I'd say that the first film does a better job of approaching the material with a more serious eye, while the second one seems updated for a less discerning, younger audience. Both 'Rescuers' movies take time with their villains, making them appear as threatening as they should be. It makes for an exciting adventure, one that I enjoyed at a young age and still do today. McLeach's aim is to find that bird Cody set free by any means necessary. McLeach is a pretty bad dude who has no trouble slinging a tiny kid around by the scruff of his neck, kidnapping him, and making the police and Cody's family think that Cody met his demise in crocodile infested waters. After setting the world's rarest bird free from a trap, Cody soon crosses paths with a dangerous poacher named McLeach (George C. This time its Australian animal lover Cody (Adam Ryen) who makes it a habit of freeing helpless animals from poacher traps. One that complemented the first movie even if it didn't really follow along the same emotional lines. Still, it was nice to see that the second 'Rescuers' movie didn't fall into the crowd of crappy Disney sequels. ![]() The story had been condensed, featuring less sentimentality and more action, adventure, and funny gag-type scenes. The animation had been modernized (for better or worse depends on the eye of the beholder). Whereas 'The Rescuers Down Under,' a sequel that came 13 years later, feels much more like a Disney film. It treats the rescue as a fairly serious circumstance, with real weighty consequences, rather than as an excuse to throw in a few jokes and song numbers. Sure the movie has its cute animal sidekicks (like Evinrude the dragonfly) and evil animal sidekicks (Medusa's two pet crocs), but it plays the narrative a little closer to the chest. ![]() Even the opening song "The Journey," performed by Shelby Flint, is probably the most solemn title song for any Disney movie. The thing that I like about 'The Rescuers' is that it has a much more serious feel to it than many other Disney movies. Penny is the only person small enough that can fit down a tiny hole in a rock, at low tide, and retrieve priceless gems from an old pirate treasure. Madame Medusa has locked Penny away on an abandoned river boat deep in the Louisiana bayou. We're not worried about believability right? I mean, it's a group of mice who seem to exist solely to solve kidnappings that the police are unable to handle.īernard (Bob Newhart) and Bianca (Eva Gabor) are assigned to rescue a tiny orphan girl named Penny (Michelle Stacy) from the clutches of the evil Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page) who's a cross between Cruella de Vil and Ursala. Why they're mice and how they possibly have enough work to justify the existence of this society is beside the point. 'The Rescuers' is a simple tale about an organization of mice who meet as the Rescue Aid Society. In many ways it reminds me of ' All Dogs Go to Heaven,' even featuring a little orphan girl who possesses the power to talk to animals and just wants to be adopted by loving parents. From the animation style to the character motivations, Bluth's fingerprints are all over this one. The avid Don Bluth fan inside me enjoys watching 'The Rescuers' because his influence can be felt throughout the film. I grew up on a steady diet of Disney VHS and 'The Rescuers' (and later 'The Rescuers Down Under') became one of my staples. However, I can't help but love them and I'm fully aware, and able to admit, that most of my love comes from nostalgia. ![]() They reside somewhere on the second tier of their animated titles, below movies like ' The Lion King,' ' Beauty and the Beast' and 'The Little Mermaid.' Maybe that's why Disney saw fit to release both of them in the same package (on the same disc), without much fanfare. The 'Rescuers' movies aren't really regarded as the most memorable of Disney animated films.
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