I didn’t actually watch all this on this viewing, missed the first 5 or 10 minutes, but I’ve seen it plenty, it’s too long since I last posted a review, and I definitely need one of this movie on my site. This is the saddest Disney movie of all and I expect it will remain so forever. It seems to affect me more and more the older I get, which makes sense, I guess – it’s all about how things change as we’re forced to “grow up” and “know our place”.

Young Tod: Copper, you’re my best friend.
Young Copper: And you’re mine too, Tod.
Young Tod: And we’ll always be friends forever. Won’t we?
Young Copper: Yeah, forever.

Like my favourite Disney movie, Tarzan, the thing I love most about this movie is the expressiveness of the characters’ eyes. When Copper returns and tells Tod he’s “a huntin’ dog now,” there’s such shock in his eyes, such was his optimism that nothing would change between them. There’s something in both their eyes too, when they’re talking grown-up, like there’s something primal within them making them natural enemies and they could snap at any moment. It’s genuinely the most heart-wrenching Disney has ever been, I think, I get choked up now just writing about those looks.

Then there’s the music. This was in what I call Disney’s “in-between” period, long after last of the productions Walt himself supervised like The Jungle Book, etc, and still a while before the Broadway style hey day that began with The Little Mermaid. This movie was bookended by The Rescuers and The Black Cauldron, both of which were relatively devoid of music, so it kinda stands out to me how good the music and songs are here. I love the score, especially the slightly synthy parts that for some reason never really seem as dated to me as they should, and the songs nearly all bring a tear to my eye. “Goodbye is Not Forever”, mostly a spoken piece, is the point at which I totally drown in tears, when Widow Tweed abandons Tod in the forest. It’s a scene that’s been done so many times before and since, Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence comes most immediately to mind, but this is the one that really does destroy me.

Now I feel compelled to point out that it’s not all gloomy in this movie. The comic relief from Chief, Boomer, and little caterpillar Dinky are yet another thing I’d argue work better than their Tarzan counterparts, and I have to admit, there’s even a sexy heroine to be found in this movie in the form of Vixie (honestly, I’m not that weird, but she just has something about her eyes!!! lol).

But what comes across most to me each time I watch this is the sadness, right to the very end which is as ambiguous as they come – Copper saves Tod, but is that the best they can hope for, to both live even if they can never fool around like they used to? There’s a sequel to this movie coming out this year. I’ll probably be proven wrong, because I’m one of the few people who thinks the Disney sequels actually keep getting better and even if they’re a little pointless there’s usually something to connect to … but I’ve gotta admit, I’ve never dreaded a Disney sequel as much as this one. I mean, where can they take it?

Random thought: this just came to me as I was about to post and I’ll have to find out for myself some day soon if it’s a good idea … but I often suggest double or triple bills when I write about a movie and one movie I think this would work beautifully with is Brokeback Mountain. I don’t know, that thought just came to me

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 at 8:55 pm in 5 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.