It's Film Strip Friday! The Rescuers Down Under

It’s Film Strip Friday!

The Rescuers Down Under

Release Date November 16^th, 1990

 

SYNOPSIS:

          Deep within Australia's vast and unpredictable Outback, a young boy named Cody forges an incredible friendship with a great golden eagle. But when a ruthless poacher sets out to capture the eagle, Cody steps in to protect him. Knowing he can't do it alone, a call for help goes out that's answered by the world's bravest mice, Bernard and Bianca. Flying in on the wings of their hilarious albatross friend Wilbur, these top mouse agents are ready to tackle their biggest, most dangerous mission yet!

FUN FACTS:

       The Rescuers Down Under is a 1990 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990. The 29th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, the film is the sequel (Disney's first for an animated feature) to the 1977 Disney animated film The Rescuers, which was based on the novels of Margery Sharp. It is the first animated film produced digitally with paperless-partly animation and 3D integrated backgrounds.

          This film, along with Fantasia 2000 and Winnie the Pooh are the only Disney sequels that are part of the Disney canon, as all three were produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was the second film released during the Disney Renaissance (1989–1999) era, which had begun the year before with The Little Mermaid. Set in the Australian Outback, The Rescuers Down Under was Eva Gabor's final film role before her retirement in 1994 and death in 1995.

Plot

          In the Australian Outback, a young 10-year-old boy named Cody rescues and befriends a rare golden eagle called Marahute, who shows him her nest and eggs. Later, the boy is captured in an animal trap set by Percival C. McLeach, a local wanted poacher. When McLeach finds one of the eagle's feathers in the boy's backpack he is instantly overcome with excitement, for he knew that capturing the bird would make him rich because he had caught one before (which was presumably Marahute's mate). McLeach kidnaps the boy and attempts to force out of him the whereabouts of the rare eagle, even going as far as offering to split the profit with him. McLeach throws Cody's backpack to some crocodiles, fooling the local Rangers into thinking that Cody was eaten.

          Meanwhile, the mouse Cody freed in the trap sends a message to New York City to the Rescue Aid Society headquarters, and Bernard and Bianca, the RAS' elite field agents, are assigned to the mission, interrupting Bernard's attempt to propose marriage to Bianca. They go to find Orville the albatross who aided them previously, but instead find Wilbur, Orville's brother. Bernard and Bianca convince Wilbur to fly them to Australia to save Cody. In Australia, they meet Jake, a kangaroo rat who is the RAS' local regional operative. Jake later flirts with Bianca, much to Bernard's anger. He serves as their guide and protector in search of the boy. At the same time, Wilbur is immobilized when his spinal column is bent out of its natural shape, convincing Jake to send him to the hospital.

          When he refuses to undergo surgery and instead attempts to flee, Wilbur's back is unintentionally straightened by the efforts of the mouse medical staff to prevent him escaping through a window. Cured, he departs in search of his friends. At McLeach's ranch, Cody has been thrown into a cage with several of McLeach's captured animals after refusing to give up Marahute's whereabouts. Cody tries to free himself and the animals, but is thwarted by Joanna, McLeach's pet goanna lizard. McLeach ultimately tricks Cody into thinking that someone else has shot Marahute, making Cody lead him to Marahute's nest.

          Bernard, Bianca, and Jake, half-aware of what is happening, jump onto McLeach's Halftrak to follow him. At Marahute's nest, the three mice try to warn Cody that he has been followed; just as they do, McLeach arrives and captures Marahute, along with Cody, Jake, and Bianca. Joanna tries to eat Marahute's eggs, but Bernard found the nest first and replaced the eggs with stones in order to protect them. Wilbur arrives at the nest, whereupon Bernard convinces him to sit on the eagle's eggs, so that Bernard can go after McLeach. McLeach takes Cody and Marahute to Crocodile Falls, where he ties Cody up and hangs him over a large group of crocodiles and attempts to feed him to them, but Bernard, riding a type of wild pig called a "Razorback", which he had tamed using a horse whispering technique earlier used by Jake, follows and disables McLeach's vehicle, preventing the use of its crane to put Cody at risk. McLeach then gets out his Winchester Model 1912 and tries to shoot the rope holding Cody above the water. To save Cody and get rid of McLeach, Bernard tricks Joanna into crashing into McLeach, sending them both into the water. The crocodiles chase McLeach, while behind them the damaged rope holding Cody breaks apart. McLeach fights off the crocodiles, but only Joanna reaches the shoreline, while McLeach goes over an enormous main waterfall to his presumed death.

          Bernard dives into the water to save Cody, but fails. Jake and Bianca free Marahute in time for her to save Cody and Bernard, sparing them McLeach's fate. Bernard, desperate to avoid any further incidents, proposes to marry Bianca, who accepts eagerly while Jake salutes him with a newfound respect. All of them depart for Cody's home. Wilbur, whom they have neglected to relieve of his task, incubates the eggs until they hatch, much to his dismay.

Cast

          The Rescuers Down Under features three characters from the first film: Bernard, Bianca, and the Chairmouse, all of whom feature the same actors reprising their roles.

·         Bob newhart as Bernard, a grey mouse; the United States representative of the Rescue Aid Society.

·         Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca, a female white mouse; the Hungarian representative of the Rescue Aid Society.

·         John Candy as Wilbur, a comical albatross; named after Wilbur Wright. He is the brother of Orville, the albatross who appeared in the first film.

·         Adam Ryen as Cody, a young 10-year-old boy able to converse with most animals.

·         Frank Welker as Marahute, a giant Golden Eagle.

·         George C. Scott as Percival C. McLeach, a greedy and sadistic poacher.

·         Frank Welker as Joanna, a comical goanna and McLeach's pet who acts to terrify her captives.

·         Tristan Rogers as Jake, a debonair and charismatic kangaroo rat.

·         Peter Firth as Red, a male red kangaroo captured by McLeach.

·         Wayne Robson as Frank, an erratic frill-neck lizard captured by McLeach.

·         Douglas Seale as Krebbs, a koala captured by McLeach.

·         Polly, a platypus captured by McLeach.

·         Carla Meyer as Faloo, a female red kangaroo who summons Cody to save Marahute.

·         Bernard Fox as Chairmouse, the chairman of the Rescue Aid Society.

·         Bernard Fox as Doctor Mouse, the supervisor of the surgical mice who examine Wilbur when he is injured.

·         Russi Taylor as Nurse Mouse, the operator of Doctor Mouse's instructions and a competent second-in-command.

·         Nelson, an echidna.

Production

          The Rescuers Down Under is notable for Disney as its first traditionally-animated film to completely use the new computerized CAPS process. CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) was a computer-based production system used for digital ink and paint and compositing, allowing for more efficient and sophisticated post-production of the Disney animated films and making the traditional practice of hand-painting cels obsolete. The animators' drawings and the background paintings were scanned into computer systems instead, where the animation drawings are inked and painted by digital artists, and later combined with the scanned backgrounds in software that allows for camera positioning, camera movements, multiplane effects, and other techniques. The film also uses CGI elements throughout such as the field of flowers in the opening sequence, McLeach's truck, and perspective shots of Wilbur flying above Sydney Opera House and New York City. The CAPS project was the first of Disney's collaborations with a computer graphics company named Pixar, which would eventually become a feature animation production studio making computer-generated animated films for Disney, (Anyways, the first film was Toy Story, released in 1995). As a result, The Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film for which the entire final film elements were assembled and completed within a digital environment. However, the film's marketing approach did not call attention to the use of the CAPS process. It is Disney's second animated feature that does not include any musical numbers, the first being Disney's The Black Cauldron.

          A team of over 415 artists and technicians were required for the production of the film. Five members of the team traveled to the Australian Outback to observe, take photographs and draw sketches to properly illustrate the outback on film.

Release

Box office

          With the new Mickey Mouse featurette The Prince and the Pauper as an added attraction, The Rescuers Down Under debuted to an opening weekend gross of $3.5 million, below the studio's expectations. As a result, then Walt Disney Studios chief Jeffrey Katzenberg decided to pull all of the Rescuers TV advertising. The film eventually went on to make $27,931,461, making it the least successful box-office performance of Disney's major animated releases of the 1990s.

Critical reception

          The film received a mostly positive response. On Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of the critics reviews were positive.

          The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide gave it two stars out of four. "[This] slick, lively and enjoyable animated feature," they wrote, "[is] an improvement on the original."

          Roger Ebert awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote, "Animation can give us the glory of sights and experiences that are impossible in the real world, and one of those sights, in 'The Rescuers Down Under,' is of a little boy clinging to the back of a soaring eagle. The flight sequence and many of the other action scenes in this new Disney animated feature create an exhilaration and freedom that are liberating. And the rest of the story is fun, too."

          TV Guide gave the film 2½ stars out of four, saying that "Three years in the making, it was obviously conceived during the height of this country's fascination with Australia, brought on by Paul Hogan's fabulously successful CROCODILE DUNDEE. By 1990, the mania had long since subsided, and this film's Australian setting did nothing to enhance its box office appeal. Further, the film doesn't make particularly imaginative use of the location. Take away the accents and the obligatory kangaroos and koalas, and the story could have taken place anywhere. Another problem is that "the rescuers" themselves don't even enter the action until a third of the film has passed. And when they do appear, they don't have much to do with the main plot until near the film's end. The characters seem grafted on to a story that probably would have been more successful without them. Finally, the film suffers from some action and plotting that is questionable in a children's film. The villain is far too malignant, the young vigilante hero seems to be a kiddie "Rambo," and some of the action is quite violent, if not tasteless."

Home media

          The Rescuers Down Under was released in the Walt Disney Classics video series on September 20, 1991 with a home video trailer for The Jungle Book, while The Rescuers was released on VHS a year later in 1992. However, unlike The Rescuers, the film did not make it to the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. It was released on DVD on August 1, 2000 as part of the Walt Disney classic Collection.

Soundtrack

The score for the film was composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton. Unlike the vast majority of Disney animated features, there were no songs written for it (however, "Message Montage" includes a quotation from "Rescue Aid Society" by Sammy Fain, Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, the only musical reference to the first film).

1. Main Title (1:34)
2. Answering Faloo's Call (1:32)
3. Cody's Flight (6:02)
4. Message Montage (2:49)
5. At The Restaurant (3:06)
6. Wilbur Takes Off (1:28)
7. McLeach Threatens Cody (1:20)
8. The Landing (2:01)
9. Bernard Almost Proposes (1:36)
10. Escape Attempt (1:30)
11. Frank's Out! (3:23)
12. Cody Finds The Eggs (1:33)
13. Bernard The Hero (3:36)
14. End Credits (3:41)

In 2006 Walt Disney Records reissued the album on compact disc, including the Shelby Flint songs "The Journey," "Someone's Waiting For You" and "Tomorrow Is Another Day" from The Rescuers.

http://Disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history

http://en.wikipedia.org