Robin Hood

I feel like Robin Hood is kind of like The Sword in the Stone - it's not really as well known or remembered as many other Disney films.  It's a shame, because it's a really cute one.  The plot is fun, but somehow it just doesn't capture the magic of some of the other Disney films.  I would suspect it's because it's not so much a musical as many of the others.  Like Sword in the Stone, it has a few songs, but they aren't very catchy or memorable, and they're mostly background, not featured.

Still, it's got lots of Disney charm, and it's funny too.  The "poor people" of Nottingham are endearing, but for the most part the bad guys are just silly.  The group of little kids is super cute.  The romance is an interesting one here between Robin Hood and Maid Marian, because they apparently have some sort of history that happened before the movie takes place.  We never really find out the details.  Also - who exactly is Maid Marian?  Someone important in the court, but a daughter of someone important?  And why is she the only fox around?  And what kind of children will Little John and Lady Kluck have?

This movie also has a bit of a "false ending."  Everyone dances around, happy that they escaped Prince John and Robin Hood got his lady, and it seems like the movie's over - but it's not!  Prince John wants revenge, and now he's worse than ever.  The real ending is still very dramatic and shows a much crueler side to Prince John and Sir Hiss - not only do they want to get Robin Hood, they punish everyone in the town by making them pay ridiculously high taxes.  They will even kill Friar Tuck, a man of the church, to try and get Robin Hood.  The high point of the movie has a castle on fire, suspense, all that good stuff.  And apparently the special edition DVD has an alternate ending that they were considering for the film, though I haven't seen it I heard that it's even more dramatic.

The Music
As I said earlier, the music in this one doesn't do too much.  We have the rooster, a minstrel who provides a song or two, but other than that it's really background music.  None of the characters sing except for the rooster.  Apparently the song "Love" was nominated for an Academy Award, but it wasn't too memorable to me.

The Villain
Prince John is a bit of a pathetic villain - always sucking his thumb!  He's still capable of cruelty though.  All he seems to care about is money and he will do anything to get it.  That includes locking up poor, innocent people, and even killing them.  He's a villain that shows that you don't have to be big and powerful to cause mayhem, even the slimy weak ones can do it.  His sidekick, Sir Hiss, is pretty hilarious.  While he's also rather evil in the same vein as Prince John, like many villain sidekicks he gets mistreated by his master and comes off as comical.  He's actually quite a bit smarter than Prince John, but always gets into situations where he looks like the dumb one.

The Disney World Connection
Not too much going on with Robin Hood in Disney World.  You can see some of the characters around the parks, including Robin Hood, Maid Marian, and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

My rating:  7.5 out of 10
Jason's rating:  7.5 out of 10