![]() ![]() And as animator Ward Kimball pointed out, Walt was constantly changing his mind and challenging what people assumed he would go for while alive – how would anyone have a prayer of guessing his wishes when he was dead? Walt was so pivotal to the life of his studio and so exacting on major decisions that no one knew what to do without him around. Faced with a major hurdle in development, the common mantra at the studio became “What would Walt have done?” It was a question born of desperation. Reitherman was adept at action and pace, but like nearly everyone in a position of authority at the studio, he was thrown by Walt’s death in 1966. Producer-director Woolie Reitherman, who had directed or co-directed every animated feature since Sleeping Beauty and served as one of Walt’s trusted “Nine Old Men” of animation, had inherited responsibility for the department. When Robin Hood entered production, it did so as the first animated feature not given the green light by Walt himself. Sensitivity wasn’t the only reason for the change. But even in the early 70s, the reputation of that film was souring (per Jim Hill Media), and firm orders came down to keep Robin and his friends in Merrie Olde England. This Robin Hood would have been set in the deep South, and Anderson pointed to Song of the South as a model. Like the aborted Chantecler, his first pitch was an Americanized story. And a whole menagerie could come along to play all the parts of the legend!Īnderson initially wanted to push this adaptation further than using animals. The fox could connive and trick all he wanted now, so long as it was to care for the poor and defy the usurper, Prince John. Loathe to give up all that work, Anderson thought he found a way forward when he decided to ditch the rooster and transform Reynard into Robin Hood. But he was also – if writer Steve Hulett is to be believed – a stubborn man who could charitably be called upset over various rejections from Walt, Chantecler among the worst. Anderson was an enormous talent who helped usher in a sea change in the studio’s style through his work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians. One of the chief architects of the rejected Chantecler film was Ken Anderson, a longtime art director, production designer, and story artist for Disney. Writers came and went from the project over the years, and it occasionally came within sight of a green light. Even if Walt was prepared to offer his audience a tale of black humor and gray deceivers – and he wasn’t – the teeth of the Hays Code would have precluded a straightforward adaptation. But as Disney expert Jim Korkis has pointed out, there was a problem: Reynard is a rather amoral and underhanded trickster who inflicts and is threatened with grisly violence. Walt first ordered investigative development on the character for animation in 1937. Tales of Reynard’s mischief go back to the Middle Ages, and adaptations abounded across France, Germany, and Holland. In the immediate aftermath of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ runaway success, the studio chased down as much potential material for new features as it could, and among the stories considered was that of France’s legendary trickster, the anthropomorphized Reynard the Fox. He was, however, interested in working with cartoon foxes. He produced The Story of Robin Hood in 1952 to burn off frozen British assets (and got a pretty good film for his money), but that was it. Walt Disney never touched the Robin Hood legends – for animation, at least. Image via Disney Before the Fox, There Was … a Different Fox But in that fact, there is much to learn about why Robin Hood is the way it is. The creative forces behind the movie were among the top animators, designers, and directors at Disney, some of Walt’s most valued workers. How did Robin Hood end up as such a retread? It isn’t as if it were made by second-string talent aping their betters. And so much of the film, figuratively and literally, is recycled from past Disney efforts. Robin himself, and Maid Marian, aren’t much more than a generic hero and damsel. The story – and I use that term loosely – tells a handful of popular Robin Hood adventures without much connective tissue and without a central focus. There are flashes of charm and light humor, but none of the inspiration or brilliance from the best of Disney’s work. With due apologies to relatives who grew up loving the film, Robin Hood is as safe and as bland a cartoon feature as you’re likely to find. Watching it again, it’s hard not to agree. RELATED: How 'The Emperor's New Groove' Was Nearly Canceled and Wound Up a Cult Classic ![]()
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