#29 –The Fox and the Hound
(39 Points) 4 of 13 Lists - Highest Ranking - #6 - Quantum Vagina
Friendship overcomes all, including the ability to hold back tears
Release Date: 1981
Just the plagarismThe Fox and the Hound is a 1981 American animated film loosely based on the Daniel P. Mannix novel of the same name, produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in the United States on July 10, 1981. The 24th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film tells the story of two unlikely friends, a red fox named Tod and a hound dog named Copper, who struggle to preserve their friendship despite their emerging instincts and the surrounding social pressures demanding them to be adversaries.
The film is directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich and features the voices of Kurt Russell, Mickey Rooney, Pearl Bailey, Pat Buttram, Sandy Duncan, Richard Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Jack Albertson, Jeanette Nolan, John Fiedler, John McIntire, Keith Coogan, and Corey Feldman. At the time of release it was the most expensive animated film produced to date, costing $12 million.
Production of the film began in 1977. The film marked a turning point in the studio: Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men" did initial development of the animation, but by the end of production the younger set of Disney animators completed the production process. Wolfgang Reitherman was producer, and championed staying true to the novel, and Larry Clemmons was head of the story team. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston did much of the early development of the main characters. The newer generation of directors and animators, such as Don Bluth (who previously worked on films like Sleeping Beauty and The Sword in the Stone) and started with John Lasseter, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Tim Burton, Brad Bird and Henry Selick. would finalize the animation and complete the film's production. These animators had moved through the in-house animation training program, and would all play an important role in the Disney Renaissance of the eighties and nineties.
However, the transition between the old guard and the new resulting in arguments over how to handle the film. Reitherman has his own ideas on the designs and layouts that should be used, but the newer team backed Stevens. Animator Don Bluth declared Disney's work "stale" and walked out with eleven others to form his own studio. With 17% of the animators now gone, production on The Fox and the Hound was delayed. Bluth had animated Widow Tweed and her cow, Abigail, and his team worked on the rest of the sequence. The exodus of so many animators forced the cancellation of the film's original Christmas 1980 premiere while new artists were hired. Four years after production started the film was finished with approximately 360,000 drawings, 110,000 painted cels and 1,100 painted backgrounds making up the finished product. A total of 180 people, including 24 animators, worked on the film.
Quantum Vagina’s take - I don’t care how hard or tough you think you are, this is figuratively the most heartfelt movie in the history of anything ever, and you cried. Even if it was just the one tear going down your cheek, manly tears were shed while watching this movie. It’s something we all can relate to. It’s a damn good movie, and you cried. Unless you had your tear ducts surgically removed because your eyes were replaced with robotic ones.