21st Jul 20232nd Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#46 Chicken Little (2005)

BACKGROUND

After the disappointing releases of Treasure Planet in 2002, Brother Bear in 2003, and Home on the Range in 2004, Disney Animation decide to do away with their traditional, 2D hand-drawn animation style and launch headfirst into the world of computer-animation with their first fully computer-animated movie, Chicken Little, which was released in 2005.

Despite the technological advancement, and the fact that Disney’s competitors, such as Pixar and DreamWorks, had had huge success with this style for numerous years by this point, for Disney, it did not go well.

Not many people think much of Chicken Little, saying that it was not a good introduction to CG animation for Disney. I’ll admit that it does look strange, almost like you’re watching the half-finished computer simulation of a movie, and that it doesn’t feel very “Disney”, but I actually quite like Chicken Little. I think it’s a very funny film and I enjoy the music, so I can easily get past things not looking “quite right” and focus on the plot, which has a mixture of comedic, exciting, and emotional moments.

Chicken Little did not signal the start of a new successful wave of animated movies for the Disney Studios, as Meet the Robinsons (2007) and Bolt (2008), the next two movie releases in this same medium, would also fall a bit flat, especially in comparison to Pixar. But by 2010, with the release of Tangled, a film that did incredibly well, Disney seemed to show that they were fully at home with CG, with their following movies continuing to be notable.

But back to Chicken Little.

PLOT

Disney’s Chicken Little is loosely based on the original story of the same name, though “Henny Penny” is another name for it, especially in Europe. Where the first version of the story came from is unclear, however, the first person to record the story was a Danish scholar called Just Mathias Thiele, who began collecting Danish folktales, and published his first collection of tales in 1818. “Henny Penny” first appeared in his 1823 collection.

As Thiele’s version of the story was not translated into English until 1853, English speakers and readers would’ve been familiar with American illustrator John Green Chandler’s version instead, which he published as a pamphlet titled “The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little” in 1840. Chandler’s version became widely published and very popular, with the use of the term “chicken little” to describe a scaremonger becoming adopted colloquially in the 19^th Century.

The basic plotline follows a small, anxious chicken, called Chicken Little, who believes that the sky is falling, after a “piece of the sky” hits the chicken on its head – it’s actually just an acorn. But Chicken Little is so scared that the world is ending, that it goes to tell all the other animals that he passes by, warning them of the imminent danger. Eventually, Chicken Little and a group of animals, all with rhyming names such as Goosey Loosey and Turkey Lurkey, come to Foxy Loxy, who invites all of them into its den as shelter. Instead of protecting them, Foxy Loxy kills and eats them all…In later versions of the story, this ending would be changed to them finding a king who reassures the animals that only rain falls from the sky, to avoid any chance of childhood trauma[1]!

Disney’s movie begins right at the point where Chicken Little is telling the people of Oakey Oaks that the sky is falling, causing chaos and mayhem across the whole town. Eventually, everyone calms down enough to hear Chicken Little’s story, where he takes them to the scene of the crime. He stands under the big oak tree, saying that a piece of the sky fell and hit him on the head, explaining that it was hexagonal shaped, like a “Stop” sign, but that it was blue and had cloud on it. Everyone is confused, as no such piece is found anywhere near them. Chicken Little’s father, Buck, comes over and says that it was just an acorn that would’ve hit him on the head. Chicken Little is embarrassed that his father doesn’t believe him and tries to explain again, except he’s so flustered that he is incoherent and looks ridiculous in front of the news crews and journalists who have surrounded him.

A year later, Chicken Little and Buck are still humiliated by the incident, with numerous items of merchandise having been made since it happened; they even pass a billboard for a movie detailing the whole event, titled “Crazy Little Chicken the Movie”, as well as bumper stickers, on the drive to the bus stop. Chicken Little vows to make his dad proud and make everyone forget what happened, but Buck is not convinced and tells him to keep his head down instead. Chicken Little is optimistic of the new day, despite various issues getting to school, such as missing the bus; getting stuck in gum on the street; losing his trousers; and having to use a shaken-up soda bottle to get into the school, eventually making it to school and constructing some shorts out of his math homework! But he ends up locked in his locker by a careless janitor and is late to class again.

In “Mutton Class”, we meet Chicken Little’s friends: Abby Mallard, a duck; Runt, a pig who is the “runt of the litter”, despite being huge; and Fish, who is literally a fish out of water, with a scuba helmet on his head full of water so he can breathe! They are teased by popular kids, Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey. They then go to gym class, where they are playing dodgeball, popular kids vs. unpopular kids – nice. Chicken Little arrives just in time to help his friends get through the game, with him telling Abby about his plan to do something great to make everyone forget what happened, but Abby tells Chicken Little he needs to talk to his dad so they can both find closure. Chicken Little isn’t so sure. At one point, class is stopped, which allows Foxy and Goosey to bully Chicken Little, throwing him up against the wall, where he slides down on to the fire alarm, setting off the sprinklers, which causes not only his dad to be called to the principal’s office, but also for his paper shorts to disintegrate!

On their way home, Chicken Little tells his dad he’s going to join the baseball team, something that his dad had done during his school years and had done so well for the school that he was given the nickname “Ace”. But as Chicken Little is so small, Buck doesn’t think it’s such a good idea. Chicken Little does it anyway, and though he is constantly benched, his friends train him to be better. During the final championship game, due to multiple injuries in the team, Chicken Little gets the chance to bat. His coach tells him not to swing, so Foxy Loxy can come up to bat afterwards and save the day, but Chicken Little believes he can do it. The first two swings he misses, but surprisingly to everyone watching, including the outfield players who expected an “easy out”, his third swing hits! Chicken Little is so stunned that he forgets to run, before running the wrong way. He sorts himself out and starts running the bases, going for a home run. The outfield fumbles the ball multiple times, before getting it stuck on a bull’s horns, so they pick the bull up and run him to the final base. The two groups collide, spraying mud and dust everywhere, so it looks like Chicken Little was nowhere near the base. But the mud is brushed away and Chicken Little’s toe is just on – the team wins and Chicken Little is the hero!

This goes a long way to helping Chicken Little’s status in Oakey Oaks, and building a relationship with his dad, who has struggled since Chicken Little’s mother, Chloe, died. But as Chicken Little is getting ready for bed, something comes through his window and hits him – it’s a hexagonal bit of sky again! This time, he doesn’t let the piece get away from him, and gets his friends to come over to look at it. They all admit it’s real and strange. Fish gets on top of it, and presses some button, which makes it take off, with him on it. Chicken Little, Abby, and Runt follow the glow stick that Fish was holding all the way to the baseball field, where a spaceship lands. Two tentacled aliens come out of it. The friends go in to rescue Fish. They quickly run off the ship as they find a map of the galaxy, with planets seemingly “crossed off” as though they have been destroyed, with Earth next. The aliens return to the ship to find their alien child missing, and think the friends have taken it, so start to follow them. The friends run to the schoolhouse and ring the bell, alerting the town to another disaster. The aliens see that they will be spotted and get into their ship, taking off quickly. As the townspeople are so slow to follow Chicken Little to the site of the spaceship, they miss it, and he looks crazy again, even though Abby, Fish, and Runt stick up for him.

The next morning, Buck is dealing with calls and hate mail, apologising to everyone for his son’s mistake. Chicken Little is upset, and meets up with his friends, where Abby reiterates that him and his dad really need to talk more. Suddenly, a little three-eyed orange alien comes out of nowhere, freaking everyone out! Fish talks to it, where they learn he is called Kirby and that his parents left him and he’s lost. Then, the sky really does start to fall, as a whole galactic armada of aliens come to Oakey Oaks and invade the town, destroying buildings and vaporising the townsfolk. Chicken Little realises that this is a rescue mission for Kirby and tries to return him to his parents. At the same time, Buck comes to get Chicken Little so they can escape, admitting that he was right about the sky falling. Chicken Little tries to explain the situation but he won’t listen, and they end up sheltering in a cinema, where Chicken Little finally tells his dad how he’s never there for him and doesn’t trust him. Buck tells Chicken Little he’s sorry for making him feel that way and that he does love him, giving them that “closure moment” that Abby was so desperate for them to have. Chicken Little also tells Abby that he likes her and kisses her, as him and his dad set off to return Kirby. They climb up to the top of Town Hall and try to explain to the aliens what happened, but they believe Kirby was kidnapped, so the two are vaporised.

Inside the ship, a “Wizard of Oz-like” booming voice tells them to return Kirby – they do – and that they will be destroyed, with guns and pointy weapons surrounding them. Kirby tells his father that what the two said was true, with his wife also saying how it was a misunderstanding and to put the guns away and put them down, as well as turn off the “big voice”. Despite the big tentacled suits they wear, they are actually small, fluffy aliens! The aliens return everyone back to Oakey Oaks, and apologise for the confusion. It turns out they come to Oakey Oaks every year, “on the way to the in-laws”, to get the best acorns, with one of the ship’s panels constantly falling off, which explains what happened to Chicken Little a year ago. Buck and Chicken Little discuss what movie they’ll make of him now, with Chicken Little hoping they stay true to the story.

One year later, a new movie is released, but it is not at all true to the real events! Chicken Little is a big, muscly intergalactic hero; Abby is a model-like companion; Fish is a talking tech guy; and Runt is a cool navigator, with the whole thing becoming an intergalactic mission! But everyone at Oakey Oaks is happy, with Chicken Little and Abby now a couple, and Chicken Little and his dad getting on better than ever.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Initially, and throughout most of the movie, I suppose, Chicken Little is a social pariah in the town of Oakey Oaks. People think he’s crazy, so they move away from him in the street, whisper things about him, and generally avoid him whenever they see him; it’s quite upsetting to see. At school, he is bullied, partly for his small stature, and for his infamous “the sky is falling” incident. It’s not an easy life for Chicken Little, yet he tries his best to remain upbeat and positive, saying that “today is a new day” and instead of moping around that life isn’t fair, he comes up with the plan to join the baseball team and works hard at it to try and become the town’s hero instead of the resident oddball. Chicken Little is boosted by his three closest friends: Abby, Runt and Fish; they help keep him optimistic and protect him from other people’s mean comments. After the baseball game win, Chicken Little is proclaimed a winner by the townsfolk, yet when he tries to tell them about the aliens, even with three other witnesses to corroborate his story, he goes back to being the same weirdo they knew before. But again, this doesn’t stop Chicken Little, and even with his father’s disapproval and lack of support, he manages to show the town that he was right, and helps save them all.

Originally, Chicken Little was going to be a girl, and a very anxious one at that. In a deleted opening scene, she was going to be sat in bed, terrified of noises that were going on in the house, to find it was just her dad going downstairs[2]. But Chicken Little became a boy as it was decided that it was more difficult for boys to be small than girls. Chicken Little is meant to be around 12 or 13 years old, but just small for his age, so the animators gave him classic “cute” proportions, like a bigger head and large eyes. To match his age, not his size, Disney were looking for a slightly older voice, with a teenage ring to it, and they settled on actor Zach Braff. Braff made his voice higher-pitched to match the character, so didn’t use his regular voice, but the team loved how fast he could talk, and felt it suited the character of Chicken Little – there are certainly moments when he is rambling super-fast! Zach Braff is best known for his role as J.D. on the television series Scrubs (2001-2010), but more recently, Braff has moved into directing, having directed the 2023 movie A Good Person, starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.

Chicken Little’s Hollywood “counterpart”, the big muscly hero, “Ace”, who is almost the complete opposite of Chicken Little, with the Hollywood movie of his story clearly having been subject to a lot of artistic and dramatic license, is voiced by actor Adam West, who performed many voice-over roles for animated series, such as in The Fairly OddParents (2001-17), The Simpsons (1989-present), and Kim Possible (2002-07). West also portrayed Batman in the series Batman (1966-1968) and the theatrical film (1966). He died in 2017.

Buck Cluck is Chicken Little’s father, who has been struggling to raise Chicken Little as a single father, since the death of his wife, Chloe. He wants to do what’s best for Chicken Little, but instead of being supportive, to avoid drama with the other Oakey Oaks residents, he plays down Chicken Little’s comments, being the first to tell everyone that the sky didn’t fall on Chicken Little, but just an acorn, embarrassing his son in the process. I think he’s trying to do what’s best for Chicken Little, by telling him that it’s ok to just keep your head down and not say anything controversial, but by doing that, he just makes his son think he doesn’t care about him, or believe anything he says. At times, Buck comes across as dismissive, and even a bit mean, only seemingly wanting to have anything to do with his son again after he wins the baseball game, a sport that Buck had a lot of success in when he was in high school, but being quick to shut down anything Chicken Little says about aliens. But by the end of the movie, they have reconciled, with Chicken Little telling his dad about how he feels, and Buck feeling guilty for making his son think he didn’t love him or care about him, and vowing to do whatever he can to support him – like carrying a lost alien child over to the “mothership” and risk being vaporised and destroyed by them!

Garry Marshall voices Buck, as they felt that Marshall was very good at getting across “angst”, which is perfect for Buck as he is overwhelmed most of the time! Marshall does a good job with this role. Marshall was a screenwriter, actor, and producer, but is perhaps most known for his directing work, having directed the likes of Pretty Woman (1990), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), and its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). Garry Marshall died in 2016.

Abby Mallard is Chicken Little’s best friend. She is going through those awkward pre-teen years, comparing herself to other people based on her looks, which isn’t helped by bullies calling her “ugly duckling”, though that does suggest to the audience that she will become a beautiful swan later in life. Abby is a very caring and loyal friend, to Chicken Little, as well as Runt and Fish, with them being a little group that don’t care that they aren’t popular. For much of the movie, Abby is concerned by Chicken Little’s difficult relationship with his father, and encourages Chicken Little to find “closure”, something that she keeps reading about in her teenage magazines! Abby later becomes Chicken Little’s girlfriend, as once Chicken Little and his father get “closure” on their problems, he seems to become quite bold and kisses Abby in that most romantic of settings: during an alien invasion. She doesn’t care though and is clearly thrilled. They make a cute couple.

Abby Mallard is voiced by actress Joan Cusack, who the Disney team felt brought a warmth and sincerity to Abby with her voice acting. Cusack is currently the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story franchise (1999-present), but is also known for her roles as Debbie in Addams Family Values (1993); as Ms Mullins in School of Rock (2003); and voiced the part of Mrs. Krum in the Netflix-released Klaus (2019). Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, and Laura Dern were also considered for the role of Abby[3].

Runt of the Litter and Fish Out of Water are Chicken Little’s other two friends. Runt is actually a very large pig, and towers over everyone else at school, but he is still the “runt” of the litter as his family is even larger! Runt is very anxious a lot of the time, getting easily stressed out over things, like when they go into the alien spaceship and are then chased away by them. Runt is funny though, and likes to sing and perform, having a go at “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls alongside Abby at one of her sleepovers. Fish is a goldfish who has to wear a scuba helmet filled with water so that he can survive on land. Fish can actually walk around using his back fins. Though he does not speak, Abby, Chicken Little and Runt can understand what he’s saying. Fish is quite intelligent and brave, not fearing anything; he isn’t bothered that he ended up on a strange alien spaceship, for example. Fish was brought in and out of the story multiple times during development, but it was decided he would stay as a character to give an uplifting, fun balance to the group. Actor and comedian Steve Zahn voices Runt. Zahn had done voice acting work before, such as voicing Monty the cat in Stuart Little (1999) and Stuart Little 2 (2002). Steve Zahn has also acted in movies and television series, such as Marvin in Daddy Day Care (2003), Tucker in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), and Mark Mossbacher in Season 1 of The White Lotus (2021). Dan Molina, the film editor for Chicken Little, “voices” Fish.

As for the other characters in Chicken Little, there are many more, so I will only mention a few. Actress and comedian Amy Sedaris voices the school’s main bully, Foxy Loxy. Foxy thinks she’s the star of the show, and that anyone who isn’t popular is just a loser. She is the main antagonist to Chicken Little, along with her sidekick Goosey Loosey. Yet at the end of movie, her brain waves become “scrambled” after the aliens put her back in Oakey Oaks after being vaporised. This turns Foxy into an all-singing, all-dancing, sweet girly girl, the complete opposite to her mean, tomboy persona. Sedaris has had a mixture of voice and in-person acting roles, but most recently for Disney, she appeared as Peli Motto in The Book of Boba Fett (2022) and The Mandalorian (2019-2023).

Don Knotts voices the friendly, but easily distracted and not very smart, Mayor Turkey Lurkey in the movie. He was most known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show back in the 1960s, and had numerous acting roles in the 1970s and 80s.

Some other interesting voice actors who performed in Chicken Little are: Catherine O’Hara, of Home Alone (1990) and Schitt’s Creek (2015-20) fame, voices Tina, the mother of little lost alien Kirby; and Fred Willard, who died in 2020, but acted as Ed Harken in the Anchorman films (2004-13) and as Amy’s father in Everybody Loves Raymond from 2003 to 2005, is Melvin, the father of Kirby, and husband to Tina.

Patrick Stewart has a surprise appearance voicing Mr. Woolensworth, the Mutton teacher at school, and Wallace Shawn, the voice of Rex in the Toy Story franchise (1995-present) voices Principal Fetchit.

MUSIC

The soundtrack on Chicken Little is a bit different to other Disney animated movies, as the majority of the songs are actually popular songs, although some are covers, such as Runt and Foxy Loxy singing Elton John’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” during the End Credits, “We Are the Champions” by Queen being sung by Chicken Little after his baseball game, and “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls being performed by Abby and Runt. Other songs that were included in the movie’s soundtrack are R.E.M’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” being played during the alien invasion, which I think works very well and I particularly like this inclusion; Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, being used as motivation for Runt driving during the invasion; Diana Ross’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, being used at the end of the Hollywood movie – and therefore, the end of the actual movie; and “All I Know” by Five for Fighting, which is an emotionally sad song to mirror Chicken Little’s mood after a difficult car ride home from school with his father, when he doesn’t want Chicken Little to join the baseball team. Another song, only used in the End Credits, is “Shake a Tail Feather”, performed by The Cheetah Girls, who were popular on the Disney Channel at the time of the movie’s release.

For the movie, Patti LaBelle’s song “Stir It Up” was re-recorded with Joss Stone. Patti LaBelle was happy to work with Disney on a song for one of their movies. I really like this song, and I think it’s energetic and boosts the mood when Chicken Little has been benched on his baseball team, but tries hard to train himself up to be better.

The only original song written for Chicken Little is the anthem of the movie, “One Little Slip” by the Barenaked Ladies. This song is used during Chicken Little’s difficult journey to school after missing the bus, with this in-progress sequence being shown to the band to inspire them to write the song. It is uplifting and hopeful, showing Chicken Little’s attitude to life – that he’s just going to keep going, and get everyone to forget about what happened previously. It’s a very good song, I like it a lot, but it is a shame that it is the only original song written for the movie.

The score for Chicken Little was composed by John Debney, who had previously worked on Hocus Pocus (1993), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), The Princess Diaries (2001) and Snow Dogs (2003) for Disney, but has composed scores for many other movies, including more recently, Marry Me (2022) and Hocus Pocus 2 (2022). The score mixes emotional scenes with the action and science-fiction elements that feature within the plot[4]. I do not remember any specific parts of the score that I like within Chicken Little, unfortunately, but I love “One Little Slip”, “Stir It Up” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” – they are my favourite songs in the whole soundtrack, though the Chicken Little soundtrack does not compare to those of many other Disney movies, due to its lack of originality; it’s just not as memorable.

PRODUCTION

This was not the first time that the Disney Studios had adapted the story of “Chicken Little”, as there was a short film released, also titled Chicken Little, in 1943, during World War II, which is more similar to the original folktale than the movie is.

It follows a barnyard community, where Foxy Loxy wants to make everyone do what he says, even though Cocky Locky is the leader around the barnyard. Foxy Loxy decides that Chicken Little, a stupid little chicken, will be the best person to influence. Foxy Loxy throws a bit of fence on Chicken Little’s head, so that he will tell everyone the sky is falling. Cocky Locky quickly debunks it, however, Foxy Loxy then spreads gossip that Cocky Locky has gone crazy, with the message making its way around to everyone. Chicken Little, encouraged by Foxy Loxy, proclaims himself as the new leader and gets everyone to follow him to “the cave” as shelter, which is actually Foxy Loxy’s den. Once they enter the den, all the animals are soon eaten – despite the Narrator telling the audience that’s not how it ended in his book. Foxy Loxy simply says “Don’t believe every thing you read, brother!”.

Legendary Disney animators such as Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston and John Lounsbery worked on the short, with radio actor Frank Graham providing all the characters’ voices, as well as that of the Narrator. This short was clearly meant as an allegory of the war and about the powers of propaganda. In the initial release, Foxy Loxy was even shown to be reading a copy of “Mein Kampf”, Hitler’s manifesto. In later releases, the book’s title was simply changed to “Psychology”[5].

Disney’s 2005 movie of Chicken Little began development in the early 2000s. Director Mark Dindal had just finished working on The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), a challenging movie, with many story changes and difficult relations, when he came up with the concept for Chicken Little, though Dindal’s original idea was very different to the movie that Disney released.

The first idea was that Chicken Little, originally a girl, which is in line with Chandler’s version of the story of “Chicken Little”, would have joined a summer camp, in the hopes of impressing her father, who she had a difficult relationship with. Whilst at the camp, Chicken Little would discover that the camp counsellors were literally wolves in sheep’s clothing, who were trying to fatten up the camp-goers with plans to eat them. Chicken Little would have managed to save the day and win everyone’s approval. However, when this concept was brought to then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, he stepped in and said that Chicken Little should be a boy, not a girl, as market research had stated that boys were less likely to watch a movie about a girl, whereas girls would watch movies about boys. This does not seem to be a point that bothers Disney any more, given some of their most popular releases of recent times, like Frozen (2013), Tangled (2010), Encanto (2021), have been “about girls”. But Chicken Little being a small boy was also seen to be more interesting to the story than a small girl, as boys have a harder time being short than girls.

In 2003, David Stainton took over from Thomas Schumacher as president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Stainton hated the early version of Chicken Little, calling it a “trainwreck” and told the team to completely re-work the story. It was also at this point that it was decided that the movie would be shifting from traditional 2D animation to computer-animation, despite their little experience in the medium. Relations between Disney and Pixar were difficult at this time, with their working collaboration due to end in 2006, so it was thought that by making Chicken Little in CG, Disney could prove that they no longer needed Pixar’s involvement and could make computer-animated movies without them[6].

During production on the movie, there was some debate over how to begin the movie, especially as it was uncertain how many people already knew the tale of “Chicken Little”. As a way to provide some background to the movie the viewer was about to watch, the team decided that they could do a storybook opening, as a nod to the original Disney 2D animated fairytale opening sequences, and as a way to quickly tell the audience about Chicken Little and the sky falling on his head. This was just one alternate opening that was cut[7]. The actual opening is a parody on other famous Disney opening scenes, where it begins with a beam of light, magic sparkles and the clichéd “Once Upon A Time”, before showing a clip of The Lion King’s (1994) opening sequence, and then seeming to go for a traditional storybook opening. But Buck, Chicken Little’s father, who is “narrating”, hates that idea, and decides we should go straight to the day “things took a turn for the worse”, taking us right into the action. I love this version of the opening; I think it’s really clever and funny.

Not everyone at Disney Animation had any experience of using 3D animation at this time, so much training was needed to get everyone up to speed on the new style. They did find, though, that there were opportunities to draw on screens at some points, making it more similar to what the animators had been used to. They found that with the computer-generated character models, because they were like digital puppets, with lots of movements and joints, the animators could control each area and make their movements more subtle and detailed than is generally possible in 2D animation. The team said that Walt Disney loved new technology and he would’ve embraced this new medium[8].

To add further complication to the process, eleven months before Chicken Little’s release date, it was decided that the movie would be released in some theatres in 3D, technology that hadn’t even existed when the film first went into production, and something that had not had enough time to yet prove its popularity with audiences, with some 3D releases around this time having received mixed reviews.

RECEPTION

Chicken Little premiered in 3D at 84 theatres around the United States. The release of The Polar Express in Christmas 2004 showed that audiences would go to see films in 3D, so Disney thought they should try it, though it was a bit of a leap of faith. Disney deployed 84 state-of-the-art REAL D projection screens for these screenings, and even assigned an engineer to each 3D screen for the opening weekend of Chicken Little[9].

To promote Chicken Little’s release, two inflatables of a giant Chicken Little head appeared at both Disney’s MGM Studios (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) at Walt Disney World Resort and at Disney’s California Adventure in Disneyland. At California Adventure, the head was visible from the Esplanade, whereas at Disney’s MGM Studios, it appeared over the building that then housed Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! The building now hosts Disney Junior – Live on Stage! These inflatables may have drawn park-goers’ attention, but they were branded “creepy”, with some saying that it was disturbing how they could be seen from some distance within the parks[10].

Chicken Little was released on 4^th November 2005 in the United States, making $300 million worldwide, however, it was torn apart by critics, with many disliking the storyline, and finding the movie unamusing, though believing that it would still be appropriate for entertaining very young children, but lacking the universal appeal of some of Disney’s previous animated movies.

LEGACY

Chicken Little did spawn two different video games, with one being based on the storyline of the movie, and the second one being inspired by the superhero movie and the characters within it, such as the action hero “Ace”. But, due to the lack of popularity around the movie, Chicken Little and its characters have not been particularly prevalent at the Disney Parks, though Abby Mallard and Chicken Little both appeared as character meet-and-greets as part of promotional activities for the movie in and around 2005/2006. At Disney’s MGM Studios, their meet-and-greet location was within the Magic of Disney Animation attraction. They also both starred in the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade at that time[11].

Apart from promotional activities, Abby and Chicken Little have not been seen regularly at the parks, these being the only two characters from the Chicken Little movie who appear as walkaround characters at the Disney Parks. I did not find evidence of them ever appearing at the parks in Asia, however, they were available to meet at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and at Disneyland Paris. The most frequent sightings I could find were at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, where both Chicken Little and Abby Mallard greeted guests in July 2013 for “Long Lost Friends Week”, and then again in early 2019 for “Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration”. Chicken Little was the Disneyland Honorary Grand Marshal of the Day in 2005 during Disneyland’s 50^th Anniversary, and was seen at a Halloween event at Disneyland Paris in 2007, however, Chicken Little, and Abby, may have been spotted more recently than that at those parks. It is likely at some point the two will show up randomly at some special event!

The only award that Chicken Little won during the 2006 Award Season was Worst Animated Film at the “Stinkers Bad Movie Awards”, though it was nominated at the Kids’ Choice Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature. Chicken Little lost to DreamWorks’ Madagascar (2005) at the Kids’ Choice Awards, and to Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) at the other two. This must have been disappointing to those who worked on Chicken Little, as the movie was in development during some very turbulent times at the Walt Disney Company. Chicken Little may have been reviewed by CEO Michael Eisner at the start of production, but by the time of its theatrical release, there was a new CEO: Bob Iger.

Potentially because of the little success received by Chicken Little, Iger made sure to keep the working relationship with Pixar Studios going. On 24^th January 2006, Disney announced their intention to purchase Pixar, which was completed on 5^th May 2006[12]. A direct-to-video sequel for Chicken Little, which would have potentially focused on Abby and how she felt about her physical appearance, was soon cancelled by John Lasseter after the deal went through, as Lasseter became the Chief Creative Officer at both studios[13].

FINAL THOUGHTS

Unfortunately, Chicken Little is either disregarded or completely forgotten by Disney fans, because of its disappointing reviews. I still say that I like it. I don’t think it looks spectacular, but as Disney’s first attempt at making a fully computer animated movie, it wasn’t terrible. I think it’s funny, and has its touching moments too. I like the music, and though I don’t love the characters, I did find that I at least liked them. It seems incredibly unfair that so many people love to hate Chicken Little, because so much hard work and effort went into the movie, during a particularly difficult time at the Disney Studios.

Though Chicken Little is not a perfect example of a computer-animated movie, it was one step closer to creating the brilliant movies that Disney Animation make today.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘The Sky Is Falling! Maybe! “Henny Penny” or “Chicken Little”’, Tor.com, 5^th May 2016.

[2] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Chicken Little (2005)’, pp. 136-138.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Hatching Chicken Little”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).

[5] Credit: Devon Baxter, ‘Disney’s “Chicken Little” Cartoon from 1943’, CartoonResearch.com, 22^nd June 2016.

[6] Credit: Jared Bruett, ‘Disney’s Chicken Little Was in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time’, GameRant.com, 10^th November 2020.

[7] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).

[8] Credit: Disney, “Hatching Chicken Little”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).

[9] Credit: Buck Wolf, ‘’Chicken Little’ Wings It in 3-D’, ABC News (online), 7^th November 2005.

[10] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Chicken Little Blow Up Disney’s MGM Studios’, ThemeParksandEntertainment.com, 20^th June 2020.

[11] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Chicken Little stars arrive at the Studios’, WDWMagic.com, 18^th June 2005.

[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Chicken Little (2005)’, pp. 136-138.

[13] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘Disney’s ‘Chicken Little’: Inside the Troubled History of the Studio’s First CGI Feature’, Collider.com, 9^th November 2020.

14th Jul 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#14 Peter Pan (1953)

BACKGROUND

Peter Pan is one of those childhood stories that everyone seems to know, probably because it’s been around since the early 1900s.

But ask anyone who was born after 1953 what their first introduction to Neverland, and that boy who just won’t grow up, was, and they will likely tell you it was Disney’s Peter Pan. It certainly was for me, and I’ve always liked the movie.

Though Disney’s movie is unlikely to be the only version of the story that you’ll have seen, because there have been numerous other non-Disney adaptations of the tale. Films like Spielberg’s Hook (1991), starring Robin Williams as an adult Peter Pan returning to Neverland, or one of the more recent adaptations such as 2015’s Pan. Even if you didn’t like Disney’s version of the story, you can guarantee that you’ll like at least one other adaptation.

The original Peter Pan was actually a stage play, written by Scottish novelist and playwright James Matthew Barrie, or J. M. Barrie. The stage play was first performed in 1904, before being published as a children’s story in 1911, under the title “Peter Pan and Wendy”. Disney’s version of Peter Pan is not the most faithful retelling of the novel, but it is likely to be the most well-known.

PLOT

Disney’s Peter Pan begins in Bloomsbury, London, at the home of the Darlings, where George and Mary Darling are getting ready to go out to a party for the night. John and Michael, their sons, are playing games based on their sister’s, Wendy, bedtime stories about Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, and his adventures in Neverland. Nana, their pet dog and “nursemaid”, is tidying up after them and getting them all ready for bed. George cannot find his cufflinks or his shirt front, which are being used as part of John and Michael’s game. After George trips over various toys, and Nana, in the nursery, falling over and hitting his head, with the rest of the family not concerned about him at all, he angrily says that this will be Wendy’s last night in the nursery and that she needs to grow up, and stop filling the boys’ heads with these ridiculous stories of Peter Pan. Mary tells the children that their father is just upset, and that things will be better in the morning. The nursery window is reluctantly left open by their mother, at Wendy’s request, in case Peter Pan comes back to reclaim his shadow. Mary voices her concerns about potential intruders to George, especially as Nana has been put outside for the night, but he scoffs at these, saying they’ll be perfectly safe.

Sure enough, Peter Pan does return to the Darling nursery, with pixie Tinker Bell, to retrieve his shadow. The shadow is found in a drawer, with Tinker Bell ending up shut inside it. Peter and his shadow fight, toppling over pieces of furniture, which wakes up Wendy but the shadow is caught. Peter tries to reattach it with soap, but Wendy tells him she’ll sew it on for him instead. Peter then tells Wendy that he comes to the window often to hear her stories so he can tell them to the Lost Boys back home in Neverland, and that his shadow was caught by Nana one night. Wendy sadly tells Peter that this will be her last night in the nursery because she “has to grow up tomorrow”. Peter angrily refuses to let that happen, or else there’ll be no more stories about him! Peter says he’ll take Wendy to Neverland instead; she won’t be able to grow up there. Wendy is so overjoyed that she goes to kiss Peter – only for Tinker Bell to fly out of the drawer and tug her away from him. The boys then wake up and ask to go to Neverland too. Peter says they can all go, and tries to teach them how to fly there, but they don’t know how. With “faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust”, begrudgingly given by Tinker Bell, they fly off to Neverland, heading for the “second star to the right and straight on ‘till morning”.

Back in Neverland, we are introduced to Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and the rest of his pirate crew. Hook is desperately searching for Peter Pan’s hideout across Neverland, so he can seek revenge on him for cutting off his left hand, and making him have a hook as a replacement. The hand was thrown to the Crocodile, who searches for Captain Hook, though luckily, the fact it swallowed an alarm clock allows them to know when it is around! Hook is alerted to Peter arriving back at Neverland, and signals for his crew to shoot cannonballs at him. Peter tells Wendy, John, and Michael to follow Tinker Bell to his hideout, whilst he distracts Hook, only Tinker Bell has no interest in showing them the way and rushes ahead. She tells the Lost Boys that a “Wendy bird” is approaching and that they must shoot it down. As Wendy comes into view, the Lost Boys fire arrows and all sorts at her; she tumbles down to the rocks below – to be saved by Peter at the very last moment. Peter finds out that Tinker Bell told the boys to do it and banishes her for a week; Tinker Bell furiously flies off.

After this, the boys, including John and Michael, go to hunt for “Indians” together. As they come to a clearing in the forest, they see clues that the tribe is about, but the Natives get to the boys first and capture them, taking them back to their camp. The Lost Boys assure John and Michael that this is just what they do, sometimes they are captured and sometimes the Natives are, but they always turn each other loose. Except this time, the Chief has said that the boys have kidnapped Princess Tiger Lily, and that if she is not returned by sunset, they’ll all be burnt at the stake, even Michael’s teddy bear!

At the same time, Peter has flown Wendy to Mermaid Lagoon to meet the mermaids. The mermaids are not friendly to Wendy, and are jealous of her friendship with Peter. They try to pull her into the water, “for a swim”, with Wendy threatening to hit them with a shell if they don’t back off. Peter tells her they were just having a bit of fun, but Wendy is not amused. Suddenly, they all see Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Tiger Lily rowing towards Skull Rock. Peter and Wendy go to see what’s happening. Hook orders Tiger Lily to tell him where Pan’s hideout is, or else she’ll drown when the tide comes in. Peter starts throwing his voice, to sound like a ghost to scare Hook, and to sound like Hook so Smee will untie Tiger Lily. Hook eventually sees that it is Peter making these noises, and fights him, only to lose and almost be eaten by the Crocodile. Hook swims away from the Crocodile, with Smee way ahead of him in the boat.

Peter rescues Tiger Lily, who’s entire face is almost submerged at this point, and takes her back to the Indian Camp. They hold a big celebration in Peter’s honour, dubbing him “Little Flying Eagle”. When Wendy sees Tiger Lily kissing Peter, she leaves the area and heads back to the hideout. Whilst this is happening, Tinker Bell has been captured by Smee and Hook, and tricked into telling them that Peter’s hideout is at Hangman’s Tree. Hook was pretending to be sympathetic of Tinker Bell’s troubles with Wendy, saying that he could take Wendy away with them, as the pirates are going to leave Neverland tomorrow. It’s all a lie and Tinker Bell is shut in a cage as soon as she talks.

Wendy tells John and Michael that they will be going home in the morning, back to their mother. It’s only been a day, yet the boys have forgotten who their mother is, leaving Wendy to remind them, which makes the Lost Boys sad about not having any parents. Wendy tells them they can all come back with them, as their parents will adopt them. Peter is angry with this plan, warning them that if they leave, they can never return. They go anyway, leaving Peter alone. As they depart Hangman’s Tree, Hook and his crew are waiting for them and take them all back to the ship. They are told that if they do not join up with the pirates, then they’ll have to walk the plank. The boys are about to join before Wendy tells them they shouldn’t do that as Peter will be here to save them soon. Hook laughs and tells the others that a bomb has been deposited at Peter’s hideout, to go off at 6pm. It has been disguised as a present from Wendy to Peter. Tinker Bell manages to break free and flies over to Peter, pushing the bomb away from him, which goes off as planned.

Everyone on the ship sees the blast, with them now believing Peter to be dead. Wendy is told to walk the plank and bravely does so. But there’s no splash… Peter survived the blast, along with Tinker Bell, and catches Wendy before she can enter the water. Peter reveals that he is still alive to the shocked crew, with Smee sneakily setting to leave in a row boat! The other pirates go after the boys, who have been freed by Peter, and Peter battles Hook. The pirates are defeated by the boys and they all fall into Smee’s boat. Hook and Peter continue their battle, with Hook demanding that Peter does not fly to make it fair. Hook seems to have gotten him but Peter jumps up and pulls the ship’s flag down over him. Hook is told to proclaim himself a cod fish, which he sadly does, but then tries to stab Peter when his back is turned. Peter jumps up, leaving Hook to fall into the waiting Crocodile’s mouth. Hook manages to get out and swims away again, trying to get to Smee and his boat. We don’t find out what happens after that!

Peter is proclaimed the captain of The Jolly Roger, and orders the crew to get ready to leave. Wendy asks where they are going, and Peter says they are going to London, to take them home. Tinker Bell covers the whole ship in pixie dust so it can fly to London. The Darling parents return home, to see that all the children are “still” in their beds – except Wendy, who is asleep on the window seat. Mrs. Darling wakes her up and she babbles about their adventures with Peter Pan. Wendy tells her father that she is ready to grow up now, but he says she can stay in the nursery. As he is about to go bed, he sees a pirate ship shape in the clouds, making him remember his childhood. Mr. and Mrs. Darling and Wendy hug, as they watch the shape disappear into the night sky.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Peter Pan is quite obviously the boy who won’t grow up. He is carefree, mischievous, and completely devoid of any responsibilities. He is so against becoming an adult that he even forbids others around him from growing up. Eventually, he learns that not everyone can be like him, nor do all the children want to stay in Neverland with him, as they have homes and families to go back to. Peter thinks of himself as a hero, whether that is by saving Tiger Lily, though so wrapped up in his defeat of Hook, he almost forgets that she’s even there, or by rescuing Wendy from being shot down by the Lost Boys. He is also quite arrogant and believes that every word he says is true and must be followed. In a very cynical way, he reminds me a bit of a cult leader, though unlike many cult leaders, he does learn the error of his ways and lets people leave! Peter is very loyal to those around him, though, and he just wants to show everyone how good life can be if you always stay young and laidback.

Milt Kahl was responsible for animating Peter Pan, and found it challenging to animate weightlessness as Peter spends much of his time either flying, or at least floating off the ground! Peter does this most during his numerous duals and battles with Captain Hook, so that must’ve made it even more difficult! Disney are credited with breaking the tradition of only women playing the role of Peter Pan, as had been the case with many other performances both on stage and screen, by giving American child actor Bobby Driscoll the chance to portray Peter Pan, both as a voice role and a live-action reference model. He was labelled the “resident juvenile actor” within the Disney Studios due to his previous performances in Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1949) and Treasure Island (1950). Driscoll died in 1968 at the age of 31, due to issues arising from substance abuse.

Wendy is the eldest Darling child. She is a good storyteller, telling her brothers tales of Peter Pan and his adventures, and is a caring figure; she looks after her brothers well. Wendy was brought to Neverland by Peter Pan to be the boys’ “mother”, so she fits that role quite well! She can be quite strict and stubborn at times, not allowing her brothers to think for themselves, like when they are being told to join Captain Hook’s crew and Wendy says “no”, or when they want to stay and Wendy tells them “No, they must go home to Mother”! But in the end, it’s quite clear she made these decisions because they were best for everyone! Wendy seems to have a crush on Peter throughout much of the movie, though he doesn’t seem to share her affections, and actually just likes the attention he gets from all the girls he meets, like Tiger Lily, or the mermaids, or Tinker Bell!

Kathryn Beaumont was selected for the role as Wendy. She was known to the Disney Studios as she voiced the role of Alice in Alice in Wonderland (1951), their previous animated feature. She went straight from working on that film to working on Peter Pan. Like Driscoll, Beaumont provided both the voice and the live-action reference for the part of Wendy. The two would feature as their Peter Pan characters in The Walt Disney Christmas Show, which aired in 1951 and was used in part to promote Peter Pan.

John is the middle Darling child. He is clearly intelligent, well-spoken and well-mannered, taking a top hat and an umbrella along with him to Neverland, despite the fact all three of the Darling children go to Neverland in their nightwear! John becomes a leader of sorts within the Lost Boys, though during their hunt for “Indians”, he ends up getting them captured because he thinks he knows best! British actor Paul Collins voiced the role of John Darling. He is most known for this performance.

Michael is the youngest Darling, only four years old, therefore, he is the one who needs the most looking after. Michael even takes his teddy bear all the way to Neverland. Because of his age, he is overlooked and ignored by many of the Lost Boys, but he has fun in Neverland anyway, loving all these adventures he gets to go on, and seeing all these places that Wendy told them about. Michael was voiced by Tommy Luske, in one of his few film roles. Luske was the son of Disney animator and director Hamilton “Ham” Luske.

Tinker Bell is the most iconic Disney character from Peter Pan, potentially being the most recognisable, probably because she’s used frequently within the Disney company and its numerous divisions! She has a huge personality, going from jealousy to anger to happiness within a short space of time. She despises Wendy at the start of the movie, due to her loyalty and love for Peter, but grows to like her by the end of the movie. Tinker Bell also saves Peter’s life by moving the bomb away from him, risking her own, let’s not forget. Marc Davis animated the character, giving her model-like looks and a huge personality that far exceeds her six-inch height! The animation of Tink was especially important as her movements and facial expressions are the only means of expressing her thoughts, given that her “voice” is just the sound of tinkling bells[1]. Previously, Tinker Bell was just a light in stage adaptations of Peter Pan, though she had become a fully realised character in the silent movie version, Peter Pan (1924), being played by actress Virginia Brown Faire. But it allowed Disney to have more creative license over what Tinker Bell would look like.

A recurring myth is that Tinker Bell’s appearance was inspired by Marilyn Monroe, but Disney debunked that by saying that Marilyn Monroe was not a big star in Hollywood at the time that Peter Pan was in production, and that the animators wouldn’t have even known who she was! Margaret Kerry was the actual model for Tinker Bell. As Tinker Bell has no voice, her movements had to be pantomime-like and overexaggerated to get across her feelings. Kerry was asked to perform the well-remembered, though now unsuitable, scene of Tinker Bell measuring her hips in the hand mirror she is standing on; this was almost like her “audition”, and she was asked to come back to do the rest of Tinker Bell’s scenes. Kerry also voiced the red-haired mermaid in Peter Pan. Voice actress June Foray, known for her voices within the Looney Tunes franchise, as well as Lucifer in Cinderella (1950), voiced another of the mermaids and the woman who orders Wendy to get firewood at the Indian camp.

Captain Hook is the nemesis of Peter Pan, and wants revenge on him for cutting off his hand. Hook is both elegant, well-spoken, with grand manners, but also evil and menacing when he wants to be. Captain Hook is one of my favourite Disney villains for this reason. He doesn’t tolerate fools within his crew, with many of them being thrown overboard when Hook gets angry. Hook is also charming when he wants to be, managing to coax Tinker Bell into telling him where Pan’s hideout is, after sympathising with her over her hatred of Wendy for taking Peter away from her. Hook is easily scared, though, by the Crocodile. The Crocodile was fed Hook’s hand when Peter cut it off, so now has a taste for him, putting Hook on edge most of the time! The pirates are alerted to the Crocodile’s arrival, thanks to a “tick”, after it swallowed an alarm clock. Frank Thomas was chosen by Walt Disney to animate Captain Hook, and had to reconcile the competing ideas from the directors that Hook be threatening, and from the story men that he be quite suave.

American actor and comedian Hans Conried was chosen to voice both the parts of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling, because in stage performances of Peter Pan the same actor would generally play both these roles. Conried was one of the best radio actors in the 1930s and 40s, so the team at Disney knew he would be able to vocally act the part as they wanted[2]. For Disney, Conried voiced the part of the Magic Mirror in some Disney television specials in the 1950s, and played the role of Thimblerig in Disney’s live-action Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955). He would also be the live-action reference, but not the voice, of King Stefan for Sleeping Beauty (1959).

Captain Hook’s first mate and sidekick is the bumbling, mocked, and often clumsy, Mr. Smee. He is very much the comic relief of the film, with the scene of him thinking he’s shaving Hook, when in fact he’s just shaved all the feathers off a seagull instead, being a personal highlight for me. Smee was voiced by Bill Thompson, who was known for his radio and voice roles. For Disney, Thompson also voiced the White Rabbit and the Dodo in Alice in Wonderland (1951); various characters in Lady and the Tramp (1955), including Jock; King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty (1959); and Uncle Waldo in The Aristocats (1970), which was his final film role.

These are the main characters of Peter Pan, though there are many more. Mr. George and Mrs. Mary Darling are the parents of Wendy, John, and Michael. They seem to be a typical couple in Victorian times, though why they thought it was a good idea to leave their children alone overnight while they go out to a party, I don’t know! George is quite stubborn and easily angered, whereas Mary is the peacemaker. Mary was voiced by Heather Angel, who also voices Alice’s sister in Alice in Wonderland (1951). They have Nana, their dog and nursemaid, but I don’t think she’s a great choice for this household position! Though she is quite cute, especially when Michael tries to get her to fly, but as she’s tied up outside, she just floats up, waving “goodbye” to them very awkwardly!

The Lost Boys are an eclectic mix of personalities, though they are all quite savage, with few manners, fighting each other often. Many of them seem to have had mothers before, judging by their reaction to Wendy talking about what mothers are like, and seem to want to go find families, but they change their mind at the last minute and return with Peter.

The most problematic of the supporting characters are, obviously, the Native American tribe. This is not purely a Disney problem, but goes back to the original play by J.M. Barrie. At the time of its release, back in Victorian times, the portrayal of Native Americans as savage and uneducated, lesser than the superior Europeans, would not have been controversial. In fact, it would’ve been quite comedic to the people of that time. However, in the years that followed, many stories, even those of Mary Poppins, would have chapters rewritten or removed altogether due to similar tropes which were considered offensive; Peter Pan did not receive this same treatment and carried on as normal.

This is probably because its copyright was gifted by Barrie to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. Even when the copyright expired in 1987, the British Government granted a special extension which allowed Great Ormond Street Hospital to receive royalties for any Peter Pan adaptations forever, meaning that the story has remained untouched. Later adaptations of the story would omit any reference to the “Indians”, such as Hook (1991), or would change the tribe to be so fantastical that it didn’t relate to Native Americans at all, such as in Pan (2015), or make them Amazons instead, like in Tim Carroll’s staging of Peter Pan for the Stratford Festival in 2010[3].

Whatever the reason, Disney’s 1953 movie does not shy away from these negative stereotypes, with there clearly not being much, if any, research into how Native American tribes looked, acted, or spoke, making these scenes awkward to sit through now.

MUSIC

This leads neatly into the music section, as the tribe have their own song, with its lyrics being problematic and particularly stereotypical, not to mention completely false, despite the song being quite catchy. This song is called “What Made the Red Man Red?”, and appears as the tribe hold a ceremony in celebration of Peter Pan after he saves Tiger Lily from drowning. The song answers three questions that Michael and the Lost Boys ask the Chief, with “what made the Red Man red?” being the final one. It was clearly meant to be a witty song, but it has not aged well, though still features in the movie in its entirety. I always liked that song as a child before I understood what the lyrics were, as I’m sure many did.

This song was written by Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain. Cahn worked with many great performers with his potentially most well-known song, co-written with Julie Styne, being “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” in 1945. Fain worked on the scores of The Rescuers (1977) and Alice in Wonderland (1951), amongst other things. Then, there are “You Can Fly!”, the song where the children, Peter and Tink fly off to Neverland; “Your Mother and Mine”, which Wendy sings to the Lost Boys and her brothers to remind them of how wonderful mothers are – I love this song; and “The Elegant Captain Hook”, which I also really like. Another song this duo wrote together for Peter Pan was “The Second Star to the Right”, which features during the opening credits of the movie. The same melody came from a song titled “Beyond the Laughing Sky” which was written, but not used, for Alice in Wonderland.

“Never Smile at a Crocodile” was a surprise hit, despite only the melody being used to announce that the Crocodile within the movie. The song had been written more than a decade before the release of Peter Pan, by Jack Lawrence and Frank Churchill. Churchill contributed to many Disney animated soundtracks, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Bambi (1942) and Dumbo (1941). For Dumbo, he won an Oscar for Best Score, alongside Oliver Wallace. Churchill died in 1942[4].

Two other songs in the soundtrack are “Following the Leader”, which featured on a Disney Sing-Along video that my family owned so I’ve overheard that song and now don’t like it so much; and “A Pirate’s Life”, which the pirate crew sing when we first see them. “Following the Leader” was written by Erdman Penner and Oliver Wallace, and “A Pirate’s Life” by Ted Sears, Winston Hibler and Oliver Wallace. Long-time Disney composer Oliver Wallace also composed the score for Peter Pan.

Though none of the movie’s soundtrack, except “Never Smile at a Crocodile”, which I don’t like and don’t think would’ve worked in the movie at all, became big hits, they did work well within the story. I really like the Peter Pan soundtrack, with it fitting with the magical and fantasy atmosphere of the film. I do like many of the songs, even “The Second Star to the Right”, despite its whispery choir sound, and a lot of the score, though many of the songs blend into the score, so I do not have any memorable instrumentals to mention.

PRODUCTION

When James Matthew Barrie graduated from Edinburgh University, he came to London “to make his fortune”. For the story of Peter Pan, he used his own home in Grenville Street as inspiration for the Darlings’ house, and in 1987, he met and befriended the Llewelyn Davies family, who had five boys. Those boys provided Barrie with inspiration for his character, Peter Pan. Peter first appeared in a chapter of the book “The Little White Bird” published in 1902. Barrie then wrote the stage play of the character.

The first production of the play took place at The Duke of York’s Theatre in London on 27^th December 1904 and was a huge success. The play was then published as a book, titled “Peter and Wendy”, published in 1911, which was an instant bestseller and has never gone out of print. In 1929, Barrie gifted the copyright of Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital and requested that the amount raised for the hospital from these royalties never be revealed[5]. The film Finding Neverland (2004), starring Johnny Depp as Barrie, tells the story of how Barrie came to write the Peter Pan play, and is based on the 1998 play by Allan Knee, The Man Who Was Peter Pan.

The seed for the idea of adapting Peter Pan within the Disney Studios was first planted in 1913, when a touring company came to Marceline, Missouri, to present a performance of Peter Pan, which was seen by Walt Disney, and his brother, Roy. He loved the story and never forgot it, even being allowed to play Peter Pan in a school play a little while later. He got to fly on ropes, however, in one performance, they gave way and Walt flew into the audience! Walt then saw the silent film version of Peter Pan in 1924, with its many innovations, such as a live actress playing Tinker Bell and state-of-the-art special effects for the day, though it annoyed Walt that it was clear that the actors were flying on wires, and that a person in a dog suit or a crocodile suit played Nana and the Crocodile.

In the late 1930s, Disney began to properly develop Peter Pan, around the same time as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). It was decided that animation, not live-action, which had been considered, would be the best medium to adapt the play as their imagination was unlimited and they would be free to show things that couldn’t be done properly on stage or screen, like flight[6]. In 1939, the rights to adapt Peter Pan were acquired from Great Ormond Street Hospital. Walt had been trying to purchase the rights since 1937, after Barrie’s death, expecting high prices or high competition for them. Maude Adams, who performed the role of Peter Pan on stage, including in the version that Walt had seen as a child, was asked by Walt Disney to review a scene that was being developed. Adams refused to be involved, saying she didn’t want to see the movie, as it would be “a ghost” of the version she had worked on. Adams died in 1953, the same year as the film’s release[7].

There are many differences between the original story and Disney’s animated movie. Some plot differences are that Tinker Bell never reveals Peter’s hideout in the book, Hook and Smee find it by chance; Peter is injured trying to save Tiger Lily and can’t fly for a while afterwards because of it, being saved by a “Neverbird” who gives him its nest to sail back home in; Hook tries to poison Peter’s medicine – something that Wendy playing mother has implemented at Peter’s camp, with Tinker Bell drinking it instead and almost dying – this is the big moment where the stage audience would be asked to clap if they believe in fairies to save her; and that Captain Hook is clearly eaten by the Crocodile in the novel, whereas Hook makes a lucky escape in Disney’s film!

The ending is also very different between the two stories. In the movie, Peter Pan returns the Darling children back to London, after minimal discussion, despite being annoyed about the idea originally. In the novel, however, Peter is so against the Darling children from going home that he goes to their house and shuts the nursery window, which had been left open by Mrs. Darling so that the children could come back whenever they wanted. Peter only relents when he sees how heartbroken Mrs. Darling is to have her children missing, because the events happen over a course of a number of days, not just one evening whilst the parents are at a party. The Lost Boys in the movie do not come to live with the Darling children, though they express an interest in doing so, but ultimately change their mind, however, in the novel, they are adopted by the family. Peter promises Wendy in the book that he will come back every year to take her back to Neverland, but after some time, he forgets, allowing Wendy to grow up. When he does return randomly one day, he sees Wendy is all grown up, and has a daughter, Jane. Jane instead goes to Neverland with Peter, and this starts a family tradition of the next daughter going to Neverland. This is an idea that Disney would explore in the direct-to-video sequel, Peter Pan: Return to Never Land (2002)[8].

At one time, Disney had planned to adapt Peter Pan to be their second Disney animated feature film release, however, Walt wanted to wait until animation technologies were updated sufficiently to do the story justice. The movie began to be storyboarded in the 1940s, with early-stage drawings showing Nana going with the children to Neverland. It was going to be darker and more sinister than the play or previous Disney films, with lots of skeletons within the Skull Rock scene being drawn, for instance. There would also have been more fight scenes, such as between the Natives and the pirates. This was detailed in a deleted scene, “Alternate Arrival”, to take place when the children and Nana arrive in Neverland. It would have also featured Captain Hook being close to capturing all them at Peter’s hideout. Another early idea was for a goodbye scene between the children and Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, which we don’t see in the final film. Peter would have given the Lost Boys permission to return with the others, but they decide not to. Wendy says goodbye to Peter, telling him not to grow up and to keep Neverland forever, before Tinker Bell sprinkles all of them with pixie dust to fly the rest of the way home[9].

Concept art in watercolours were completed by British artist David Hall, as part of the initial development. Hall had done the same for Alice in Wonderland (1951) in 1948. By 1941, a basic story structure was in place, however, World War II stopped any further development on the movie. After the war, Walt Disney brought Peter Pan back into development, with further concept art coming from Mary Blair, who had also contributed to concept art for Cinderella (1950) and Alice in Wonderland[10].

RECEPTION

After nearly two decades of work, numerous story treatments, and around 1000 drawings, Peter Pan was first released on 5^th February 1953 in theatres. It quickly became a favourite with audiences, and considered a beloved classic[11]. It was released alongside Bear Country, the latest of the True-Life documentary films from Disney. Some critics did object to the movie not being “loyal enough” to the play, with the big audience participation part of saving Tinker Bell being particularly missed. Walt Disney had taken this out of the movie as he felt movie audiences would not react in the same way as in the theatre. I think Walt was definitely right there! But the animation was praised, with some funny sequences also being highlighted, such as those with the Crocodile and Hook, as well as Mr. Smee shaving Captain Hook[12]. Others liked the music, though none of the songs were big hits. Tinker Bell and Captain Hook as characters were also enjoyed by many in particular.

Peter Pan became one of Disney’s biggest hits in its initial release, alongside Cinderella (1950), which both helped the Walt Disney Studios to recover economically from the problems of the 1940s, with World War II and the Disney animators’ strike. Peter Pan continued to be popular in its theatrical re-releases, with the movie making more than $145 million during its first six re-releases; Peter Pan took around three years and $4 million to make. It was first released on video in September 1990 and climbed to No. 1 quickly, remaining in Billboard’s Top 10 best-selling videos for some time. Peter Pan was even entered in competition at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival in April of that year. It did not win any awards, but many festival-goers loved it[13].

LEGACY

Peter Pan has been featured in the Disney theme parks for as long as the parks have existed. Peter Pan’s Flight, a rail-suspended dark ride taking guests through scenes from the movie, was an opening day attraction at Disneyland, opening on 17^th July 1955. It was later redesigned in 1983, as very few characters appeared in the original version, not even Peter Pan or any of the Darling children! Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort has a version of Peter Pan’s Flight which, contrary to belief, was not an opening day attraction, but opened two days after the official opening of the park, on 3^rd October 1971. In 2014, its queue was updated to take guests into the nursery, and included interactive murals.

The next one to open was at Tokyo Disneyland, opening with the park on 15^th April 1983. It was very similar to the Magic Kingdom version, but new digital effects were added in to the ride in 2016. Disneyland Paris also has a Peter Pan’s Flight, which opened on the same day as the park as well, on 12^th April 1992. The newest version was another opening day attraction but this time for Shanghai Disneyland, on 16^th June 2016. It is the only version to feature 4-person ride vehicles instead of the usual 2-person. The ride vehicles can also stop and change speed, with Shanghai’s Peter Pan’s Flight making the most of new technologies by enhancing original scenes and creating new ones. All of these versions of Peter Pan’s Flight run under that name and feature in the Fantasyland area, but they have slightly different rides, queues, and ride exteriors. The only Disney theme park not to have a Peter Pan’s Flight is Hong Kong Disneyland.

As well as this very popular ride, which frequently sees lines of over an hour at the Disney Parks, Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee appear frequently in the parks, whether that is within stage shows, parades, or traditional meet-and-greets, with Captain Hook being particularly present at Halloween events. Some meet-and-greets may be daily, others are more spontaneous. These four Peter Pan characters all feature in Walt Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy Parade, along with Tinker Bell, who used to have her own meet-and-greet at Walt Disney World, first at Pixie Hollow and then at Town Square Theater, however, both of these experiences are now defunct. Tinker Bell does still meet at Pixie Hollow at Disneyland, and at Fairy Tale Forest at Hong Kong Disneyland. Another example of the Peter Pan characters featuring in a Disney Park parade is Disney Stars on Parade at Disneyland Paris, where the Lost Boys also appear.

At Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, there are hotel rooms themed after Tinker Bell and Pixie Hollow, and, at Tokyo DisneySea, the much-anticipated expansion called Fantasy Springs opened in June 2024, where a whole area themed to Peter Pan‘s Never Land was built, as well as areas themed to Frozen (2013) and Tangled (2010). Never Land features a recreation of Captain Hook’s ship as well as Skull Rock, and has a Pixie Hollow area. At Pixie Hollow, there is a children’s ride called Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies. There is also a 3D ride named Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure, which takes guests on an adventure to rescue John from Captain Hook. Similar to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, this ride uses both screens and ride vehicle movements. There is also a quick-service named Lookout Cookout.

I have a particular memory around Captain Hook and Mr. Smee in the long-forgotten nighttime parade at Magic Kingdom, SpectroMagic, which ran from 1991-1999, and again from 2001-2010. Every character would be lit up with various coloured lightbulbs being placed all over their costumes. Captain Hook featured on the villains’ float, shaped like a ship, and Mr. Smee walked around with other characters just ahead of the float. Mr. Smee would walk over to guests lining Main Street, U.S.A. and suddenly, his costume would light up! It was quite a shock to anyone not expecting it!

There was also a scene of Peter Pan battling Captain Hook during Disneyland’s version of Fantasmic! This scene was replaced in 2016 with another based around the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Captain Hook is now a main character in the live stage show Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, which opened on 27^th May 2025 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Hook and two other villains, Maleficent and Cruella de Vil, present their cases to the audience about who was treated the worst. The show is around 15-20 minutes long and runs throughout the day. You can also visit Hook’s Barbery, a barber shop named after Captain Hook, on specific Disney Cruise Ships. The Never Land Cinema also exists on the Disney Treasure and the Disney Wish ships. Songs and characters from the movie are also featured in the Disney Cruise Ships live shows Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic and Disney’s Believe.

I’ve mentioned Tinker Bell and Pixie Hollow, but that is unlikely to make sense to anyone that is not aware of the Disney Fairies spin-off from Peter Pan, first being a series of children’s books, before spanning into its very own film series. Plans were made for Tinker Bell to have her own franchise in the early 2000s, with the first movie being released direct-to-video in 2008, simply titled Tinker Bell. Actress Mae Whitman became the first person to provide a voice for Tinker Bell. She reprised the role in the following five direct-to-video sequels and two shorts, with the Disney Fairies film franchise running from 2008 to 2015. A seventh and eighth film were in the works, but were cancelled in 2018, when the DisneyToon Studios who produced the movies was closed permanently in June 2018. Along with being given a voice for the first time, Tinker Bell was also given the talent of “tinkering” and inventing gadgets, along with the home of Pixie Hollow, within Neverland, with a group of other fairy friends. Tinker Bell discovered she has a sister called Periwinkle in the movie, Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings (2012). If this wasn’t enough, there have been talks of a live-action film based on this franchise, with the first film planned to be called Tink. Reese Witherspoon is currently attached to the project, though no further news on it has been given since 2021.

Tinker Bell is so popular as a character that she has ended up representing the magic of Disney, with her sprinkling pixie dust in the opening of some Disney television shows, including those starring Walt Disney; featuring at the start of home movie releases; and flying from the castle during various Disney Parks’ fireworks shows. She even appears at the end of the Soarin’ Around the World attraction[14].

In terms of Peter Pan returning to the screen after the first movie, there was a sequel, titled Peter Pan: Return to Never Land, released in 2002. It follows Jane being kidnapped by Captain Hook, thinking she is Wendy, when in fact Jane is her daughter, and taken to Never Land. She never believed her mother’s stories of this place, so when Peter rescues her from Hook, him, the Lost Boys and Tinker Bell have to try and make her believe in them, Never Land, and in fairies, and find a way to get Jane home.

There was also a television series which aired on Disney Junior between 2011 and 2016, Jake and the Never Land Pirates. It focused on a group of young pirates competing against Captain Hook and his crew in Never Land, set many years after the original Peter Pan film. Though Hook and Smee were the only main characters of the series from the movie, many of the original characters had either recurring or guest roles on the series.

A live-action remake of Peter Pan, called Peter Pan & Wendy was released directly to Disney+ on 28^th April 2023. It stars newcomers Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson as Peter Pan and Wendy, respectively, as well as Jude Law and Jim Gaffigan as Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. Recurring Disney actor Alan Tudyk makes an appearance as Mr. Darling. This remake made some changes to the original story, taking into account modern attitudes on women and inclusivity. Some of the “Lost Boys” are girls, and Wendy plays a more active role in the storyline. The girls in this movie are not fighting over Peter Pan and getting into jealous rages as they do in the original movie! They have more of a brotherly relationship with him. The remake also makes Peter Pan more accountable for his decisions, i.e., keeping the Lost Boys away from their homes and families, and learning not to always see himself as the hero. The ending is more similar to the original play, as the Lost Boys are taken back home with the Darling children, with only Peter returning to Neverland. Captain Hook was, unfortunately for me, given a backstory, where him and Peter were best friends and the first children to come to Neverland. Hook was banished by Peter after saying he missed his mother, but when he tried to sail home, he got lost at sea and was taken in by a pirate crew. Very sentimental…

The biggest addition to this movie is the fact that the Native American tribe is presented more realistically, with people of Native American descent portraying these roles[15]. Princess Tiger Lily is a much stronger personality in Peter Pan & Wendy, being more of a leader to her tribe and a confidante of sorts to Wendy, instead of being an almost silent damsel in distress as she is in the Disney animated film. Two Native consultants also worked on the project throughout its development and production. Tiger Lily is played by Alyssa Wapanatâhk, who is of Cree descent[16]. This remake received mostly positive reviews. I have not seen it, and won’t, but it doesn’t sound too bad as Disney live-action films go, though that’s probably because I’ve seen many different adaptations of Peter Pan before, so it doesn’t feel like an inherently “Disney story”.

Finally, Peter Pan and Captain Hook make appearances within the ABC series Once Upon a Time. Captain Hook is a main character, featuring from Series 2 to the conclusion of the show. He became the love interest of Snow White’s daughter, Emma Swann, who is the main protagonist of the whole series. Captain Hook receives a new storyline, with his hand being taken by Rumpelstiltskin as revenge for falling in love with his wife. Hook ends up in Neverland when searching for Rumpelstiltskin. Colin O’Donoghue played the part of Captain Hook exceptionally well, in my opinion. Peter Pan, played by both Robbie Kay and Stephen Lord, appeared in Season 3 (2013-14) and returned again for Season 5 (2015-2016). Pan’s storyline is drastically altered from the original movie, with him being a trickster, stealing children from their homes, and a definite villain, but to avoid spoiling it for anyone that hasn’t had the chance to see Once Upon a Time yet, I’ll say no more! Peter Pan and its characters have also featured in Disney on Ice and within multiple video games.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The fact that Peter Pan has been such a popular story to adapt, both within Disney and at other studios, shows the continued appeal of the story. It is about the wonders of childhood, yet also about accepting the responsibilities of growing up. Although we have to grow up and become adults eventually, we should never forget how to be creative and how to have fun, like children are seemingly always able to do.

Even though Disney’s animated Peter Pan has had its fair share of controversy in recent years, it still provides fun and entertainment, as well as the strong message that Walt Disney himself believed in wholeheartedly. After all, Disneyland was made to be a theme park where adults and children could have fun together, where adults could go back to their childhoods and remember what it was like to be young and carefree.

Because of this, the story of Peter Pan fits in very well with the ideology of the Disney company, and it will forever be closely aligned to their belief in magic and imagination.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘The World’s Favorite Fairy’, pp. 80-81.

[2] Credit: Disney, You Can Fly – The Making of Walt Disney’s Masterpiece Peter Pan (1998).

[3] Credit: Sarah Laskow, ‘The Racist History of Peter Pan’s Indian Tribe’, Smithsonian Magazine (online), 2nd December 2014.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Tales of Walt’s Peter Pan’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2016.

[5] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘The history of Peter Pan and Great Ormond Street’, GOSH.org, date unknown.

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Walt Disney on Peter Pan’, CartoonResearch.com, 24th February 2023.

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Tales of Walt’s Peter Pan’, MousePlanet.com, 27th July 2016.

[8] Credit: Elisa Guimaräes, ‘Disney’s Animated ‘Peter Pan’ Is Way Different From the Original Children’s Novel’, Collider.com, 30^th April 2023.

[9] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Peter Pan (1953) 65th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray (2018).

[10] Credit: Disney, You Can Fly – The Making of Walt Disney’s Masterpiece Peter Pan (1998).

[11] Credit: Disney, You Can Fly – The Making of Walt Disney’s Masterpiece Peter Pan (1998).

[12] Credit: Bosley Crowther, ‘THE SCREEN: DISNEY’S ‘PETER PAN’ BOWS; Full-Length Color Cartoon, an Adaptation of Barrie Play, Is Feature at the Roxy’, The New York Times (online), 12th February 1953.

[13] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Tales of Walt’s Peter Pan’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2016.

[14] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘The World’s Favorite Fairy’, pp. 80-81.

[15] Credit: Lucy-Jo Finnighan, ‘5 differences between Peter Pan & Wendy 2023 and Peter Pan 1953’, Dexerto.com, 28th April 2023.

[16] Credit: Cady Lang, ‘How a New Peter Pan Adaptation Confronts Its Racist Origins’, TIME (online), 28th April 2023.

7th Jul 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#17 One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

BACKGROUND

One Hundred and One Dalmatians is one of those Disney animated feature films that most people remember with joy and nostalgia, because who doesn’t like dogs?

Me. I don’t like dogs.

Well, I’m scared of dogs; it’s not like I want to make fur coats out of them or anything, but for that reason, I don’t particularly like One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It’s similar to how I feel about Lady and the Tramp (1955), although I struggled to find any sequences in One Hundred and One Dalmatians that I liked, unlike Lady and the Tramp.

To be fair, I hadn’t watched One Hundred and One Dalmatians in years before this week, and the only reason I would’ve watched it years ago is because my family wanted to watch it, not because I did!

It wasn’t awful to sit through; the first 45 minutes to an hour in particular weren’t too bad, but then the last half an hour was so slow, I just kept hoping the end was in sight! But One Hundred and One Dalmatians isn’t my thing – I just don’t like Disney’s “animal” films that much, and as there is very little music in this movie, I didn’t even have that to keep my interest. I also don’t particularly like the look of the movie; it doesn’t match the standards of the films that came before it, such as Cinderella (1950) or Sleeping Beauty (1959), but I’ll get to why that is later.

PLOT

One Hundred and One Dalmatians starts with quite a long opening sequence, introducing the credits. It shows line drawings of the Dalmatians, before throwing the black spots on to them, which makes the dogs bark and move. From this point, the spots are used in various ways, such as backgrounds for the credits to be written on; as smoke coming out of a boat; and as musical notes, all with a jazzy tune playing over it.

Then the actual action begins. A narrator speaks, saying how he is living a lonely, dull life as a bachelor in a flat near Regent’s Park, with his “pet”. This narrator is actually Pongo, the Dalmatian, not Roger Radcliffe, the human. Pongo wants to find himself and Roger a partner, so he starts looking out of the window at women walking their dogs down the street. Eventually, Pongo spots one he likes, and gets Roger to take him for an early walk, by changing the time on the clock so that it’s after 5pm, because Roger won’t stop his songwriting work before that time. The two head off to the park, with Pongo pulling Roger as he searches for the Dalmatian he saw with her “pet”. He sees them, on a bench, and walks past casually, to a patch of grass by the pond. Pongo starts trying to get their attention, by stealing Roger’s hat and playing with it, finally resting it on the bench next to the woman – but both of them have gone! Pongo sees them just ahead and runs in circles, so that Roger and the woman are tied together; they stumble, trying to get free but end up falling into the pond. Both of them are soaked, with the woman clearly upset by her new suit being ruined. Eventually, they laugh it off and we skip forward to the dogs and their “pets” getting married.

Roger and his new wife, Anita, move to a small townhouse near the park and hire Nanny, their cook and housekeeper. Perdita, Pongo’s “wife”, is expecting puppies and the two are very happy about that – until Anita’s overly flamboyant, posh schoolfriend, Cruella de Vil, pays them all a surprise visit. She’s looking for the puppies, but she’s three weeks too early and leaves, telling Anita to let her know when they’ve arrived. Perdita is visibly shaken by Cruella, and hides under the stove until she’s gone, as she knows Cruella is after their puppies. Pongo tells her not to worry. At the same time, Roger writes and sings a song about Cruella, and how strange and wicked she is, titled “Cruella de Vil”.

One October stormy night, exactly three weeks later, the puppies arrive, but the number is far higher than anyone expected, going from 8, to 10, 11, 13, to 15! Nanny comes in sadly, saying one was lost, so there’s only 14. Roger takes the puppy and rubs it gently; it comes alive again, so there really are 15 puppies! Everyone is overjoyed – but then Cruella returns. She’s horrified to see that they have no spots; they can’t be real Dalmatians. Anita assures her that all Dalmatian puppies start off like that, but they’ll get their spots in a few weeks. Cruella then demands to buy the puppies, for any price, because Anita and Roger clearly can’t afford to keep them. Roger stands up to her, saying they will not sell. Cruella is furious, and leaves, saying they can do what they like with the puppies, “drown them” even!

A few weeks later, the puppies are watching a show about a hero dog called “Thunderbolt” on television, complete with an advert for “Kanine Krunchies”, which has a surprisingly catchy jingle! The puppies are soon sent to bed, so that Pongo, Perdita, Roger and Anita can go for their evening walk, unaware that two men have been waiting around the corner for them to leave. The two, Horace and Jasper, barge into the house, much to the dismay of Nanny, who tries to get them to leave. Jasper goes upstairs, and Nanny follows, with Jasper shutting her in the attic until Horace has collected all the puppies. They leave right after. Nanny assumes they’ve stolen the silver, but is horrified to find it’s only the puppies that have gone. She tries to run after them and calls for help.

The next day, Cruella is reading about the incident, laughing. Jasper calls her, confirming they’ve got the puppies and asking for their money. Cruella tells him not to call her again and that they shan’t get any money until the job is done. Cruella then calls Anita to “check on them”. Roger is suspicious, believing Cruella has the puppies. Anita says that as Scotland Yard already investigated her and found nothing, they cannot do anything else. Pongo and Perdita, unhappy with waiting for the human police to find their puppies, use the “Twilight Bark”, a way to pass news to other dogs in the area. The message is passed on throughout London, with all of London’s dogs barking like mad. Eventually, the news gets further than London, all the way to Suffolk, where it is picked up by Colonel, an Old English sheepdog, who, along with Sergeant Tibbs, a cat, go to investigate. Puppies were heard barking at Hell Hall, the old De Vil place, confirming Cruella was behind the crime. Tibbs is sent inside to check, where he finds a whole room full of puppies. The nearest one says that none of them have been stolen, they were all bought from pet shops, but another points out that some have names and collars, so can’t have been. She tells Tibbs they are all around the television, watching alongside Horace and Jasper. Tibbs goes over to count them, careful not to be spotted; there are fifteen of them! As he’s about to leave to report this update, Jasper grabs Tibbs, thinking it’s his nearby bottle of wine. Both of them freak out, with Tibbs making a hasty getaway.

Meanwhile, Pongo and Perdita set off for Suffolk, navigating snow and a fast-flowing icy river. They’re told to find Old Towser, a bloodhound, who will direct them to Colonel. Colonel doesn’t hear any news of them and suspects the two are lost. Then, the De Vil car arrives at Hell Hall, with Colonel and Tibbs going back over there to see what’s going on. Tibbs overhears Cruella saying that the police are on to them and that the puppies must be skinned tonight. She orders Horace and Jasper to do it now, or she’ll call the police. The two decide to finish their programme first, giving Tibbs time to sneak all the puppies out through a hole in the wall. Jasper and Horace finish their show, and find that all the puppies are gone. They grab torches and start searching the house. Jasper finds them all hiding under a bed, with Tibbs scaring him so that they can make a run for it. They hide under the stairs, but are spotted again, and run to another room. Jasper and Horace shut them in, with the puppies being cornered, Tibbs trying to protect them. Pongo and Perdita finally arrive, having been heard by Colonel, and they jump in to the room and attack Jasper and Horace. Tibbs and the puppies flee through a broken window.

All of them escape and find shelter in a barn, where they find there are 99 puppies in total that have been rescued! Pongo and Perdita decide to take all of them back to London and they start on their exhausting journey, through snow and freezing weather, dodging Jasper and Horace’s attempts to recapture them as they follow in their van. The next morning, Cruella asks where the puppies are, and starts searching for them too. The dogs are given shelter in a dairy farm barn but start back out on their journey the next morning. They get to Dinsford, where a local black Labrador has organised a ride home for them, in a van heading to London. But Cruella, Jasper and Horace are in the village too. Pongo has a clever idea of covering the puppies in soot so they look like Labradors instead. It works – for a while, until melting ice drops on to some of them, revealing their spots, just as Cruella is driving past.

Pongo quickly gets all the puppies into the van, and it drives off, with Cruella in hot pursuit. Driving like a maniac, she constantly hits the van, trying to knock it off the road. Jasper and Horace try to head the van off at the next junction, but instead of hitting the van, they hit Cruella, sending them tumbling down a ditch, vehicles completely destroyed. Needless to say, Cruella is furious! But the van arrives in London, just in time for Christmas Day. Roger, Anita, and Nanny are heartbroken that Pongo and Perdita seemingly ran away, but Roger’s “Cruella De Vil” song has become a huge hit. They are shocked to find numerous black dogs at their door, but soon realise it’s their beloved Dalmatian dogs and puppies returning to them – along with 84 other puppies. They decide to keep all of them, with Roger and Anita planning to use their newfound wealth from the hit song to buy a big house in the country for them all, saying they’ll have a “Dalmatian plantation”.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Pongo and Perdita are the loving Dalmatian couple that the movie centres around. Pongo sets out to find a partner for himself, as he is lonely being a bachelor, and spots Perdita through a window, deciding that she is the one, and setting up a way for them to meet. They fall in love quickly, and are soon expecting puppies to complete their family. They are supportive of each other and work well together in pursuit of their stolen pups. Pongo is level-headed and adoring of Perdita. Perdita is slightly more cautious. She also fears Cruella de Vil, whereas Pongo is not afraid of her, vowing to protect Perdita. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston animated many of the scenes of the two dogs, with Frank animating the sequence of Roger reviving one of the puppies, and Ollie working on the scene of Perdita hiding from Cruella. Rod Taylor and Cate Bauer voice Pongo and Perdita respectively. Taylor played Mitch Brenner in the Hitchcock movie The Birds (1963), with his final film role being in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009) as Winston Churchill.

Of Pongo and Perdita’s fifteen puppies, only six have names: Lucky, Rolly, Patch, Penny, Pepper, and Freckles, with Rolly and Lucky being the only two distinguishable ones for me! Rolly is hungry all the time, and Lucky likes to watch television close to the screen!

Roger and Anita Radcliffe are the loving human couple, who came to be together because of Pongo’s persistence! It is quite the meet cute, being tangled in dog leads and falling into a pond together! Roger is a songwriter, who is relatively calm and collected most of the time, though he despises Anita’s friend, Cruella. He stands up to Cruella multiple times, despite Cruella making comments to put him down. Anita is a little bit naïve, in that she doesn’t believe Cruella is evil and puts up with her, even though it’s quite clear she doesn’t really like her! Milt Kahl animated many of the sequences of Anita and Roger. He particularly enjoyed animating the scene of Roger fumbling with his pipe when he is startled by Pongo, waiting for the puppies to be born[1]. English actors Ben Wright and Lisa Davis voiced Roger and Anita. Lisa Davis retired from acting in 1970, but had been acting since the age of 13. Ben Wright would voice Rama, Mowgli’s wolf father in The Jungle Book (1967) and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid (1989), that being his final film role, but he also starred as Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music (1965).

Cruella de Vil was animated by Marc Davis, who had a lot of fun designing this character, using inspiration from people he’d met; Cruella’s voice actress Betty Lou Gerson; and Mary Wicks’ live-action reference material, since Gerson did not look right for the character. The original book that the film is based on stated that Cruella had a great white fur coat, and half-black, half-white hair, so these were included in the character design, with Davis going even further with it, to ensure she’d be hated, giving her overly flamboyant expressions, crazy movements, and even green smoke coming from her pink cigarettes. Animators felt that Cruella stole the show from the rest of the characters, with Davis wondering if he’d “gone too far” with the character at times! Milt Kahl loved to design the crazy villains, so he was quite jealous of Davis’ assignment.

Betty Lou Gerson gave her all in the voice work, with her cackling laugh, the posh, entitled accent, and pushy tone. Cruella de Vil is Gerson’s most recognisable role, though she was the Narrator in Cinderella (1950). Together, Gerson and Davis created a villain who has gone down in movie history as being one of the best[2].

Alongside Cruella, we have her two bumbling henchmen, Jasper and Horace. Jasper is tall and skinny, the brains of the operations, with Horace being shorter and rounder, and the one who is told what to do! Jasper and Horace make a real mess of everything, with Cruella ruing the day she hired them to do a simple job like this! In a way, Jasper and Horace remind me of “The Wet Bandits” from the Home Alone films (1990-92), though Marv is the tall, dumb one, and Harry is the short, smart one! J. Pat O’Malley voiced Jasper. He did a lot of voice work for Disney, such as Cyril Proudbottom in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Tweedledee, Tweedledum, the Walrus and the Carpenter in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and would go on to voice Colonel Hathi in The Jungle Book (1967). Frederick Worlock voiced Horace.

Finally, for the humans, there is Nanny, the cook and housekeeper for the Radcliffe family. Nanny is dedicated to the family, but quite nervous and anxious. She gets in a real state when Horace and Jasper barge into the house, for example! Nanny was voiced by Martha Wentworth, who would voice Madam Mim in The Sword in the Stone (1963).

Then, there are numerous other dogs and animals. Colonel, the Old English Sheepdog in Suffolk who helps find the stolen puppies, is voiced by J. Pat O’Malley as well, with his loyal and brave second-in-command, Sergeant Tibbs being voiced by British actor David Frankham. Another interesting name I found in the credits is Thurl Ravenscroft, who voiced Captain, the grey horse who works alongside Tibbs and Colonel. Ravenscroft did a lot of voice-over and singing work for many Disney animated films and theme park attractions such as The Haunted Mansion and Country Bear Jamboree. He was also the voice of Tony the Tiger in Kellogg’s adverts from 1953-2005.

Finally, some characters from Lady and the Tramp (1955) make surprise, non-speaking, roles in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, during the “Twilight Bark” scene. Jock, a rougher, looser version of him anyway, receives the call for help and passes it on to a pet shop, where Bull and Peg can be seen, before Lady makes an appearance on the street. It was director Woolie Reitherman’s idea to re-use those animated characters for this scene[3].

PRODUCTION

The story for Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians was based on a children’s book, written by Dodie Smith, who used her own experiences of owning Dalmatians to come up with the story. She also claimed to have helped birth a litter of fifteen puppies, with her husband reviving one, just as Roger does in the film[4]. There are a few changes from the original story though. The most obvious is the title, which should actually be “The Hundred and One Dalmatians”, not “One Hundred and One”. Some others are that in the movie Roger and Anita’s surname is Radcliffe, whereas in the original book, they are called “the Dearlys”, with no first names being given. Mr. Dearly is not a composer, but worked in finance, being given a lifelong tax exemption as a reward for wiping out the government’s debt! They also had two nannies at their home in Regent’s Park, not just one.

Another change is that Pongo’s partner in the book is actually called “Missus”, with Perdita being a third dog, who is found out in the rain by Mrs. Dearly and taken into the home, partly as an extra way of feeding these extra puppies. The name “Perdita” means lost; she ran away from her owners as her recent litter of puppies had been sold and she wanted to find them. Cruella de Vil is a schoolfriend of Mrs. Dearly, as per the movie, however, in the book, it is revealed that she was expelled from school for drinking ink! One other change is that the whole experience at Hell Hall is much scarier, so much so that the puppies scratch “SOS: Save Our Skins” into a bone.

The original story adds the numbers up to 101 slightly differently as well, as there are three adult Dalmatians, not just two. 97 puppies are found at Hell Hall, including the fifteen stolen puppies, so that totals 100 Dalmatians. The final one is actually Perdita’s lost love, Prince, who returns to her at the end of the story[5].

Dodie Smith’s original story was published in 1956, with the book being brought to Walt’s attention a year later in 1957. He liked the universal appeal of the story. The rights were purchased after some discussions, and was passed over to Bill Peet, as Walt’s attentions were focused on other projects, such as his new theme park, Disneyland, television series, documentaries, and live-action films. His attention on animation had been waning for some time at this point, yet Walt Disney and Dodie Smith kept up a correspondence both during the production on the film and for many years afterwards. Dodie Smith stated that she had hoped Walt Disney might make a film of her book, even to the point where some of her writing was inspired by how it might be portrayed on screen. She gave Walt an autographed copy of the book; he responded by sending her pictures from the production on the film, telling her that they were aiming for a Christmas 1960 release. The film would be released in January 1961.

Smith would state in a letter to Walt Disney that she was heartbroken to find that her character, “Missus”, had somehow become “Perdita”, though Dodie Smith did come to love the film, along with both US audiences and the international press. The only gripe she had was that her name was only on the screen for a flash and in a small font during the credits. Walt apologised for this and sent her some original artwork from the movie by way of an apology. I do not know if this was fixed in later releases, as her name is bigger than the title of the novel in the version of the movie that I watched, and seemed to be on screen for a decent amount of time. Dodie Smith would write a sequel to “The Hundred and One Dalmatians”, titled “The Starlight Barking”, released in 1967. Walt Disney would not be alive to read the novel, let alone adapt it, so unfortunately, despite their hopes of working together again, it did not happen[6].

Legendary Disney story man Bill Peet wrote the script for the movie, becoming the first person to write a whole Disney animated movie singlehandedly. Despite the changes to her novel, Dodie Smith loved Peet’s storyline, saying that it was funny, exciting and suspenseful. Bill Peet joined the Disney Studios in 1937, in a low-level role as an in-betweener, but he was driven and soon got his story ideas into Disney animated features. From Dumbo (1941), his work was included in every other Disney feature that followed. The plot that Peet chose was relatively close to the telling of the story, and kept it controlled and centred so it would be easy to follow. It is a mystery story, something very different from the fairy-tale and fantastical stories that Disney had become known for at that time. It was a contemporary movie, with modern relationships and current themes, like smoking and television, and all the excessive advertising that comes with it! [7]. One Hundred and One Dalmatians was the first Disney animated feature to be set in a specific place and a contemporary time. Previous features had been based on fairy-tales set in non-existent places in non-specific times. Others were set in real locations, but based in the early 1900s.

One of the reasons for Disney to branch out with their story ideas like this was because of the failure of their previous release, Sleeping Beauty (1959). Unfortunately, Sleeping Beauty cost $6 million to make, using the traditional hand-drawn animation and ink-and-paint methods that Disney had become know for to evoke that magical imagery on screen; it only made back $5.3 million at the box office. Sleeping Beauty was twice as expensive as the previous Disney animated features, such as Peter Pan (1953) and Lady and the Tramp (1955). Because of the financial failure, Disney would not make another fairy-tale-based animated film for three decades, where they made a comeback during the Disney “Renaissance Era”, beginning with The Little Mermaid in 1989. At the same time that Disney were sticking with their well-known storybook style, other studios had started to become more modernist and experimental with their styles[8].

Sleeping Beauty was the last Disney animated movie to be inked and painted by hand. Although beautiful, the process was complicated and time-consuming, and Disney Animation knew that to stay profitable, they would have to find a cheaper method. Walt Disney had been told to close down Disney Animation as he had other profitable pursuits, but as animation was the basis for the whole company, he knew it had to keep going.

Walt turned to Ub Iwerks to come up with a solution. Iwerks had worked with Walt during the early days of Disney, with Mickey Mouse and Laugh-O-Grams. He left the Disney company in 1930, but returned in 1940 to develop new processes for visual effects. Iwerks had heard about the Xerox process and thought that could work for Disney animation. The method involves taking a photocopy of a drawing, transferring it onto a plate, before dipping that plate in toner and printing it onto an animation cel. This process had been used briefly for some parts of Sleeping Beauty, such as the Maleficent dragon scene, but was fully tested on the short Goliath II (1960). It worked well, so Xerox was the process that Disney Animation started using, putting all the inkers and painters out of a job. Xerox was used right up until the creation of CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) in the 1990s.

Sadly, the Xerox process was not without its problems, at least back in the late 1950s and early 1960s when Disney started using it. The biggest problem was that the line lacked subtlety, compared to that of an inked line. For One Hundred and One Dalmatians, the lines were all black, grey, or brown, which worked well with the black and white Dalmatians in the movie, but it did not work so well with other characters, as a black outline on everything makes it obvious that you are watching drawings, and takes away from some of the magic – at least, it does to me! Xerox would become more sophisticated, so that additional coloured Xerox lines could be used in later Disney features.

However, the animators liked this process because it meant that their original drawings were not tampered and changed by other people along the process, though there was a memo sent to make sure that all the drawings were clean and without construction lines. This meant many assistants had to go and tidy up the work of some of the big animating greats. Milt Kahl in particular did not like this, and hated other people changing his drawings, so many of his original drawings were kept exactly as they were!

With this new process came new ways of experimenting with motion in Disney Animation. For one thing, the driving scenes used Xerox. Small scale models of Cruella’s car and the two vans were built out of cardboard with strong black lines drawn on to the edges. They were suspended from the ceiling and pulled along to do a take. This take was then transferred to animation via the Xerox process. The process was repeated for the other scenes. When Cruella’s car is going up a snowbank, a snowbank was created with sand, with the action then being filmed and Xeroxed.

The Xerox process worked well for this specific movie, given the number of spots that were required, around 6.5 million of them, with Disney publicity stating that there were 72 spots on Pongo, 68 on Perdita, and 32 on each puppy. Lucky even has a horseshoe symbol on his back made up of three spots[9]. It was a crazy idea to begin with, with each one having to be drawn, but imagine if they’d all had to be inked and painted as well! Another was that Xerox gave the movie a more modern look to match the present-day story. Ken Anderson, the Art Director on this film, wanted the backgrounds and animation to feel cohesive. With the help of Colour Stylist Walt Peregoy, they found that additional detail could be Xeroxed and placed over the light backgrounds to match the graphic quality of the characters.

Although many audiences and artists love the look and stylistic design of One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Walt Disney did not like it. He was sad to let go of the romantic, though expensive, style of animation he’d been used to, in exchange for this cheaper, sketchier animation style. Personally, I agree with Walt Disney on this one, but then, I’m no art buff! Ken Anderson, the Art Director on this film, said it took a long time for Walt to forgive him. In late 1966, Ken Anderson saw Walt on the studio lot, and they had a brief conversation. Anderson believed that with one look, Walt was saying that he finally forgave him for One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Two weeks later, Anderson and the rest of the Disney animators were told that Walt Disney had passed away[10].

MUSIC

Despite the fact that Roger is a songwriter in this movie, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is not a musical. In fact, there are only three songs in this whole movie. The three songs were written by Mel Leven and George Bruns. Leven worked with the Walt Disney Company on other projects such as Babes in Toyland (1961) and for the 1969 short It’s Tough to Be a Bird, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject in 1970. Leven had also written songs for bigtime singers, such as Peggy Lee, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole.

However, Leven’s most famous song is likely to be “Cruella De Vil”, the main song in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The original version was changed to a Blues tempo, to suit the character of Cruella better. The song at that end of the movie, “Dalmatian Plantation”, was another one that was changed from its original idea. It’s not a big song to finish the movie, so I find it forgettable. I used to like “Cruella De Vil” as a song, but I think it’s been overused now, so I don’t like it so much anymore! These two songs are performed by Roger in the movie, whose singing voice was provided by singer Bill Lee. As well as singing for Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965), Lee has performed singing work in many Disney movies, such as The Jungle Book (1967) and Lady and the Tramp (1955) as part of the group, The Mellomen.

The only other song is a spoof advertising jingle called “Kanine Krunchies” for the product of the same name. It is quite a catchy jingle, considering it is a parody of the advertisements of the time. This jingle is performed by Lucille Bliss, a well-known voice performer, who had performed roles such as Anastasia Tremaine in Cinderella (1950) for Disney, and Smurfette in The Smurfs (1981-1989).

George Bruns composed the score for One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He created a contemporary, jazzy score for this modern day, non-fantastical film[11]. I do quite enjoy the “Overture” at the start of the movie, with the opening credits sequence, but nothing else within the score stood out to me particularly. I’m not saying the score is bad, because it’s not, and it does compliment the action on screen; it’s just that I didn’t find it very memorable. Bruns had a longstanding working relationship with the Walt Disney Studios, which lasted from 1953 to 1976, when he retired.

There were plenty of deleted and abandoned songs from the One Hundred and One Dalmatians soundtrack, but none that I think were so good that they were worthy of being in the movie! One was a song that would’ve featured when the Dalmatians are in the van, heading back home. There was another peppier song, with a Christmas theme, as the Dalmatians return on Christmas Day called “Cheerio, Good-bye, Toodle-Oo, Hip-Hip!”. Jasper and Horace were even going to have a song, something to resemble a pub shanty, called “Don’t Buy A Parrot From A Sailor”, which was such a random song!

RECEPTION

One Hundred and One Dalmatians surprised everyone. As well as being less costly to make than previous Disney animated features, it also did incredibly well at the box-office, grossing around $14 million in North America in its initial run.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians brilliant box-office achievement allowed the Disney Studios to recover after their previous animated movie, Sleeping Beauty (1959), was a financial disappointment. One Hundred and One Dalmatians has continued to do well in its subsequent re-releases, in theatres and on home media.

In terms of critics’ reviews, One Hundred and One Dalmatians received some of the best reviews that Disney Animation had received since Dumbo was released in 1941. The critical reviews stated that the movie was unpretentious, fresh, and artistic, pushing the studio forward in a new direction. It was light-hearted and loved by both children and adults. Cruella de Vil was also warmly received, despite her unsettling love of fur coats and obsession with Dalmatians, with many loving her eccentric nature[12].

Cruella de Vil has since made it onto the American Film Institute’s list of “100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains”, sitting at No. 39 on the Top 50 Villains list. This list was created in 2003.

LEGACY

Given this response to the movie, it is no surprise that One Hundred and One Dalmatians spanned a successful range of spin-offs and sequels, more so, in my opinion, than many other Disney animated features, especially one released outside of the Disney “Renaissance Era”, though Cinderella (1950) has had a similar achievement.

Let’s begin with the animated sequels and spin-offs. Between 1997 and 1998, a television series was created called 101 Dalmatians: The Series, which primarily focused on three of the puppies: Lucky and Rolly, known from the original film, and Cadpig, their sister and runt of the litter, who was not named in the film. It follows their adventures at their new farm, where Roger and Anita have moved the family. Another animated television series, called 101 Dalmatian Street, is much more recent, being released on Disney Channel and on Disney+, running from 2019 to 2020. It is set 60 years after the original film, and follows a family of 101 Dalmatians who live in Camden, London, and are descended from Pongo and Perdita. Delilah, the mother of 99 puppies, is their great-great granddaughter. All of the dogs’ names begin with the letter “D”. Only one season was ordered and produced.

A sequel to One Hundred and One Dalmatians was released, direct-to-video. It is titled 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure (2003). It is considered to be one of the better of these sequels, and follows Patch meeting Thunderbolt, the puppies’ TV hero, whose show they are all sat around watching in the original movie, after Patch is left behind when the Radcliffe family is moving to the country, to their “Dalmatian Plantation”. I think I watched this sequel and liked it, yet I can’t remember it. I believe I have mixed it up with Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure (2001); they are both about dogs getting lost! But 101 Dalmatians II has some very interesting names in its voice cast, like the Canadian comedian Martin Short, who voices Lars, an eccentric French artist; American actor Jason Alexander, voicing Thunderbolt’s sidekick, Lil’ Lightning; and the voice of Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), Jodi Benson, as Anita.

Then, there are the live-action spin-offs, with 101 Dalmatians being released in 1996, with some differences to the original film, such as Roger being an American video game designer, living in London, and Anita working as a fashion designer, at Cruella’s “House of de Vil”. The dogs also do not speak in this film and the original surname of Roger and Anita from the book, “Dearly”, is used. It features an impressive cast, such as Jeff Daniels as Roger; Hugh Laurie as Jasper; Mark Williams as Horace; Tim McInnerny as a new character, Alonzo, Cruella’s underappreciated butler; and of course, Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. Despite receiving mixed reviews, a sequel to this, called 102 Dalmatians, was released in 2000. It follows Cruella’s release from prison, having been “cured” of her Dalmatian obsession, and how she reverts back to her old ways! I actually really like 102 Dalmatians, unlike the original movie or the live-action remake, which I can’t even remember much of! Close and McInnerny reprise their roles in 102 Dalmatians, with other great actors such as Ioan Gruffudd and Eric Idle joining the cast.

The most recent film to be released based on this franchise is the live-action prequel, Cruella, released in 2021, starring Emma Stone as a young Cruella, alongside the likes of Dame Emma Thompson and Mark Strong. This gives Cruella a backstory to how she got to be a fashion designer, set in 1970s London. I did quite like this film’s storyline, but it would’ve been better had it not been linked to Cruella de Vil at all; I disagree with the need to give all these Disney villains simple backstories to make them more human. Isn’t the whole point of a villain that we aren’t meant to sympathise with or relate to them, since they then cease to be an object of distress to anyone? Still, it wasn’t a bad film, and did well on its release, so much so that a sequel in the works, though little information has been revealed on Cruella 2 recently. It is unclear if it is currently in production or not. Around the time of the film’s release, Glenn Close, who was an executive producer on Cruella, stated that she had an idea for a 103 Dalmatians movie, so whether or not that becomes a reality, we’ll have to wait and see!

Speaking of Cruella, she has had a featured role in other Disney projects. Actress Victoria Smurfit played the role of Cruella de Vil in the series Once Upon A Time, in the show’s fourth and fifth seasons. This version of Cruella can actually control animals. I think Smurfit’s portrayal of Cruella is the best one; she’s calculating, evil, heartless, insane, yet also very funny. Another version of Cruella is seen within the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants (2015), played by American actress Wendy Raquel Robinson. Cruella does not appear for much of the movie, nor for either of the two sequels, but her son, Carlos, is one of the four villain children who get to go to school in Auradon, away from the villain slum of the Isle of the Lost. Carlos was played by Cameron Boyce, who sadly passed away in 2019, at the age of 20.

There were also multiple video games released in the 1990s and 2000s based on One Hundred and One Dalmatians. I think my family had one, but I couldn’t tell you which, just that there was some game where you had to match dogs to their owners, based on the scene where Pongo is looking out the window, trying to find a partner for himself.

At the Disney theme parks, Cruella de Vil is the only character from One Hundred and One Dalmatians available for meet-and-greets, with her being particularly prominent at the Halloween parties, either as a meet-and-greet location or within the parades. Cruella de Vil is also now a main character in the live stage show Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, which opened on 27^th May 2025 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Hook and two other villains, Maleficent and Cruella de Vil, present their cases to the audience about who was treated the worst. The show is around 15-20 minutes long and runs throughout the day.

On the Disney Destiny on the Disney Cruise Line, there is a lounge themed to One Hundred and One Dalmatians, specifically Cruella de Vil and her love of high-class elegance and style called De Vil’s. Music from the movie may also be included in The Golden Mickey’s stage show on the Disney Dream and the Disney Wonder.

Merchandise based on the movie can be found at multiple shopping locations, and a whole area of Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort at Walt Disney World is dedicated to the movie, with some photo spots and large statues of Pongo and Perdita.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Plenty of people love One Hundred and One Dalmatians, those who were around at the time of its release as well as current audiences, so I am well aware that I am in the minority here by not liking it! Every Disney film has its fair share of fans and haters.

The fact that it is still being used as material for further Disney adaptations just proves how popular the franchise is, and I have to admit that without One Hundred and One Dalmatians there would be no Cruella, who is a good Disney villain, although not one of my favourites, nor would I have ever been able to see 102 Dalmatians (2000), so I suppose I have some reason to be thankful to One Hundred and One Dalmatians!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians (2008).

[2] Credit: Disney, Cruella De Vil: Drawn To Be Bad (2008).

[3] Credit: Disney, Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians (2008).

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘101 Dalmatians (1961)’, pp. 49-51.

[5] Credit: Alison Flood, ‘I wish more people would read…The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith’, The Guardian (online), 23^rd April 2020.

[6] Credit: Disney, Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney (2008).

[7] Credit: Disney, Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians (2008).

[8] Credit: Parker Amoroso, ‘The Making and Impact of One Hundred and One Dalmatians’, The Walt Disney Family Museum Blog, 21^st March 2022.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘101 Dalmatians (1961)’, pp. 49-51.

[10] Credit: Disney, Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians (2008).

[11] Credit: Disney, Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians (2008).

[12] Credit: Howard Thompson, ‘Disney Film on Dogs’, The New York Times (online), 11^th February 1961.

30th Jun 20232nd Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#33 Pocahontas (1995)

BACKGROUND

Pocahontas was supposed to be the big blockbuster hit to follow the smashing success of Disney’s 1992 release: Aladdin.

This did not end up being the case because of that “little-known” film, The Lion King (1994), which not only dwarfed the achievement of the film that would follow it, Pocahontas, but the rest of the Disney “Renaissance Era” releases as well.

The two movies were in production at the same time, and everyone at Disney, including then-Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, thought Pocahontas would be the one to do well, because it told a romantic love story, like that of Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story, whereas The Lion King was more experimental and different to what Disney Animation had been doing. Nobody even really wanted to be working on the “B” movie of The Lion King, instead of the “A” movie of Pocahontas[1]. So, it was a surprise to everyone when The Lion King was released in 1994 and was so successful that its Disney Animation box-office record would not be beaten for almost two decades, by Frozen in 2013. Still, Pocahontas did not do badly at the box-office, despite receiving mixed reviews, and it has its fans of which I am one.

I have always liked Pocahontas because I like the romance of it. It looks stunning and has the best score of any Disney animated movie in my opinion. Pocahontas sits comfortably within my Top 5 of Disney animated features so it was not a chore whatsoever to re-watch it this week, and I generally watch it at least once a year.

PLOT

Disney’s Pocahontas begins with a group of voyagers, those of “The Virginia Company” sailing off from London in 1607 to conquer the New World. These voyagers are looking for their fortune, with the prospect of gold a key factor in their mission, with their leader, Governor Ratcliffe, hoping to come back from this journey a hero, so he can climb the social standings at His Majesty’s Court. Their journey is rocked by a storm partway through, where their youngest sailor, Thomas, falls overboard. He is rescued by John Smith, a celebrated explorer who has been selected for this mission to deal with “the Indians”. The voyage continues, with the sailors hoping that the New World will meet all their expectations.

We then move over to the original Virginia which is inhabited by the Powhatan tribe, who live in harmony with the land. Many of the men of the village, including Chief Powhatan, have just returned from defeating the Massawomecks, with Kocoum being celebrated for his bravery. Pocahontas, the Chief’s daughter, is late to greet her father, having just been found by her best friend, Nakoma, standing on a cliff, with her raccoon friend, Meeko, and hummingbird, Flit! Her father tells her that Kocoum has asked to marry her. Pocahontas is not sure that is the path for her life, but her father tells her she must be “steady like the river” and settle down. He gives Pocahontas her mother’s necklace as an engagement present, ready to wear on her wedding day. Pocahontas goes to visit Grandmother Willow, a talking willow tree who acts as her guide, and tells her about a dream she’s been having, involving a spinning arrow. She is told to “listen with her heart”, at which point Pocahontas sees “strange clouds” and follows them. These are actually the sails of the Susan Constant, the ship that the English have arrived to Virginia on. Most are uncertain of this new land, but John Smith is fascinated and goes out to explore, and to look for the Natives, as instructed by Governor Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe officially names this settlement “Jamestown”, after King James I and tells the others to start digging for gold and building their camp.

Pocahontas, curious by these strange visitors, follows John Smith. At one point, Meeko rushes up to John, curious about food he has in his bag. John is about to spot Pocahontas, when Flit flies out at John at speed, and scares him off. But John seems to know he is being followed by someone and eventually spots who, holding a gun up to them. It’s Pocahontas and he is immediately entranced. She runs away, but John quickly follows her. He persuades her to stay and the two talk about their different lands. Meanwhile, the English have not found any gold, despite digging for hours, and spot some of the Natives watching them. A fight ensues, with one of the Powhatans being shot; he is taken back to the village, where Chief Powhatan warns everyone to stay away from them, as they do not understand their weapons or their intentions here, but hope they do not intend to stay.

Pocahontas and John Smith, unaware of this latest development, continue talking, with John telling Pocahontas all about the buildings in London, before telling her that they’ll be building those things here, so the Natives can “use the land properly”. This upsets Pocahontas, and she tries to leave again, but John stops her. She climbs up a tree instead, and he follows, continuing to dig himself into a hole, by calling her people “savages” and “uncivilised”. John loses his footing and falls down to the ground. Pocahontas comes down from the tree and tells him that even though her people may be different, the English could learn a lot from them, and how they live alongside nature.

John returns to his camp, where many of the English are already unhappy with their time in the New World. Ratcliffe believes that the Natives must have the gold and sets about a plan to take it from them, with two of the settlers, Ben and Lon, being sent to find it. John Smith has snuck out to see Pocahontas again, where she asks Nakoma to keep their friendship a secret. The two go to Grandmother Willow, where Pocahontas tells John there is no gold around here, and introduces him to Grandmother Willow. Though he is freaked out at first, he comes to like her, after she says he’s handsome! Ben and Lon come by the tree, where Grandmother Willow lifts her roots and snaps her vines against them to scare them off. John returns to camp.

Chief Powhatan has asked for warriors from the neighbouring villages to help with the invasion of the settlers. Pocahontas is disturbed by this development, and asks her father to consider speaking with one of them; he says he would but does not seem convinced. Back at the English camp, John tells the others there is no gold here, which Ratcliffe rebuffs as a lie from his “little Indian friend”. He goes out again to meet with Pocahontas, but is seen by Thomas, who has been ordered by Ratcliffe to follow him and given a gun to shoot any Indian he sees. Nakoma has also informed Kocoum of Pocahontas’ secret meetings and he goes to follow her. Pocahontas and John Smith meet by Grandmother Willow’s tree again, where they make a plan for him to talk with Chief Powhatan, so they can be together. They kiss, and are seen by both Thomas and Kocoum, with Thomas being shocked and Kocoum flying into a jealous rage, rushing to attack John. Thomas then shoots Kocoum in defence of John, but Kocoum is killed, breaking Pocahontas’ mother’s necklace in the process. John orders Thomas to leave, and John is captured. Chief Powhatan sentences him to death the next morning, and he is tied up in a tent. Pocahontas is allowed to speak to him for a few short moments, where she apologies for what’s happened to him, all because of her, though John tells her “he’d rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing [her]”.

Thomas tells the camp the news of John’s capture, with Ratcliffe using this as the perfect excuse to finally attack the Indians. They prepare for battle, with the Powhatans doing the same. Pocahontas runs to Grandmother Willow, feeling lost about what to do. Meeko retrieves a compass he stole from John Smith and gives it to Pocahontas; it is the spinning arrow from her dream. The wind pushes the arrow, until it stops, pointing her in the direction of where John’s execution is taking place.

Pocahontas runs to him, and arrives just in time, throwing herself on top of John Smith, preventing her father from carrying out the death sentence. She tells her father this is where “the path of hatred” has brought them, that she loves John Smith, and that if he wants to kill John, he’ll have to kill her too. Chief Powhatan is shocked by this turn of events, but understands what his daughter is saying, convincing him not to fight the English. The English have witnessed this scene too, and they stand down as well. John is released, but this is not enough for Ratcliffe, who order his men to shoot. They refuse, so Ratcliffe takes a gun for himself and aims it at Chief Powhatan. John Smith notices just in time and jumps in front of the gunshot, saving the Chief but injuring himself. The English rise up and detain Ratcliffe, tying him up and sending him back to London.

John must also return as well, to get medical treatment back in London for his wound. Pocahontas and the villagers arrive with food for their journey back. John wants Pocahontas to go with him, but she says she is needed here with her tribe, to keep the peace between the two sides. John says he’ll stay with her, but she tells him he must return and that she’ll always be with him, no matter where they are. The Chief is grateful for John’s sacrifice for him, and tells him he will always be welcomed back. John is rowed back to the ship, where it departs. Pocahontas runs up to the top of the cliff and watches as the ship departs, waving goodbye to John Smith as he leaves Virginia.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Disney’s character of Pocahontas was created to be more sincere, wiser, stronger, independent, and with more depth of thoughts and feelings than some of Disney’s previous female protagonists, such as Belle or Ariel. Because Disney did make Pocahontas older than the real person actually was, they could give their Pocahontas these attributes. Pocahontas is also a spiritual person, connected to nature, but with a playful side, as we see at the start of the movie when she tips over Nakoma’s canoe when she comes to find her to bring her back to the village. The design of Pocahontas was created by animator Glen Kleane, who knew she needed to be beautiful, strong, and athletic. Because there was a real girl behind this character, it made the animation process more difficult, partly as one of the actual drawings of Pocahontas as a person did not fit into the Disney aesthetic, and because Disney knew that their version of the character would become the established version in society. Keane did go against the rather unflattering drawing of Pocahontas, admitting it was not a historically accurate representation of the person, but that he had spent much time ensuring that the design of Pocahontas matched her Native American ethnicity, especially as Keane had primarily only animated Caucasian characters before[2].

Pocahontas’ speaking voice was provided by actress Irene Bedard, who is of Native American descent. She loved her role as Pocahontas, and the beautiful love story that the movie created. Bedard noticed how some of her facial expressions and hand movements had been incorporated into the character, based on the filmed recording sessions. This included her pushing her hair behind her ear, which is something Pocahontas does multiple times in the movie[3]. Bedard continues to reprise her voice role for other Disney projects. American singer Judy Kuhn provides Pocahontas’ singing voice.

John Smith is one of the English explorers; he has been brought on this voyage mostly for his experience in “dealing with the Natives” from past expeditions to other New Worlds. He is more of an adventurer than a conqueror, not really caring about claiming the land, but wanting to explore these new areas. John Smith is relatively kind-hearted in Disney’s Pocahontas, wanting peace between the English and the native tribe, and he seems to want to learn about Pocahontas’ culture and customs. John Smith’s character, as in the real person’s, is still being debated by historians; it is unsure how much he believed in peace, and how much of a good person he really was, so Disney’s character is likely a kind interpretation of the real human! I like John Smith and Pocahontas together; I think they are a couple genuinely in love but torn between their two different worlds. Their decisions to go back to their respective homelands did seem to be the best choice for both of them though.

John Smith was primarily animated by John Pomeroy who was influenced by John Smith’s own personal diaries, along with the actor Errol Flynn and his movie performances. He was, of course, also inspired by John Smith’s voice actor, who also sang in the movie: actor Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson is most known for his performances in the Mad Max franchise (1979-85), playing the title role of Max Rockatansky, as well as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995), which came out in the same year as Pocahontas. Gibson would later go back into voice work for the role as Rocky in Aardman’s movie, Chicken Run (2000).

The villain of Pocahontas is Governor Ratcliffe, who is, more or less, a social climber, wanting to be more known to King James I back in England, and to raise his status at court. This is his primary motivation for going on the voyage to the New World, because, by doing this and bringing back untold riches to England, Ratcliffe hopes that he might be seen as such a hero that he’ll be given a title, like a lordship. He is greedy and arrogant, unfeeling towards those whose land he has claimed in the name of the King of England. Ratcliffe is also openly racist, calling the native tribe “savages” and wanting to shoot any that might get in his way. Ratcliffe is evil, corrupt, and nasty; he is one of the worst Disney villains, because he is human, with no magic or powers, yet has power and uses that power for himself, instead of trying to better the world for others. And because of this, I think Ratcliffe is one of Disney’s best villains, although underappreciated by many.

Ratcliffe was animated by Duncan Marjoribanks, who was originally going to make the character pear-shaped, but when the character became nastier, the weight was moved from his waist up to his chest to make him larger and therefore more menacing. Governor Ratcliffe is voiced by David Ogden Stiers, who performed many other roles for Disney, such as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1991), the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Dr. Jumba in Lilo & Stitch (2002). Outside of Disney, he played Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, M.D. on the television series M*A*S*H (1977-83), where he was nominated for two Emmy Awards. David Ogden Stiers passed away in March 2018.

Ratcliffe also has a manservant, called Wiggins, who is overly optimistic and carries on as though nothing has happened, like angering the Natives of the area and not being able to find gold. Wiggins’ primary duty seems to be caring for Ratcliffe’s pampered pug, Percy, and very little else. Ratcliffe is unamused by Wiggins, especially as he was “highly recommended”. I like Wiggins a lot though, and he has some of the funniest lines, such as when Ratcliffe says they’ll be sure to give the Natives a proper English greeting, with Wiggins replying: “Oh, gift baskets!”. That single line sums up Wiggins as a character perfectly, though Wiggins was going to be quite snotty and pompous originally. Wiggins is also voiced by David Ogden Stiers, which is a surprise as Wiggins’ high-pitched posh voice is a complete contrast to the deep, menacing tone of Ratcliffe!

Then there is Pocahontas’ spiritual guide, Grandmother Willow, a literal willow tree who can talk! Although Grandmother Willow had to be serious and wise, leading Pocahontas to the right decisions and teaching her to listen to what her heart is telling her, Disney knew she had to have some humour to her character, like a real grandmother. This was captured perfectly by Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt. Disney couldn’t think of anyone else to play this 400-year-old tree and they said Hunt was dead on with the personality of Grandmother Willow every time! Hunt won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the movie The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). More recently, she voiced Lady Proxima in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Grandmother Willow was animated by Chris Buck; her face was traditionally hand-drawn and then layered on top of the CGI tree[4].

Within the Powhatan tribe, we have Chief Powhatan. He is clearly a well-respected leader, beloved by the villagers, although as a father to Pocahontas, he is quite strict, sometimes becoming annoyed by Pocahontas’ free-spirited nature, which ultimately gets them all into trouble when Kocoum is killed. Chief Powhatan wants to defeat these trespassers to his land to protect his people and that is completely understandable. Despite this, Chief Powhatan does eventually listen to Pocahontas, telling him that destroying each other is not the path that either side should be wanting to go down, and he is the one to set down weapons first and try to find peace. Native American activist Russell Means was chosen to voice the role of Chief Powhatan, a role he stated he was proud to play. He looked at Powhatan as one of his own ancestors, so was able to identify with the character, bringing the power and depth to the Chief[5]. I think he did a brilliant job with the character. Means unfortunately passed away in 2012.

Then we have Pocahontas’ best friend, Nakoma. She doesn’t get enough screen time, in my opinion, because the two of them are so funny together at the start of the film. Nakoma is not free-spirited like Pocahontas, so although she tries to keep Pocahontas’ friendship with John Smith a secret at the beginning, she begins to worry about her friend’s safety and has to tell Kocoum about it, something that she clearly feels guilty about when she tells Pocahontas of this. Kocoum is the brave warrior of the village; he’s the dependable, strong one who is a hero to the other villagers. He wants to marry Pocahontas, and gets permission from Chief Powhatan, but Pocahontas does not want to be married to him because he is quite serious. I can understand that, but he would have been a steady figure for her. Again, he doesn’t receive much screen time and I would’ve liked his relationship with Pocahontas to be explored further, but in the interests of time and pacing, I guess it wasn’t possible. Nakoma and Kocoum are voiced by Michelle St. John and James Apaumut Fall, respectively, both of which are also of Native American descent. Kekata, the medicine man of the Powhatan tribe, is voiced by Gordon Tootoosis, another actor of Native American descent, who died in 2011.

For the English settlers, there are only really three main ones. Ben, the cynical, grumpy one, who quickly grows to dislike his time in Jamestown, as well as the amount of time they had to be on that “stinking boat”. He is voiced by the much-loved Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly. Then, there is Thomas, who is probably the youngest of the settlers. He is new to being a sailor and a soldier, and therefore is not particularly skilled, as we see when he gets thrown overboard at the start and almost shoots Ratcliffe at one point… Thomas is one of the first to stand up to Ratcliffe at the end though, when they are told to fight. Thomas is voiced by Christian Bale in one of his earlier film roles. Bale would obviously go on to star as Batman in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), amongst other things. The third main English settler is Lon, who is friends with Ben. They both seem to have known John Smith previously as well. Lon is more positive than Ben, trying to make the best of things. Lon is voiced by Joe Baker.

Finally, we have the animal sidekicks. Percy is the pug of Governor Ratcliffe, who is very spoilt and doesn’t like this strange, muddy area he’s been brought to, where raccoons steal all your food. Yes, him and Meeko have an ongoing battle throughout the movie, before deciding to be friends at the end, and Percy ends up staying in Jamestown. Danny Mann “voiced” Percy. The two characters are clearly the comic relief in Pocahontas, because otherwise, there wouldn’t be much to laugh about or to keep the kids entertained! Meeko is Pocahontas’ mischievous raccoon, who is always hungry and therefore stealing food from others. But he doesn’t mean any harm by it! It was decided that a raccoon was a good sidekick to Pocahontas as they have dexterity, so he would be able to keep up with Pocahontas and be able to handle objects, such as food and John Smith’s compass. Meeko is “voiced” by John Kassir, who has had many roles within animation, providing additional voices to movies such as Planes (2013) and the Minions movies. Flit is the last sidekick, a hummingbird, who is quite stubborn and easily panicked. This was to match the nervous, staccato movement of hummingbirds. Flit is “voiced” by Frank Welker, known for providing many noises for animal characters in film, such as Abu in Aladdin (1992).

PRODUCTION

The first mention of Disney making a movie based on Pocahontas, came from co-director Mike Gabriel, who, as part of his pitch, used one small illustration: a drawing of Tiger Lily from Peter Pan (1953), with some forest creatures around her. He stated that he wanted this to be a film about the Chief’s daughter being caught between her love of her people and her love for one of their “enemies”. This was enough for the idea to be greenlit, and for the movie to be put into production[6]. Eric Goldberg was added as co-director.

From this point, the team at Disney looked into the real history of Pocahontas and the Powhatan tribe. They went to the original settlement of Jamestown and its museum for inspiration, where a replica of the Susan Constant ship exists, which I’m sure was useful for the scenes that included that ship! They learned about Native American culture, and the legends and folklore that surround Pocahontas and her experiences with the Virginia Company settlers. Though Disney’s story is based in real history, such as the arrival of the Virginia Company in 1607, and them looking for riches in the area, and the Powhatan tribe and its customs, some parts of the story were embellished, or were altered completely.

As a large proportion of the negative comments around Pocahontas come from the lack of historical accuracy, it’s important to note that Pocahontas was the first Disney animated movie to be based on the life of a real person, not just characters in a fairy-tale, a novel or a children’s book, so it was difficult territory to navigate.

Pocahontas, also called Amonute or Matoaka, with Pocahontas being a nickname, meaning “playful one”, was actually somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 when she first met John Smith and the English colonisers settled in Virginia. This was stated in two different personal accounts by John Smith, where he stated that they met around 1608 and she seemed to be about 10 years old, though in a letter about eight years later, he would say she was 12 or 13, so that is why there is some debate, but it is clear she was younger than Disney’s Pocahontas. Due to this age difference, there was no romantic relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith, though, as per his own personal accounts, Smith was taken prisoner and Pocahontas did save his life by throwing herself over his body. This event has been debated by historians, but Disney felt they could use this scene in their movie, as there is some evidence to suggest it did happen.

Pocahontas was actually married to Kocoum and had a son with him, however, the English colonisers killed Kocoum and forced her to give up her child, before capturing her and eventually marrying her off to John Rolfe. She was forced to convert to Christianity, with her name being changed to Rebecca. It is not clear whether she was forced to marry John Rolfe, or not. Pocahontas also went to England, where she was shown to be a product of the peaceful unity between the Native Americans and the English settlers. We now know this was not a harmonious relationship between the two sides. Pocahontas died at the age of 21 on the voyage back to Virginia, of potentially smallpox, tuberculosis, or something similar[7].

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Disney did not want to adapt Pocahontas’ history in full, because who wants children to see the violence and abuse that came with colonialism in America? It’s not a nice life story to be presented on screen, so why would Disney make their Pocahontas historically accurate, given this information? Disney have always made loose adaptations of whatever story they’ve chosen. Just look at The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). That movie is absolutely nothing like the book; trust me, I’ve read it a few times, yet I still love both. Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Little Mermaid (1989) are also not close to their original stories, because some of those retellings are quite gruesome in places.

But the problem is that Pocahontas is based on a real person, so people were upset. The fact is some of her history is still being largely debated by historians, so Disney felt they had some degree of artistic license with their adaptation. I personally love the story they came up with, and although I may have seemed incredibly naïve at school, thinking I knew everything about Pocahontas from the Disney film, I did eventually learn the true history, once I was able to understand it. Some of Pocahontas’ history with John Rolfe would be explored in the direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998).

Disney openly admit that they took liberties with Pocahontas’ real-life story, but by aging Pocahontas and giving them a focal point of a complicated love story, it makes the characters’ choices and decisions more important, with more being at stake. Let’s be honest: if Disney had made Pocahontas 10 years old and taken out the love story, but included all the elements of the story where she is fighting injustice and trying to bring peace, the audience may not have found it believable. She would have been a child and we would’ve just found her naïve, not understanding what’s actually going on. It clearly was not the case in the 1600s, Pocahontas was taken seriously, but if you think about it in terms of modern culture, a child standing up for what is wrong in the world is not something we are used to seeing. At least, it wasn’t in the 1990s.

Disney did consult with historians and Native American leaders when making this film, and that included Russell Means, the voice actor for Chief Powhatan. He made suggestions on how the Native American culture should be portrayed in Pocahontas, with two examples of this being the fact that all the dwellings face in one direction, and that the characters refer to each other generally by their relationship to each other, rather than by their first name: Chief Powhatan refers to Pocahontas as “my daughter” for much of the movie. Means stated that he was pleased and proud to have been a part of Pocahontas, with the opening scene of the tribe being a particular highlight of the film for him. Means also said that it was the finest work on Native Americans by Hollywood ever[8].

However, others who were consulted did not approve of the changes that Disney made to the movie, and would not participate further in the project. One such person was Shirley “Little Dove” Custalow McGowan, a descent of Powhatan Indians. She felt that the production was getting further away from historical accuracy, and would not consult with Disney from this point. She asked for her name to be removed from the film, but it was not[9]. Elements of the movie that were changed that would’ve been closer to the true history include a whole scene of the village preparing for Pocahontas’ upcoming wedding to Kocoum, with a song titled “Dancing to the Wedding Drum”, an early version of “Steady as the Beating Drum”. There was much research into the specifics of what a Native American wedding would’ve looked like, but it was removed as it felt burdensome to the plot.

There was also a character who was entirely cut from the movie. This was Redfeather, a funny turkey sidekick for Pocahontas, who would’ve been voiced by John Candy. With Candy’s death in 1994, the whole character was cut, and the other animals, including Percy, who were meant to have voices, were then silenced[10]. It was probably for the best, but it would’ve been interesting to hear John Candy as a turkey in Pocahontas.

Another scene that was almost included in the film was a love song between John Smith and Pocahontas called “In the Middle of the River”, which would’ve included them declaring their love for each other, as well as hope that their two cultures could come together. At least three songs of this type, as in a big production number involving the whole forest, similar to “Under the Sea” in The Little Mermaid (1989), were written but this was the favoured one. It was supposed to take place at the point of Pocahontas and John Smith’s kiss in the released version of the film, as the war is brewing between the two groups. It was even based on a Native American saying, but it was rejected, due to the fact it felt like there were already so many songs by this point in the movie, that it would’ve felt overcrowded and like the action had to keep moving[11].

After this song was rejected, a new love ballad was written, called “If I Never Knew You”, to be sung the night before John Smith is to be executed. The whole scene was completed and put into the movie, however, during a preview of the film, they noticed that the audience was restlessness during this song. It was decided that the song should be cut, since the film worked without it, and the theme of the song was still prominent within the score, so it’s not like it had been cut completely, though it was still a disappointment to both the songwriting team and to the animators. It was a huge love scene, a big declaration of love and emotion between the two main characters. It was something that Disney had not done before in any of their movies, and the team felt it was a shame to lose it, especially as it gave even more depth and reason to the scene of Pocahontas throwing herself over John Smith to protect him at the end.

And that is why, for the 10^th anniversary of the release of Pocahontas, the scene was put back into the movie on the newest DVD release, with Mel Gibson and Judy Kuhn singing[12]. I personally love this “deleted” song, and I think it fits very well, unlike some other “deleted” songs that Disney put into new releases, such as “Human Again” in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and “The Morning Report” in The Lion King (1994). If you go back and watch the original cut of the movie, it seems such a waste of a scene; the two don’t say all that much and it’s so short. With this song, it makes their relationship feel so much more believable and it’s very heartfelt. A couple of lines from “If I Never Knew You” also appear right at the end of the movie on this release, as John Smith and Pocahontas say goodbye.

MUSIC

The music on Pocahontas is one of my favourites from Disney and I actually like every single song, and even prefer some of the instrumentals from the score to the songs. The soundtrack consists of fourteen songs, which includes four reprises, plus two songs being performed by other artists for the End Credits. “If I Never Knew You” is one of those, being performed by Jon Secada and Shanice in the credits. The music was written by longtime Disney collaborator Alan Menken, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, writer of big musical hits such as Godspell (1971) and Wicked (2003), as well as other Disney films, such as Enchanted (2007) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), also with Menken.

“Colors of the Wind” was the first song to be written for the movie, and is the one Menken and Schwartz were most proud of, as it defined the overall message of the story and helped the team move forward with the plot of the film at the start of production. This song was the biggest hit of the soundtrack, where it won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the Grammy for Best Song, with many labelling this song and its scene as one of the highlights of the film. It is sung by Judy Kuhn, who sang all of Pocahontas’ songs. Menken and Schwartz called Kuhn a great talent, as she had great instinct and got the meaning of the lyrics across to the listener just as they wanted. This song also features on the End Credits sung by Vanessa Williams.

Pocahontas begins with the song “The Virginia Company”, which gives the audience some historical context to the movie and where these sailors are going, whilst also sounding like a sea shanty. There is a reprise to this song, just a few minutes later. After this, “Steady as the Beating Drum” plays during the introduction to Powhatan tribe. This style of music is in complete contrast to “The Virginia Company”, showing the differences between the two groups who are about to meet in Virginia. There is a reprise to this song too, sung by Chief Powhatan, as he is telling Pocahontas to settle down her high-spirited nature.

This is soon followed by “Just Around the Riverbend”, a high-energy song, sung by Pocahontas, as she is literally going down the river on a canoe, showing that rivers are not steady and that it depends which path you choose, referencing the fact that she doesn’t want to marry Kocoum and just wants adventure. I really like this song; it’s good fun, and is the typical princess “want” song, telling us how Pocahontas feels about her life.

Then, we have Grandmother Willow’s song, “Listen With Your Heart”, which also has a reprise fairly soon after. She tells Pocahontas that she needs to listen to herself and what’s around her to get the answers to the questions she has, and that by following your heart, you can’t go wrong. These are quite sweet songs, but not particularly long or memorable.

We also get a traditional villain song, sung by Ratcliffe, called “Mine, Mine, Mine”, which takes place as the English are digging up Virginia looking for gold, whilst Ratcliffe talks about how popular he’ll be at court when he returns a hero, dripping in riches. Obviously, this is not the fate he will ultimately have, but it’s good to dream! This is a great villain’s song, and one of my favourites across Disney Animation. I also like how John Smith gets some lines during this song too, and how they contrast with Ratcliffe’s overall feelings.

Lastly, there are “Savages (Part 1)” and “Savages (Part 2)”. Some of the lyrics of “Savages (Part 1)” are actually different in the movie to the soundtrack. The soundtrack lyrics are quite harsh, talking about killing the savages and being incredibly racist, more so than the characters are in the movie, so I can only assume that is why. I was a bit surprised when I first heard the soundtrack version to be honest… I like both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Savages” because you can feel the tension and hatred between the two groups, and when Pocahontas comes in as the peace-bringing third voice in “Savages (Part 2)”, it brings the whole thing full circle and leads in very nicely to the big moment of her saving John Smith and stopping this war.

As much as I like the songs, of which there are many and they come thick and fast during the film, I love some specific instrumentals within the score even more; three in particular. They are “Execution”, pretty obvious where that one features; “Skirmish”, which plays at the point that John Smith and Pocahontas kiss; and “Farewell”, which is the very end scene. I play these often; I love the softness of the music and how melodic it is, with instruments like flutes and strings being more prominent to create that romantic atmosphere. It’s a beautiful score, and my absolute favourite from any Disney animated movie. The soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

RECEPTION

Although the movie was not released until June 1995, Pocahontas was being promoted heavily from the start of 1995. In some ways, it was a bigger marketing push than that of The Lion King (1994) a year earlier. A 24-city mall display began in San Diego on 3^rd February, which included a kiosk allowing guests to electronically colour a scene from the movie, as well as recreations of set pieces. There were also tie-ins with brands such as Mattel and Burger King. Sneak peeks were being added to video releases of other Disney movies, and there was a whole press presentation to build excitement for the movie on 31^st January in New York’s Central Park. Despite this, there were still concerns that Pocahontas would not be able to outdo The Lion King, as it was a movie based in real history, with much controversy expected to come from it[13].

A special premiere was held on 10^th June 1995, two weeks before the regular theatre release, on the Great Lawn in Central Park – that was announced in the press event on 31^st January 1995. It took nine months to plan, and included enough audio wattage to power five rock concerts, eight-storey tall screens, and a sound system specifically engineered to transmit across the 13-acre area. A random lottery draw was run across the US to distribute the 100,000 tickets to be there. Fireworks were set off at the end to close the event[14].

Pocahontas was released in select theatres on 16^th June 1995, to coincide with Pocahontas’ 400^th birthday, before being released to the general public in the US on 23^rd June 1995. Though the box-office results were decent, they were nowhere close to those of The Lion King, which was disappointing for Disney. It was, however, the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year. On 20^th June 1995, a thirty-minute ABC television special was aired titled Disney’s Pocahontas: The Musical Tradition Continues, exploring the music of some of the latest Disney animated features with Alan Menken. Seemingly, this would have been to promote the upcoming general release of Pocahontas as well.

Bad things were to come when the reviews came in, as they were mixed. Some were upset by the lack of historical accuracy, finding that the characters were too simplistic and that the love story was too forced. Others liked the animation and music of the film, but felt it was lacking in humour and comedy, whilst some did appreciate the message of environmentalism and the progressive stance Disney took by showing how colonialisation should not be widely celebrated. Disney had made it clear, though, that Pocahontas was meant to be entertainment and never a documentary.

In terms of how the movie looked, it was universally accepted that Pocahontas was a beautiful movie to watch. Art Director Michael Giaimo said that although they took influence from the real area of Virginia, they did heighten the experience of being there, by making the trees even taller and the horizons even larger. They allowed for the characters to be bright and vivid against calm backgrounds, with cooler, more muted colours being chosen. The scene of John Smith seeing Pocahontas for the first time is a great example of this, as the background of the waterfall is blue, with mist being included to add to the romance of the sequence. There is no dialogue, so the music and the faces can speak for themselves[15].

LEGACY

Despite this backlash, Pocahontas did receive a direct-to-video sequel, titled Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, released in 1998. In a way, this movie ties up some of the historical inaccuracies from the first movie, as it introduces John Rolfe, with Pocahontas going to England to try and broker peace between her people and the King. Things get sticky when Ratcliffe and John Smith arrive, but it works out for the best, with Pocahontas choosing to be with John Rolfe instead of Smith. The movie ends with the two sailing back to Virginia. Although, it doesn’t suggest that Pocahontas died on the way back to her home, if it makes people feel better to believe that Disney followed Pocahontas’ correct history, then you can always pretend she did!

Within the Disney theme parks, Pocahontas used to be featured prominently at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. There was a whole section within the nighttime show, Fantasmic! from 1998 until 2020. It featured an onstage battle between the Powhatans and the English settlers, with John Smith and Pocahontas appearing on either side to stop the fighting. It was a good scene, at least for me. I loved Fantasmic! as it was, and am less enamoured with the change to this scene, which now features a “heroes’ montage” with characters such as Moana and Elsa singing their iconic songs from their respective movies. Pocahontas does still appear on her own, to perform a brief excerpt of “Just Around the Riverbend” though.

At Animal Kingdom, between 1998 and 2008, Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends stage show existed at Camp Minnie-Mickey. It was a 12-minute show that opened with the park on 22^nd April 1998 and was performed in the 350-seat Grandmother Willow’s Grove Theater. It featured trainers bringing out animals, with Pocahontas explaining their natural behaviours and their purpose within the environment, as Pocahontas tried to work out which creature has a special gift to protect the forest – it turns out we as humans are those special creatures! It was a very popular show, and was only meant to be a placeholder until the Beastly Kingdom land was built. Spoiler alert: it never was. It featured a live character performer as Pocahontas and two puppeteers to operate the character of Sprig, a talking tree sapling, and Grandmother Willow, who came from Disneyland’s Spirit of Pocahontas show[16]. I saw Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends many times during my visits to Walt Disney World when I was younger. I thought it was great, and my animal-loving family loved it even more! The show and the Camp Minnie-Mickey area closed to make way for Pandora: World of Avatar.

The Spirit of Pocahontas was a shortened version of the film, roughly half an hour, which featured at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theater from 1995 to 1997, and at the Backlot Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 1995 to 1996. Disneyland Paris also had a special parade to celebrate the release of the film in 1996, which had a very cool float of the ship, and a stage show titled Pocahontas le Spectacle from 1996 to 1999[17].

There is likely to be some reference to Pocahontas, and other Disney nature-based films, at a new Walt Disney World resort, named Disney Lakeshore Lodge, set to open in 2027. This is basically a revamp of the original plans for Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge, with construction initially beginning in 2020. It was later put on hold.

In terms of character meet-and-greets, Pocahontas is the most common character to be found at the Disney Parks. For example, she meets guests fairly often at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, although for their “Cool Kid Summer” event in Summer 2025, she did appear at Magic Kingdom for that limited time. Pocahontas may also be spotted at Frontierland at Disneyland. Outside of the US Parks, Pocahontas has been seen at Hong Kong Disneyland and at Tokyo Disneyland in Critter Country. At Shanghai Disneyland, she is listed one of the official Disney Princesses, meaning she may be available to meet guests at the Enchanted Storybook Castle. Other characters from Pocahontas are less easy to find, and only seem to appear for Special Events, although sometimes they appear at random. For example, Meeko was seen with Pocahontas at Disneyland’s Disney After Dark: 90s Nite event in March 2025. John Smith and Governor Ratcliffe are harder to find these days too, with Ratcliffe not always seen at Halloween.

For parades and shows, Pocahontas is seen on the back of a float with Rapunzel, as “Just Around the Riverbend” plays during the Disney Harmony in Color Parade at Tokyo Disneyland. During the World of Color: One show at Disneyland’s Disney California Adventure Park, there was a section from Pocahontas of the movie’s iconic song “Colors of the Wind”. Clips and music from the movie can also be seen in some fireworks shows such as Momentous at Hong Kong Disneyland and Wondrous Journeys at Disneyland.

There are also some vaguely Pocahontas-themed guestrooms on the Disney Treasure ship on the Disney Cruise Line. “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas is also performed as part of Disney’s Believe on the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream.

Despite Pocahontas’ popularity fading in recent years as more movies come out, merchandise is still fairly easy to find, probably Pocahontas is the seventh official Disney Princess. She is also the first princess to be based on an actual person. She is also the first Disney protagonist to be of Native American descent. She is a good role model for young girls, and was the catalyst to Disney creating stronger, independent, free-thinking women such as like Mulan or Tiana. It has also helped that Pocahontas is celebrating its 30^th anniversary in 2025 so new merchandise has been created for it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think Disney’s Pocahontas did plenty of things right, and those seem to have been forgotten. On doing research into the movie and the discussions around it, I was disappointed to see a lot of talk about what is “wrong” with the movie, and very little about what is “right” with the movie, such as the environmental message and the fact that, for once, colonialism was not been portrayed as something that was great and wonderful when in fact, it was all to do with greed and selfishness, and a decision that one way of living was the “right way” and that every other way should be disregarded and changed, with land primarily being taken by force from the Native Americans who already lived there.

Plenty of Native American voices were involved in the production process of Disney’s Pocahontas, and although not all of them were happy with the final result, some actually were, and were proud to see their heritage finally being represented more truthfully on screen. Pocahontas will not get a live-action remake due to its troubled nature; I’m pleased about that for many reasons, mostly that I don’t want the animated movie to be tainted.

It was hard for me to read some of the criticism around Pocahontas, a movie that I have always loved, because I was not aware of this negative backlash until now, despite the fact it has existed ever since the movie was release. Although I understand the lack of historical accuracy within the movie may be disappointing for some, I just don’t know how anyone could have expected Disney to have follow Pocahontas’ true story; Disney make family-friendly films that children want to see, not historical films, full of the violence and horrors of the real world. Other film production companies could have decided to make a film about Pocahontas as she really was, but frankly, it’s a difficult, complicated story to adapt, so in a way, you have to applaud Disney for their bravery here.

Yes, they got some things wrong, but no project is ever perfect; they could only do their best, and I think Disney did that.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[2] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[5] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Pocahontas”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[7] Credit: Katy Rath, ‘The True Story Of Pocahontas That Disney Doesn’t Tell’, ScreenRant.com, 19^th June 2023.

[8] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Pocahontas”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[10] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[11] Credit: Disney, “Abandoned Concepts”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[12] Credit: Disney, “The Making of If I Never Knew You”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[13] Credit: Pat H. Broeske, ‘”Pocohantas” massive marketing scheme’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 3^rd February 1995.

[14] Credit: Disney, “Premiere in Central Park”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[15] Credit: Disney, “Creating Art Design, Layout & Backgrounds”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[16] Credit: Dave Shute & Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[17] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

23rd Jun 202324th Nov 2025 by The Disney Purist

#45 Home on the Range (2004)

BACKGROUND

It’s kind of exciting to talk about Home on the Range. Not because it’s good, but because it has been dubbed one of the worst Disney animated features of all time.

For a period of around five years, my family stopped going to watch the latest Disney animated film release both at the cinema and on DVD. This began with Home on the Range. Most members of my family still have not seen this movie – but I have. I watched it for the first time around 2016, when the UK-released Disney Life app was in existence and I found I had access to the Disney movies that we had missed between 2004 and 2008. I didn’t like it then, and barely paid attention to it, so I was curious to know what I’d think of it now.

After re-watching Home on the Range, I found that it was alright. Parts of it are not particularly interesting, some are just plain strange, and others are good. It’s an odd mixture, but the biggest thing is that it just doesn’t feel like a Disney movie, despite the traditional hand-drawn animation. Home on the Range would be the last of this kind, until a brief revival with The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and Winnie the Pooh in 2011.

The fact that it is a Western-style movie doesn’t help with my opinion on it, because I’ve never been a big fan of anything set up as a “Western”. I don’t like Back to the Future Part III (1990), even though I like the other two, for this very reason! It also has some very “un-Disney” jokes, which can be awkward to sit through. But on the whole, it’s not unwatchable, which is helped by its 75-minute runtime. Though I would re-watch it at some point, it sits towards the bottom of any personal rankings of Disney Animated movies – I dislike others a whole lot more, like some of the earlier “package films”, and definitely Pinocchio (1940) but it is nowhere near good enough to be classed as a “favourite”.

PLOT

As the movie is called Home on the Range and as I mentioned that it is Western-themed, with the name of the film coming from the traditional cowboy song of the same name, it should come as no surprise that the opening of this film features typical cowboys, cacti, deserts, canyons, and snakes, to really set the scene, with an unfortunate rabbit being bounced around between bulls, a coyote and birds. We see the Sheriff pin a “Wanted” poster on a tree, of a cattle rustler called Alameda Slim. There is a $750 reward for his capture.

After this, we see a cow being moved to a farm. She, Maggie, narrates her story, telling us that her owner’s, Abner, Dixon Ranch had to be sold after his whole cattle herd – apart from her – was stolen by Alameda Slim. She is being moved to a dairy farm, called Patch of Heaven. Everything seems rosy over there, with the owner, Pearl, keeping everything harmonious with all the animals: chickens, goats, pigs, and cows. Maggie introduces herself to the group, where she is found to be brash, loud, and a tad bit vulgar, much to the annoyance of the long-standing Mrs. Calloway, who is oh-so-posh and dislikes Maggie instantly for her lack of class. The other cow at the farm, Grace, is quite happy to have Maggie with them, though she is a bit ditzy.

Soon, Buck, the Sheriff’s horse, arrives with Sheriff Sam, who has come to deliver a bank notice to Pearl. With cattle missing all across the state, the banks are calling in their debts. Pearl has three days to pay $750 or the farm will be going to auction. Sam suggests Pearl sell off some livestock to pay off the debt, but she angrily refuses, telling Sam these animals are her family. Maggie suggests to the other animals that they can earn the money by going to the County Fair to be “show animals”; Maggie was a prolific “show cow” at her previous home. As the County Fair is not for another two weeks, Maggie and Grace set off to town to ask for more time on the bank notice; Mrs. Calloway reluctantly joins them. They find Buck, fantasising about being a bounty hunter’s horse so he can fight bad guys, and ask for an extension on the notice. He refuses.

Their conversation is abruptly ended by the arrival of Rico, a successful bounty hunter, who has come to get money for his latest capture. Sheriff Sam tells him the last wanted person is Alameda Slim, so Rico goes to find him, using Buck as his horse for the journey. The cows overhear this and notice that the reward for Slim is $750, exactly what Pearl needs to save Patch of Heaven, so they want to find him first.

Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway plan to follow a nearby wagon to a cattle drive, hoping that they’ll find Slim there, but as Maggie and Mrs. Calloway are clashing over their plans, the wagon owner ends up taking them with him, tying them to his wagon, so they have no choice but to follow it! On the journey, they see Maggie’s former ranch being auctioned off. Once stopped, the cows try to free themselves from the wagon, hiding amongst a group of bulls, who awkwardly flirt with them. Sure enough, Slim arrives, but as Maggie is about to attack, Slim starts to yodel, which has a hypnotising effect on all the cows, this being Slim’s method for stealing them. The only one unaffected is Grace, due to her being “tone-deaf”. She pulls on the wagon, pushing it down a hill, hitting into Maggie and Mrs. Calloway, snapping them out of their trance. Unfortunately, Slim escapes, blocking his entrance to a cave with a rock. This stops Rico and Buck from capturing him too. Rico decides that Buck is too skittish around cows, and leaves with a different horse. Buck and the trio of cows decide to race to see who can get to Slim first.

Within Slim’s lair, he says that his plan is to buy every patch of land in the area. By stealing cows from the ranches, it forces them to be auctioned off. At this point, he goes in disguise to buy up the land under the name “Yancy O’Dell”. This is his revenge for all his underappreciated work on other people’s ranches. He spots one patch of land he has missed – Patch of Heaven – as it has been blocked by one of his nephew’s, the Willie Brothers, who always sits in the same spot in front of the map. He plans to go to its auction.

As the cows seem to be on the trail of Slim, Buck, who is ahead, makes multiple tracks to confuse them before running ahead, pleased with himself. Then, there is a storm, which starts a flash flood. Maggie tries to continue on, almost getting all three of them killed. Mrs. Calloway angrily forces them all to stay on a safe bit of high ground until it passes. She tells Maggie she should go on alone, as she just wants revenge on Slim, and not to help them save Patch of Heaven. The next day, as Maggie is about to set off, a Shaman Rabbit, the one from the film’s opening, introduces himself as Lucky Jack and tries to encourage the cows to stay with him as he makes them a fire and food to eat. He was flushed out of his home by Slim, and tells them that Slim’s base is in Echo Mine, his old home. Jack takes all three of them there.

At the mine, Slim’s black-market cattle seller, Wesley, arrives to take the cows away, paying Slim for the batch of 5,000 cows, which Slim will use to buy land. As the cows and Jack approach the entrance, they see the mine is blocked by a buffalo, who is guarding the entrance. Buck is trying to negotiate his way inside, but only cows may pass, so Maggie and the others are allowed to go in, much to Buck’s annoyance. Knowing that if Slim sees them, he will start to yodel, Grace puts rabbit fluff in Maggie and Mrs. Calloway’s ears so they’ll be immune to it. Slim does see them and starts to yodel. They pretend to be hypnotised to trick Slim into a mine cart, where they tie him up and hit him to knock him out, as per their plan. On exiting the mine, they run into Buck, who steals Slim and delivers him to Rico, only for the cows to steal him back. The Willie Brothers, Wesley and Junior the Buffalo all try to retrieve Slim, as they go down an old mine track. Fireworks are set off within the mine, pushing them all out of it with the force of the explosion. Wesley starts his train, which he’ll use to transport the cattle, to head the others off. There’s a crash as the two groups collide but everyone is somehow ok!

Slim is freed, and drags the cows on to the train. It turns out that Rico was actually working for Slim, with Slim telling Rico to go with Wesley to the border to see there are no further problems. Slim heads off to the auction at Patch of Heaven. Buck, horrified to see that his hero has been working for the villain all along, punches Rico and Wesley, and tells the cows to run. Mrs. Calloway manages to free them from the train, before going back and starting up the train as it’s the quickest way to get to their farm. Despite a near miss with the Morning Express, which Buck and Lucky Jack manage to avoid by switching the tracks, they arrive at the farm, just as Slim seems to have won Patch of Heaven. They come to stop him, and Slim pulls a gun on them. The other Patch of Heaven animals start to fight him, where he ends up in the top of the train. Mrs. Calloway pulls the whistle, which blows off Slim’s disguise. Despite his attempts to yodel his way out of trouble, Grace karate-kicks a cowbell into his mouth. Slim is promptly arrested by the Sheriff, who gives the reward money to Pearl, allowing her to pay off her debt and save Patch of Heaven.

A few weeks later, we see that the story of three cows defeating Alameda Slim has reached the papers, and that Lucky Jack has joined the Patch of Heaven clan. Many of the animals return from the County Fair with prizes. Soon, Junior and two of the flirty bulls from earlier in the movie, come to live at Patch of Heaven. Everything ends happily.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Maggie is one of the three main characters in Home on the Range. She comes to Patch of Heaven from Dixon Ranch, after her owner has to sell up when his cattle, all except Maggie, are stolen. You’d think that backstory would make Maggie a bit shy and timid, but far from it! Maggie is incredibly brash, loud, and a bit of a know-it-all; it probably doesn’t help that she is a winning show cow, so she believes she’s something special! She is not afraid to speak her mind or share her views, and doesn’t spare anyone’s feelings; she’s also quite happy to talk over everybody else. Her humour is a bit crude and a bit much for a Disney movie, in my opinion! For example, one of the first things Maggie says in the movie is: “Yeah, they’re real. Quit staring”, referring to her udders…This line, in part, earnt the film its PG rating[1]! Although she clashes with Mrs. Calloway at the start of the movie, by the end of it, they have looked past their differences and become friends – though I think this is more to do with the animals of Patch of Heaven getting used to Maggie than about her changing her behaviour! Originally, Maggie was going to already be part of the Patch of Heaven farm, but it was decided that it would be more dynamic for her to come in as an outsider. It certainly gave more options for where the character would go and how she would interact with others.

Maggie was not going to be as brash and abrasive originally either. The voice casting had a lot to do with how Maggie’s character changed and that voice actor choice was American comedian and actress Roseanne Barr. For anyone familiar with her work, this would explain a lot in terms of the “comedy”! Disney knew Barr would have some good one-liners and they fitted the movie around those so they would not be overshadowed[2]. I don’t think this was a good choice for Home on the Range because it really does take over, and Barr’s humour is not universally liked. For this reason, I do not like Maggie as character and didn’t care about her journey or whether anyone grew to like her at Patch of Heaven. Roseanne Barr is most known for her stand-up comedy career before starring in her own sitcom Roseanne from 1988 to 1997, with a brief revival in 2018, which was cut short after Barr wrote and posted offensive tweets. Barr was then removed from the show.

Mrs. Calloway is basically the leader of Patch of Heaven’s animals, with her having seniority and wisdom on her side. She is chosen to deal with any disputes, such as those between Jeb, a grumpy goat, and the overenthusiastic piglets on the farm. She also likes to wear a purple hat with a flower in it; it seems to be her most prized possession and she gets very angry with Maggie when she drops it in the mud at one point. It’s a strange character quirk… Mrs. Calloway is very set in her ways and she is disgusted by Maggie when she arrives, with her crude jokes and burping, saying she is low-class. It takes a lot for her to be persuaded to come on this journey with Maggie and Grace, but she wants to save Patch of Heaven from closure so that is what motivates her to continue, unlike Maggie, whose ultimate motivation is revenge on Alameda Slim, something which Mrs. Calloway does not appreciate, telling Maggie not to return to their farm if she doesn’t want to be there anyway. By the end of the movie though, the two have come to be friends.

The weirdest thing is that Judi Dench is the voice of Mrs. Calloway. It’s a shame for an actress of her calibre to be attached to such a lacklustre Disney movie; could Disney not find her a better film to be a part of? Dame Judi Dench, as she should be addressed, is considered to be one of the greatest British actresses. She has had quite the career, winning multiple awards, including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998). Dench was nominated in the Best Actress category at the Academy Awards for many other roles, including for her portrayal of Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997); her role as Philomena Lee in Philomena (2013); and for playing the part of Barbara Covett in Notes on a Scandal (2006). More recently, Dame Judi Dench has been known for her role as M in the James Bond movies, beginning with GoldenEye (1995), and ending with 2012’s Skyfall. She has also starred in various stage productions of Shakespeare plays. I believe Dame Judi does have a sense of humour, I believe, so I bet she had a good time working on Home on the Range, despite the mediocre reception to it!

The final cow to make up the trio is Grace. She comes across as quite ditzy, though she is clearly kind-hearted and not judgemental, as she is willing to give Maggie a chance, unlike Mrs. Calloway. Grace doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing most of the time, spending most of the first half of the movie just singing really badly, but this is shown to be very important. Her bad singing shows that Grace is tone-deaf, and because she is tone-deaf, she is immune to Slim’s yodelling and therefore does not become hypnotised unlike the other two. Grace has to save both of them from Slim, and this makes Grace very important in the rest of the movie, because if this weren’t the case, then the three protagonists would have ended up being unconscious for most of the movie[3]!

Grace is voiced by American-Canadian actress Jennifer Tilly. Tilly has appeared in many film and television roles, and is known for her distinctive voice. For Disney, Tilly played the role of Madame Leota in The Haunted Mansion (2003) and voiced Celia in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. (2001). Tilly is also the voice of the recurring character Bonnie Swanson in Family Guy (1999-present), and she plays the character Tiffany Valentine in the Child’s Play, i.e. Chucky, franchise, including in the recent Syfy series Chucky (2021-24). For the third season of the Paramount+ series School Spirits (2023-present), Tilly will play Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price. Tilly is also a competitive poker player.

Then there’s Buck. He is the Sheriff’s horse, but thinks a lot of himself, wanting to be the hero and defeat bad guys, having dreams of being a bounty hunter. He particularly idolises the bounty hunter, Rico, despite Rico’s lack of personality and utter indifference to anyone but himself. It turns out Rico just wants money, and doesn’t care about justice, unlike Buck. Because Rico turns out to be working for Alameda Slim, Buck turns on him and realises that he doesn’t need to be a sidekick to a bounty hunter, he can be the hero all on his own, and he does just that. Buck has a complicated relationship with the cows at the start of the movie, making life difficult for them by refusing to extend the bank notice and by racing them to find Slim first, but by the end of it, they’ve learnt to get along together. Buck is also humbled during this journey as he is not the one to find Slim first, and finds that the trio of cows have much better ideas than he does! Buck is voiced by American actor Cuba Gooding Jr., best known for his roles in Jerry Maguire (1996), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, As Good as It Gets (1997) and The Butler (2013). He portrayed O.J. Simpson in the series The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016).

Then we come to the villain of the movie, Alameda Slim. The character was named after Montana Slim, real name Wilf Carter, who was a Canadian country singer and yodeller[4]. The surname “Slim” is also an ironic reference to Alameda Slim’s size as he is in fact quite a big guy! Alameda Slim is the villainous cattle rustler, stealing cattle to make ranches and farms go bust so he can buy them and “takeover” the area, as revenge on all the previous ranch owners he used to work for. It’s not the strongest villain backstory and it’s not clear what he plans to do after that! Slim has a good talent for yodelling, which he uses to steal cattle, as they become hypnotised by him; he’s very much like the Pied Piper, leading them away from their homes. Slim can be funny at times, though he mostly just shouts a lot, particularly at his nephews, the three Willie Brothers, who are quite dim and don’t seem to know what’s going on! The Willie Brothers are voiced by Sam J. Levine, an animator, story writer and producer for Disney. They irritate Slim and constantly say or do the wrong thing. Slim isn’t a great Disney villain for me; he doesn’t have many powers, his backstory is weak, and apart from pulling a gun on the cows at the end, he’s not particularly evil. Originally, Slim’s big plan was that he was going to use an army of cows to storm the White House to become President. This was changed as Disney decided that this dream was too outlandish[5]!

Randy Quaid voices Alameda Slim. Quaid has acted in both serious drama and comedic roles. He had a recurring role as Cousin Eddie in most of the National Lampoon’s Vacation films (1983-2003). Quaid also starred as Harold ‘Mitch’ Mitchell in the television film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984). Even though I don’t like Slim as a character much, I do think Quaid’s voice work here is good.

The last “major” character to mention is Lucky Jack, the rabbit with a peg leg, who isn’t very lucky at all. He appears in the opening sequence of Home on the Range being hit by cattle, and attacked by snakes and bears, having to make a quick getaway. He then shows up after the flash-flood, where he decides to try and help the cows by building them a fire and making them some food. This is when we discover that Lucky Jack lost his home of Echo Mine to Alameda Slim, who ended up using it as his “villain’s lair”. Jack helps the cows find their way to Echo Mine and defeat Slim. Though he isn’t at the final battle at Patch of Heaven, Jack does find a new home at the farm with the others. This backstory for Lucky Jack was added in to give him a connection with the cows and a motivation for him to help them find Slim. Originally, he was just going to be a bit of a crazy rabbit who assumed the cows were from Echo Mine, and liked to play records of yodelling[6]! American actor and director Charles Haid voices Lucky Jack. Haid’s most well-known role was in the police drama Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), where he played Officer Andy Renko.

There are a few other characters, or voice actors, to mention too. Another strangely big name within this voice cast is Steve Buscemi. He voices the part of Wesley, the black-market businessman who takes all of Slim’s stolen cattle to be sold. Wesley is not on screen for long, but you can tell its Steve Buscemi! Apparently, Disney wrote this cameo specifically for him[7]. Buscemi has quite an acting range, playing both serious, villainous roles, and just hilarious, comedic roles. His more dramatic roles include “Mr Pink” in Reservoir Dogs (1992), Carl Showalter in Fargo (1996), and Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire (2010-14). In comedy, he has popped up in many of Adam Sandler’s films, such as playing Walter Lambert in Hubie Halloween (2020); Wiley in Grown Ups (2010) and its 2013 sequel; and voicing Wayne in the Hotel Transylvania film series; and was a main cast member in the anthology television series Miracle Workers (2019-23). He was recently cast as Barry Dort in Season 2 of Netflix’s The Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday (2022-present). For Pixar, Buscemi also voiced the character Randall Boggs for Monsters, Inc. (2001), reprising his role for the prequel Monsters University (2013).

Patrick Warburton also has a cameo as the easily-scared horse that Rico uses to get to Slim’s lair after ditching Buck. Warburton has voiced many roles for Disney such as Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and its sequel Kronk’s New Groove (2005), as well in Disney television series such as Kim Possible (2002-07) and Buzz Lightyear in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-01). For any Disney Parks fans, you will also see Patrick Warburton giving the “pre-flight” video before the attraction Soarin’ at Disney’s California Adventure, Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea.

PRODUCTION

The original idea for Home on the Range was conceived by Mike Gabriel, who had planned to make a film with a supernatural Western theme. Gabriel was told he could proceed with the idea once he’d finished directing Pocahontas (1995). After Pocahontas was released, he started on the concept art for this idea, which at the time was called “Sweating Bullets”. The story would have followed a timid character who arrived at a ghost town and came face-to-face with ghostly cattle rustlers. This character went through many iterations of being a young cowboy, an older cowboy and even a bull.

Gabriel left the film in 2000, and it was handed over to Will Finn, who had worked at the Disney Studios during the 1980s and 1990s, before going over to DreamWorks where he had worked on The Road to El Dorado (2000). John Sanford was brought in to co-direct. After some re-working of the story, it was decided that the film would follow three dairy cows; it was conceived as Charlie’s Angels but with cows[8]! It was also decided that the movie would be traditionally hand-drawn, despite the use of computer animation in other studios such as Pixar and DreamWorks. Disney had used elements of CG in their previous movies but had yet to go into that medium fully. After the failure of 2D animated Treasure Planet (2002), Disney planned to stop making hand-drawn animated films and move into fully CG movies. As Brother Bear (2003) and Home on the Range were in production at the time this decision was made, they could continue with their 2D animation as planned, with Home on the Range being the last one – until 2009, when it would have a brief revival[9]. Home on the Range was also the last Disney film to use the CAPS system to colour its artwork. It was dismantled after the movie was completed[10].

As part of research for the project, around twelve members of the Disney team went to a cattle drive in Wyoming at the start of production on Home on the Range. To create the correct mood and to reflect the story, they had to research the landscapes of the West for their background art. Alongside finding lots of dust, the team at Disney found many colours in the landscapes, other than the typically used browns, like pinks, green, oranges, and purples. They went a bit further with their colours and landscapes choices than what is actually there, but it is still based in reality. As well as this real-world research, the team went into the Animation Research Library to look at backgrounds from Western-themed Disney films and shorts, such as those of Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed to get inspiration[11].

MUSIC

For the music, Disney brought in composer Alan Menken. Menken was a major factor in the Disney “Renaissance Era” success, having worked on the majority of those movies, including The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). Although looking at Menken’s credits for Disney there would appear to be a long gap between 1997’s Hercules and 2004’s Home on the Range, with Menken doing nothing else in the middle, Menken had been attached to the project from the outset when the film was originally titled “Sweating Bullets”. Menken brought in lyricist Glenn Slater to work alongside. Slater would go on to write the lyrics for multiple stage productions, such as Sister Act the Musical (2006) and Love Never Dies (2010). For Disney, Slater would also write the lyrics for Tangled (2010), as well as for the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid (2008).

The songwriting duo wrote all six of the movie’s original songs, with Menken also composing the score. Though these songs feature in the movie, the majority of them are not sung by any characters – the exception to this is Alameda Slim’s villain song which he sings himself. The others feature famous performers, most from the country-and-western genre, singing the song over the top of an animated scene.

The first song features in the opening sequence, and is titled “(You Ain’t) Home on the Range”. It certainly sets the scene of this being a Western-set movie! It also contains some relatively funny lyrics, such as “Out in the land of the desperado; If yer as soft as an avocado; Yee-ha! Yer guacamole, son!” There’s also a section about having a nervous bladder, but that’s going too far into silly territory for me. This song is ok, but it’s not the best and I didn’t remember much of it after seeing the film.

To introduce the farm that Maggie the cow will be going to, there is a whole song showing the idyllic life of those there. The song is named after the farm, “A Little Patch of Heaven”. It’s the perfect set up to the area. Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter k.d. lang was chosen to perform the song. Menken and Slater loved her rendition of the song, saying that it was sung from a place of joy and that Lang has a very American voice which suits the movie well. I remembered parts of this song after watching, and I quite liked it.

This is followed by Alameda Slim’s villain’s song, titled “Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-ooo” – that’s easier to read if you’ve heard the song! It’s a good introduction song for Slim, especially as he sings it himself. The scene itself has similarities to “Pink Elephants on Parade”, with its strong use of bright colours, and its psychedelic imagery! It’s a bit of a weird scene, and song, but it is funny. Some of the yodelling section riffs off some traditional pieces of music. I do like the song; it’s fun to try and yodel anyway! Randy Quaid was not used to singing but Menken and Slater said he was a good sport when recording the song! Two other performers did the yodelling for him though – Randy Erwin and Kerry Christianson, world champions in yodelling.

The most emotional song in the movie comes at the point after the flash-flood, when Maggie and Mrs Calloway have argued and everything looks bleak for them, not being able to find Slim and save their farm. At the point of watching the movie, I thought it was a fitting song for the sombre mood of the scene, but I didn’t think much more of it. I then found out that during production, Alan Menken was given the brief for the song, about these cows being lost and struggling to go on; he called it a “Where do we go from here?” song. Menken was not looking forward to writing it and was struggling to find motivation. That is until the tragic events of 9/11, which happened during production on the movie. This gave the song “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” more meaning to it, and I can see why it was important to them. Deservedly, they got a lot of praise for this song. It is sung by American singer Bonnie Raitt, who manages to get across the despair, but also the hope in the music[12].

These four songs are the main ones to feature in the movie, with a reprise of the opening song playing as the cows and Lucky Jack set off for Echo Mine, and a section of “A Little Patch of Heaven” being used for the happy ending. But there are two other songs, “Where the Trail May Lead”, performed by American country singer Tim McGraw, and “Anytime You Need A Friend”, performed by pop-rock girl group The Beu Sisters. These both feature in the End Credits. Fittingly for their performers, the first song sounds more country, with the second being more pop. I don’t think much of either song, but “Wherever the Trail May Lead” does fit the style of the movie better than “Anytime You Need A Friend”, which is more about the friendship between the cows, I suppose.

The score incorporates many country-and-western music elements to it, such as the use of harmonicas and fiddles, whilst also sounding like a Disney score; parts of it almost sound like Aladdin (1992) to me. Unfortunately, I did not pick out any instrumental within the score that I really liked; it mostly faded into the background for me, but it set the scene.

RECEPTION

Home on the Range was released in theatres on 2^nd April 2004 in the US. Unlike many other Disney animated features, it was released outside of the usual seasons of Summer or Christmas. It did not make back its budget at the box office, only bringing in $104 million against a $110 million budget. The unusual release time of the movie may have had something to do with this, however, Zootopia (2016) would be released at the same time of year twelve years later and do exceptionally well at the box office[13].

The reception to the movie was lukewarm from the majority of critics and viewers. Though many stated that it was entertaining enough for children, the comedy and plot (or lack of) divided audiences. I will admit that some of the comedy did not impress me, with some jokes being quite tasteless and almost crude in places, and that the plot is quite basic, however, it is at least easy to follow!

The problem is that, apart from Lilo & Stitch (2002), which itself was a fairly unique concept, Disney Animation had been struggling against incredibly tough competition, like Pixar, and even DreamWorks, not managing to meet the expectations of those who had been watching Disney during its hugely successful “Renaissance Era”. Home on the Range pales in comparison to those, and for some reason, does not feel like a Disney film.

Home on the Range was, however, nominated for three Annie Awards, in the categories of Character Design; Storyboarding; and Directing. It was also nominated for Best Family Feature Film – Animation at the Young Artist Awards in 2005. Home on the Range lost to Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004) in every category.

LEGACY

Unsurprisingly, due to the lack of financial and critical success, Home on the Range and its characters have not spanned any spin-offs or sequels and have not appeared much at the Disney Parks.

Though it was being marketed via a Home on the Range “pre-parade” at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. It ran daily between 5^th March and 16^th April 2004, so over the Easter period, before the Share A Dream Come True Parade. It included two floats, horses, dancers and character puppets, with Patch of Heaven owner Pearl inviting guests to join in with a square dance. It used the “A Little Patch of Heaven” song as its soundtrack. I cannot find any footage of this, but I did find one photo proving that it was real, since very few people remember it! My family was at the Walt Disney World Resort during this time so we do remember the pre-parade, or at least we remember the main float, which was a barn float, with each of the three cows, as puppet heads, poking out of one of the top three windows, with their name on a sign beneath. It did not make us want to watch the movie; I think we even specifically said to each other we didn’t want to see it at all! The barn float has apparently been part of the Disney float stock since the 1980s. It is currently being used in the Walt Disney World Easter Parade, as well as the annual Boo To You Halloween Parade. Clara Cluck, the operatic chicken from the 1934 Mickey Mouse short Orphan’s Benefit in 1934, appears within the float. The cow puppets were the only opportunity for guests to see any of the Home on the Range characters, as they never had personal meet-and-greets.

There was one “attraction” that was themed to Home on the Range, though it was short-lived. The Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland opened on 22^nd June 1986, best known for Mickey Moo, a cow with a “Hidden Mickey” on its back, and its log cabin. The ranch had been rethemed to tie in with movie releases before, but on 2^nd April 2004, its petting zoo was relaunched as “Patch of Heaven” from the movie. It featured “missing” posters of Buck, Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway, perhaps reiterating that no meet-and-greets with these characters were available, but you could meet real horses and cows. They even had a “Maggie”, a jersey cow bought from a farm in Tulare, California. There was a sign for “Pearl’s Cottage”, with the cottage not being based on Pearl’s actual home from at Patch of Heaven, but just using the log cabin already present at Big Thunder Ranch. The walls of the cabin featured Slim’s “Wanted” poster, stills from the movie, and colouring stations.

This retheme was meant to be permanent, however it did not stick around long. In 2005, Big Thunder Ranch became Santa’s Reindeer Roundup for the Holiday Season. Once that was over in 2006, the Home on the Range overlay was left to fade away. Big Thunder Ranch opened seasonally, with some seasonal overlays, until 10^th January 2016, when it was closed for good to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge[14].

However, since the Disney100 Celebration, Disney Parks have attempted to include a reference to all their animated classics in some of their nighttime shows. Two of these shows are Wonderful World of Animation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, and Wondrous Journeys at Disneyland, which was updated and returned to the park in May 2025 as part of Disneyland’s 70^th Anniversary event. A clip from Home on the Range can be spotted during both shows if you look very closely at the projections.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don’t believe it is a big stretch for me to assume that many of Disney’s even most loyal fans have not seen Home on the Range. Whether that is because reviews from 2004, and even reviews from today, have not been kind to it so they decided to skip it, or whether it is simply because over time it has been forgotten about, I’m not sure. As Home on the Range has been branded the “worst Disney animated feature of all time”, I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

Frankly, Home on the Range is not, and will never be, one of my favourite Disney movies, animated or otherwise. But there were parts of it I did quite like, so I am glad that I have seen it for those reasons. Yes, the plot is not particularly interesting, some of the humour is childish, and the overall Western feel to the movie is not for me, but I did like the music, and some of the characters. I didn’t laugh out loud much during the movie, but it was amusing in places.

If you want to call yourself a hardcore Disney fan, then you must see Home on the Range, even if that’s just to say you’ve watched every Disney animated movie. If you’re not a hardcore fan and only want to watch the best of the best, then Home on the Range is probably not for you – unless you’re a big fan of Westerns!

However, I don’t declare Home on the Range the worst animated film to come out of Disney, just not one of the best. It fits nicely within the unenthusiastically titled “Post-Renaissance Era” for Disney and that’s fine. They can’t all be winners, but a lot of hard work went into this movie, so someone might as well appreciate it!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.

[2] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[3] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.

[5] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes: Slim for President” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[6] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes: Meet Lucky Jack” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[7] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[8] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[9] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Udderly Awful Yodeling: Disney’s Home on the Range’, Tor.com, 10^th November 2016.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[12] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[13] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Udderly Awful Yodeling: Disney’s Home on the Range’, Tor.com, 10^th November 2016.

[14] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Little Patch of Heaven at Big Thunder Ranch’, Yesterland.com, 17^th February 2023.

9th Jun 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#21 Robin Hood (1973)

BACKGROUND

I’m sure for many people, Disney’s Robin Hood was their first introduction to the stories and legend of Robin Hood, the English outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

It may not be Disney’s best animated feature, in fact, criticisms have been harsh towards the movie, most notably for its reuse of previous animation, but it has a special place in the hearts of many.

I love this version of Robin Hood. It probably helps that I like the overall legend, though I have only watched a couple of other adaptations of the stories, with BBC’s television series Robin Hood (2006-09) being my personal favourite. But I still enjoy Disney’s Robin Hood. I’m not wowed by the animation or by the story, but it has charm and heart, with some good action sequences, funny characters, and catchy music. Who hasn’t spent their time whistling the opening tune at times, or singing “Oo-de-Lally”? I know I have!

The legend of Robin Hood has been told in many ways, with the consensus being that he was a skilled archer, loyal to King Richard, and had his love Maid Marian and his band of “merry men” around him. When the Sheriff of Nottingham, loyal to Prince John, started to harshly tax the people, Robin became an outlaw, fighting against this new rule and trying to help those who were suffering at the hands of it. The reign of Richard I is the usual time setting for the legend, so from 1189 to 1199, with the Crusades, the religious wars that took place around the 1100-1200s in and around the Holy Land, being another time-specific marker, with some adaptations stating that Robin fought in the Crusades, with others saying Robin was of noble birth.

As Robin Hood was only the second animated release after Walt Disney’s death in 1966, and within the Disney’s “Bronze Age”, it was likely that the quality may have suffered since many of the animators knew Walt personally and were incredibly affected by his death, not to mention the fact that Walt Disney was generally quite involved in the production of his animated movies.

PLOT

Disney’s Robin Hood starts off with a singing rooster, Allan-A-Dale, very different to most other adaptations! He sings during the opening credits, where each character is introduced briefly during the sequence, after a typical “storybook opening”. After this, we are led into Sherwood Forest, and see that there is a reward for the capture of Robin Hood. Robin and his friend, Little John, are being targeted by the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men whilst out in the forest, going about their day, but, as usual, they successfully escape. Soon, they see a golden carriage going through the woods, and follow it, hoping to find a rich person whose riches they can take to give to the poor, Robin’s noble mantra in life.

But this isn’t just any carriage, this is Prince John’s royal carriage. Prince John, it turns out, is the current ruler of England as his brother, King Richard, is fighting in the Crusades. Something that Sir Hiss, Prince John’s advisor, hypnotised him to do so Prince John could take the throne. Prince John is sat merrily in his carriage, counting all the taxes that he’s collected over England. They are on their way to Nottingham, when Robin Hood and Little John, dressed as female fortune-tellers, get the carriage to stop so Prince John can have his fortune read. Sir Hiss warns him they could be bandits, but Prince John doesn’t believe women can be bandits! Yet, they certainly rob him – of his money, his carriage’s golden hub caps, his jewels, and even his robe! The two get away with Prince John falling out of his carriage, into the mud, where he comforts himself, as he will do throughout the movie, by sucking his thumb!

After this, we see the Sheriff of Nottingham taxing all the people there, finding coins that are hidden, taking children’s birthday farthings, and stealing from a “blind beggar”. But it’s ok, because the beggar is Robin Hood and he’s come to give the villagers a bag of coins each to help them survive. Robin even gives a child, little Skippy, a bow and arrow as a birthday present, along with his hat. Skippy excitedly goes out to play with it, along with his friends, but he shoots the arrow into Prince John’s castle grounds. Luckily, Maid Marian and her lady-in-waiting Lady Kluck are playing badminton and tell Skippy not to be frightened as he sneaks in to retrieve the arrow. It turns out they are very nice and happy to speak to all the children, even the girls who are trying to get Marian to admit she’s in love with Robin Hood. The two were sweethearts, but Marian went off to London and Robin stayed behind, so each is sure the other has forgotten all about them.

This is not true, as Marian keeps Robin’s reward poster in her wardrobe, and Robin spends so much of his time daydreaming about her that he can’t focus on anything else. Friar Tuck comes by their camp in Sherwood Forest to tell them about an upcoming archery tournament, where one of the prizes is a kiss from Maid Marian; the other is a golden arrow, much less important! Robin Hood decides he must enter, and goes in disguise as a stork, with Little John disguising himself as “Sir Reginald, Duke of Chutney”, sitting himself beside Prince John. Sir Hiss is told to go off and search for Robin Hood. He finds that Robin is the Stork, who is winning the contest, with the only other serious competition being the Sheriff of Nottingham. As Sir Hiss is about to tell Prince John, luckily, he is stopped by Friar Tuck and Allan-A-Dale and put into an ale barrel. The tournament continues and the Stork, or Robin Hood, wins easily despite the Sheriff’s attempts to cheat. Prince John assumes that the Stork is Robin Hood and when dubbing him the winner, reveals his true identity. He is captured by the guards and about to be sentenced to “sudden, instant, and even immediate death”. However, Little John threatens Prince John with a dagger, pressing it against his back, until he releases Robin Hood. Confused, he is let go, but the Sheriff has seen that Robin Hood was only released under threat, and fights Little John, with Prince John, now not at risk of death, ordering the re-capture of Robin Hood. A chase ensues, involving pretty much the whole of Nottingham! Maid Marian and Robin Hood manage to get away together, with Little John and Lady Kluck distracting many of the guards. They all get away and escape into the forest.

Here, Robin Hood and Maid Marian say that they still love each other, and get engaged with a little flower ring, in a romantic scene with a waterfall and lots of fireflies. The schmaltzy stuff is quickly ended by a surprise party, to celebrate Robin Hood’s freedom, where everyone dances, has a laugh, and sings an entire song, purely at the expense of Prince John, dubbing him “The Phony King of England”. The next day, even the Sheriff and Sir Hiss are singing it at the castle. This doesn’t end well, and Prince John, furious, decides to triple the taxes, with anyone not being able to pay being thrown in jail. It’s a sad day for Nottingham as many of the people lose their houses and are thrown in prison, even Allan-A-Dale, the singing rooster, who can’t come up with anything hopeful to sing about…

Friar Tuck, nevertheless, as a member of the church tries to remain positive. The sexton and his wife have saved a farthing and offer it to go in “the poor box”. Friar Tuck takes it gratefully and deposits it there. Soon, the Sheriff arrives, saying that even the church is behind on its taxes, and removes the farthing from the box. Friar Tuck is furious and insults him and Prince John. The Sheriff warns him that if he continues, he’ll be hanged. Friar Tuck gets even more angry and starts to battle the Sheriff – he’s a surprisingly good swordsman! But it’s not enough, and Friar Tuck is arrested on the grounds of high treason.

Though Prince John is surrounded with piles of money, he’s angry that Robin Hood has still not be found. He states that Friar Tuck will be hanged at dawn, hoping that will bring Robin Hood out of hiding. It works, and him and Little John set about planning a jail break. Robin Hood disguises himself as Nutsy, one of the Sheriff’s vulture henchmen, and sings the Sheriff to sleep, before stealing the keys and passing them over to Little John, who goes in and frees everyone. At the same time, Robin goes into Prince John’s room and sets up a conveyor belt with ropes between there and the jail, passing bags of coins along it, over to Little John, who collects them, and gets everyone to head for the castle exit. However, Sir Hiss has woken up to see what’s going on, and grabs hold of a bag, but the makeshift conveyor is too strong, and Prince John is pulled out of bed, landing in the castle forecourt. He sees everyone escaping prison with his gold and calls the guards. Another chase ensues, with them all getting away – except Robin, who stops to save one of the young rabbits. Robin climbs up the castle towers, making it inside, but the Sheriff sets the whole place on fire. Robin climbs right to the top of the highest tower, but the fire consumes everything. He has no choice – he jumps down into the moat. Prince John’s archers continue to shoot at him. Robin does not reappear, with just his hat bobbing in the water. Little John and Skippy wait for him at the water’s edge, but lose hope.

As they are about to leave, they see a reed swimming towards them – it’s Robin Hood; he’s alive! The movie then skips forward to find that Robin Hood and Maid Marian are getting married, and that King Richard has returned, putting his brother, Prince John, Sir Hiss, the Sheriff, and Trigger and Nutsy, the vulture henchmen, in prison. All is well in Sherwood Forest and Nottingham, with King Richard now having “an outlaw for an in-law”.

This wasn’t the first time that Disney had tackled the same source material. The Disney Studios made a live-action retelling of Robin Hood titled The Story of Robin Hood (1952), which was filmed in Buckinghamshire in the UK. It is a slighter darker story, as it is the murder of Robin’s father by King John’s men that leads him to become an outlaw, however, it does include the same story elements of the archery tournament, his love interest Maid Marian, and helping the people who are being taxed harshly by King John – which feature in the animated version, as well as in pretty much every other Robin Hood adaptation, so it’s not much different to any other version of the legend!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Robin Hood is a fox in Disney’s animated film. He is an outlaw, though not particularly roguish. Robin is very clear of his purpose: to take from the rich and give to the poor. He doesn’t use the term “steal”; he likes to say they borrow from those who can afford it. All the people of Nottingham love him and are grateful for all the help he gives them, whether that is giving them money, or breaking them out of jail. Robin is generally quite relaxed; though he knows he is constantly under threat of capture by Prince John or the Sheriff’s men, he believes he can escape them the majority of the time. He’s an optimistic character, with him saying that “there will be happiness again in Nottingham”, even when things look dire. Because of this, Robin is able to continue on his mission to defeat the evil forces at play, and sure enough, his hopefulness turns out to be well-founded as King Richard does return and resolves everything, leaving him to marry his true love, Maid Marian. Robin is also helped by his best friend, Little John, who manages to get Robin out of a few scrapes all on his own, such as at the archery tournament!

Robin Hood was originally going to be voiced by singer Tommy Steele, but it was decided that his voice was too exuberant and lacked the leadership quality that Robin has as a character. Other actors who were considered were Davy Jones from The Monkees, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Rob Reiner. Eventually, some of the team saw Brian Bedford on stage in Los Angeles and brought him in for a test in 1971. He gave the part charm, heroism and some self-mocking humour, which was perfect for Robin[1]. Brian Bedford was an English actor who was nominated for seven Tony Awards during his theatre career, and featured in many performances of Shakespeare plays.

Little John is Robin Hood’s “right-hand bear”, as that is the animal he is portrayed as! Little John tends to voice the more practical issues with Robin’s plans, being a bit more risk-averse, not wanting to barrel in to places without a plan so they don’t end up captured! He’s very funny as a character, and is confident in his abilities, especially when it comes to disguises. When he walks right up to Prince John as “Sir Reginald” during the archery tournament, he is not afraid of Prince John discovering who he is, and keeps up the pretence without hesitation. Little John would do anything to help Robin, and is genuinely concerned for his safety at times, like at the end of the movie when he believes Robin has been shot and drowned in the castle moat; he’s a good friend to Robin, and loyal to him.

Little John is voiced by Phil Harris, who voiced Baloo in The Jungle Book (1967), which makes sense as the design of Baloo is basically the exact same design for Little John! He also voiced Thomas O’Malley in The Aristocats (1970), the Disney release between these two movies.

Then, there is Maid Marian. She is a fox, like Robin. The two were childhood sweethearts, until Marian went to London, leaving Robin behind. Each of them believes they have been forgotten by the other, only to find that is not the case and they both still love each other as much as they did back in the day. Marian is sweet and caring to others, despite being part of the “royal circle” with Prince John. This is because Marian is King Richard’s niece, though the family connections are not clear, as she is not referred to as Prince John’s niece. Unfortunately, Marian doesn’t have much of a role in the movie, just being Robin Hood’s love interest and eventually his wife. She doesn’t have much to do with the story, although she has a good aim when she’s throwing pies! She gets one of the vultures good with one of those when they’re all trying to escape the guards after the archery tournament! Still, Marian has had a stronger role in other non-Disney Robin Hood adaptations, especially in more modern ones.

Maid Marian is voiced by English actress Monica Evans, who played the role of Cecily Pigeon in The Odd Couple on screen and on stage. She also voiced Abigail Gabble, one of the geese, in The Aristocats (1970).

Lady Kluck is Marian’s lady-in-waiting, who is portrayed as a hen, naturally, and a Scottish one at that! Lady Kluck is not prim and proper as many ladies-in-waiting are presented on screen; she is prepared to fight if she needs to, which seems to impress Little John. This is particularly apparent during the post-archery tournament chase where she shows off her American football moves. In this scene, song arrangements including “Fight On” and “On, Wisconsin”, the fight songs of University of Southern California and University of Wisconsin, are even used to reinforce this[2]. She is loyal to Marian, like Little John is to Robin Hood, but again, does not feature too much in the movie.

Actress Carole Shelley voices the role of Lady Kluck. She portrayed the role of Gwendolyn Pigeon, Cecily’s sister, in the original production of The Odd Couple, as well as in the 1968 film movie and 1970s television series, alongside Monica Evans. Also, alongside Evans, she voiced Amelia Gabble, Abigail’s sister, in The Aristocats (1970). More recently, Shelley originated the role of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of Wicked.

Prince John is potentially the funniest Disney animated villain. He’s meant to be a menacing “king”, he is a lion after all, yet most of the time, he just sounds whiny and whimpering! I think this is why he is a popular Disney villain then, because he’s just hilarious to watch. The fact he clearly has “mummy issues”, leading to him sucking his thumb at random intervals, is a great detail to have included in the character! Prince John is clearly a very greedy individual, not wanting to prove he can be a good king, but just to say he’s been one. It turns out that, with the help of his snake advisor, Sir Hiss, the two tricked King Richard I into going to fight in the Crusades, purely so Prince John could take the thrown. Nobody likes Prince John, not even Sir Hiss, I don’t think, but he has a prominent role in the movie, wanting to tax the people as punishment for not loving him, and desperately trying to capture Robin Hood at any cost, because, without Robin Hood, he can be free to rule as he wishes without anyone trying to stop him. Of course, it doesn’t turn out like that and his brother, King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, returns and straightens the whole mess out, ultimately placing his brother and his comrades in prison for their disgraceful behaviour.

British actor Peter Ustinov voices the roles of Prince John and King Richard. He had a prolific acting career, winning two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964). He also starred as Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile (1978). For Disney, Ustinov played the part of Captain Blackbeard in the live-action film Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968). A few months before Robin Hood was due to be released, the team needed Ustinov to come back to re-record some lines. They searched all over the world for him, only to find that he was working at the NBC Studios in Burbank just half a mile away[3]!

As I mentioned, Sir Hiss is Prince John’s loyal snake advisor, though he is always doing or saying the wrong thing and annoying him! I feel sorry for Sir Hiss at times, because he just wants to do a good job, and get some praise from Prince John, but sadly, it never comes, no matter how hard he tries! Sir Hiss is voiced by English actor and comedian Terry-Thomas, who had performed on radio, stage and screen numerous times during his career. He was considered for the role of George Banks in Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964); he was particularly known for portraying upper-class characters.

The other “bad guy” is the Sheriff of Nottingham. He’s the one who has to carry out Prince John’s wishes, like collecting the taxes and arresting anyone who cannot pay. The Sheriff even steals money from children and beggars, as well as hunting for any hidden coins that he can collect. He is portrayed as a big wolf, though he can fight if he needs to. Him and Friar Tuck certainly have a good duel between the two of them! The Sheriff is wicked and hated by the people of Nottingham, who refer to him as “Bushel-Britches” quite a lot of the time! He gets his comeuppance in the end though, by ending up in jail with the other villains! Pat Buttram voices the Sheriff of Nottingham, who, in contrast to many of the other characters, has a strong Southern American accent. Buttram featured in other Disney animations, such as Napoleon in The Aristocats (1970) and Luke in The Rescuers (1977).

The Sheriff also has two vulture “henchmen”, Nutsy and Trigger, who aren’t particularly smart, with Trigger accidentally releasing his crossbow multiple times, sending it ricocheting about the place with everyone ducking for cover! They try their best, but it’s just not good enough for the Sheriff, who is quite dismissive and rude to them. They are voiced by Ken Curtis and George Lindsey, respectively, with Curtis having roles in many westerns such as Gunsmoke (1955-75), and Lindsey being known for his role as Goober Pyle on shows like The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68). They also have American accents in the film.

Finally, we have Friar Tuck, a badger, and Allan-A-Dale, a rooster. Friar Tuck is a part of the church, so naturally, he tries to help out all the people of Nottingham alongside Robin Hood. He even tries to keep their spirits up when many are in jail by ringing the church bells, and sacrifices himself to the Sheriff when money is stolen from the “poor box”. Friar Tuck fights for what is right. He puts up a surprisingly good fight with the Sheriff, but unfortunately almost gets himself hanged for it! Luckily, he is freed by Little John and goes on to help free the others. Friar Tuck was originally planned to be a pig, however, as he is part of the church, it was thought this may be offensive, which is why he ended up as a badger[4].Allan-A-Dale is the singing narrator, telling us what we are seeing at times, as well as telling us how the town is feeling. He generally remains hopefully, up until the point he is thrown in jail for not being able to pay his taxes. Allan-A-Dale doesn’t feature much in the action of Robin Hood, though he does team up with Friar Tuck at the archery tournament, by putting Sir Hiss in a barrel of ale so he cannot tell Prince John that Robin Hood is there, disguised as a stork.

Friar Tuck is voiced by American actor Andy Devine, who performed in many Western films, such as Stagecoach (1939) and How the West Was Won (1962). Country singer-songwriter Roger Miller voices, and sings, the role of Allan-A-Dale.

Some other interesting voice parts in smaller roles are: J. Pat O’Malley as Otto the blacksmith, who voices Colonel Hathi in The Jungle Book (1967); Candy Candido as the crocodile Captain of the Royal Guard, who voices Fidget in The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and John Fiedler, original voice of Piglet, and Barbara Luddy, Lady in Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty (1959), voice the mouse church sexton and his wife. Luddy also voices Mrs. Rabbit in Robin Hood.

PRODUCTION

Choosing to make an animated film around the legend of Robin Hood would seem like a no-brainer for the Disney Studios, seeing as so many of their films are based around stories such as this. It’s a similar concept to The Sword in the Stone (1963) after all. Yet that was not the original idea.

The original plan was for Disney to make an animated movie around foxes, with a concept based on the stories of Reynard the Fox, a trickster fox, being heavily considered around 1937. These fables were popular in areas such as the Netherlands, France and Germany. Since these stories were in the public domain, no discussions around purchasing the rights to adapt them would’ve been necessary, however, the stories were incredibly bleak, especially by Disney standards.

Dorothy Blank, who had worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Al Perkins were assigned by Walt Disney to come up with a script based around Reynard. The sequences would’ve been around scenes of various disguises and escaping danger. The final plot point would have seen Reynard captured, to be executed by hanging. Reynard would say in prison that his father had hidden his wealth in a volcano, with the King and others going to look for it. All would die when the volcano erupted – except for the King, who would challenge the Wolf, Reynard’s uncle, and Reynard to duel. Reynard would win through trickery, stealing the royal treasures, during a party thrown in his honour. Again, Reynard would be captured, this time being exiled to the volcano, where he finds his father’s treasure, happy to have tricked everyone into completing his ultimate goal. Walt Disney thought the story was perhaps too sophisticated and that with Reynard being just a crook, with very few redeeming features, that he was not the best protagonist for a Disney movie, not befitting of their “family brand” image[5]. The idea was shelved.

After this, Reynard the Fox was considered as part of a new idea based on Chantecler, a story about a rooster who thinks his crowing makes the sun rise; Reynard was going to be the villain. However, though many animators were working on this concept in the 1960s, Walt Disney decided to go with The Sword in the Stone (1963) instead, leaving Chantecler as another unfulfilled story idea.

Whilst The Aristocats (1970) was in development, the idea of basing the next animated feature on the legend of Robin Hood, but with animals, was discussed. Ken Anderson wanted to “Americanise” the story of Robin Hood, with a plan to set the movie in the Deep South, using Song of the South (1946) as a model, but the reputation towards that movie was not good, even in the 1970s, so it was decided to go all in on Robin Hood with its traditional English setting. Woolie Reitherman greenlit the story idea, with Robin Hood being the first animated film to not have been approved by Walt Disney himself[6].

The final story for Robin Hood was written by Larry Clemmons, who started his career at Disney as Ward Kimball’s assistant and went into the story department as he accepted that he was not going to be one of the best animators there! Clemmons was let go from the studio in 1941 due to the strikes at the time, but returned in 1954 to write for the Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland television series. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Clemmons became the principal writer for Disney animation, contributing to other movies such as The Jungle Book (1967) and The Aristocats (1970), along with Robin Hood.

Ken Anderson was responsible for the character designs, and it is believed he was influenced by early work on Reynard the Fox. Anderson created characters whose bodies were basically human bodies, moving and looking the same, but being covered in animal fur, feathers etc., with an animal head on top. Anderson did have plans to create a whole band of characters, to fit in with the traditional idea of Robin’s band of “merry men”, however Woolie Reitherman wanted the picture to be a “buddy picture”, with just two main characters. This did annoy Anderson somewhat as many of his interesting character plans had to be tossed aside[7]. Still, the story came together eventually, and, though it may not be the strongest story within Disney Animation’s history, it does a good job of telling a simple, family-friendly retelling of the legend of Robin Hood.

However, many people criticise the movie for its quick cuts, and loose connecting material between scenes. Though I can see this critique, it doesn’t bother me at all. Another factor that seems to annoy people is the recycling of animation from previous movies and repeats of scenes within Robin Hood. An example of a repeated scene here is where one of Skippy the Rabbit’s siblings is laughing. She does this after Marian kisses Skippy on the cheek, and then again, during “The Phony King of England”. Little John and Sir Hiss also bear quite the resemblance to two characters from The Jungle Book (1967), with Little John being Baloo with brown fur instead of grey, and even Phil Harris returning to Disney to voice Little John, and Sir Hiss being similar to Kaa. Nutsy and Trigger also look like two of the vultures in The Jungle Book.

But the biggest, most obvious, recycling of animation appears within “The Phony King of England” scene. Yes, many of the dance moves come from other Disney animated films. Maid Marian’s dancing sequences are “copied” from Snow White, and Duchess in The Aristocats. Some of the other cats from The Aristocats also feature in this scene, as well as Lady Kluck and Little John dancing in the exact same fashion as Baloo and King Louie during “I Wanna Be Like You” in The Jungle Book.

The need to reuse animation came from a need to fit within a tight budget and tight production schedule. It’s just one of those things that businesses have to do to make as much profit as they can. It’s not like Robin Hood was the first and only Disney film to do this either, you can spot this in many others. For example, something I noticed is that some of Maid Marian’s poses and expressions reminded me of Madame Medusa in The Rescuers (1977). Perhaps Robin Hood is just the most obvious example of this, but again, this does not bother me in the slightest or take away my enjoyment of the film.

MUSIC

Probably my favourite part of Robin Hood is the soundtrack. It’s super catchy, with both children and adults alike, with everyone knowing at least the first two songs if nothing else! The soundtrack consists of many country and western elements, which separates the film from other traditional Disney animated features, and even between other Robin Hood adaptations[8]. This probably has a lot to do with Roger Miller, who wrote and performs three of the five songs: “Whistle Stop”, “Oo-De-Lally”, and “Not in Nottingham”. Miller was one of the most popular country-western singers of the 1960s. “Oo-De-Lally” is played during the opening scene of Robin Hood and Little John in the forest, dodging the Sheriff’s archers. It literally narrates what you are seeing before you, yet it’s still a popular song and sets the right feeling up for the rest of the film. “Whistle Stop” is probably the catchiest song, as it has absolutely no dialogue, but it’s so easy to remember. This is the song that plays during the opening credits and is easily recognisable as coming from Disney’s Robin Hood. Both songs have been used in commercials and advertising, such as “Oo-De-Lally” for Android in 2015, and “Whistle Stop” for the T-Mobile commercial within the 2014 Super Bowl. A sped-up version of “Whistle Stop” was also used in the Hampster Dance, one of the earliest Internet memes, created in 1998 by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte. “Not in Nottingham” is sung during the scene where most of Nottingham is being arrested for not paying their taxes. It’s melancholy, fitting the scene well, and being different to the rest of the music, which are generally cheery and positive.

For the other songs, my personal favourite is “The Phony King of England”, written by Johnny Mercer and performed by Phil Harris as Little John. It’s just such a silly song, but the lyrics are memorable: “Too late to be known as John the First, he’s sure to be known as John the Worst”. This is true; King John has gone down in history as one of the worst Kings of England, ruling from 1199 until 1216. There has been no other King John since! I like the scene too, even though it does feature so much re-used animation! It also fits in with that country and western feel of the soundtrack. “The Phony King of England” is similar to a folk song called “The Bastard King of England”, which first appeared around 1927 in England, but obviously has more family-friendly lyrics!

Then there is “Love”, obviously sung whilst Maid Marian and Robin Hood walk through the forest together at night-time. It was written by Floyd Huddleston (lyrics) and George Bruns (music), being performed by Nancy Adams. To be honest, this is my least favourite song of the whole soundtrack, because it’s got that whispery choir sound that I don’t like much which has featured in other Disney animations, such as Lady and the Tramp (1955), and it’s a bit of a random lovey-dovey scene, which doesn’t fit most of the movie! It was nominated for “Best Song” at the 46^th Academy Awards in 1974, losing out to “The Way We Were”, from the movie of the same name. “Love” also features in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

I particularly like the score too, which is composed by George Bruns. It sounds similar to Sleeping Beauty (1959) in places, such as my favourite piece called “Lower the Bridge”, where Robin is trying to escape Prince John’s castle, which sounds like when Prince Phillip is battling Maleficent, but that’s fine because Bruns also composed Sleeping Beauty! The “Main Title” sounds similar to The Sword in the Stone (1963) soundtrack, that Medieval kind of sound, but again, Bruns composed the score for that film! George Bruns composed for many Disney films from the 1950s to 1970s. His Oscar nomination for “Love” would be his fourth and final nomination. The soundtrack as a whole was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Recording for Children”, losing to Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974).

RECEPTION

Robin Hood premiered in November 1973 and was successful financially, making around $9.5 million, the biggest box office total for Disney at the time[9]. But critically, it received mixed reviews. Some felt that the film was entertaining and that the characters were charming, with a lot of personality and a good voice cast. Others commented saying that the animation quality was subpar and that the movie was not memorable enough or did not connect with the audience. It still continues to be either forgettable or a favourite, dividing audiences, however amongst all the other Robin Hood film adaptations, it comes out as being one of the better ones. In a 2022 ranking by Entertainment Weekly, Disney’s animated Robin Hood came third on this type of list, with it being considered charming, with great songs and thrilling action sequences, though admittedly not one of Disney’s best. Disney’s live-action film The Story of Robin Hood (1952) only came second from bottom in the list, stating that it was bland and was a rip-off of the 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood, which topped the list, and starred Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland[10].

Robin Hood has been released onto VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray over the years, with extra production details being added in recent years. An alternate ending was released on the 2007 Special Edition DVD. This ending would’ve featured a darker, more vicious Prince John, who would threaten to kill the already-wounded Robin Hood within Friar Tuck’s church before being stopped by the sudden return of King Richard[11]. For the 40^th anniversary of Robin Hood in 2013, the Blu-Ray release featured a deleted storyline titled “Love Letters”, where Prince John had a plan to write letters to Maid Marian and Robin Hood, pretending to be from each other, to get them in one place so that he can capture them[12].

LEGACY

Unfortunately, as Robin Hood is not considered one of the “good” Disney Animated Features, the characters and the movie are not generally mentioned within the Disney Theme Parks. There is a quick-service food location at Fantasyland within Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom called “Friar’s Nook”, but it is not overly themed to Robin Hood, with only a picture of Friar Tuck appearing on the signage.

The characters used to be present around the 1970s and 1980s, but nowadays are considered to be very rare finds. I believe I have met Prince John and Friar Tuck previously, at a character breakfast in Disneyland Paris, but that was way back in the early-2000s. Robin Hood and The Sheriff of Nottingham, along with Prince John and Friar Tuck, appeared as part of the “Long Lost Friends” weeks in 2013 at Walt Disney World Resort. Little John did also appear with the others for meet-and-greets as part of “Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration” for Mickey’s 90^th birthday in 2019. You may also see the Sheriff of Nottingham or Prince John at one of the US Parks’ Halloween parties or parades, but generally, these characters seem to only pop up for special events and parades within the US and Paris Disney Parks; they seem much less likely to appear in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Shanghai. Sometimes rare characters just appear at the parks or at Special Events, so there is always a small shred of hope. You may be lucky and find some Robin Hood-themed merchandise, but this is more likely around an anniversary of the movie.

Back in April 2020, a live-action remake of Robin Hood was announced, to be directed by Carlos López Estrada, director of Blindspotting (2018), with the script to be adapted by Kari Granlund, who worked on the live-action Lady and the Tramp (2019)[13]. There has been no further news since this date and in 2025, Disney seemed to suggest that many of their previously announced live-action remakes were no longer happening. Fingers crossed this is one of those that will not progress; it’ll look really freaky if it does!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think Robin Hood has a lot going for it, with its delightful characters and brilliant music. It was one of the first movies to be released after the Disney Studios had suffered the loss of their great leader. It was always going to be difficult for them to move forward after that, but I think this was one step forward for the company, and I believe over the years, it has gained more fans. Byron Howard, co-director of Zootopia (2016) has said that his love of Robin Hood was a major inspiration for that movie.

It is a shame that more people don’t love Robin Hood, but I can understand that it is not Disney animation at its finest. Yet I find plenty that I love about this film, and have watched it many times throughout my life; it really makes me smile.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Fox Carney, ‘Must See Rare Robin Hood Artwork from Disney’s ARL’, D23.com, 9^th November 2018.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Films (2015), ‘Robin Hood (1973)’, pp. 61-63.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Films (2015), ‘Robin Hood (1973)’, pp. 61-63.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Ken Anderson on Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973)’, CartoonResearch.com, 24^th January 2020.

[5] Credit: BJ Colangelo, ‘Disney’s Robin Hood Started As A Different, Darker Movie’, SlashFilm.com, 9^th February 2022.

[6] Credit: William Fischer, ‘Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ Was the Last Gasp For a Generation of Animators’, Collider.com, 12^th January 2023.

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Ken Anderson on Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973)’, CartoonResearch.com, 24^th January 2020.

[8] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Cache of Classics’, p. 73.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Ken Anderson on Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973)’, CartoonResearch.com, 24^th January 2020.

[10] Credit: Mary Sollosi, ’11 big-screen Robin Hoods, ranked’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 18^th June 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Alternate Ending”, from Robin Hood (1973) DVD Special Edition (2007).

[12] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Storyline “Love Letters””, from Robin Hood (1973) Blu-Ray 40^th Anniversary Edition (2013).

[13] Credit: Will Richards, ‘A ‘Robin Hood’ live-action remake is set to come to Disney+’, NME.com, 11^th April 2020.

2nd Jun 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#56 Moana (2016)

BACKGROUND

Moana was the second Disney movie to have been set around the Pacific islands, after Lilo & Stitch (2002), which was located in Hawaii. Unlike Lilo & Stitch, Moana is another “princess musical” film from Disney Animation, yet it is different even to other fairy-tale stories made by Disney in the 2010s.

Moana has absolutely no focus on any romantic connections in Moana’s life throughout the movie. If we look at Tangled (2010) and even Frozen (2013), romantic interests may take a backseat to the strong heroines of the movie, but they are still there.

They do all have something in common and that is that they parody their fairy-tale format which became rooted in Disney history, thanks to the Disney Renaissance Era from 1989 to 2000: just think of the line “Anna, you can’t marry a man you just met”. Within Moana, Moana is teased by demi-god Maui for being a “princess”, because she wears a dress and has an animal sidekick, Heihei, the dumb rooster. He also expects her to spontaneously burst into song at times, which she does, but not in front of him!

I really like Moana. I first watched it in the cinema when it was released at the end of 2016. I loved it then, especially the soundtrack which I would constantly play, and then saw it many more times, either on Blu-Ray or on television. I even went to see it in a drive-in movie setting! However, I hadn’t watched Moana for a few years until this week, but I was pleased to say that I did still enjoy it as much as I remembered.

PLOT

Moana follows the story of a young girl, torn between her duty to her village, being the next in line to be chief, and her love of the ocean. Moana lives on an island called Motunui, an island within the Pacific. She was chosen by the ocean from a very young age to fulfil a task, but has been kept away from it by her father, Chief Tui. The task comes as a result of a poor decision by demi-god Maui. Many years ago, he stole “the Heart of Te Fiti”, a stone which allowed Te Fiti to create lands and make them prosperous. Maui was then hunted by Te Kā, a volcanic demon, shortly afterwards. He lost the heart as well as his magical fish-hook and disappeared, though many still hunt for the heart. Moana was given the heart by the ocean one day, though she dropped it when her father came to find her.

Chief Tui wants Moana to focus on becoming a great chief and taking over some of his responsibilities. Though Moana spends much of her childhood trying to get in the ocean and sail out beyond the reef, it is forbidden and she gradually comes to accept her lot in life. One day, Moana is being told that the villagers are struggling to find food: fish aren’t coming to their nets, and the coconut trees have become diseased. Moana decides that they must sail out beyond the reef to find food, but Chief Tui angrily refuses to allow it.

Moana is angry with her father, though her mother, Sina, tells her he is just scared as his friend drowned out at sea after him and her father went out there one day as children. Moana decides to prove she can sail out there, even if Tui cannot, but she finds that the ocean is not her friend today and her canoe is consumed by a large wave. Moana’s leg becomes trapped in coral, but she manages to free herself and makes it back to shore. Her grandmother, Tala, finds her and promises not to tell her father. Instead, Tala leads Moana to a cave and is told to bang the drum to find out about their ancestors. Moana learns that their ancestors were voyagers and that the cave is full of canoes, so they could sail again. Tala gives Moana the Heart of Te Fiti, which she picked up that day after seeing the ocean choose her. She tells her to find Maui and get him to restore the heart; he is said to be found under the “fish hook” in the stars. She excitedly goes to tell her father, interrupting a village meeting. Tui does not listen and threatens to burn all the canoes; however, Tala is taken ill and the two rush to her side. Tala tells Moana to go and complete her mission. She gives Moana her locket and places the heart within it. Moana tearfully leaves, with her mother’s approval. As Moana is about to cross the reef, the spirit of a ray, Tala’s spirit animal, crosses under her, showing that her grandmother’s spirit is still with her, despite her death.

After some struggles with the canoe, as Moana doesn’t know how to sail or navigate, plus she has the added distraction of Heihei, the rooster, stowing away with her, they end up crash-landing on an island after a storm. This is where they meet Maui. Moana has unknowingly made it to his island; the ocean must have helped her. Maui is pleased to have found a boat so he can sail away to find his fish-hook, but has no intention of returning the Heart of Te Fiti. He traps Moana in a cave, hoping to never see her again, but Moana frees herself and the ocean carries her over to the canoe. No matter how hard Maui tries, Moana keeps being returned to the canoe. Maui warns Moana to not talk about the heart, but Moana doesn’t listen and soon they are surrounded by “Kakamora”, a group of vicious coconut-pirates. They steal Heihei, as he has eaten the Heart, with Maui wanting just to escape. Moana doesn’t allow him to, and retrieves Heihei and the heart. The two then make a deal to find his fish hook and then go to Te Fiti together.

The fish hook lies within the Realm of Monsters, or Lalotai. They travel to the entry point and jump down into a huge hole. Moana bounces down further than expected, and Maui looks for his hook, not bothered by Moana’s fate. Moana manages to free herself from the monsters and meets up with Maui at the lair of Tamatoa. The hook is on the back of his shell. Moana is used to distract Tamatoa, by getting him to talk about himself and his love of all things shiny. Maui steals back his hook and tries to use its shape-shifting powers, but it does not work properly and he is caught by Tamatoa. Moana saves him by covering a barnacle in algae, making it look like the Heart of Te Fiti. Tamatoa runs to get it, but soon realises he was duped. Moana and Maui manage to escape via a well-timed geyser.

Maui is sad that his hook doesn’t seem to be working properly but Moana encourages him to practise with it, and sure enough, he can use it again. At the same time, Maui teaches Moana about sailing and navigating. They soon reach Te Fiti, where Maui takes the heart, and starts to attack Te Kā. Him and his fish hook are hit, and it looks like they will lose the battle if they continue. Maui wants to turn back but Moana believes they can make it through a gap in the rocks. It doesn’t work and they are pushed far back into the ocean again. Maui is so angry with Moana that he transforms into a hawk and flies away, leaving her alone. Moana tells the ocean it chose the wrong person, and the ocean takes the Heart back sadly. Soon, Moana is joined by the spirit of her grandmother, who tells her it’s alright to go back if she wants, but Moana hesitates, knowing that she must complete the mission. Emboldened, she swims down and retrieves the heart, repairs the canoe and heads back to Te Fiti alone. She tries to get past the Barrier Islands, knowing that Te Kā cannot touch the water on the other side. Moana gets through but the canoe is thrown over by a shot of lava from Te Kā. Maui arrives to help, having changed his mind, and goes to attack Te Kā, using a variety of shape-shifting animals to distract it. Maui uses his final chance with the hook to overpower Te Kā, and sure enough, the hook is destroyed. Moana has found the site of Te Fiti, but the island is not there. She then realises that Te Kā is actually Te Fiti. She calls Te Kā to her, and returns her heart.

Te Kā transforms into Te Fiti, very thankful to Moana for restoring her heart. She reverts the darkness that had been taking over other islands, and even gets Maui a new fish hook, despite her initial disappointment that he stole her heart in the first place! They are also given a new boat, and Moana returns to Motunui a hero, where she becomes a great chief and leads the others in voyaging again, as their ancestors did.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Obviously, Moana is the lead character; her name is the title of the movie after all! Moana is a very likable character. She is strong, brave, and independent, yet is also very caring and has a sense of duty and family. Moana may want to go out into the ocean, but she accepts that it has been forbidden by her father eventually. She becomes very helpful to her village during this time; she fixes roofs, teaches the children to dance, and comes up with solutions for problems, though Moana is aware that there is no escaping the darkness that is threatening their island and destroying their food sources. This is when she decides things must change and that they have no option but to go out to another island to save themselves. This is when she finds out from her grandmother that by restoring “the Heart of Te Fiti”, she can defeat the darkness once and for all. Her grandmother encourages her to go and complete the mission that the ocean chose her for when she was just a baby. Though it upsets Moana to leave her family, she knows she must go on. Throughout her journey, Moana overcomes obstacles and difficulties, always seeming optimistic, even when Maui is being the complete opposite, not wanting anything to do with her. Even though Moana loses her courage for a brief moment, her grandmother again guides her to the right decision, which shows how much Moana loves her family and knows what is ultimately the right thing to do. Moana succeeds as we all knew she would from the start, and is a hero for it, not only fixing the ultimate problem affect the islands, but also encouraging her village to go back to voyaging as they used to, being able to move forward in life. Moana may be a princess-type role, but she is certainly one of the good role models to have.

Moana is voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. Cravalho was born and grew up in Hawaii. She never expected to make her acting debut in something as big as Moana. The Disney team had an open call for the character, and on their last day in Hawaii, they said she stood out, with her singing being a particular highlight of her voice performance. Cravalho felt good being involved in a film about her culture and reprised her role for the film’s Hawaiian-language version. She has since gone on to star in the drama series Rise (2018), performed the part of Ariel in the TV special The Little Mermaid Live! (2019), and acted in the Hulu comedy film Crush (2022). She played the role of Janis in the new version of Mean Girls (2024) and has had many roles on stage in recent years, such as the lead role of Eva Peron in the 2023 West End production of Evita, and the starring role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway from September 2024 until March 2025.

Maui is the supporting character to Moana. He comes across as very braggy and arrogant at the start, although quite lovable at the same time. Maui’s whole life story is tattooed over his body, detailing the accomplishments that the demi-god has fulfilled during his lifetime to help people, such as pulling islands up from the sea. His “Mini-Maui” tattoo is like his very own Jiminy Cricket, a conscience that pulls him back from making poor decisions or being too confident. We get some backstory to Maui during the movie, after he has retrieved his fish hook. It turns out that Maui was born mortal and was thrown into the ocean by his parents who did not want him. He was found by the gods, who gave him the magical fish-hook. It then turns out that Maui making all these amazing things happen was just to try and win approval from people as he doesn’t believe he is worthy of anything. Maui also thinks that the fish-hook is the only reason he has any meaning whatsoever and that without it, he is nothing. This is clearly why he struggles after finding that his shape-shifting powers aren’t working right when he gets the hook back, and why he won’t sacrifice it to help Moana the first time they fight Te Kā. He soon realises, with Moana’s help, that he is a good person and that he is more than just whatever power the gods gave him. If nothing else, this experience helps him and Moana become true friends.

Maui is voiced by wrestler-turned-actor, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I’m pretty sure the whole world knows who he is, but Johnson has starred in multiple movies and franchises since leaving his career in WWE, such as the Fast and Furious franchise from 2011 as the character Luke Hobbs, as well as Spencer in the new Jumanji movies. For Disney, Johnson made multiple guest appearances in Disney Channel series in the mid-2000s, such as Hannah Montana (2007), and starred in the movie Jungle Cruise (2021). Johnson also created, produced and starred in the partly-autobiographical television series Young Rock (2021-23). He is currently being praised for his performance as Mark Kerr in the biopic The Smashing Machine (2025), with potential that this role may lead to an Oscar nomination. Johnson was the only person Disney had in mind for the character of Maui, partly because, as Maui says so many things that could come across as narcissistic, they needed someone so lovable as a person that it wouldn’t matter what he was saying! Johnson was happy to voice the role as an opportunity to showcase his culture as he is Samoan[1].

Tala is probably the next most important character in the movie, as she is the one to guide Moana to her destiny. Tala and Moana have a very close relationship, partly because they are quite similar; both of them don’t follow the crowd and have their own opinions. Tala is known as “the village crazy lady”; she tells legends of the lands, and stories of their ancestors despite Chief Tui’s, her son, insistence that she stop as she scares the children – all except Moana, anyway. Moana wants to follow her love of the ocean, which she shares with Tala. Tala is both a fun figure and a caring one for Moana. She encourages Moana to be whatever she wants to be – and to take what her father tells her to do with a pinch of salt!

Tala is voiced by New Zealand actress and director Rachel House. She has starred in films such as Boy (2010) and White Lies (2013), as well as in TV series such as Heartbreak High (2022-present). For Disney and Pixar, House has performed the voice roles of Terry in Soul (2020) and Mama Binturong in The Lion Guard (2019), and reprised her role of Tala in the Māori-language version of Moana.

Then there are Moana’s parents, Tui and Sina. Tui is Chief of the village. He is overprotective, wanting Moana to keep out of the ocean so she will stay safe. He does it because he cares about her, though it is a bit awkward hearing him say “and no-one leaves”, within the song “Where You Are” because why shouldn’t someone leave the island if they want to? Sina is Moana’s mother, who feels a bit stuck in the middle of the two of them, as she wants to be supportive of both of them. Though Sina does not feature too much in the film, when we see her watching Moana pack up to leave, you almost think that she’s going to convince Moana to stay – but Sina does the opposite, and helps her pack everything she needs. Sina obviously knows that Moana is not happy on the island, and most follow her heart in doing what she thinks is right for her and them.

Tui is voiced by New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison, who is currently playing the role of Tom Curry in the DC Extended Universe, and portrays and voices Boba Fett in Star Wars projects such as The Mandalorian (2020-23) and The Book of Boba Fett (2021-22). Tui’s singing voice is provided by Christopher Jackson, who originated the role of George Washington in the musical Hamilton (2015-16). Sina is voiced by singer and actress Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls fame. Scherzinger also reprised the role of Sina in the Hawaiian-language version of Moana. She was born in Hawaii.

Tamatoa is the shiny-thing loving coconut crab who resides within the Realm of Monsters. He loves to talk about himself and collects new items to store on his shell so he can be fabulous and beautiful. But don’t be fooled by his appearance, because he is still the villain of this piece. As well as being huge, he has no problems with attacking anyone who comes into his lair, and threatening to kill Moana is just one of those times, I’m sure!. New Zealand actor and comedian Jemaine Clement voices the role of Tamatoa. He is one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Concords, alongside Bret McKenzie, founded in 1998. They have released multiple albums and had a comedy series of the same name from 2007 to 2009. Clement has also starred in numerous films and TV series including as Boris the Animal in Men in Black 3 (2012) and as Dr. Ian Garvin in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). Tamatoa has a small “End Credits” scene, where he is still lying on his back, asking the audience if they could help him, saying that if his name was Sebastian and he had a cool Jamaican accent, then we would, clearly referencing Sebastian from The Little Mermaid (1989), another famous Disney crab! Although a villain in Moana, Tamatoa is still incredibly funny as a villain, and he is very different to many other Disney villains

On to the non-speaking characters in Moana, the ocean is a character of its own in Moana; it can gesture, so we can tell what it is trying to communicate, and becomes a good friend to Moana, helping her on her journey in many ways. We also have Heihei and Pua, Moana’s animal sidekicks. Pua is Moana’s loyal pet pig, who, unfortunately, misses out on this great adventure, only appearing in the first part of the movie in Motunui, though he does get to go out on the canoe for Moana’s first voyage attempt, which does not end well! The lack of appearances by Pua was one of the biggest complaints that came out of Moana. In early stages of the movie, Pua was going to go out on the trip, but this was changed to him being left on the beach, partly for his own safety and so that Moana could be isolated without the comfort of him, so she’d have to stand on her own two feet[2]. But Moana still did have a pet sidekick to keep her company, Heihei. Heihei is a silly rooster, who stowed away on Moana’s voyage, and he does not enjoy being out on the water. Moana has to rescue him multiple times, as he keeps falling in the ocean. He’s not a smart rooster by any means, but he is the comedic relief of the movie. Heihei is “voiced” by Disney veteran and lucky charm, Alan Tudyk, who has had roles in every Disney movie release since Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Tudyk is the only member of the voice cast to not have any heritage within the Pacific islands. Originally, Heihei and Pua were going to be modelled after directors John Musker and Ron Clements, as they have “appeared” in many of the previous films they have directed for Disney, such as Aladdin (1992) and Hercules (1997). This was then changed after Pua was kept on the beach and when Heihei was made to be more stupid[3]! Instead, the two directors feature printed on a cloth (tapa) during the song “Where You Are”.

The final characters, or should that just be character, to mention is Te Kā and Te Fiti. Te Kā seems to be the main villain of the movie, the lava demon, but in actual fact Te Kā is just Te Fiti, wanting her heart back. It’s a surprise villain twist, I suppose, and one that I was surprised by when I first watched, though it does make sense! Of course, she’d be angry that someone stole her heart. But all is well in the end, with Te Fiti reversing all the damage that has been caused by the unfortunate event. She is a benevolent goddess, forgiving Maui quite quickly for all the problems he caused! I think she understands why he did it – to try and win further approval from the humans – so I’m sure that helped.

PRODUCTION

The idea for Moana came about from a discussion with John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation at the time, who suggested that Clements and Musker make a film based in the Pacific Islands. The two directors were happy to look into this idea further and went on a three-week research trip with some other members of the team. They went to Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, as well as some of the smaller islands around those areas, before ending the trip in New Zealand. Whilst on this trip, they experienced many things, such as being taken out on a traditional canoe. Their guide, Angel, told them about the ocean not being a barrier to each other on the islands but something that connects them, showing how big a role the ocean plays in their culture. Angel told them to speak gently and calmly to the ocean. This was a driving force in ensuring that the ocean was a character within Moana.

Moana was originally not going to be the main character of the movie; Maui was going to be. They moved over to the idea fairly early on, with Moana (which means “ocean” in Polynesian) having dreams of being a navigator, since that was such an important part of the ancestry of the area. 3000 years ago, navigators migrated from Taiwan and moved eastward. They went to the islands of Fiji and Samoa, before the migrations suddenly stopped. 1,000 years later they suddenly began again, going eastward once more to areas such as New Zealand. This gap in the timeline, called “The Long Pause” was used as the setting of the film, with Moana being the driving force for the migrations happening again. For the act of navigation, the team at Disney learnt the correct hand positing, whilst also detailing the importance of star and cloud patterns, getting as much information as they could into the film.

Disney also learnt how spiritual music and singing, along with dancing, is to the people of the Pacific islands. They listened to the communities singing, especially in church, and how they interacted whilst doing so. They learnt about the origins of the Haka which is featured in a couple of scenes with Maui. Tattoos are a rite of passage in the area, taking days to complete, and being quite painful, but they are incredibly important to the culture. As Maui is covered in tattoos, they had to be respectful of the traditions of tattooing whilst also letting them show Maui’s life story in a way that was easy for the audience to understand.

Another important aspect to include was the respect for nature. It is a vital message in the Pacific islands that you do not own the land and that it must be nurtured. No materials are wasted, with the coconut tree being a great example of that, with uses such as food, drink, fire and building materials. This is detailed within the song and scene of “Where You Are”. Family is also of great importance in the movie, as the team at Disney saw how close the communities are, by sharing meals together, welcoming in others with such warmth, always being kind and sincere, telling stories and legends.

Through this research trip, Disney established the Oceanic Story Trust, where field experts and groups of individuals from the Pacific areas were brought in to discuss their local culture as research for the film. The locals felt respected and were glad to see that Disney cared enough about their culture to involve them multiple times, with changes even being made based on their input. For example, Maui was going to be bald, however the Oceanic Story Trust said that he has long hair and that it is part of his power, so the character was changed to have long, flowing hair. Another point was that after Moana argues with Chief Tui, she was going to smash coconuts out of anger, but it was quickly pointed out that no-one from that area would ever do that, so instead, she throws sticks into the sand.

The Disney team came back changed and wanted to ensure that the audience felt some of the things they had done, like being connected to nature and having a strong sense of community, whilst watching the movie. They also hoped that those of the area would see themselves in the movie and that they would see that it was done respectfully[4].

Many scenes were storyboarded and then deleted from the final release. One idea was that Moana was going to have six brothers, with her father not seeing that she could do just as much as they could, as well as having her already be a great navigator and sailor in Motunui. These were ultimately changed to make her an only child and to give her the opportunity to use this new adventure as a chance to learn navigation skills; it made her journey more interesting to have her overcome obstacles. Grandmother Tala and Chief Tui would also have featured more, discussing Moana’s future and what was right for her. A song was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and deleted, titled “Warrior Face”, which had some basis in the Haka, and would have had Maui teaching Moana how to look strong before they faced the Realm of Monsters. It was written whilst Miranda was performing Hamilton; the demo even used some of the cast of the musical such as Christopher Jackson (George Washington) and Phillipa Soo (Eliza)[5].

As there are no photo references from 3,000 years ago, when Moana is set, the team had to guess what kind of pieces may have been worn then when deciding on the costumes for the characters. They spent time looking at the fashions of the Polynesian and Pacific islands, coming up with concepts of different pieces, before putting them together to make full costumes. Moana had to wear something functional, not just pretty, as she spends much of the movie sailing. They found that tree bark was softened and made into textiles, so a top based on that methodology was used for Moana, with the skirts being made from dried material as well. Flowers were used to accessorise, especially in the case of Moana’s mother. The team ensured that time was taken in choosing these pieces, and that they were careful to treat the culture with respect, with meaning placed into every detail[6].

For specific elements in Moana, much time was taken with those of water, lava, and hair. For the water, they had to develop software to be able to have the ocean interact with Moana. This was called “Splash”. The scene of baby Moana interacting with the ocean was actually an internal demonstration for the system, but as it was such a great scene, the movie was rewritten to include it! Making the ocean a character took a lot of work but made a huge difference to the movie. For the lava of Te Kā, the character was created as a mannequin to get the basic shape, before the effects of smoke and lava were layered onto it. It was difficult recreating the natural phenomena correctly, to make Te Kā a living, imposing volcano, but they succeeded. Hair was another big, but fun, challenge for Disney. Hair had been an important part of other Disney characters such as Ariel and Pocahontas, but hair is harder to deal with correctly in CG than in 2D animation. To begin with, many of the characters are animated bald or with a stiff basic hair shape. An unwritten rule in animation is also for hair not to be touched, however, as Moana is a teenager, they wanted her to be realistically playing with her hair, as teenagers tend to do. A new hair system was developed to make the hair realistic and dynamic, whilst reacting to natural elements. This new technology helped with the underwater sequences too. Disney also relied on previous software that had been designed in-house for previous films, such as the fur tooling, developed for Zootopia (2016) and the Hyperion renderer from Big Hero 6 (2014).

Another animation complexity is that at times 2D is mixed with CGI. This is most obvious with Maui’s “mini-Maui” tattoo. Mini-Maui was animated by veteran Disney animator Eric Goldberg, who had animated the Genie in Aladdin (1992). Lots of the team wanted to help him with these scenes so they could work with him! Mini-Maui was meant to be like Jiminy Cricket but with more attitude, and had to move around Maui’s body to get him to notice and listen to him. The tattoos were designed to be as similar to the Pacific traditions as possible, whilst also detailing Maui’s backstory. The body was split into different areas, with sequences of Mini-Maui moving between them being created. At one point, Maui pokes Mini-Maui so a reaction had to be drawn there. Disney managed to integrate 2D and 3D animation unlike anything before in these scenes[7].

MUSIC

The music for Moana is probably my favourite part of the movie, as I like every song on the soundtrack which is quite rare for me, even in Disney movies! Disney went for a similar set-up to that of The Lion King (1994) with their song-writing team: they had another trio, with a veteran composer (Mark Mancina vs Hans Zimmer), the star song-writer (Lin-Manuel Miranda vs Elton John) and a song-writer from the real-world setting (Opetaia Foa’i vs Lebo M)[8]. Mark Mancina was brought in to compose the score, as well as help with the songs. He had composed the score for other Disney movies such as Tarzan (1999) and Brother Bear (2003), and arranged the music for The Lion King Broadway musical for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Lin-Manuel Miranda was not yet known for his Hamilton fame when he was brought on to the Moana project, though he was known on Broadway for his musical In the Heights (2005) at this time. He has gone on to work with Disney again, for Encanto (2021) and the live-action The Little Mermaid (2023). Samoan song-writer Opetaia Foa’i founded the group, Te Vaka in 1995, with the group having had much success over the years. The band also contributed to the Moana soundtrack. He was very happy to collaborate with Disney on this soundtrack as he had spent years promoting his culture through music anyway. Originally, the trio were unsure how they would work together, all having different tastes and ways of working, as well as coming from different musical backgrounds, however, on the New Zealand leg of the Moana research trip, the music came together for “We Know the Way”, with that being the first song to be written.

They soon followed that good start with the rest of the music, such as “Where You Are”, where they capitalised on their love of the Pacific cultures on their return from the areas. “How Far I’ll Go” pushed the musical story-telling further and Miranda loved how Cravalho’s beautiful singing pushed it further. Miranda stated his favourite song was “You’re Welcome”, which he wrote specifically for Dwayne Johnson, using inspiration from his wrestling days when he could say anything and still captivate people! For “Shiny”, Miranda has said that he was inspired by the music of David Bowie, making a real rock ‘n’ roll piece, full of exuberance and fun, but also menace.

The score is heavily based in percussion and vocals, to suit the style of traditional Pacific music. Mancina wanted the music to match the incredible action, whilst also feeling like the audience is on the sea, or part of the island community. For the vocals, Opetaia Foa’i and Iglese Ete with the Pacific Voices Choir helped to do the arrangements. It was a spiritual time for him and the vocalists when they recorded their tracks[9]. The soundtrack certainly succeeds in being memorable outside of the movie itself, including those not in the English language. I personally love the opening song “Tulou Tagaloa” and “Logo Te Pate”, but, like I said, I really like all the music, especially “I Am Moana”, which is a very powerful song set within a very emotional scene.

RECEPTION

Moana was originally planned to be released in 2018, however, it was bumped up by two years, being released in theatres in November 2016. In August 2015, at the D23 Expo, expo-goers were treated to some footage and models of the characters that they would be seeing in the movie the following year. They showed the clip of Moana being chosen by the ocean, as well as one of Maui explaining his tattoos to an unimpressed Moana and Pua. This second clip must have been cut in the year or 18 months between the preview and actual release, as the D23 expo mentioned that Pua came along for the ride, and we know that this was an idea that was ultimately changed. The original concept for Te Kā also looked incredibly monstrous, so I’m glad it was toned down a bit in the final cut[10]. Regardless of how much the movie changed between these two dates, there was a very positive reaction to what was shown at D23 in 2015 and no doubt helped promote the movie.

The movie was released alongside a typical Disney short, titled Inner Workings, directed and written by Leo Matsuda. He was inspired by his joint Japanese and Brazilian heritage, and the idea of two different sides fighting against each other, a more focused, risk-averse approach battling against the opportunity to be fun and carefree. This short is a similar idea to the now-defunct Epcot attraction Cranium Command, in that it follows the main character’s, Paul, primary organs and how they deal with a normal day. Paul in the end leaves his boring office to have fun during his lunch-break, coming back with a whole new outlook on life, even encouraging his office to have a dance party! When Moana was released on DVD and Blu-Ray, a new mini movie was added to the bonus features, titled Maui Mini Movie: Gone Fishing (2017). This short film shows Maui trying to fish in Moana’s home island of Motunui, after the events of the movie, with the ocean and Moana stopping him from being successful in his attempts[11]!

Moana did incredibly well both financially and critically, making around $680 million at the box office in total, with many reviews stating that Moana featured a good message of embracing your family and community, and that Moana was a great heroine. Many also liked the catchy soundtrack and the amazing visual imagery.

However, Moana did not avoid all criticism. From some in the Pacific community, they felt that Maui had been depicted in an insulting way, by him being represented as narcissistic as well as coming across as a bit of a buffoon. Some also did not think that the cultures of the Pacific were represented correctly or deeply enough. This is similar criticism to that received by Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), despite Disney’s desire and dedication to including the local communities in their ongoing production and development of the story and its characters. I do feel like some of this criticism is unfair. Disney also did have to pull a children’s costume for Maui which featured a brown body suit with all of Maui’s tattoos printed onto it. This was blasted for cultural misappropriation; yhat is a fair critique. Another fair critique is that the “Kakamora” are in reality a legendary, short-statured people of the Solomon Islands, and that by having them be cute but vicious coconuts in the movie was considered to be in very bad taste, though I’m sure it was unintentional[12]. Having said that, like Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney goes a long way in representing cultures that had previously been ignored or misrepresented.

Moana was nominated for numerous awards, such as Best Animated Film at the BAFTAs, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Annie Awards, unfortunately losing out to Zootopia (2016), Disney Animation’s spring release of that year, in many cases. Having said that, Moana did win many other awards in other categories such as for Outstanding Achievement in Animated Effects and for Voice Acting for Auli’i Cravalho at the Annie Awards; a Grammy for Lin-Manuel Miranda for the song “How Far I’ll Go”, which was also nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes; and two Teen Choice Awards for Dwayne Johnson as Choice Fantasy Movie Actor and Auli’i Cravalho as Choice Breakout Movie Star. The Moana soundtrack as a whole won Top Soundtrack Album at the American Music Awards in 2017 and at the Billboard Music Awards in 2018. Moana continued its fame way beyond its 2016 release, and the 2017 award season, by becoming one of the Top 15 movies to be streamed in the US in 2022, as well as the soundtrack breaking the Billboard Soundtrack chart record for number of weeks spent at No. 1. The record was won in 2021, after 52 weeks at No.1.

LEGACY

Though Moana was only released in 2016, the movie has already made a big impact in the 2020s, probably due to those incredible viewing figures that continued way after the initial release. The biggest development, which was announced in April 2023, is a live-action Moana film. Dwayne Johnson recorded a message in Hawaii making the announcement, with him planning to return as Maui. Auli’i Cravalho has been named as one of the executive producers. Johnson is very grateful to be able to bring this story into a live-action setting as he is so proud of the story and how it features his culture. Thomas Kail, director of Hamilton, directed the film[13]. The song writing team of Mark Mancina and Lin-Manuel Miranda returned to work on the music for the remake. I already dislike live-action adaptations of Disney animated movies, so I am probably biased, but I don’t think this is necessary. It just seems way too soon after the movie’s initial release. This new Moana film will be released in July 2026.

Another announcement came in 2020, stating that a Disney+ series based on the film would be released in 2023. However, in February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that this Disney+ series would actually be re-worked into a full-length feature film. Moana 2 was released in November 2024 with Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson returning to voice Moana and Maui. Although it made over $1 billion at the box-office, it did receive mixed reviews.

Within the Disney theme parks, Moana started a full-time residency at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, on 22^nd April 2023, as part of the park’s 25th anniversary celebrations and as part of the Disney100. Also at Walt Disney World, but this time within Epcot, a whole new attraction opened on 16^th October 2023, called Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, which is a self-guided interactive outdoor trail where guests can play and interact with water, as well as learn about its importance and its playful personality, as Moana did. It features an impressively tall Te Fiti topiary, as well as numerous beautiful waterfalls and streams.

Further appearances by Moana within the Walt Disney World Resort include her own scene within the heroes’ montage of Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as well as music and scenes from the movie being part of the nighttime fireworks show Happily Ever After at the Magic Kingdom. Furthermore, the rooms within Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort were updated in July 2021 to be themed to Moana, though this is done tastefully via Moana-inspired artworks and themed patterns on carpets and furnishings. Also at the Polynesian Village Resort is a shop named Moana Mercantile. Moana even has her own float at the new nighttime parade, Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, which debuted at Magic Kingdom in July 2025.

Outside of the Walt Disney World Resort, Moana can be found at meet-and-greets, and within shows and parades. At Disneyland, although she does not currently have a dedicated meet-and-greet location and time, Moana may still appear in the park. Moana’s music and movie scenes do appear in the Wondrous Journeys and World of Color – ONE show, plus Moana has a float in the Magic Happens parade, but these shows are not always running, being replaced seasonally.

In Shanghai Disneyland, Moana is a part of the Mickey’s Storybook Adventure live theatre show, and she even has her own stage show at Hong Kong Disneyland called Moana: A Homecoming Celebration, along with a dedicated meet-and-greet location in Adventureland. A new restaurant also opened at Hong Kong Disneyland in September 2025, and resides within Adventureland. This is quick-service dining location, serving a menu featuring typical foods from Oceania, called Wayfinders’ Table. At Tokyo Disneyland, Moana is featured within the Believe! Sea of Dreams nighttime show at Tokyo DisneySea. After the Moana 2 celebratory Moana meet-and-greet ended at Disneyland Paris, she has not returned to meet guests, however, music and clips from the film do feature in the Disney Tales of Magic fireworks show there, and may be a fixture in a float during Disney Stars on Parade. Moana can sometimes be found meeting guests at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii as well.

On the Disney Cruise Line, on the Disney Adventure ship, there is a bar inspired by Moana called the Wayfinder Bar, as well as an eatery called Gramma Tala’s Kitchen, featuring a menu of Pacific- and Asian-inspired menu items. The Broadway-style stage show Disney The Tale of Moana, recounting the film’s story, also debuted in December 2024 on the Disney Treasure cruise ship, consisting of live performances and impressive puppetry.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This shows just how quickly Moana, the movie and the character, have gained in popularity and proves the success of the movie. It is a great movie from Disney: the songs and music are amazing; the characters are lovable, funny, and relatable; the story is easy to follow, yet full of excitement and adventure, and, to top it off, it showcases cultures that have previously been misrepresented. It may not have been perfect but the good intentions are clear. Moana tells us to always follow what we believe is right, and that family and protecting our natural resources are two of the most important things in life.

Moana is a princess film with a difference, and clearly, I’m not the only one who believes it to be one of the best Disney animated films to have come out of the 2010s. Its reputation and following speaks for itself.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, “Voice of the Islands”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[2] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ’10 fun facts about Moana that will make you say ‘Wow, what a fun Moana fact’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 15^th June 2022.

[3] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ’10 fun facts about Moana that will make you say ‘Wow, what a fun Moana fact’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 15^th June 2022.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Voice of the Islands”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[5] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Island Fashion” from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray (2017).

[7] Credit: Disney, “The Elements Of…” from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[8] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ’10 fun facts about Moana that will make you say ‘Wow, what a fun Moana fact’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 15^th June 2022.

[9] Credit: Disney, “They Know the Way: Making the Music of Moana”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[10] Credit: Ethan Anderton, ‘Disney Animation’s ‘Moana’ Looks and Sounds Absolutely Gorgeous [D23 Expo 2015]’, SlashFilm.com, 14^th August 2015.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Inner Workings” and “Maui Mini Movie: Gone Fishing”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[12] Credit: Doug Herman, ‘How the Story of “Moana” and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths’, Smithsonian Magazine (online), 2^nd December 2016.

[13] Credit: Disney, ‘Dwayne Johnson Reveals Plans for Live-Action Reimagining of Disney’s ‘Moana’, The Walt Disney Company (online). 3^rd April 2023.

[14] Credit: Chloe James, ‘”Who Wants This?” Fans Criticize Plans for ‘Moana’ Land at Disney World’, InsidetheMagic.net, 4^th April 2023.

[15] Credit: Emmanuel Detres, ‘Moana-Inspired EPCOT Attraction Revealed in New Video’, InsidetheMagic.net, 7^th April 2023.

26th May 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#22 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

BACKGROUND

Winnie the Pooh and his friends are now undoubtedly quintessentially Disney – but they didn’t start out that way.

Walt Disney took inspiration for his animated movie slate from children’s literature for the most part, with A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories being favourites of his daughters’. It was only natural that Disney would want to take these beloved literature characters and “Disneyfy” them, making them mainstream and able to reach a wider audience.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is not like a regular animated feature, as it could potentially be called another “package film”, like the ones of the 1940s, because it consists of three separate stories, though these are connected together with the help of the Narrator and the storybook approach.

These three sections are:

Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too

PLOT

The movie begins in a bedroom, presumably Christopher Robin’s, but it is a bedroom in live-action, with toys resembling the Hundred Acre Wood characters being dotted about the room. We then go over to a storybook which opens up to a map of the Hundred Acre Wood, where we are introduced to the characters in an animated format, as the theme tune plays. As we meet Winnie the Pooh for the first time, we move into the first story of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.

This story begins with Pooh Bear waking up feeling hungry for honey, as he normally does, except today, he has run out of honey. He sees a bee near him and follows it to its hive, as he knows where bees are, honey can’t be far away. He first tries to climb up the tree to get into the beehive to collect some honey, but falls out of it. Pooh Bear goes to find Christopher Robin for advice. Christopher Robin has just nailed Eeyore’s tail back on him when Pooh Bear arrives asking for a balloon. He plans to cover himself in mud and fly up to the beehive, pretending to be a “little black rain cloud” to fool the bees into letting him get close. Christopher Robin isn’t convinced by this plan so goes with him in case he gets himself into trouble. The bees sure enough are not taken in by this, and start to swarm around him, though Pooh Bear does get his hand in the honey first, and ends up almost swallowing some of the bees, which makes them angrier. The bees chase Pooh, where his balloon’s air is released, causing him to tumble to the ground. Christopher Robin catches him and they hide in the mud until the bees have gone.

But Pooh is still hungry, so he goes to Rabbit’s house for lunch. Rabbit doesn’t want to let him in, but begrudgingly does, where Pooh eats all the honey around him. As he is about to leave, he gets stuck in the entrance way to Rabbit’s house because he’s eaten so much! Rabbit is not amused and wants Pooh Bear out now, but it can’t be done. Owl hires Gopher to try to dig him out but he would take too long, and Christopher Robin and the others are unable to pull him out. They must wait for Pooh Bear to get thin again; imagine the view Rabbit has for that whole time! Days pass, and Gopher returns for his “nightshift”; he offers Pooh Bear some food, but Rabbit stops him quickly. One day, Pooh Bear budges slightly, so the others are called over, where they successfully pull him out, but don’t get enough grip on him, so he flies over the Hundred Acre Wood – straight into the beehive. The story ends with the others saying they’ll get him out, with Pooh telling them not to hurry as he finally gets to sit and eat all this honey!

We then move into Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, where, sure enough, the Hundred Acre Wood is dealing with some very strong, windy weather. Pooh Bear wanders around greeting everyone with the phrase “Happy Windsday”, but not everyone is enjoying it! Piglet is almost blown away in the gales, with Pooh Bear holding onto his scarf thread, trying to pull him down, but just ending up looking like he’s flying a kite! He barrels through Eeyore’s newly built stick house, through Rabbit’s Garden, though he does harvest all the carrots for him by doing so, until they end up at Owl’s treehouse, which is tipping dangerously in the wind. Suddenly, the house comes tumbling down as the tree is uprooted, with Owl, Pooh, and Piglet coming down with it. Christopher Robin says it cannot be fixed; Eeyore volunteers to find Owl a new house.

In the meantime, the windy weather continues overnight, where Pooh Bear, now alone and hearing growling, begins to get frightened. He invites the growling creature into his home, where we meet Tigger for the first time. Tigger is hungry so Pooh offers him some honey, but he hates it. Just as Tigger is about to leave, he tells Pooh Bear that he should be wary of “heffalumps” and “woozles” because they steal honey. Pooh decides to stay up, monitoring his honey all night, but unsurprisingly falls asleep where he has a nightmare about these creatures. He wakes up with a start, to find his house is flooding as the windy weather has turned to rain. Pooh saves his honey pots by storing them up a tree, but falls into one and starts bobbing on the floodwater through the Hundred Acre Wood. Piglet, being so small, is swiftly carried away on one of his chairs, but not before he can send a message in a bottle asking for help. The others manage to get to Christopher Robin’s house, where they find Piglet’s bottle. Owl is ordered to fly over to them, while Christopher Robin sets up a rescue plan. Before they can, Piglet, Pooh, and Owl fall down a waterfall, as Owl becomes distracted telling them yet another long story about his family! Piglet and Pooh swap places in the fall, with Piglet now in the honey pot and Pooh on the chair. Pooh carries Piglet in the pot to the edge of the water, where Christopher Robin declares him a hero for saving Piglet and throws him a party to celebrate. Eeyore interrupts to say he’s found a house for Owl and tells everyone to follow him. In fact, the house he has found is Piglet’s house, but nobody seems to realise. Piglet can’t bring himself to tell Owl as he seems so happy, so gives up his house. Pooh Bear says he can live with him instead, and Christopher Robin now makes the party for two heroes, as Piglet is now a hero for giving up his house for someone else.

Then, the film moves into Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, where everyone is getting irritated by Tigger constantly bouncing on them and generally being too energetic. Rabbit is the most annoyed and arranges a meeting to discuss this problem. Rabbit, Pooh Bear and Piglet decide to try to lose Tigger in the woods. The day they enact the plan, it is misty so they believe it will be even easier. They manage to lose Tigger, but get lost themselves, going round and round in circles, always ending up by the same sandpit. Pooh says that maybe if they try to find this sandpit, then they won’t be able to, as the opposite keeps happening, and then they should be able to get out of the woods. Rabbit says that’s a stupid idea and goes to prove it, but doesn’t return. Pooh Bear and Piglet give up waiting and find their own way home – where they are greeted by Tigger. Tigger goes into the woods to rescue Rabbit, who is not pleased at all that he has returned, but Tiggers don’t get lost.

Soon, winter comes and it begins to snow. Tigger takes Roo out for a day of bouncing, and annoys Rabbit once more by trying to ice skate with him, but crashes into Rabbit instead! Tigger and Roo go further into the woods and find a tall tree, which Tigger bounces up, not realising that he’s scared of heights and is now stuck. Pooh Bear and Piglet are following tracks in the snow, but become startled by the “Hallo” call of a “jagular”. They bravely follow the sound to find Tigger and Roo stuck in a tree, getting Christopher Robin and the others to help rescue them. They make a net out of Christopher Robin’s coat, where Roo jumps down. Tigger can’t do the same though, but is so desperate to get down that he promises to never bounce again if he does get down. The Narrator helpfully turns the storybook on its side, so Tigger can place his feet on the ground and then slide down the paragraphs back into the story with the others. Tigger is so happy he wants to bounce, but Rabbit reminds him of his promise. He sadly walks away. The others see how sad he is, and ask Rabbit if he’d rather have the “old” Tigger back. Rabbit feels guilty and admits that he actually would, so Tigger returns happily and gets everyone bouncing with him, even Rabbit.

The final scene of the film shows Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh talking about how Christopher Robin must go to school soon, and that he won’t be able to play all the time anymore, but he hopes that sometimes Pooh will come and do nothing, with or without him. Pooh Bear says he will. The Narrator ends by saying that Pooh Bear will always be waiting for Christopher Robin no matter what.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Winnie the Pooh doesn’t need any introduction, but still, he is the main character and arguably the favourite toy of Christopher Robin. He is a “tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff”, or that’s how he is described in the theme tune anyway! Pooh Bear is also constantly referenced as being the bear with “very little brain”, and they talk about his weight so much, him being “stout” and “round”, which I think is so mean because Pooh Bear is the best of all the Winnie the Pooh characters! I love his little giggle so much, and how he’s curious and child-like, getting himself into trouble and not even realising half the time! Oh yeah, and his defining feature is that he loves honey, or “hunny” as it’s spelt in the movie, and will do just about anything to get his hands on some! Pooh Bear wears a red t-shirt and lives in a house within the trunk of a tree. His house has a sign above it saying “Mr. Sanders”; that is not Winnie the Pooh’s surname, but just references the fact that clearly a Mr. Sanders lived in that house before Pooh Bear. They talk about it at the start of the film. Pooh Bear is voiced by Sterling Holloway, who had a long history with Disney, making his Disney debut as Mr. Stork in Dumbo (1941), as well as performing the roles of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Kaa in The Jungle Book (1967). Holloway originated the voice of Winnie the Pooh, performing the role until 1977. Sterling Holloway was honoured as a Disney Legend in 1991, the first person to receive the award for voice parts. The Disney team loved working with Holloway calling him a true artist, who performed the part brilliantly. They even said he was just like the human version of Pooh Bear.

Piglet is Pooh Bear’s best friend in the Hundred Acre Wood. He is so tiny and nice, just getting along with everyone, that you have to feel bad for him when he’s scared and panicky, but trying to pretend he isn’t to everyone else! Piglet also stutters a lot when he’s nervous to show just how anxious and frightened he gets. This would be discussed further in Piglet’s very own movie, Piglet’s Big Movie (2003). Within these stories of the film, he has to navigate flood waters in his house, almost being blown away, giving up his home for Owl, and hiding from the “jagular”, which turns out to just be Tigger. Piglet has many difficulties that he overcomes every day, staying as strong as he can, but he’s so much smaller than everyone else that sometimes he can’t handle it as well as them – and that’s ok. Piglet lives, or should that be lived, in a house within a beech tree, with a sign outside that reads “Trespassers Wil”, which Piglet tells us is short for his grandfather’s name “Trespassers William”. Owl would later claim that “Wil” spells Owl, showing that this house is meant to belong to him. At the start of the TV series to follow this movie, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-91), Owl’s house is repaired so they both go back to their original dwellings. Piglet is voiced by actor John Fiedler, who voiced the character until 2005. Fiedler had also provided voice to other Disney characters such as the Old Man in The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), and Porcupine in The Fox and the Hound (1981).

Tigger is the most fun and carefree character within the Winnie the Pooh world. He does whatever he wants, getting himself into trouble frequently, like getting stuck in a tree, or annoying everyone else by constantly choosing to bounce on them as a greeting instead of just saying “hello”! He’s crazy, but he’s so lovable. He might be a bit irritating at times, especially if you ask Rabbit, but the others wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m glad that they decide at the end of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too that he should be allowed to bounce again, despite his promise, because it makes him who he is. Tigger even gets his own song in the film, “The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers”, which details the fact that he’s fun and likes bouncing, but that the best thing of all is that he’s the only one. This would later be explored in a movie specifically made for Tigger, The Tigger Movie (2000). Paul Winchell provides the voice of Tigger, and made sure to make the voice special for him, full of humour and exuberance to match Tigger’s personality. Winchell even ad-libbed Tigger’s famous line: “TTFN – ta-ta for now”. Paul Winchell voiced Tigger until 1999, when Jim Cummings took over from him in 2000. Cummings has also voiced the role of Pooh Bear since 1988. Winchell also voiced Boomer the Woodpecker in Disney’s The Fox and the Hound (1981).

Then there’s the gloomier character of Eeyore the donkey. He has quite a hard time generally, with his stick house consistently being knocked over, losing his tail multiple times, and even having the gang forget his birthday in the 1983 short Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, so no wonder he’s down sometimes! Ralph Wright was chosen to voice the role, as he had a naturally deep voice, which worked well for the character. Wright was actually a Disney animator and storyboard writer, not an actor, having worked on multiple Disney projects from 1940 to 1977. His final voice role for Eeyore was in 1983 with the A Day for Eeyore short, as he died in December of that year. The voice role was later given to Peter Cullen, who is notable for voicing Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise!

Rabbit is the fussy one, who is always frustrated and worrying, wanting things to be just the way he wants them. I do feel sorry for Rabbit though, when Pooh Bear gets stuck in Rabbit’s house, and when Tigger annoys him so much, but he is a bit of a “stick-in-the-mud”, having to be forced to join in with the fun quite a lot of the time! Rabbit is still a good character though, as he is caring towards his friends quite often, probably more so in later movies than in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh though. Rabbit is voiced by Junius Matthews in these shorts, being replaced with Ken Sansom who voiced the part from 1988 to 2010. Matthews died in 1978. Matthews is also well-known for providing the voice of Archimedes in The Sword in the Stone (1963); he had quite a distinctive voice!

Then there’s Kanga and her son, Roo. Kanga is the maternal one, who looks after not just Roo, but the others as well at times. She seems to be a good mother, but unfortunately doesn’t feature all that much in this Winnie the Pooh feature, however, she is more prominent in later ones. Roo was designed to be like a boisterous, typical five-year-old boy, always jumping around, wanting to have fun, insisting that he’s not sleepy when his eyes are already closing; that sort of thing! Tigger gets on very well with Roo, enjoying having someone around who has as much energy as him, and who doesn’t get annoyed with him at all. Kanga is voiced by Barbara Luddy here, known for her role as Lady in Lady and the Tramp (1955), as well as Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty (1959). This was Luddy’s final film role before her death in 1979. Kanga would then be voiced by, predominantly, two other well-known voice actresses, Tress MacNeille and Kath Soucie. Roo is voiced by Clint Howard in the first two shorts of this film, and then by Dori Whitaker in the final story. Howard also voiced the part of Hathi Jr. in The Jungle Book (1967) and is the brother of director Ron Howard. Dori Whitaker voiced one of the rabbits in Robin Hood (1973). Due to the child-like nature of Roo, his voice actors have had to change constantly over the years.

Owl is the talkative one of the group and rivals the top spot for being the “know-it-all” with Rabbit, even though neither of them tend to know what they’re doing most of the time, but wanting to prove themselves as the leader of the group. In The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Owl mostly just talks a lot, telling long-winded stories about his ancestors, not even noticing that his house is about to fall down during the blustery day, with the Narrator saying at one point that “Owl talked from page 41 to page 62”. Hal Smith voiced the role of Owl until his death in 1994 when he was replaced by voice actor Andre Stojka for a time. Hal Smith gained numerous acting credits, with many voice roles, during his career.

Like Roo, the voice of Christopher Robin has changed many times over the years. Each of the short stories within The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh feature a different voice actor: Bruce Reitherman, son of Woolie Reitherman, and voice of Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1967); then English actor Jon Walmsley, who appeared in The Waltons series (1972-81), and finally, Timothy Turner. Christopher Robin is the one that all the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood go to for help, because, even though he is only meant to be about six-years-old, he has the most knowledge of the group and frequently has good ideas on how to solve their problems. He is the glue that holds the group together. The moment at the end of the film with him saying goodbye to Winnie the Pooh is really touching – even though we know that wasn’t their final moment together[1]!

Though many people appreciate the Disney adaptations of Milne’s books and characters, there was actually some controversy linked to the “Americanisation” of the popular British stories, as a predominantly American voice cast was used, with only two British actors being cast. These are Jon Walmsley and Sebastian Cabot, the Narrator, who also voiced the part of Bagheera in The Jungle Book (1967). Disney Animation also decided to introduce the character of Gopher, who did not feature in the books, with gophers being a typically American animal[2]. The fact that Gopher is not an original character is referenced a few times in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree by stating that he is “not in the book”, which is a dual meaning of not being in Milne’s stories, as well as not being in the phonebook, since he runs his own digging business. Gopher is voiced by American actor and comedian Howard Morris, who had to add in that distinctive whistle into his lines, in a similar way to the beaver character in Lady and the Tramp (1955). Howard Morris voiced Gopher until 1977. Morris also had varying voice roles in TV series like The Flintstones (1962-65) and The Jetsons (1962-87).

PRODUCTION

The characters of Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood were created by English writer A. A. Milne, who wrote the books for his son, called Christopher Robin Milne, naming the boy in the stories after him. Winnie the Pooh was named after Christopher’s teddy bear, originally called Edward, but then renamed to Winnie, after a Canadian black bear called Winnipeg that was at London Zoo from 1915 to 1934, and a swan, which Christopher had called “Pooh”. Ernest H. Shepard illustrated the original books that Milne wrote, that began with “When We Were Very Young”, a collection of poems published in 1924, where Winne the Pooh first appears as “Mr. Edward Bear”. The first full children’s book written by Milne solely about Winnie the Pooh and friends was titled “Winnie-the-Pooh”, published in 1926, with “The House at Pooh Corner” being the second and final book by Milne about Winnie the Pooh being published in 1928, with the character of Tigger being introduced here. Some say that Milne had become annoyed at being successful only in children’s literature and that he wasn’t being taken seriously as a novelist and playwright, which is what Milne had been writing before the Winnie the Pooh stories. It is likely that he wanted to focus on a more serious genre of writing, so only wrote the two books[3].

The books were incredibly popular in the UK and in Europe but did not have the same reputation in the US at the time. However, Walt Disney had heard his wife reading the tales of Mary Poppins and Winnie the Pooh to his children at bedtime, and remembered hearing them laughing. He decided to make a feature film from both of these, purchasing the rights for both around 1961, though we all now what a struggle it was to get the rights to Mary Poppins from P. L. Travers! The rights to Winnie the Pooh were not as difficult to obtain, probably because Milne had died in 1956, whereas P. L. Travers was still alive even during the production on Disney’s live-action Mary Poppins (1964).

After the rights were obtained, Walt Disney put many of his best workers on it, including Woolie Reitherman to direct and Ken Anderson on story. One of the most interesting things about The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the prominence of the actual “Winnie the Pooh” storybook within the film. Though plenty of Disney movies, usually the fairy-tale-based ones, use a storybook in their films, such as the opening and closing of the book, with the occasional first or last pages being used, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh constantly goes from the book pages, to moving images of the characters within the pages, to a full-screen view of the action, and then back again. It’s a cool concept that Disney decided to use for two reasons: one being that it’s like we as the viewer are reading the book and seeing it all play out in front of our eyes instead of just in our imagination; and the second reason being that it reminds the viewer that these characters were first created by A. A. Milne for a real-life children’s book that perhaps they can go away and read after watching the movie. At times, the book’s pages are used as part of the story, like characters being blown across multiple pages, some of the words running down the page during the flooding and heavy rain, and being used as a rescue slide for Tigger getting down from the tree.

Not only that but the original illustrations in the books, by E. H. Shepard, were used as the inspiration for Disney’s animation of Milne’s characters. Walt Disney wanted them to be based in the same drawings, but with that added element of Disney animation stylings, where strong facial expressions to convey the emotions of the characters are required. Walt didn’t want these Winnie the Pooh stories to be all charm and no substance[4]. Now the Disney versions of the characters are more well-known that the originals!

MUSIC

The Sherman Brothers were brought in to write the songs for the movie. They were very much associated with Disney Productions, also working on Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967) around this time. Walt wanted the songs within The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh to be simple, whimsical, original, and sing-able which they achieved. The theme tune was based around the simplicity and innocence of childhood, for example. All the songs they wrote, ten in total, are catchy but my favourites are “Little Black Rain Cloud”, because it’s so cute hearing Pooh sing it; “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers”, because it can get stuck in your head all day; and “Heffalumps and Woozles”, which I like mostly from the crazy, colourful scene that you encounter on the theme park ride! More on that later.

Buddy Baker was brought in to compose the score. Baker wanted to follow a similar idea to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf by representing each character with a different instrument. For example, serious Rabbit by a clarinet; bumbling Pooh Bear by a baritone hone; and a piccolo for the sweet-natured Kanga. It’s a lovely score that fits well.

RECEPTION

After about two thirds of the full movie had been storyboarded, with some scenes even partially animated, Walt Disney called a big meeting with everyone involved in the production of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Walt was concerned that as the Milne stories were not as popular in the US that perhaps they should slowly introduce the American audience to Winnie the Pooh and his friends, by splitting the originally planned full-length feature into three shorts instead.

So, it was done, with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree being the first short to be released into theatres in February 1966, along with the live-action-comedy film The Ugly Dachshund (1966). This was the last short to be produced by Walt Disney himself, as he would die in December 1966, never having seen the last two Winnie the Pooh shorts.

After his death and as work was finishing on The Jungle Book (1967), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was put into production, with Ollie Johnstone, Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl now being able to animate on this short, as they had been busy on The Jungle Book (1967) when the first short was being made. Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was released in 1968, along with The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968), and was even more successful than the original short, winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, which was awarded posthumously to Walt Disney. It was the only Winnie the Pooh production to ever win an Academy Award.

The third short, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, was released in 1974, this time being directed by John Lounsbery instead of Reitherman. It was released along with The Island at the Top of the World (1974). Again, this short was received well, being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, losing to Closing Mondays (1974), a claymation film. It did, however, win the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children in 1975.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was then created by combining these three shorts, adding in additional linking material, as well as the final scene to close the movie, which was inspired by the final chapter of “The House at Pooh Corner”, where Christopher Robin is saying goodbye to Winnie the Pooh and his childhood, as he must go to school and start to grow up. The movie is considered to be the last film that Walt Disney was personally involved in as it includes the Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree short which was released during Walt’s lifetime. It was always Walt’s intention to make the Winnie the Pooh stories into a feature-length animated film, which finally came to be realised in 1977, becoming the 22^nd Disney Animated Classic

It is considered to be one of the most faithful adaptations that Disney Animation has done, with many praising Disney for making the stories charming and memorable. Winnie the Pooh is potentially still the most popular and beloved character in children’s literature, with him being loved by people all around the world. The stories are about friendship and being curious of the world around you, which are important messages for children growing up. The characters are honest and caring towards each other, all within this safe world where everyone is nice and kind, but also different. Walt Disney is credited with bringing the popularity of the Winnie the Pooh stories to the American public, going on to become a huge franchise for the Disney Company[5].

LEGACY

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was just the first of six theatrically released films based on these characters, with the others being The Tigger Movie (2000); Piglet’s Big Movie (2003); Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005); Winnie the Pooh (2011); and Christopher Robin (2018). Of these, my favourite is Pooh’s Heffalump Movie; I’m not really sure why, I just do, but I know many people like The Tigger Movie. I do also like Winnie the Pooh’s scenes within the live-action film, Christopher Robin, but those are the best bits of the film in my opinion. Plus, I found that, although Cummings returned to voice Tigger and Pooh Bear, the other voice artists were all different, and many did not sound good, in my opinion with Brad Garrett as Eeyore being the only exception!

There have also been nine direct-to-video films released as part of this franchise, many of them being compilations of shorts that had previously appeared in some of the Winnie the Pooh television series. The three most recent ones (2007, 2009 and 2010) are based on the series My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007-10). My favourite direct-to-video film is Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997). I still like watching it, and the songs are particularly good. It follows the characters searching for Christopher Robin who has left them to go to “skull”, actually “school”. I also watch A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) every Christmas mostly just to see the 1991 Christmas TV special Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too!

As well as that, there have been a few other shorts that were released separately and were not included in any direct-to-video films: Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981); A Valentine For You (1999); and Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983). Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore was not originally connected to any of the material within The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh but has since been added to the home releases of the movie. I watched it from a DVD, but it was added as a bonus feature, not as part of the original film. It contains a different voice cast, with some musical changes as well, for example, the theme tune sounds much jazzier, though it does begin within the same bedroom and uses the same concept of switching between the storybook pages and the full- screen action of the characters. Rabbit was also almost green in this short! It follows the story of Eeyore’s birthday being forgotten, before a party is thrown for him, and the game of “Pooh-sticks” is introduced as part of the celebrations. For me, the short wasn’t great.

As I mentioned, there were some television series created around these characters: the live-action/puppetry series Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983-84); the animated series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-91); another puppetry series called The Book of Pooh (2001-03) which added a new character called Kessie; and My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007-10), a computer-animated series with Darby and her dog Buster being included.

Within the Disney Parks, the film did inspire a dark ride. It first opened at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom as The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1999, taking over the former Fantasyland home of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. As Winnie the Pooh had become so popular at the time, it was an obvious decision to make a theme park ride based on him. Buddy Baker returned to arrange the attraction music from the film score. Paul Winchell also recorded new lines for his character, Tigger. It became his last performance as Tigger before Winchell retired in 1999. Jim Cummings did the voice for Winnie the Pooh, returning to the character after his debut as Pooh Bear in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-91). The ride goes through many of the same scenes as the 1977 film, with the Heffalumps and Woozles scene being my favourite, as well as Bouncing with Tigger. It also includes the wind and rainstorm from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. The scenes follow the story order of the film[6].

The ride exists in every other Disney Park around the world – except for Disneyland Paris, who must just be miserable for not having any ride based on Winnie the Pooh! At Disneyland, the ride replaced Country Bear Jamboree, opening in 2003, with the order of some scenes being rearranged compared with the Magic Kingdom version. At Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland, a very similar ride to the Magic Kingdom version opened on the official opening date of those parks in 2005 and 2016, respectively. At Tokyo Disneyland, they went one step further and created a trackless version of the ride called Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. This opened in 2000, with many calling it the best Pooh Bear attraction at any Disney Park, with similar scenes to the original ride, but somehow better.

Winnie the Pooh and his friends, such as Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger, can also be found at meet-and-greets at all the Disney Parks, as well as featuring within various parades. At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, you can even have a character meal with those four characters, for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner, buffet-style at the Crystal Palace.

Some other parts of the whole Winnie the Pooh franchise include various games, including some educational ones and Tigger’s Honey Hunt, which was released in 2000. There were also two children’s albums by Kenny Loggins (yes, him from the Footloose and Top Gun movie soundtracks!), which are inspired by Winnie the Pooh, though these do not feature many songs related to the Winnie the Pooh films! The first album, titled Return to Pooh Corner, was released in 1994 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children. The second album, titled More Songs from Pooh Corner, was released in 2000 and includes the main song from The Tigger Movie (2000), “Your Heart Will Lead You Home”, along with covers of other Disney songs.

There is also a musical based on Winnie the Pooh titled Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation, produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. It debuted in New York City in October 2021 to a positive response. It was then in Chicago and New York City again in Spring/Summer 2022, with a US tour from September 2022 to May 2023. It came to London between March and May 2023, and is on tour in the UK right now, until September 2023.

A further collection of Pooh stories was published in 2009, 81 years after the first book, titled “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood”, but it was not written by Milne. It was written by David Benedictus, and illustrated by Mark Burgess, with a new character, Lottie the Otter.

A final, weirder note that is not at all related to Disney’s Winnie the Pooh is that because the Winnie the Pooh books have now gone into the public domain, it does mean that stranger adaptations are likely to come. Though Disney still have exclusive rights to their version of Milne’s characters and its subsequent franchise, some filmmakers are now allowed to make the story “their own”. A horror film, titled Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023), directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, was released in early in 2023. It was subsequently panned, even “winning” five Razzies, but that hasn’t stopped the director from planning a sequel to it, or planning to do the same with the likes of Bambi and Peter Pan[7]!

FINAL THOUGHTS

After the “Fab Five” of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, the collection of characters from the Hundred Acre Wood come a close second in terms of being the most popular Disney characters, with Winnie the Pooh merchandise occasionally outselling those of Mickey Mouse! What Walt Disney and his animators did was to bring the characters to the US market, ensuring that A. A. Milne’s stories could gain a reputation outside of Europe.

Disney have managed to make these characters so successful with a wide audience of people that we can’t help but be charmed by every new concept that comes from it! Though I found the film to be a bit long and think it would’ve been better to have been kept as three separate shorts and not combined, I still love all the Hundred Acre Wood characters, but especially Winnie the Pooh, and am happy to see whatever Disney have planned with them next.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Harry Arends, “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece”, from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), 25^th Anniversary DVD (2002).

[2] Credit: Michael Lyons, ‘Show Me the Honey: The 45^th Anniversary of “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”, CartoonResearch.com, 11^th April 2022.

[3] Credit: Adam Donald, ‘How ‘Winnie the Pooh’ Updated the 1977 Animated Classic ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, Collider.com, 18^th January 2023.

[4] Credit: Harry Arends, “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece”, from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), 25^th Anniversary DVD (2002).

[5] Credit: Harry Arends, “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece”, from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), 25^th Anniversary DVD (2002).

[6] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘Fridays with Jim Korkis: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[7] Credit: Liam Maguren, ‘I Kid You Not: Disney’s Winnie the Pooh movies are meditative experiences’, Flicks.co.uk, 14^th February 2023.

19th May 20232nd Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#59 Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

BACKGROUND

Did you miss out on Raya and the Last Dragon when it was released? Did it pass you by?

I wouldn’t be surprised if you said yes, given that it was released during the COVID-19 pandemic! Raya and the Last Dragon was supposed to be released in November 2020, but it was delayed until March 2021. It was released in theatres at that time in some countries, including the US, as well as on Disney+ at an additional cost as part of the Disney+ Premier Access service. This was the second Disney movie to be released on that platform, after the live-action adaptation of Mulan in September 2020. Raya and the Last Dragon was then available free to the majority of Disney+ subscribers from June 2021.

I watched it for the first time shortly after this date, and I have now only watched it twice. I remember I liked the film the first time, and I liked it even more the second time, although I will admit it still is not a movie that I’ll watch many times in the future.

Raya and the Last Dragon is not a princess movie, despite the female main character, nor does it involve any songs. This is no longer uncommon for Disney; they have been moving away from their well-used formula of the Broadway-style fairy-tale for at least the last decade. Raya and the Last Dragon was generally well-received, however, as Disney’s other release of 2021, Encanto, made such a storm, Raya and the Last Dragon, unfortunately, seems to already have been forgotten, though I would hope that it will make a comeback of some sorts in the next few years.

PLOT

Raya and the Last Dragon begins with a young woman travelling through a desert on the back of a rolling bug. She recounts the story of her land, Kumandra, which five hundred years ago, was threatened by dark forces called Druun. The “last dragon”, Sisu, put all her energy into a single gem, which destroyed the Druun, reviving the land’s people who had been turned to stone by the Druun, however, the same does not happen to the dragons who shared the same fate. This magical gem was coveted by the five separate areas of Kumandra: Heart, Tail, Talon, Spine and Fang, with Heart gaining possession of the gem.

Then, we see a young girl, Raya, being taught how to be “The Guardian of the Dragon Gem”, protecting it from being stolen by others, by her father, the Heart Chief, Chief Benja. He believes that the five areas should become one again and start trusting each other. His first step to gaining peace is to invite the other four lands and their people to Heart. The people are suspicious of why Heart has summoned them there, but Raya breaks the ice by bonding with the daughter of Fang’s Chief, Namaari, over their shared love of dragons. Raya is given Namaari’s necklace of the dragon, Sisu, so in return, Raya takes Namaari to see the dragon gem, however, Raya is double-crossed, and Namaari alerts the Fang warriors to the gem. At the same time, everyone else fights over the gem, causing it to fall to the ground and smash, which releases the Druun again. Each land grabs a section of the gem and flees. Raya’s father is hurt in the fight, and sacrifices himself to the Druun to save Raya, by throwing her into the river, as Druun are repelled by water. She is alone.

Six years later, we return to the opening scene in the desert. The woman is Raya, and her rolling bug is her friend, Tuk Tuk, part pill-bug, part armadillo, part pug, apparently! Raya has travelled to the end of every river in Kumandra, as it is rumoured that Sisu, the last dragon, resides at the end of one of them. Raya’s final visit is a river in the desert land of Tail. She sets up a shrine and prays to Sisu, who reveals herself. Sisu is real after all! Raya asks Sisu to make another gem, but as Sisu didn’t create the gem, just “turned it in”, and her siblings created it, she cannot do it. The two set off, instead, to find the other pieces of the gem and reassemble them to thwart the Druun once more. As they retrieve the first piece from Tail, within a booby-trapped cave, Namaari and Fang’s warriors come to stop them, and figure out why Raya is stealing gem pieces. Raya, Sisu and Tuk Tuk get away and board a boat, run by Boun, a child, orphaned by the Druun’s curse. He has been operating a restaurant on this boat, but happily takes Raya and Sisu to Talon for extra money! Boun joins them on their quest.

At Talon, Raya goes to find the next piece of gem, but is conned by a baby, again, orphaned by the Druun, and her trio of ongis friends (monkey-like animals), who steal her gem pieces. Raya wastes time retrieving them but succeeds. She then “hires” the con artists to distract the Chief of Talon to get the next gem piece, but find he was turned to stone. The new Chief, Dang Hu, has captured Sisu, who has shape-shifted to a human to conceal her identity; the new Chief wants the gem pieces and won’t release Sisu until she tells her where they are. Raya comes in to save Sisu and steals away Talon’s piece at the same time; they are free to keep going on to Spine. At Spine, they meet a warrior, called Tong, who is the only remaining member of Spine. Raya and Sisu have fallen into a trap and been captured by him, but he seems more bothered about having the company than actually wanting to kill them for trespassing! When Fang’s warriors arrive to stop Raya again, Tong releases the next gem piece and is told to leave with the others while Raya distracts Namaari. As Namaari and Raya fight, Raya is quickly overwhelmed. Sisu regains her dragon form and goes in to the fight to save her. Namaari is stunned to see Sisu in real-life, with Sisu believing there is some good in her; Raya isn’t so sure. They both escape.

Sisu asks Raya to try to restore peace with Namaari by returning her dragon necklace to her. In return, Namaari surrenders the final gem piece, but then pulls out a crossbow, aiming it at Sisu, as her mother, Fang’s Chief, has asked her to steal the other gem pieces, as well as Sisu, so Fang can be the holder of the full and complete gem. Sisu pleads with Raya to let her talk with Namaari, as she believes Namaari does want to help. Raya then attacks Namaari with her sword, believing Namaari will shoot. Namaari does, but only out of surprise, with the crossbow hitting Sisu, killing her; Sisu falls into the water. Namaari runs back to Fang. With the last dragon gone, all the water of Kumandra, which had been protecting some from the force of the Druun, drains away, so the Druun can now attack fully again. Raya, overcome with anger and rage at Namaari for killing Sisu, goes to Namaari to challenge her to a final duel. The duel goes on as the Druun start attacking Fang’s land, with Tong, baby Noi, Boun, and the ongis helping Fang’s people escape. Namaari tells Raya that she is also to blame for Sisu’s death, for not trusting her. Raya relents, and goes to help the others with the evacuation of Fang, with Namaari following suit.

However, the Druun start to gain ground on the group, with them falling into a crack in the ground. They are surrounded. Raya then remembers what Sisu told her; that on the day the gem was forged by the last dragons, they created the gem with their powers before entrusting it to Sisu to stop the Druun. It was trust, not magic, that stopped the Druun. Raya hands over her piece of gem to Namaari and is soon turned to stone. Boun, then Noi, then Tong follow with Namaari left holding the five gem pieces, using them to fight back the Druun. She sees an opening above her and goes to escape, but sees the others as stone, and decides she must reassemble the gem. She quickly does, and joins the others to be petrified as well. When all looks lost, the gem’s magic awakens sending a powerful wave of energy throughout Kumandra, destroying the Druun once and for all.

A rainstorm begins, reviving all the people of Kumandra. We then see that, unlike five hundred years ago, the dragons are revived as well and return. They come together to revive Sisu, with the group reuniting with her, happy to be back together again. Boun, Noi and Tong return to their prospective areas of Tail, Talon, and Spine to be reunited with their family members, with Sisu and Raya returning to Heart to see her father again. Sisu tells Chief Benja how his daughter has unified Kumandra, with everyone from the other areas convening at Heart as evidence of this. Kumandra is finally united again.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Raya is at the heart of this story. Raya is still only a teenager, but has to go out on this extraordinary journey to not only save her father, but also her land. She is an incredibly brave, strong character, as we see in the opening sequence, where she is training to be “The Guardian of the Dragon Gem” – she has to navigate all these traps and then fight her father to prove she can do it, and she does, even though I think she’s only twelve-years-old at that point! Raya clearly has trust issues, because of the fact she was betrayed by someone who she thought was a friend, and because her father’s attempts at building trust with the other lands failed and led to the Druun returning to Kumandra. She is much happier going off alone, with just her pet Tuk Tuk as her only companion. However, as more and more people start joining her and Sisu on their journey, Raya learns that she has to start trusting others, because she can achieve so much more by doing that. Raya does learn to trust Boun, Noi and Tong, but when it comes to Namaari, that’s a different story. When Sisu is killed, because of Raya’s distrust and Namaari’s fear, it sends Raya into a rage; it looks like Raya has completely lost any hope of trusting Namaari, but, when push comes to shove, Raya knows trusting is the only way to save Kumandra, and by taking the first step, the rest of her group know that they can trust Namaari too, because they themselves trust Raya. This is where Raya’s journey comes full circle. Within Southeast Asian culture, there is a strong history of female leaders and warriors, with Raya embodying that spirit, including through her clothing which allows her to stay agile, and her hair which is braided to keep her sightline clear. Her name means “great” or “celebration” in some of the languages of Southeast Asia[1].

Raya is voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, who is best known for playing the role of Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). As I haven’t watched the new Star Wars films, I can only assume she’s good in them! Tran does a brilliant job with the character of Raya, as she brings strength, vulnerability, and humour to the character, to make Raya well-rounded and relatable. Tran actually ad-libbed the prayer that Raya speaks when she is trying to summon Sisu. It was incredibly touching and proved to the Disney team that Tran was perfect for the role[2]. Tuk Tuk is “voiced” by Alan Tudyk, but, much like his performance as Hei Hei in Moana (2016), it is a non-speaking role, but, hey, it’s Alan Tudyk – you’ve got to find a part for him in every Disney movie, right?

Looking at Raya’s nemesis, Namaari, she is a victim of her own upbringing, I think. Though Namaari’s mother, Virana, does have a lot of belief in Namaari and clearly brought up her to be confident and self-sufficient, Virana is not particularly maternal. She is quite strict and sure of her own mind, making her a good leader and Chief for Fang, but not a brilliant mother-figure! She has taught Namaari to put the tribe above everything else, even if that means betraying those who are kind to you. This is where Namaari’s problems stem, in that she feels torn between what is good for Fang, and what she actually believes is right. You can see that when Namaari first looks at Sisu, that she goes back to being that little girl who just liked dragons, and that she isn’t an emotionless warrior. Sisu is correct that Namaari would rather have peace in Kumandra than have the endless fighting; she’s just scared. Namaari does assemble the dragon gem again and ultimately saves Kumandra; she just needed Raya to take the first step to show that it is ok to trust, and that it was what they had to do to save everyone else.

Namaari is voiced by English actor, Gemma Chan, who has been known in the UK for some time from her roles in television such as Fresh Meat (2011) and Humans (2014-15), but has gained more recognition for her roles in movies such as Astrid Leong-Teo in Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel (2019). Virana is voiced by Sandra Oh, who is most well-known for starring as Eve Polastri in Killing Eve (2018-22), as well as Cristina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy (2005-14). For Disney, she played the role of the Vice Principal in The Princess Diaries (2001), as well as voiced the part of Ting Ting, the eldest of the emperor’s daughters, in Mulan II (2004).

To get the relationship right between the characters of Raya and Namaari, the team at Disney wanted to look at examples within mainstream films of two female characters being the central relationship of the movie, but they found there weren’t many references that they could use during their early concept work! Frozen (2013) partly does this, though the sisters of Anna and Elsa are separated from each other for most of the movie. They did find that Marvel films contain many strong female action hero types but that, generally, only one appears on screen at any one time, and they also don’t tend to be warm, flawed or funny. Raya and Namaari had to be more than just warrior princesses, so the team looked at their own relationships and looked at the differing backgrounds of the two girls, to see how they were raised to be enemies[3].

Sisu is the other main female character of the film. She is the last dragon of Kumandra, famed for being the saviour of Kumandra from the Druun and lauded as a great legend in the area. Based on the stories, Sisu would seem to be a wise, strait-laced dragon, so imagine Raya’s surprise, when Sisu turns out to be funny, self-deprecating, and kind of accident-prone, barrelling into situations without thinking anything through, and being led by blind faith. Having said that, Sisu is just unsure how to be a dragon within the human world, with Raya trying to make her act like a human for the first half of the movie. Sisu is much happier just being a dragon! Sisu doesn’t think much of herself, saying that her only power is swimming well and that it is her siblings who had all the great power, not her, yet they trusted her to be the one to use the gem to defeat the Druun so she clearly just doesn’t have much confidence! When Sisu dies, a great dragon is lost, and the land of Kumandra knows it, as it drains away all the water. She is revived by her siblings as Sisu is needed in the world, proving that she is a great dragon. Raya learns a lot from Sisu, including how to trust others again, giving her the information she needed to reunite Kumandra.

Sisu is voiced by comedic actor and rapper, Awkwafina, best known for her roles in movies such as Ocean’s 8 (2018), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). Awkwafina also starred as Katy in the Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and voiced the role of Scuttle in the Disney live-action remake of The Little Mermaid (2023). Awkwafina won the award for “Best Voice Performance” for Sisu at the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards in 2021.

For Raya’s “crew”, Boun is the first to join. He is just ten-years-old when his family is petrified by the Druun, leaving him all alone. He knows he has to stand on his own two feet now, which is why he sets about starting a restaurant on his boat called “The Shrimporium”. In a deleted scene, Boun was going to originally run a “Mister Fix-It”-type shop, with him fixing Tuk Tuk’s broken shell[4]. He is a good chef, with the rest of the group very much enjoying his food, and he is more than capable in drumming up business with his cheeky persona. You can see that there is still vulnerability there, though, as he misses his family and wants to be reunited with them again, but isn’t sure when or if it will happen, but Boun knows he can’t spend time dwelling on that and has to get on, whether that’s running his business or helping Raya. Boun is voiced by Izaac Wang, whose first film role was in Good Boys (2019), a comedy produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, so you can imagine what kind of film that is! It’s on my list to watch soon.

Tong, the Spine warrior, is very isolated in Spine, being the last survivor to have escaped the Druun. He looks ruthless, but he is a gentle giant really. It’s clear he has no intention of harming Raya and Sisu when they are caught in one of his traps and would rather just talk to them! He also bonds with Little Noi, probably because, as we learn at the end of the movie, he seems to have a child about the same age as Noi, who was petrified along with the rest of his family. Little Noi is very cute and funny, but we can’t forget that she is first and foremost a con baby! She comes in handy for Raya along with her ongis friends, who are also very cute. They make a strange little con group, but it works for them, and much like Boun, they had to become self-sufficient after the Druun claimed their family, so you can’t blame them. Tong is voiced by actor Benedict Wong, who now plays the role of Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who first appeared in Doctor Strange (2016). Noi is voiced by Thalia Tran, who is due to play Mai in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender for Netflix.

Another actor with a part in Raya and the Last Dragon as well as Avatar: The Last Airbender is Daniel Dae Kim, who voices Chief Benja. Chief Benja is the Chief of Heart and Raya’s father. He wants peace and raises Raya to believe that Kumandra can be united once more. Benja is supportive of his daughter, setting her on the right path of ultimately stopping the fighting and tension between the other four lands. Chief Benja unfortunately is petrified for most of the movie, but it is clear the strong bond him and Raya have. Daniel Dae Kim starred as Jin-Soo Kwon in the TV series Lost (2004-10), as well as Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-O (2010-17). I know him for playing Jack Kang, leader of Candor, in Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016), the second and third movies of The Divergent Series. I’m still bitter that the final movie was never released, and the series was unfinished.

PRODUCTION

Kumandra consists of five different areas: Heart, Tail, Talon, Spine, and Fang. As Chief Benja states, they are all named after body parts, based on where each land is located along the dragon-shaped river. Chief Benja uses this as evidence to prove that the lands should be reunited once more. Each area has a different landscape. Heart is a lush, green landscape, with a jungle setting; Tail is mostly desert; Talon is based on floating markets of areas like the Philippines; Spine is situated in a cold bamboo forest; and Fang is based within a temple on a series of canals.

Kumandra is a unique, amazing world with the movie only exploring a fraction of the area. The idea of Kumandra is rooted in Asian legends, much like stories such as Game of Thrones are based in Arthurian legend. The team joked that there are perhaps more scenes of characters eating than fighting as this is a big part of South Asian culture which they wanted to include in the movie[5].

To get the feel of Southeast Asia correct, and to be respectful to the eleven countries that make up this region, Disney collaborated with many experts, who had on-going conversations with each other throughout production on the movie, with the organisation being named the “Southeast Asia Story Trust”. It consisted of linguists, choreographers, musicians, architects, martial artists, and cultural experts. This was to ensure that aspects of Southeast Asian culture were represented accurately within the movie. The team at Disney also went on a research trip to Southeast Asia, before the pandemic hit, to see things in person, where they learnt about history, architecture, art, story and traditions, whilst meeting people in person and getting their perspectives and views, and insight into the culture. Sisu, for example, was inspired by Nagas, which are water creatures that honour the elements[6].

The use of martial arts is quite frequent in Raya and the Last Dragon, with different types of martial arts being represented. For example, Benja and Raya’s fighting is based on Pencak silat, an Indonesian martial art, along with the use of Arnis weaponry from the Philippines. Their fighting skills are more balletic with low stances, whereas Namaari’s fighting is based in Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing, with strong and powerful punches and kicks. She also has two Krabi-Krabong swords, which are used in Thailand as well. Chief Benja has a spiritual blade, with its ability to expand being added as a fantasy element. This sword is passed from generation to generation, being similar to Excalibur in Arthurian legend[7]. Raya then receives this sword from her father, however, in early concepts for the movie, Raya was going to have made a sword herself, made specifically to defeat the Druun, which were going to be physical skeletal-like beings, not the dark energy that they became. Her sword would’ve been legendary across Kumandra, dubbed “the dragon blade”[8].

In terms of software used to animate Raya and the Last Dragon, the team had a bit of help from some previously in-house designed software such as the renderer Hyperion, developed for large-scale scenes in Big Hero 6 (2014), as well as the fur simulation tools used in Zootopia (2016), and the water tools in Moana (2016). These helped showcase the world of Kumandra, and develop the diverse landscapes and characters[9].

The initial idea for the movie came from discussions that some of the team had around what the world their children are growing up in looks like now, as divisions between political and social ideas have become more prominent, with “black and white thinking” taking place over a more inclusive discourse. They wanted to have the concept of a world that was shattered and fractured and have it be brought back together. Disney were excited to look at a completely new location for their movie, Southeast Asia, which had not been the focus of a Disney movie before. Some of the team grew up in America with Asian heritage, and did not see any representation of themselves on screen; they didn’t want this to be the case for their kids.

The majority of production on Raya and the Last Dragon, almost 100% of it, took place during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Disney had spent time developing the original story in-house beforehand; they had written the script and gone over the storyboarding, but then all of a sudden, everyone working at the Disney Studios offices were told to go home. No-one was sure how this would work, as the collaborative atmosphere of film-making is much more suited to an office atmosphere than the working-from-home setup. The employees received an email one day saying that they needed to take everything they required to work remotely as it would be their last day in the office for a while. Nobody thought it would be longer than about three weeks; they were wrong. The lockdown in California, where the Disney Studios are based, officially lasted from March 2020 until June 2021, with California being one of the last US states to “open up” again.

The first challenge for the Disney workers was for their systems to deal with having more people logged on at the same time, so the bandwidth had to be increased in some cases. The team had to make new workstations for themselves, ensuring they could access all the systems they needed, and trying to get their Wi-Fi to work properly! Video conferencing was another difficulty due to potential freezes and audio-synchronisation issues; it is vital that every frame is viewed within a movie as one second of footage that is not exact can ruin the whole thing. Within a week though, the team were up and running.

Collaboration is key in Disney Animation so working remotely was a concern for creativity and morale. Sometimes new and exciting ideas would happen randomly, in passing in the office, not at set meetings, which became the norm during the pandemic. Now, people were in meetings with around 90-100 people, sitting in front of their computers all day, on Zoom for hours on end, and not seeing anyone from work face-to-face. They soon realised that this was going to be exhausting and make the work harder and less enjoyable, so things like “virtual happy hours” were implemented to keep that sense of community. They also recreated their usual in-office celebrations for milestones and team efforts online instead, as well as having other fun activities. As anyone who has worked remotely will know, you can encounter terrible Internet connection; weird noises from outside spoiling your Zoom calls; as well as random appearances of family members or pets! Luckily, the team were not bothered by this and enjoyed the strange distractions, recounting them as memories of the production process.

The creative team were not the only ones to have to work remotely; the voice actors had to do the same thing, by setting up their own at-home recording studio to record their lines. Disney sent them some equipment along with tips on sound-proofing their rooms. Some of them ended up in closets, and Awkwafina received a sound tent which took up the majority of her living room. Her cat would wander in occasionally during recording sessions!

The pandemic brought the Disney team together, as they rallied quickly and figured out a way to make this movie at home with the same motivation and creativity that they would normally have felt in the office. They wanted to make a great movie, but also help everyone else through this difficult time. The team couldn’t help noticing the similar themes between the pandemic and the messages of Raya and the Last Dragon. The movie is all about trusting others and working together for the greater good, with the Druun being the dark virus that sweeps the land quickly and unapologetically. This was quite reminiscent of the spirit of the scary times of lockdowns where no-one was really sure what was going to happen next, but had to build themselves and others up to deal with it. Though the team working on Raya and the Last Dragon overcame the obstacles of working remotely for an extended period of time to make the movie, they all admitted that they missed working in the office and were desperate to get back there to connect with everyone again[10].

MUSIC

The score for Raya and the Last Dragon was composed by James Newton Howard, who had not composed a score for an animated film since 2002 with Disney’s Treasure Planet; he also scored Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Dinosaur (2000) for Disney Animation. The longest piece of music within Raya and the Last Dragon is the five-minute opening prologue, which incorporates South Asian instruments as well as chanting, setting the adventurous tone of the movie. The whole score is generally inspired by the region of South Asia, without being specifically based in any one country. My favourite pieces are “Prologue”; “Running on Raindrops”, where Sisu is running on the rain; “The Druun Close In”, which is the scene of Raya and the others surrendering their gem pieces to Namaari to defeat the Druun – it’s a powerful scene, and my favourite, but the instrumental is understated and doesn’t take away from the action; and “Return”, which is the sequence where the group return to their respective lands to reunite with family. I like the score for Raya and the Last Dragon, much like I do the other three scores that James Newton Howard composed for Disney. James Newton Howard’s score was nominated for six awards, winning four, including “Theatrical Film” at the 2021 BMI Film & TV Awards, along with “Film Composer of the Year” and “Best Original Score for an Animated Film” at the 2022 International Film Music Critics Association Awards.

The only song in the movie is called “Lead the Way”, written and performed by singer Jhené Aiko. It is played within the End Credits. I like this song as it is a calm pop song, not loud and in-your-face, to match the overall tone of the movie, so that the message and powerful ending can stick with you after the movie is over; it doesn’t distract.

RECEPTION

As previously mentioned, Raya and the Last Dragon was released in some theatres in March 2021 along with the short Us Again, which features an elderly couple learning to dance and love life again after a rainstorm turns them back to their younger selves. Us Again was the first Disney short to be produced since Inner Workings in 2016, and was directed by Zach Parrish who had previously worked on Big Hero 6 (2014).

Many critical reviews of Raya and the Last Dragon were positive, praising the thought-provoking story and brilliantly detailed animation. They were also impressed with the strong characters and the voice work, but did admit that it would likely receive less attention as it was not released in theatres everywhere[11]. Others liked the movie, but could not help mentioning that the voice cast consists of more East Asians than Southeast Asians, which was disappointing to some as it was seen to have ignored the whole region that influenced Raya and the Last Dragon. It was also criticised for using an approach that blended the different cultures of Southeast Asia instead of focusing on specific ones. I understand why this would be disappointing, and where I cannot comment on the voice cast, apart from to say that Disney like to use well-known names for many of their movies to increase their marketing potential, I can say that the likely reason that Disney decided to use influences from many Southeast Asian countries, instead of basing it on one specific area, was to avoid criticisms around why they would have chosen that country and not others, as well as wanting to be more inclusive in their choices whilst not being constrained to a specific area. They probably thought it would be a better approach, which appears to have backfired, but as Disney push for diversity, they open themselves up to criticism and scrutiny. A similar critique came about from the release of Moana (2016)[12]. As so many people of Southeast Asian origin were involved in the making of Raya and the Last Dragon, it is clear that no offence was meant and every effort would have been taken to avoid this reaction.

Yet, Raya will always be Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess, being officially inducted into the Disney Princess clan in August 2022 and named as the 13^th Disney Princess. Kelly Marie Tran became the first Southeast Asian actor to lead an animated Disney feature. The movie was co-written by Vietnamese-American screenwriter Qui Nguyen and Malaysian screenwriter Adele Lim, who co-wrote Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and Thai-American Fawn Veerasunthorn was Head of Story on the movie. Adele Lim did state that Raya and the Last Dragon cannot fix everything around representation on screen, but can make a step forward and it can begin to make amends for the historic damage[13].

Unfortunately, though Raya and the Last Dragon was nominated in the “Best Animated Film” category at many award ceremonies including the Academy Awards, Annie Awards, and Golden Globes in 2022, it did not win, losing out to Disney’s other movie of that year, Encanto (2021), for the most part. What can I say, Encanto was just one of those smash hits, almost rivalling the whole Frozen phenomenon! Raya and the Last Dragon did, however, win awards for the soundtrack, as mentioned, as well as for “Sound Editing” at the Golden Reel Awards and “Outstanding Effects Simulations” at the Visual Effects Society Awards.

LEGACY

When Raya and the Last Dragon was first released, Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida did promote the movie in the park in March 2021. A sand sculpture of the movie’s title and some of the characters was built outside of the Flame Tree BBQ restaurant and some limited time snacks were available, like a chocolate mousse that resembled Tuk Tuk, and a blue ice cream cone in honour of Sisu. Baby Tuk Tuk, who is so adorable, was also featured as part of the Animation Experience at Rafiki’s Planet Watch, where you can learn to draw certain Disney characters[14]. It would seem Baby Tuk Tuk is not still included in the rotation.

In November 2022, Raya did make her debut at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom atop the float in the Disney Adventure Friends Cavalcade[15]. Raya still remains in this cavalcade walking down the parade route. Raya began meeting guests at Shanghai from September 2021, and at Disney’s California Adventure in January 2022 as part of their Lunar New Year celebrations. Raya has returned to Disneyland for the Lunar New Year celebrations, and has done the same for Chinese New Year in both Shanghai and Hong Kong in recent years. At Walt Disney World Resort, specifically in Magic Kingdom at Adventureland, Raya did meet guests over Summer 2025 as part of their “Cool Kid Summer” event. It would seem that merchandise relating to Raya and the Last Dragon is going to be found less easily throughout the parks. Raya also appeared at Disneyland Paris for World Princess Week in August 2025, as she is an official Disney Princess.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is particularly unlucky that Raya and the Last Dragon was released during the pandemic, with countries releasing the movie on different platforms, which would not have helped its box-office positioning and current reputation. By the time Encanto was released towards the end of 2021, the world was starting to come out of lockdowns, but with Raya and the Last Dragon, some countries, including the UK, were still in lockdown, with cinemas not open, so we had no choice but to watch it on Disney+, or let it be forgotten.

Raya and the Last Dragon has strong characters, a powerful message, and an adventure at the heart of it. I’m hoping in a small way to draw some more attention to Raya and the Last Dragon with this piece, and that I can encourage more people to watch it, because it is a great movie worthy of praise.

And if you don’t believe me, well, as Raya learnt to trust others, you’re just going to have to trust me.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Nicole Clark, ‘Raya and the Last Dragon: Creating Disney’s First Southeast Asian-Centered Movie’, IGN.com, 4^th February 2021.

[2] Credit: Disney, “Taste of Raya”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[3] Credit: Petrana Radulovic, ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’s creators struggled to find past films about female friendship’, Polygon.com, 17^th May 2021.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes – Meet Boun”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[5] Credit: Disney, “Taste of Raya”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Creating Kumandra”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[7] Credit: Disney, “Martial Artists”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[8] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[9] Credit: Disney, ‘Making History While Making ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’, The Walt Disney Company (online), 5^th March 2021.

[10] Credit: Disney, “Raya: Bringing It Home”, from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

[11] Credit: Brian Tallerico, ‘Review: Raya and the Last Dragon’, RogerEbert.com, 5^th March 2021.

[12] Credit: Aja Romano, ‘Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon is a sumptuous fantasy – but it makes a mess of Southeast Asian culture’, Vox.com, 5^th March 2021.

[13] Credit: Kat Moon, ‘Raya and the Last Dragon Introduces Disney’s First Southeast Asian Princess. Advocates Say Hollywood Representation Shouldn’t Stop There’, Time (online), 5^th March 2021.

[14] Credit: Seth Kubersky, ‘New Animal Kingdom Experiences Celebrate Raya and the Last Dragon’, The Unofficial Guide (online), 22^nd March 2021.

[15] Credit: Justin Giglio, ‘Raya from ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Makes Walt Disney World Debut in the Disney Adventure Friends Cavalcade’, WDWNT.com, 14^th November 2022.

5th May 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#57 Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

BACKGROUND

Disney had only made two other theatrically-released animated sequels before Ralph Breaks the Internet in 2018: Fantasia 2000 (1999) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990).

Sequels aren’t something Disney tend to consider, at least not ones that aren’t released direct-to-video as many were in the 1990s and early 2000s. Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, the directors of Ralph Breaks the Internet weren’t even going to make a sequel, after Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Not unless they could find a good enough reason, and a good enough story, to do it.

After some consideration, Moore and Johnston decided that Ralph and Vanellope’s friendship was not finished being explored, especially as Ralph’s final words in Wreck-It Ralph (2012) show that he only doesn’t consider himself to be a bad guy because Vanellope calls him a friend[1]. This paved the way for an opportunity to bring conflict into this relationship, and for each of the two to learn just how friendships can, and do, change.

I watched Ralph Breaks the Internet at the cinema, and was much more interested in watching it than when I first saw Wreck-It Ralph, probably because I already knew the characters and it is based in the Internet, something that the majority of people know plenty about. I thought the whole movie was clever, much like the first movie, because it looked behind-the-scenes of the online world, and came up with concepts for how the people inside the Internet, like Vanellope and Ralph, would see a typical real-world user, and what the users would be seeing.

Though I like the overall concept and feel that this movie delves deeper into emotions and relationships, I do not like it as much as the original Wreck-It Ralph movie. It’s possibly because I have a love-hate relationship with the online world. It doesn’t boil down to much, other than I don’t care for social media, and I don’t want to stare at my phone all day.

PLOT

Ralph Breaks the Internet picks up six years after the events of the first movie. Vanellope and Ralph are still best friends, but Vanellope has become bored with her life and Sugar Rush. One day, a new “game” called “WIFI”, gets plugged in. Surge, the Security Guard, warns all the arcade characters not to enter with Sonic the Hedgehog explaining the basics of Wi-Fi to the others. Vanellope wants to go in, but Ralph doesn’t, and as he knows Vanellope is feeling bored, he decides to build her a new section of track in Sugar Rush. Whilst Vanellope is about to finish a race for an arcade-goer, she spots this new track and goes over to do it, much to the confusion of the real-world player, who tries to move the game’s steering wheel, but it comes off in the process and Vanellope crashes. The arcade-goers tell Litwak about the wheel, but as Litwak tries to force it back onto the console, it breaks in half. The kids find a new steering wheel on eBay – but it’s $200; Litwak can’t afford that. He unplugs the game, but luckily the characters have been watching from the screen, so manage to evacuate to Game Central Station, but they are now all game less.

Many of the Sugar Rush characters find new homes, including all fifteen racers who are adopted by Calhoun and Felix in a surprising move! Ralph is excited to get to spend more time with Vanellope, but Vanellope becomes depressed at not having a purpose without her game. Ralph expects to meet her at Tapper’s later, but she doesn’t come. Felix does though, stressed at having suddenly become a father of fifteen in the last few minutes! He makes a strange noise like “eee-oh boy”, which reminds Ralph of “eboy”, that site the kids were talking about that has the spare part for Sugar Rush. He thinks that if they can get the wheel, then Sugar Rush will be fixed and Vanellope won’t be sad anymore. They both head in to “WIFI”, like they would any other arcade game, but find a boring grey space and nothing else. When Litwak logs on to his Wi-Fi, suddenly the space illuminates in green and a mini Mr. Litwak, his avatar, appears and he goes into a tunnel. Vanellope excitedly follows, and Ralph reluctantly chases after her. They see a huge metropolis, full of skyscrapers, futuristic vehicles, and shiny surfaces.

Not knowing where to go in this Internet world, they meet KnowsMore first, the search engine, who finds their Sugar Rush steering wheel, sending them off to eBay. There, they find many users bidding on items. Vanellope and Ralph figure that all they need to do is come up with a number higher than the other person competing for the part. Instead of jumping up by normal auction amounts like in jumps of $10-$25, the duo just shouts random numbers, so the price rockets from $250 to $1000 to $27,001 – the amount Vanellope and Ralph win it for. But as they head to the cashier, they don’t realise that they need to pay with actual money, which they obviously don’t have. The cashier says they have 24 hours to settle the amount, or they will lose the steering wheel. Vanellope and Ralph encounter a pop-up, called J. P. Spamley, who sends them to his office to learn how to make money from video games. He gives them an assignment to get Shank’s car from the game Slaughter Race. If they can get it, they’ll be paid $40,000 – plenty to cover the cost of the Sugar Rush part. The two head in to Slaughter Race, to find a dirty, rundown city setting. They eventually find Shank’s car in a warehouse. Ralph wants to turn back and forget this whole assignment, after seeing Shank and her crew, but Vanellope comes up with a plan: she will steal the car and Ralph will distract them, pretending to be from the Department of Noise. It works, and Vanellope drives the car off, picking up Ralph on the way out of the game. They come close but Vanellope gets distracted and has to stop to avoid crashing into a bus; the crew surround her and the two are stopped. But though Shank won’t give them her car just to get this part, she is impressed with Vanellope as a racer and comes up with a new idea. She takes a video of Ralph having a leaf-blower shoved in his face and puts it on BuzzzTube, before sending them to meet Yesss, the Head Algorithm who will help them make some money.

With only eight hours to pay eBay for the wheel, Ralph and Vanellope quickly head over to BuzzzTube, where Yesss tells them both that if they can put up enough videos and get enough hearts, those will be converted into real-life money. Ralph starts making videos of just about every trend that we all see on YouTube: make-up tutorials, unboxings, the chilli challenge, screaming goats, that sort of thing. Yesss sends out a whole pop-up army to help the two get enough hearts, with Vanellope wanting to help. Though Ralph doesn’t want to be apart from her, she goes to Oh My Disney to be a pop-up. She does well, but is soon chased away by Storm Troopers for being “unauthorised clickbait”. She takes refuge in a room, and finds she is surrounded by all the Disney Princesses, who don’t like this intruder, until Vanellope assures them she is a princess too, though she doesn’t quite fit into their criteria as she hasn’t been poisoned, imprisoned, enslaved or cursed. The Princesses, after making lounge wear like Vanellope is wearing so they can get out of those restrictive, tight dresses, tell Vanellope that if she wants to figure out her dream, she needs to find “important water” and she’ll start singing, as Vanellope has realised she doesn’t just want this steering wheel.

With thirty minutes left to pay, Ralph can’t get his final video to upload, so goes out on to the BuzzzTube floor to get some more hearts from the users stood there. He succeeds, but also looks at the Comments Section, which has a mixture of positive and negative comments about him. Ralph is visibly upset, but carries on, and though he now has enough hearts, he knows the only important heart is the hero’s medal Vanellope gave him in the first movie. Yesss tells him never to read the comments but also that they now have over $30,000 so Ralph gets over to eBay to pay for the item, calling Vanellope to meet him. Vanellope is sad about going home, and while staring into a puddle, she starts to sing about her love for Slaughter Race, and how she wants to stay there as it feels like home. Vanellope explains how she feels to Shank, but accidentally dials Ralph, who overhears that Vanellope plans to stay in Slaughter Race.

Ralph is upset and sees Spamley again. He asks him if there is anything he can do to cause Slaughter Race to slow down, so Vanellope won’t find it fun anymore. Spamley takes Ralph to Double Dan, within the “dark web”. He gives Ralph a virus, which will find any insecurities in Slaughter Race and multiply them; Dan also tells Ralph that the virus must stay within that game. Ralph sets the virus lose, with the virus multiplying Vanellope’s “glitch” across the game. Shank tells her to get out as the game is about to reboot and as she is not part of the game, she will be deleted. Ralph helps get her out, and Vanellope is upset to have damaged her game, thinking it’s all her fault. Ralph tells her that he is to blame for putting the virus in. Vanellope is furious, feeling betrayed by Ralph, saying she never wants to see him again. She throws his medal down to the bottom of the web. At the same time, the virus has escaped the Slaughter Race game and witnessed this spectacle. The virus multiplies Ralph’s emotional insecurities, making a whole army of needy Ralphs who chase after Vanellope as Ralph is retrieving his medal; the medal has broken in half.

Vanellope sees one of the needy Ralphs and tells him to go away, as she thinks it’s real Ralph. Soon, many Ralphs chase after her, with real Ralph coming to save her. Yesss also comes to the rescue, telling them they need to lead the clones to the Anti-Virus gates to be deleted. This seems to go well, until the Ralphs hit Yesss’s cruiser and it crashes. The Ralphs then create a big Godzilla-King Kong-like monster. Real Ralph tries to stop it by punching it, but it doesn’t work and he is caught. As Real Ralph is about to be crushed to death, Vanellope surrenders herself to the monster, so that it will release Ralph, promising to stay with it for ever. Ralph is horrified, and tells the Ralph monster that it can’t treat its friends like this and that it needs to let Vanellope go for her to be happy; something Ralph is also learning for himself. The Ralph clones are healed and are deleted. As Ralph was still in its hand though, he falls down, looking like he will hit the bottom and die. Until the Disney Princesses swoop in to save “a big, strong man in need of rescuing”! Ralph is safe, and urges Vanellope to start her new life in Slaughter Race, where Shank has now added her to the game’s code. The two have a tearful goodbye, but they both know it’s for the best.

The movie ends with Ralph now having a healthier life with more purpose, like joining a book club, and having a Friday night meet-up at a different arcade game every week. Sugar Rush has also been saved, with those characters having homes again, although it turns out Felix and Calhoun have been very good parents and managed to sort out the Sugar Rush racers’ ego problems, so they are much nicer! Ralph and Vanellope still call each other often, with Vanellope coming to visit Ralph soon during a scheduled upgrade at her game. The two are both moving forward in their lives, but have remained good friends.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Ralph ends Wreck-It Ralph by saying that he is happy being who he is because Vanellope is his friend so he can’t be such a bad guy. That sounds like a nice idea; however, the directors went back to that ending and found that actually Ralph shouldn’t be basing his self-worth on how his friend sees him. This has led to an unhealthy friendship where Ralph has become quite clingy, needing constant reassurance from Vanellope that he is good enough and that they are still friends. Ralph becomes jealous of Vanellope’s friendship with Shank and annoyed that she would even think about leaving him. The team at Disney didn’t want to put a surprise villain into this movie, so they made Ralph the actual villain this time, as well as being the protagonist. The army of clones weren’t a big enough metaphor of danger, so looking at fire ants, they came up with the idea of the clones bunching up together to form a bigger entity, which is how ‘Ralphzilla’ was made. It was Ralph’s insecure emotions being personified as a monster. This idea came in quite late into production so it was a big hurdle for the animators to overcome to get the monster looking just right, but they managed to do it successfully, and made a monster that was both scary for his huge presence, and pathetic for his emotional response! It is great that Ralph finally sees the error of his ways, and tells ‘Ralphzilla’ that he has to stop threatening Vanellope and making her choose between him and what she wants in life; he has to let her go and know that their friendship will survive. It’s a touching moment.

Vanellope starts off the movie wanting to find some adventure in her life as she has become bored with her life in Sugar Rush, having found every bonus level and won every race; she wants something new. Vanellope is excited by this inclusion of “WIFI” to the arcade. Once her game is unplugged, despite being bored, she doesn’t know what she’ll be if she’s not a racer. Once Vanellope enters the Internet and sees all these new possibilities, she realises that she isn’t happy in the arcade, but knows she’d be happy racing in a game like Slaughter Race. Vanellope is scared to hurt Ralph so doesn’t tell him about it, kind of resigning herself to going back to her game initially and then trying to keep her love of Slaughter Race a secret until she can figure out how to tell him. It doesn’t go well, and Ralph feels hurt by her. Once Vanellope sees Slaughter Race glitching from the virus, she feels like she broke the game, but when Ralph tells her he did it out of fear of losing her, she is furious. Despite this, as Ralph is about to be squeezed to death by his own clones, Vanellope sacrifices herself and her happiness to save him, which tells Ralph all he needs to that he has to let her go and by happy, even if that’s not with him. The goodbye the two share is very touching and incredibly relatable as life is full of multiple “hellos” and “goodbyes”. Vanellope and Ralph try extra hard to keep their friendship going, even though it is more difficult long-distance, but they settle into a routine, making sure they find time for each other, to either chat or visit. It’s shows how much the characters grow within this movie. Sarah Silverman and John C. Reilly both return to reprise their voice roles.

Shank is the fearless female lead racer of Slaughter Race. She is cool, strong, and tough. Shank was originally going to be a background gangster, but then it was decided that she should be a role model to Vanellope and therefore becomes a threat to Vanellope and Ralph’s friendship. Shank is a solid and wise character, with a soft side and warmth to her. She tells Vanellope, quite rightly, that she is welcome to race in Slaughter Race with her and her gang, and that there is no reason why her and Ralph can’t still be friends if she chooses to join them. Shank also has her crew of four other members, who aren’t just a thug-like gang, but actually have discussions about whether or not they should be letting players win, and appreciating how much hard-work some of them put into that game. Despite Slaughter Race looking like a horrible place full of crime, the characters with in it are actually surprisingly nice! Shank is voiced by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who shot to international fame with her role as Gisele Yashar in the Fast and Furious franchise. She currently portrays Wonder Woman within the DC Universe film franchise.

There is a distinction within Ralph Breaks the Internet of the two main types of characters: Netizens, which include Ralph and Vanellope, and Net Users. Net Users are basically the avatars of the real-world Internet users. They stand in for humans, but are not treated as such, which is good because Ralph throws stuff on top of some of the net users, or throws them off their routes. Luckily, they don’t die; it’s just how people get disconnected from the Internet! The Netizens are the workers who help the Net Users, such as the cashiers, or the pop-up people. As the Net Users aren’t part of the story and cannot interact with the Netizens as they would with humans, Ralph and Vanellope can only interact with Netizens, of which there are plenty.

For example, we have J.P. Spamley. He is a Netizen working in “clickbait”. He is the one to direct Vanellope and Ralph to the site where they can earn money by finding video game items for real-world users. He is also the one to lead Ralph into the “dark net” to speak to Double Dan about putting a virus into Slaughter Race. Spamley doesn’t appear too much in Ralph Breaks the Internet, but he seems to me like a Netizen who isn’t sure he’s chosen the right path in life! He is ignored regularly, and is scared of the “dark net”, despite working in that area most of the time! Spamley and his assistant, Gord, do try to save Ralph at the end of the movie, which shows he is a nice guy really, even though Ralph falls straight through Spamley’s car due to his weight! Spamley is voiced by American comedic actor Bill Hader, best known for voicing Fear in Inside Out (2015), starring in Saturday Night Live (2005-13), as well as writing and performing as the title character in hit TV series Barry (2018-present).

KnowsMore is another Netizen who doesn’t feature too much in the movie, though he makes an impact. KnowsMore was originally going to be a broken search engine, getting every fourth answer wrong, but in the end, he is a search engine with an aggressive autofill! He warms to Vanellope who is polite to him, but is annoyed at Ralph for his brusque attitude, not understanding how to properly complete a search. Disney designed KnowsMore to look quite cartoony and not overally complex, though his eyes are actually hand-drawn, therefore being a combination of 2D and 3D animation. Alan Tudyk, the voice of King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, was asked to return to voice a character in Ralph Breaks the Internet, and they felt he’d be perfect for KnowsMore. He needed very little direction and came up with the voice himself.

Yesss is the Head Algorithm of BuzzzTube. She is glamourous, fabulous and big deal on the Internet! She is incredibly helpful to Ralph and Vanellope, by helping them get hearts, even sending out a whole pop-up army to help them. She puts a lot of effort into these two, wanting Ralph to boost his online profile but be able to complete their mission of getting the steering wheel for Sugar Rush so they can go home. Yesss is also instrumental in helping them try to delete the Ralph clones at the Anti-Virus software hub, though this doesn’t end up going to plan. Yesss had many iterations before the version we see today, with them wanting a bold, larger-than-life Kanye West-type of character, before settling on more of an agent vibe. Yesss is voiced by Taraji P. Henson who had a lead role in Empire (2015-20) as Cookie Lyon, as well as starring as Katherine Johnson in the biopic Hidden Figures (2016).

As I’ve mentioned, eBay was created to look like an auction house, with each item having its own auctioneer. Real auctioneers were used to voice these characters, such as Brian Curless, who had won the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in 2017[2].

Unfortunately, two characters from the original movie who do not get enough time on screen in this movie are Felix and Calhoun. They have been married for six years at this point and then decide to adopt the fifteen Sugar Rush racers. Other than that, the two feature at the end of the movie, showing how they’ve become such good parents to the racers that they are no longer egotistical and narcissistic, but kind and caring towards each other whether they win or lose. Felix and Calhoun are explaining the secret to parenting to Surge, the security officer at Game Central Station, but cleverly timed cars racing by mean that we will never know what that is! It is a shame because I love those two characters. They were going to feature in a scene that had to be cut to keep the pace of the main storyline between Vanellope and Ralph. It would’ve been a scene checking in on how Felix and Calhoun were doing, while Ralph and Vanellope were in BuzzzTube. It featured a dinner with the whole family, including the fifteen “kids”. One of them wouldn’t want to eat their vegetables, another didn’t want to drink their milk, and it would essentially have ended in a food fight! Felix and Calhoun would go to their room to get away from them, stating that parenting is awful and hoping that Ralph would get back soon with that steering wheel so the racers could go home[3]! Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer reprise their voice roles.

For the most popular scene in the whole movie, the Disney Princess one, Pamela Ribon, who had previously worked on Moana (2016) had an idea to have the Disney Princesses be in some sort of sorority, and then have this movie make fun of their Disney past. Ribon never believed that Disney executives would sign-off on this sort of scene, so she wrote whatever she wanted to at first. Ribon had wanted this scene to properly induct Vanellope into the Disney Princess sisterhood, as she is a princess that many people can relate to: she isn’t perfect and girly, like most of the others. Ribon was very surprised to find that the directors were happy with this, as they felt that Disney were best placed to do this kind of satire and mockery of their own movies, and as you can go anywhere on the Internet, then why not have Vanellope head to Oh My Disney? This scene ended up being a huge success so I hope Ribon is proud of it. The majority of the original voice actors of the Disney Princesses came back to reprise their roles and were very happy to do so[4]. The funniest voice, though, is probably Kelly MacDonald voicing Merida from Brave (2012) as she speaks with such a strong Scottish accent that nobody can understand her, not even the Disney Princesses who blame it on the fact she is from “the other studio”, i.e., Pixar. It was a clever move. The original voice actors of Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White had to be replaced as Ilene Woods and Adriana Caselotti, the voices of Cinderella and Snow White, had passed away in 2010 and 1997 respectively. Mary Costa, voice of Aurora, has retired. Any 2D animated princesses had to be digitally updated to fit in with the new CG animation style being used by Disney today. This was not always easy to achieve. At the 2017 D23 Expo, where a first-look was shown, there were comments stating that Tiana’s skin looked lighter, so Disney went back and amended it. It was not an exact science as CG models of 2D characters will naturally look different[5].

PRODUCTION

This movie would not have been able to have been made even in 2012, the time of Wreck-It Ralph’s release as the landscapes are so detailed and huge that it needed a new type of technology. Thankfully, for the production of Big Hero 6 (2014), the in-house rendering software, Hyperion, was developed, allowing huge, detailed cityscapes to be created. Hyperion helped Ralph Breaks the Internet to create environments that looked real and vibrant, and allowed for big shots with lots of characters.

There was never a plan to make a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph as Rich Moore, the director of both movies, felt that Ralph and Vanellope’s story had been wrapped up nicely in the finale of the first movie, so Moore had moved on to other Disney productions. During work on Zootopia (2016), Rich Moore, who directed the film, worked alongside screenwriter Phil Johnston and they decided that after making a movie like Zootopia, which delves into themes around societal prejudice, that maybe they could use a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph to explore Ralph and Vanellope’s friendship in a new setting, with new characters that potentially could create conflict between the two. They also felt that actually, as Ralph states in the ending to Wreck-It Ralph that he only sees himself as a good guy because Vanellope likes him, then that’s not a healthy relationship to have with yourself or with someone else, so they wanted to resolve that. Phil Johnston joined as both co-director and screenwriter[6].

The setting for the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph was never disputed – it was always going to take place in the Internet so instead of being sent on an exotic research trip to somewhere like Norway or the South Pacific Islands as the teams at Disney did for Frozen (2013) and Moana (2016), instead the team on Ralph Breaks the Internet got to open up different technology to have a look at the circuitry and go to One Wilshire Boulevard data centre, which houses the internet connections for the West Coast. It may not have been somewhere particularly exciting but it was still inspiring. An initial concept for their Internet setting was for it to be floating on clouds, referring to the metaphor of everything being “on the cloud”, but this wasn’t deemed the best move forward to show the audience what the Internet might actually look like.

When looking closer at the inner workings of tech items, the animators found that it looked a lot like a city, so that is the concept they went with. Their initial visual test was actually very similar to the final movie. When talking to technology pioneers, they also came up with the idea of new ideas just being stacked on top of the old, so having to go vertical, with all the skyscraper-type buildings. This is because nothing from the past actually goes away; it may be unsupported or not function correctly, but it’s still there. This concept is used when Ralph is trying to find the hero’s medal necklace that Vanellope threw away, as it lands in this old, dusty, unloved area right at the bottom of the Internet, with things like GeoCities and Dial-Up. Real websites were used to ground the world, and were able to be used as it was deemed to be within “fair use” of copyright law, and make it relatable to the audience, with new creations added in to add in that “Disney touch”. This is exactly what they did with the Arcade world in the original movie, by having new characters and references to older video games with those original characters[7].

Some original scenes and concepts were cut from Ralph Breaks the Internet. An early version of the scene of entering the router to see what “WIFI” is would’ve seen most of the arcade characters go into it, with Q*bert accidentally entering the Internet, and returning traumatised. The arcade characters decide it’s too dangerous and leave. Another would’ve seen Ralph with his own BuzzzTube page, where he had gone to Double Dan to get a stamp to duplicate hearts, and inflate his online popularity. Ralph would be sad without Vanellope, who had been annoyed with his new “prima donna” attitude, and use the stamp on himself to create a clone to be his friend. The clone would be left alone with the stamp, and duplicate himself numerous times, leading into the ending with all the Ralph clones. Another scene that was a favourite of the directors that was cut would’ve seen Shank recruiting real-world players to defeat the Ralph clones, with Shank accidentally recruiting one of the Slaughter Race players’ grandmothers. The grandma would be looking forward to kicking some butt and be all up for it! It was almost a fully finished scene before being cut[8].

For the new site of Slaughter Race, it was designed to look both amazing and dangerous. It’s set in a dusty, rundown city, with sort of dystopian elements to it, such as the brown-orange colour of the majority of the area, and the sense that the air quality there is not great, partly from industry, crime and all that racing! The team at Disney looked at game designs of similar games, such as Grand Theft Auto. For the driving aspect, some of the animators were sent to a race track for a day to do crazy moves, such as 180-degree spins, and drifting to keep the driving accurate to both gaming and real-life. Having the animators feel what it was like to be in the car also helped with their animation, so they could put that exhilaration that Vanellope is feeling when racing Shank’s car through the city into the character.

During production on the movie, in November 2017, John Lasseter was forced to step down from his role as Chief Creative Office at both Disney and Pixar Animation over allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”. The Ralph Breaks the Internet team were unsure what would happen next, and whether or not he would return, but they had to carry on as normal. Jennifer Lee, who had been a writer on Wreck-It Ralph, and had been in the same Film Program at Columbia University as Phil Johnstone, was named the Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios in June 2018[9]. Jennifer Lee is also known for being the writer and co-director with Chris Buck of Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019), where Lee became the first female director of a Disney Animated film.

MUSIC

Henry Jackman returned to the Disney Studios to compose the score for Ralph Breaks the Internet. Jackman was very happy to come back to do the music for the sequel, as he was very proud of his work in the original movie, but this time he could experiment with what the Internet sounds like compared to an arcade. He ended up mixing classical orchestral sounds, along with a more modern element with synth and electronic notes to match the Internet. The orchestral sound was used for the inspiring and uplifting moments to suit the characters’ inner feelings. Some of the themes from the original movie were re-harmonised, to fit into the new realm of the Internet, which can be heard in the instrumentals “Best Friends” and “Comfort Zone”, featuring at the start and end of the movie. One of the best tracks from Henry Jackman has to be “A Big Strong Man in Need of Rescuing” as it features snippets of many of the best Disney Princess songs as they all come together to rescue Ralph, such as music from Frozen (2013), Brave (2012), and Mulan (1998).

This time round, there is an actual song sung by Vanellope called “A Place Called Slaughter Race”. She was told by the Disney Princesses that if you didn’t know what she wanted from life, then Vanellope needed to stare into some “important water” and the song would come to her. Sure enough, after staring into a random puddle, Vanellope bursts into song unexpectedly, which lovingly mocks the “I Want” songs of the Disney Princesses’ movies. Alan Menken, the famed songwriter for many of the Disney “Renaissance Era” movies, was brought in to write the music for the song, to give it that real “princess” feeling, despite the lyrics and the setting being of the morally ambiguous world of Slaughter Race! Sarah Silverman sang the song live with the orchestra, where she said it was a magical moment for her. Gal Gadot, the voice of Shank, also joins in with the singing, which was out of her comfort zone but she loved it. Phil Johnstone and Tom MacDougall wrote the lyrics to this song, as well as the pop reimagining that is performed by Julia Michaels as the second song in the End Credits, with the song renamed to “In This Place”, and some lyrics being changed. The first End Credits song comes from Imagine Dragons, who wrote the song “Zero” for the movie. It looks at Ralph’s vulnerability and how he feels like a “zero” at times. It has a very cinematic and upbeat feel to it, whilst also matching the overall message of the movie[10].

RECEPTION

Ralph Breaks the Internet was released in November 2018, six years after Wreck-It Ralph. It made almost $530 million at the box office, with a budget of $175 million. Much like the first movie, it did very well in its first weekend. In terms of critical success, both movies received similar reviews. For Ralph Breaks the Internet, the stand-out mention by many critics was how much they loved the scenes with the Disney Princesses. They found it to be both nostalgic and hilarious, as Disney took aim at their own characters. Though this is not technically new, as Disney’s Enchanted (2007) does something very similar to its fairy-tale musical movies! Other positive critiques were that it there was an impressive amount of detail and creativity put into the design of the Internet, and that it was surprisingly poignant and deep in places, comparing it to Pixar’s Inside Out (2015), for its similar view. However, on the more negative side, some reviews commented on the number of brands placed into the movie, feeling that the “product placement” would likely annoy some viewers. I think most people enjoy seeing those as it helps us to feel connected to this Internet that Ralph and Vanellope are seeing for the first time, as it is recognisable to us, so instead of the audience spending time trying to work out what’s what, and what Disney was parodying with that site, it allows the viewer to simply focus on what is going on with Ralph and Vanellope and to fully immerse ourselves in the new, original sites.

Ralph Breaks the Internet unfortunately did not win as many awards as Wreck-It Ralph, but was still nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Annie Awards and the Critics’ Choice Awards, though it lost all four awards to the underdog movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The only award Ralph Breaks the Internet did win was the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects, but it won less awards at the Annie Awards than Wreck-It Ralph did, but I don’t think that it has anything to do with Ralph Breaks the Internet, and more to do with the fact that animation seems to have had a major revival in recent years, meaning it faced much more competition than just those from Pixar!

The teaser trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet did a good job of interesting us in the movie, however, it also featured a very funny scene that was missing from the main trailer and the final movie, for some reason. But for those at the cinema that were willing to wait until the end of the full credits, a girl that looks very much like Moana comments on the fact there was a scene missing from the movie, featuring a game where you have to feed a kitty milkshakes and a bunny pancakes. Ralph comes into this game that the little girl is playing, and ends up over-feeding the bunny until it bursts! We don’t see this explosion but the little girl does, and she screams her little head off! If you waited until the very end of the credits, you were also told you’d be seeing a sneak peek of Frozen 2, which would be released the following November in 2019 – but then you’d be “rick-rolled” by Ralph. I loved this as I love Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up” and the fact that “rick-rolling” was even a thing! Both of these scenes are still shown during the End Credits of home releases and on Disney+. A different trailer also featured a comment on the fact the movie was not named Ralph Wrecks the Internet, to match Ralph’s arcade game character name, but called Ralph Breaks the Internet; many people did comment on the movie’s name when the title was announced! It is simply that “breaking the Internet” is a real thing, unlike “wrecking the Internet”, which is what Yesss explains to Ralph and Vanellope, though I have to agree with Ralph that “wrecks the Internet” does sound much better!

LEGACY

Director Rich Moore has apparently mentioned the possibility of making a spin-off film based on the princesses should the audience want it and if they can make a good story out of it. Although, having said that, the directors had also said at the time of the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet, that there were no plans for a sequel but maybe if they thought about it for long enough, they could come up with a story[11]! Judging by that response, I’m assuming they’d rather leave the characters where they are, knowing that they did a good job continuing and ending Ralph and Vanellope’s stories here.

I’ve already mentioned places related to the Wreck-It Ralph movie specifically at the Disney Parks in my review of that film, but what about Ralph Breaks the Internet? Well, you used to be able to meet Vanellope at the ImageWorks area in Epcot at the exit to Journey into Imagination with Figment, at Walt Disney World Resort. She even came out of her portal to the Internet, called “The Link”, to continue the story of Ralph Breaks the Internet. Ralph met there with Vanellope for a time, but after Walt Disney World Resort reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, it was just Vanellope on her own. On 19^th August 2023, Vanellope’s meet-and-greet location was permanently closed, to make way for the much-anticipated and hugely popular meet-and-greet with Figment, which opened on 10^th September 2023. So now, there are no permanent meet-and-greet locations at any of the Disney Parks for Vanellope or Ralph, and even less chance of a specific reference to Ralph Breaks the Internet. But the two should still appear at special events, and some of the music or clips from both movies may show up in certain parades, nighttime shows, or fireworks shows.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Whether or not the audience believe this movie is a satire, or whether they buy-in to Disney’s idea of the Internet, Ralph Breaks the Internet is one of the few good sequels that Disney has made, but it can also stand alone. It is another example of Disney pushing the boundaries of their story-telling, by choosing a story outside of their regular format, which is something they are continuing to do today. Ralph Breaks the Internet is an entertaining and clever movie, full of Easter Eggs and interesting ideas. It is both comedic and thought-provoking, with highly relatable emotional moments.

Wreck-It Ralph taught us to accept ourselves as we are but, Ralph Breaks the Internet reminds us that it’s never too late to realise your dreams or change your ways. It also tells us that, like the ever-changing online world, we are also always changing, with there being opportunities to grow as people every day, if we choose to; to become the best version of ourselves and to become someone we are proud to be.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, ‘A Behind-the-scenes Look at Ralph Breaks the Internet’, Disney.co.uk, date unknown.

[2] Credit: Disney, “How We Broke the Internet” “Surfing for Easter Eggs”, from Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Blu-Ray 2-Movie Collection (2018).

[3] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Blu-Ray 2-Movie Collection (2018).

[4] Credit: Michael Cavna, ‘How ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ spoofs the Disney Princess industrial complex’, The Washington Post (online), 20^th November 2018.

[5] Credit: Carolyn Giardina, ‘Making of ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’: How Disney Turned eBay and Amazon Into Cartoons’, The Hollywood Reporter (online), 13^th December 2018.

[6] Credit: John Hazelton, ‘’Ralph Breaks The Internet’ filmmakers: ‘we could not have made this six years ago’, Screen Daily (online), 27^th November 2018.

[7] Credit: Disney, “How We Broke the Internet”, from Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Blu-Ray 2-Movie Collection (2018).

[8] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Blu-Ray 2-Movie Collection (2018).

[9] Credit: Carolyn Giardina, ‘Making of ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’: How Disney Turned eBay and Amazon Into Cartoons’, The Hollywood Reporter (online), 13^th December 2018.

[10] Credit: Disney, “The Music of Ralph Breaks the Internet”, from Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Blu-Ray 2-Movie Collection (2018).

[11] Credit: John Hazelton, ‘’Ralph Breaks The Internet’ filmmakers: ‘we could not have made this six years ago’, Screen Daily (online), 27^th November 2018.