much better developed than the male villian. He is a stupid, slovenly, obnoxious piece of work. I really liked that we had a very strong female lead that was the hero and a very strong female lead that was the villian. Since this was 1977, the women's movement was in full swing and I think this was a really nice representation of it.

As I mentioned, I will not be seeing the Fox and the Hound, which means the Black Cauldron is next. This should be interesting because until I met Sweetie, I did not know this movie even existed.