The Rescuers
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Box
office
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$71,215,869[1]
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The
Rescuers is a 1977
American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on June 22, 1977 by Buena Vista Distribution.
The 23rd film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film is about the Rescue Aid
Society, an international mouse organization headquartered in New York and shadowing the United
Nations, dedicated to
helping abduction victims around the world at large. Two of these mice, jittery
janitor Bernard (Bob Newhart) and his co-agent, the elegant Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor), set out to rescue Penny (Michelle
Stacy), an orphan girl being held prisoner in the Devil's Bayou by treasure
huntress Madame Medusa (Geraldine
Page).
The film
is based on a series of books by Margery
Sharp, most notably The
Rescuers and Miss Bianca. Due to the film's success, a sequel entitled The Rescuers Down Under was released in 1990.
Plot
In an
abandoned river boat in Devil's Bayou, Penny, a young orphan, drops a message in
a bottle containing a
plea for help into the river. The bottle is carried out to sea and arrives in
New York City, where it is recovered by the Rescue Aid Society, an international
mouse organization inside the United
Nations. The Hungarian
representative, Miss Bianca, volunteers to accept the case and chooses Bernard,
a stammering janitor, as her co-agent. The two visit Morningside Orphanage,
where Penny lived, and meet an old cat named Rufus. He tells them about a woman
named Madame Medusa who once tried to lure Penny into her car and may have
abducted Penny this time.
Traveling
to Medusa's pawn shop, the mice discover that she and her partner, Mr. Snoops,
are on a quest to find the world's largest diamond, the Devil's Eye. They also
discover that Mr. Snoops is in the Devil's Bayou with Penny, whom they have
abducted. With the help of an albatross named Orville, and a dragonfly named Evinrude, the mice follow Medusa
to the bayou. There, they learn that Penny was captured to enter a hole that
leads down into the pirates' cave where the Devil's Eye is located.
Miss
Bianca's perfume inadvertently attracts the attention of Medusa's pet alligators, Brutus and Nero. Bernard and Miss
Bianca flee and find Penny. Bernard asks Evinrude to round up the local animals
to help rescue Penny. He does so, only to be thwarted by a flock of hungry bats
which delay him. The following morning, Medusa and Mr. Snoops send Penny down
into the cave to find the gem, with Miss Bianca and Bernard hiding in her skirt
pocket. The three soon find the stone within a pirate skull; as Penny pries the
mouth open with a sword, the mice push it out from within, but soon the oceanic
tide rises and floods the cave. Miss Bianca, Penny, and Bernard barely manage
to retrieve the diamond and escape.
Medusa
steals the diamond for herself and hides it in Penny's teddy bear. When she
tries to escape, she trips over a cable set as a trap by Bernard and Bianca.
Medusa loses the bear to Penny, who runs away with it. After a struggle with
Snoops who already turned to her, Medusa retaliates with gunfire, causing the
mice to flee until they are met by Brutus and Nero. With help from Ellie Mae
and the other animals, Bernard and Miss Bianca trick them into entering a
cage-like elevator, trapping them.
Two of
the gang set off Mr. Snoops's fireworks and sink the boat. Meanwhile Penny and
the mice commandeer Medusa's "Swampmobile", a motor-boat used by
Medusa to travel in the swamp and resembling the front clip Ford Model
T body mounted to a
small boat, with a single tractor seat for the driver. Medusa unsuccessfully
pursues them, and is left clinging to the boat's smoke stacks with Brutus and
Nero attacking below.
Back in
New York, the Rescue Aid Society hear that the Devil's Eye is given to the Smithsonian Institution and Penny is adopted by a new father and mother on the television
news. Bernard and Miss Bianca remain partners in the Rescue Aid Society's
missions and soon after depart on Orville, accompanied by Evinrude, on a new
rescue mission.
Cast
See also: #Inspirations
•
Bob
Newhart as Bernard,
Rescue Aid Society's timid janitor, who reluctantly tags along with Miss
Bianca. He is highly superstitious and dislikes flying.
•
Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca, the Hungarian female representative of the Rescue Aid
Society. She is sophisticated and adventurous. Her Hungarian nationality was
derived from that of her voice actress, Eva Gabor.
•
Michelle
Stacy as Penny, a lonely orphan girl, residing at Morningside Orphanage in New
York City.
•
Joe Flynn as Mr. Snoops, Medusa's clumsy business partner. This was Flynn's
final role before his death in 1974.
•
Jim Jordan as Orville, an albatross who gives Bernard and Bianca a ride to
Devil's Bayou. The role was the last for Jordan, who retired after the film's
release.
•
John
McIntire as Rufus, the
elderly cat who resides at Morningside Orphanage and comforts Penny when she is
sad. He was designed by animator Ollie
Johnston, who retired
after this film following a 40-year career with Disney.
•
Jeanette
Nolan as Ellie Mae and Pat
Buttram as Luke, two muskrats who reside in a Southern-style home on
a patch of land in Devil's Bayou. Luke drinks very strong, homemade liquor.
•
James
MacDonald[disambiguation needed 
] as Evinrude, a dragonfly who mans a leaf boat across Devil's
Bayou, giving Bernard and Miss Bianca a ride across the swamp waters.
] as Evinrude, a dragonfly who mans a leaf boat across Devil's
Bayou, giving Bernard and Miss Bianca a ride across the swamp waters.
•
Larry
Clemmons as Gramps, a grumpy old turtle who carries a brown cane.
•
Bill
McMillian as T.V. Announcer
Production
The film
was four years in the making with the combined talents of 250 people, including
40 animators who produced approximately 330,000 drawings; there were 14
sequences with 1,039 separate scenes and 750 backgrounds.[2]
It was
the first Disney film that combined the talents of Walt
Disney's original crew
of story writers and animators (including Walt Disney's "Nine Old
Men") with a
newer, less experienced crew that Walt Disney Productions had recruited in the mid-1970s.[2]
Penny
struggles to free the Devil's Eye diamond from a pirate's skull. The producers carefully designed every
shot of the scene to raise the tension.[3]
The film
marked the last joint effort by veterans Milt Kahl, Ollie
Johnston, and Frank Thomas, and the first Disney film worked on by Don Bluth as an animator, instead of an assistant
animator.[4] Other animators who stepped up during production were Glen Keane, Ron
Clements, and Andy
Gaskill, who would all play an important role in the Disney
Renaissance of the
1980s and 90s.[5]
The
Rescuers was also the
company's first major animated success since The Jungle Book (1967) and the last until The Little Mermaid (1989). The film marked the end of the silver age of Disney
animation that had begun in 1950 with Cinderella (1950). This also marked the first successful animated film that
Walt Disney himself had not worked on.
During
the 1960s and early 70s Disney films took on the trend of comedy, rather than
story, heart, and drama. The Rescuers marked the return of the animated
drama films the studio had previously been known for, such as Bambi and Dumbo. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston stated in their website that The Rescuers had been their
return to a film with heart and also considered it their best film without Walt
Disney.[6] Also unique
to the animation was the opening credits: this film marked the first time that
practiced camera movements over still photographs were used to make the opening
credits. Prior to this, the studio had used the cels with the credits
motionless over different still backgrounds, sometimes over one single
background, as was done in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The Rescuers was also the
first Disney animated film to feature a prologue, or part of the story prior to
the opening credits sequence, making said sequence part of the storyline.
The film
marked the end of the studio's so-called sketchy animation period of the 1960s
and 70s. The new xerographic process restored a softer outline that previously was not possible
with the technology, which so far only had been able to produce black outlines.
This allowed the use of a medium-gray tone and even a purple tone for outlines,
such as that used for Miss Bianca.
Inspirations
The
Rescuers is based on
novels by Margery Sharp and there are a number of differences between the film and the
original work[7][8]
Bernard
was inspired by the character of the same name in Margery Sharp's The
Rescuers series and much of his personality and character were kept. In the
novel Miss Bianca, however, Bernard plays a very minor role.
Penny
was inspired by Patience, the orphan in the novel. Mr. Snoops is a version of
Mandrake, a character of the book. His appearance is a caricature of animation
historian John Culhane.[2] Culhane claims he was practically tricked into
posing for various reactions, and his movements were imitated on Mr. Snoops'
model sheet. However, he stated, "Becoming a Disney character was beyond
my wildest dreams of glory."[9] Brutus and Nero are based on the two
bloodhounds, Tyrant and Torment in the novels.
A pigeon
was originally proposed to be the transportation for Bernard and Bianca, until
animator Ollie Johnston remembered a True Life Adventures film of albatrosses and their clumsy take-offs and landings, and
suggested the ungainly bird instead.[4]
Originally,
Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians was to have been recast as the
villainess in The Rescuers, but this idea was dropped since the studio
was not interested in producing sequels at the time. She was replaced by a
retouched version of the Diamond Duchess in Miss Bianca. The two
characters share surprisingly few similarities, other than perhaps the tendency
to drive recklessly. The motive to steal a diamond originated in Margery
Sharp's 1959 novel, Miss Bianca. Her appearance was based on animator Milt Kahl's ex-wife, whom he didn't particularly
like. This was Kahl's last film for the studio, and he wanted his final
character to be his best; he was so insistent on perfecting Medusa that he
ended up doing almost all the animation for the character himself.[10]
Release
The
Rescuers was
re-released to theaters on December 16, 1983 along with a new Mickey
Mouse featurette, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Mickey's first theatrical appearance
after a 30-year absence. In anticipation of its upcoming theatrically released
sequel in 1990, The Rescuers saw another successful theatrical run on
March 17, 1989.
Marketing
To tie
in with the film's 25th Anniversary, The Rescuers debuted in the Walt
Disney Classics Collection (WDCC) line in 2002 (not to be confused with the Walt Disney Classics video series) with three different figures featuring three of the
film's biggest stars, as well as the opening title scroll. The three figures
were sculpted by Dusty Horner and they were: Brave Bianca, featuring
Miss Bianca the heroine and priced at $75,[11] Bold Bernard, featuring
hero Bernard, priced also at $75[11] and Evinrude Base, featuring
Evinrude the dragonfly and priced at $85.[11] The title scroll featuring the
film's name, The Rescuers and from the opening song sequence "The
Journey," was priced at $30. All figures were retired in March 2005,
except for the opening title scroll which is still widely available.
The
Rescuers was the
inspiration for another Walt Disney Classics Collection figure in 2003. Ken
Melton was the sculptor of Teddy Goes With Me, My Dear, a limited
edition, 8-inch sculpture featuring the evil Madame Medusa, the orphan girl
Penny, her teddy bear "Teddy" and the Devil's Eye diamond. 1,977 of
these sculptures were made, in reference to the film's release year, 1977. The
sculpture was priced at $299 and instantly declared retired in 2003.[11]
In
November 2008, a sixth sculpture inspired by the film was released. Made with pewter and resin, Cleared For Take Off introduced
the character of Orville into the collection and featured Bernard and Bianca a
second time. The piece, inspired by Orville's take-off scene in the film, was
sculpted by Ruben Procopio.[12]
Critical
reception
The
Rescuers was successful
upon its original theatrical release earning $48 million at the box office and
becoming Disney's most successful film to that date.[citation needed] The film broke a record for the
largest financial amount made for an animated film on opening weekend, a record
it kept until 1986, when An
American Tail
(1986), directed by Rescuers animator Don Bluth, broke the record. The Rescuers
was Disney's first significant success since The Jungle Book (1967) and the last until The Little Mermaid (1989).
The film
was received with praise from critics[13] and was also well-received by
audiences. The Rescuers was said to be Disney's greatest film since Mary Poppins (1964), and seemed to signal a new golden age for Disney animation.[14]
The film was ranked 20th out of the 48 canon Disney animated features in a 2009
countdown at Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a "fresh" 85% rating.[15]
In his
book, The Disney Films, film historian Leonard
Maltin refers to The
Rescuers as "a breath of fresh air for everyone who had been concerned
about the future of animation at Walt Disney's," praises its "humor
and imagination and [it is] expertly woven into a solid story structure [...]
with a delightful cast of characters." Finally, he declares the film
"the most satisfying animated feature to come from the studio since 101
Dalmatians." He also briefly mentions the ease with which the film
surpassed other animated films of its time.[16]
The film
received an Academy Award nomination for the song "Someone's Waiting for
You", which was nominated in 1978 at the 50th
Academy Awards.[17] The
song lost to "You Light Up My Life" from the film of the same name.
Jack Shaheen, in his study of Hollywood portrayals and stereotypes of Arabs,
noted the inclusion of delegates from Arab countries in the Rescue Aid Society.[18]
Home
media
The Rescuers premiered on VHS and Laserdisc on September 18, 1992 as part of the Walt Disney Classics series. It was re-released on VHS as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection on January 5, 1999, but was recalled
three days later and reissued on March 23, 1999 (see "Controversy").
The
Rescuers was released
on DVD on May 20, 2003 as a standard edition.
This edition was later reissued to include the Disney Movie Rewards banner and
logo, clumsily taking the cover art out of focus, and reissued yet again with a
"limited edition" glossy cover. The 2003 DVD release was finally
discontinued in November 2011.
According
to an insert in the new Lady and the Tramp Diamond Edition release,
Disney is planning to release The Rescuers on Blu-ray in a new
"35th Anniversary Edition". The film will be released alongside its
sequel The Rescuers Down Under in a "2-Movie Collection" in
summer 2012.[20]
Controversy
One of the
frozen frames containing a picture of a topless woman in the window
On
January 8, 1999, three days after the film's second release on home video, the
Walt Disney Company announced a recall of about 3.4 million copies of the
videotapes because there was an objectionable image in one of The Rescuers
background cels.[21][22][23][24][25]
The
image in question is a blurry image of a topless woman that appears in two out
of the film's more than 110,000 frames. The image appears twice in
non-consecutive frames
during the scene in which Miss Bianca and Bernard are flying on Orville's back
through New York City. The two images could not be seen in ordinary viewing
because the film runs too fast — at 30 frames per second on video.[26]
In 1999,
two days after the recall was announced, the London press site The
Independent reported:
A Disney
spokeswoman said that the images in The Rescuers were placed in the film
during production, but she declined to say what they were or who placed them...
The company said the aim of the recall was to keep its promise to families that
they can trust and rely on the Disney brand to provide the best in family
entertainment.[citation needed]
The
Rescuers video was
reissued March 23, 1999 with the offending image edited out. On May 20, 2003,
the film was released on DVD.
Soundtrack
The
songs were written by Sammy Fain, Carol Connors, and Ayn Robbins, and performed by Shelby
Flint. For the first
time since Bambi, all the most significant songs were sung as part of a narrative,
as opposed to by the film's characters as in most Disney animated films.
•
The
Journey (a.k.a. Who
Will Rescue Me?) – Sung during the film's opening credits, the song follows
Penny’s bottle as it floats out of the Devil's Bayou and into the Atlantic
Ocean.
•
Rescue
Aid Society – Sung by
the Chairman (Bernard Fox), Bernard (Bob Newhart) and Miss Bianca (Robie
Lester, filling in for Eva Gabor), as well as the various international
mouse delegates (the Disney Studio Chorus) during the R.A.S. meeting. A reprise
of the plays when Bernard and Bianca begin to lose their faith, and are
reminded of the song and its meaning.
▪
Faith
is a Bluebird –
Although not an actual song, it is a poem recited by Rufus and partially by Penny
in a flashback the old cat has to when he last saw the small orphan girl, and
comforted her through the poem, about having faith.
▪
Tomorrow
is Another Day – Sung
as Bernard and Bianca travel to Devil's Bayou upon Orville's back. The
heartwarming song plays again at the film's closure, as Bernard and Bianca,
assisted by Evinrude and Orville, set out on a new rescue mission.
▪
Someone’s
Waiting For You – Sung
as Penny begins to lose her faith, after Medusa cruelly speaks to her. During
this segment, the star of faith, that Rufus mentioned earlier lights up the
night sky. Various artists, such as Lea
Salonga, have covered
it.[citation needed]
▪
For
Penny's a Jolly Good Fellow
- Sung by the orphan kids at the end of the film, a variation of the song
"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".
Sequel
The
Rescuers was the first
Disney animated film to have a sequel. After three successful theatrical
releases of the original film, The Rescuers Down Under was released
theatrically on November 16, 1990.
The sequel
takes place in the Australian
Outback, and involves
Bernard and Bianca trying to rescue a boy named Cody and a giant golden
eagle from a greedy poacher named Percival C. McLeach. Both Bob
Newhart and Eva Gabor reprised their lead roles. Since Jim Jordan, who had
voiced Orville, had since died, a new character, Wilbur (Orville’s brother,
another albatross) was created and voiced by John Candy.
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