The Rescuers 1977

June 22 1977

From Walt Disney's original team of legendary master animators who brought you THE JUNGLE BOOK comes a thrilling adventure and timeless tale overflowing with action, suspense, and extraordinary little heroes you can't help but love! Join the shy but brave mouse Bernard and his glamorous partner Miss Bianca -- two tiny heroes on a great big mission to save a young girl named Penny who has sent an urgent call for help! Taking off on the wings of their trusted albatross friend Orville, Bernard and Bianca soar to the marshy swamp of Devil's Bayou. There, they find themselves on the riverboat hideout of the hilariously evil Madame Medusa, who needs Penny to retrieve the world's largest diamond! But before Bernard and Bianca can bring Penny safely home, they'll have to enlist the help of some spirited local swamp critters in order to outwit Medusa ... and outrun her pet crocodiles Nero and Brutus. Featuring the unforgettable voice talents of Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor, as well as Oscar®-nominated music, THE RESCUERS is high-flying fun you'll want to share with your family again and again!>

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

March 11 1977

he Studio's first animated treatment of the famous children's books written by A.A. Milne. Winnie the Pooh and his friends, Christopher Robin, Eeyore the donkey, Owl, Kanga, and baby Roo, as well as Rabbit and Gopher, encounter a swarm of bees and a fabulous honey tree. Little modification was made to the original stories of the most famous teddy bear in the world. The most noticeable change was the introduction of a new character -- Gopher.
A special cartoon featurette. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman.Starring: the voices of Sterling Holloway (Pooh), Bruce Reitherman (Christopher Robin), Ralph Wright (Eeyore), Howard Morris (Gopher), Barbara Luddy (Kanga), Hal Smith (Owl), Junius Matthews (Rabbit), and Clint Howard (Roo). 26 min. Sebastian Cabot narrated the story, and the theme song was written Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman. Sterling Holloway was perfectly cast as the voice of Pooh and added to the popularity of the short, which inspired three theatrical cartoon sequels and a feature compilation. Released on video in 1981.

Robin Hood

November 8 1973

he story of England's legendary hero of the common people is told by travelling minstrel Allan-a-Dale. The story is enacted by an assortment of cartoon animal characters (Robin Hood and Maid Marian are foxes, Little John is a bear, King Richard and Prince John are lions, etc.). Robin Hood rebels against the villainy of Prince John and his accomplices, Sir Hiss and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Prince John has usurped the throne of King Richard, his brother, who was captured on the Crusades. With Little John, Friar Tuck, and the townspeople of Nottingham, Robin defeats the runty prince and his minions and Richard is free to return and reclaim his kingdom.
The Robin Hood legend has long been popular with movie makers, inspiring the silent version starring Douglas Fairbanks, the Errol Flynn classic of 1938, Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn's "Robin and Marian" in 1976, Disney's own live-action version "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men" in 1952, and Kevin Costner's latest version in 1991. Some 350,000 drawings were made for the production, with over 100,000 painted cels and 800 painted backgrounds. The film was rereleased in theaters in 1982. Released on video in 1984 and 1991.
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Starring: the voices of Phil Harris (Little John), Brian Bedford (Robin Hood), Roger Miller (Allan-a-Dale), Peter Ustinov (King Richard/ Prince John), Terry-Thomas (Sir Hiss), Andy Devine (Friar Tuck), Monica Evans (Maid Marian), and Pat Buttram (Sheriff of Nottingham). 83 min. The songs, by Johnny Mercer, George Bruns, Roger Miller, and Floyd Huddleston, include "Whistle-Stop," "The Phony King of England," "Love," "Oo-de-lally," and "Not in Nottingham." The song "Love," by George Bruns and Floyd Huddleston, was nominated for an Academy Award®. In several sequences, George Bruns sought to capture the flavor of the period by using medieval instruments such as French horns and harpsichords, and occasionally just a mandolin.

The Aristocats

December 24 1970

nimated feature in which a pedigreed mother cat, Duchess, and her three kittens, Toulouse, Berlioz, and Marie, are catnapped by a greedy butler named Edgar who hopes to get the inheritance left to the family of cats by their owner, Madame Bonfamille. Things look hopeless for the cats until they are befriended by Thomas O'Malley, an easygoing alley cat. After the cats have many misadventures getting back to Paris, the villainous butler is foiled when a gang of alley cats and a mouse named Roquefort join O'Malley to rescue Duchess and her kittens.
For the background musical score, George Bruns featured the accordion-like musette for French flavor, and drawing on his considerable background with jazz bands in the 1940s, provided a great deal of jazz music. The film was four years in the making, budgeted at over $4 million, and included more than 325,000 drawings made by 35 animators, with 20 main sequences having 1,125 separate scenes using 900 painted backgrounds. The project employed some 250 people. The film was a box-office success, earning reissues in 1980 and 1987. Released on video in 1996.
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Starring: the voices of Phil Harris (Thomas O'Malley), Eva Gabor (Duchess), Sterling Holloway (Roquefort), Scatman Crothers (Scat Cat), Paul Winchell (Chinese Cat), Thurl Ravenscroft (Russian Cat), Hermione Baddeley (Madame Adelaide), Roddy Maude-Roxby (Edgar), Bill Thompson (Uncle Waldo), and Maurice Chevalier, who sang the title tune. 78 min. This was the first feature-length animated cartoon completed without Walt Disney. The song "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat," was written by Floyd Huddleston and Al Rinker. "Thomas O'Malley" was written by Terry Gilkyson, and Richard and Robert Sherman composed "The Aristocats," "She Never Felt Alone," and "Scales and Arpeggios."

The Jungle Book 1967

October 18 1967

A human boy, Mowgli, is raised in the jungle by wolves until it is deemed unsafe for him to stay because of Shere Khan, the tiger, who has vowed to kill the mancub. Bagheera, the panther, is selected to accompany Mowgli on his journey back to civilization, but has a difficult time because the boy does not want to leave. Meeting Baloo the bear, a lovable "jungle bum," Mowgli is even more certain he wants to stay with his friends. But after an encounter with the mad King Louie of the Apes, when he is pressed to return to the man village by Baloo and Bagheera, Mowgli runs away. Alone in the jungle, he meets Shere Khan, but only after the last-minute intervention of his friends does he manage to defeat the tiger. Soon after, he meets a young girl from the man village and willingly returns to civilization.
Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of the jungle was the last animated feature Walt Disney supervised, and became one of Disney's all-time box-office winners. Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman wrote the songs, which include "I Wanna Be Like You," "Trust in Me," "My Own Home," "That's What Friends Are For," and "Colonel Hathi's March," and Terry Gilkyson provided the Oscar®-nominated "Bare Necessities."
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Starring: the voices of Phil Harris (Baloo), Sebastian Cabot (Bagheera), Louis Prima (King Louie), George Sanders (Shere Khan), Sterling Holloway (Kaa), J. Pat O'Malley (Vulture), and Bruce Reitherman (Mowgli). 78 min. It was rereleased in theaters in 1978, 1984, and 1990. Released on video in 1991. A live action version of the story was released in 1994.

The Sword in the Stone

December 25 1963

n the churchyard of a cathedral in London a sword appears imbedded in a stone, inscribed: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England." Although many try, no one can budge the sword from the stone. Deep in the dark woods, kindly but absentminded Merlin the Magician begins to teach 11-year-old Arthur, who is called "Wart" and who lives in the castle of Sir Ector where he is an apprentice squire to burly, oafish Sir Kay when he is not washing mounds of pots and pans in the scullery. By being changed by Merlin into various animals, Wart learns the basic truths of life, but he also runs into the evil Madam Mim, who tries to destroy him. Merlin and Mim have a wizard's duel during which each changes into various creatures, with Merlin using his wits to win. On New Year's Day a great tournament is held in London to pick a new king. Wart, attending as Kay's squire, forgets Kay's sword and runs back to the inn to get it, but the inn is locked. Wart, seeing the sword in the stone, innocently -- and easily -- pulls it out. When the knights marvel at the wondrous sword and question where he got it, Wart has to prove himself all over again, and again he pulls the sword from the stone. Wart is proclaimed king by the marveling warriors. Wart as King Arthur is apprehensive of his ability to govern, but Merlin returns to reassure him.
The movie is somewhat dated because it is filled with 1960s references, but it has some wonderful moments, especially the highly imaginative wizard's duel. The songs, including "A Most Befuddling Thing," "That's What Makes the World Go Round," "Higitus Figitus," and "The Legend of the Sword in the Stone," were written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman.
The film marked Wolfgang Reitherman's first solo directorial effort for a feature film. Based on the book by T. H. White. Starring: the voices of Ricky Sorenson (Wart), Sebastian Cabot (Narrator/Sir Ector), Karl Swenson (Merlin), Junius Matthews (Archimedes), Norman Alden (Sir Kay), and Martha Wentworth (Madam Mim). 79 min. The motion picture was rereleased theatrically in 1972 and 1983, and inspired the Sword in the Stone ceremony at the Disney Theme Parks. Released on video in 1986.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1961

January 25 1961

Animated feature about Pongo, a clever dalmatian who arranges to get married to the female of his choice, Perdita, and to round things out gets his master, Roger Radcliff, wed to Perdita's pretty mistress, Anita. Soon Perdita produces 15 puppies, which the evil Cruella De Vil arranges to have kidnapped in her quest to make a fabulous Dalmatian fur coat, also gathering many other puppies in order to accomplish her aim. Helped by the Twilight Bark, whereby dogs throughout the city and the countryside pass along the word of the missing puppies by barking, Pongo and Perdita go into action and locate 99 stolen puppies in Cruella's sinister-looking home, Hell Hall. Pongo, Perdita, and the puppies manage to escape and, through various ruses, elude the pursuing Cruella. Cruella and her henchmen, Horace and Jasper Badun, get their just desserts. Roger and Anita adopt the puppies, and with their new family of 101 dalmatians and Nanny to look after them, plan to build a "Dalmatian Plantation" and live happily ever after.
The first feature to solely use the Xerox® process for transferring the animators' drawings to cels. Prior to this, each one of the animators' drawings had to be hand-traced in ink onto a cel. The new process sped up production greatly, especially in a film that had so many dogs, and spotted ones at that. It would have been horribly time-consuming to hand-ink each of the cels. The famous "Twilight Bark," used to rescue the puppies, was later adopted as the name for the newsletter for Disney Feature Animation. Note the spelling of "dalmatians." This word is probably the most-misspelled Disney word, with most people misspelling it "dalmations." Dalmatia, however, is a place, so people, and dogs, from there are dalmatians.
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi. Based on the book by Dodie Smith. The songs "Cruella De Ville [sic]," "Dalmatian Plantation," and "Kanine Krunchies Commercial" were written by Mel Leven. Costing $4 million, the film did phenomenal business on its original release, and in its subsequent reissues in 1969, 1979, 1985 and 1991. Released on video in 1992. 79 min. Starring: the voices of Rod Taylor (Pongo), Betty Lou Gerson (Cruella De Vil), Lisa Davis (Anita), Ben Wright (Roger), and Cate Bauer (Perdita).
In 1996, a live-action version of "101 Dalmatians" appeared, directed by Stephen Herek. Released on November 27, 1996, it starred Glenn Close (Cruella), Jeff Daniels (Roger), Joely Richardson (Anita), Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams (Jasper and Horace), and Joan Plowright (Nanny). Filmed on seven sound stages at Shepperton Studios in England, as well as at selected locations in and around London. A major task was finding and training over 200 dalmatian puppies. Their welfare was of top concern to the filmmakers.