Fox and the Hound : Enjoy Your Inevitable Social Role!

Get your tissues ready! It's time to see if this movie is really as sad as we all think it is!

This week Sarrah brings her husband Curtis to watch Disney's 1981 movie The Fox and the Hound with us - because he's never seen it!

Aly does a biography on the author of the novel The Fox and the Hound, Daniel P. Mannix, who might just be the most interesting man in the world. We also learn that this movie is very loosely based on the book, as there is a lot more death in the novel. Perhaps not surprising in a novel about hunting, but it messed with Aly's head a bit.

Sarrah gives us the lowdown on how this film marked a major turning point in studio history. A lot of the old guard animators left (goodbye Wolfgang Reitherman!), to be replaced with some new blood that you will recognize to be a big part of the upcoming Disney Renaissance.

Our walkthrough has one of us admitting to shedding a few tears, discussion over the most useless subplot known to history, wondering if Widow Tweed really did Tod any favors, and finding our loyalties lie in surprising places.

So grab those tissues and your best friend forever, and let's get ready for some education (to avoid elimination!).

Podcast Music By: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Welcome to sad movie month here are Cartoonin' In.
You know, we thought to ourselves "January and February are so depressing and gross, what could we do to really bring that home?"

So this week we are talking about Disney's 1981 tear-jerker "The Fox and the Hound", and the novel that it is based upon, David Mannix's "The Fox and the Hound".

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Spoiler Alert: Aly actually cried.

I'm not crying, you're crying.

But before we get into it, we had a very special guest on the show this week! Our first ever guest for a full episode...Sarrah's husband Curtis! We've mentioned him before, and now you get to hear his voice and opinions. Here is the kicker - he has NEVER seen this movie before. We had a hunch that maybe this movie banks heavily on nostalgia, so we brought Curtis along to see if that was a correct assumption.

Aly starts us off with an author biography that takes a sharp turn into left field. Mannix was a BADASS with a variety of jobs and talents. Think David Attenborough, but collecting magic tricks and working the carnival sideshow circuit on the side.

Now, Aly has a confession to make: she didn't actually read this book. It is out of print and hard to get, and once she read the summary, she decided to rank her sanity over this podcast. Because this shit is DARK. Aly and dying animals don't go well together, and there is a lot of killing of animals in this book, which is to be expected in a book about hunting, we realize. But the [SPOILER] Old Yeller-esq ending nearly did her in just reading the description of it. So she shares the bullet points. And we now realize why this movie might be lacking in much plot or development - they pretty much cut out the entire book.

Aly's face reading the ending.

Aly also talks a little bit about what goes into owning a fox, if anybody out there was curious. And let's just say that maybe Widow Tweed wasn't exactly doing the best job ever.

Maybe not the BEST pet, unless you want an entire lifestyle change.

Sarrah chimes in with a big chunk of studio history. This movie marks another turning of the tide. Our friend Wolfgang Reitherman leaves Disney during this movie, along with a LOT of other animators (some of which we will be hearing about very soon at other studios). But it also brings in an entirely new generation of animators that you may recognize, who become pretty big players in the Disney Renaissance. We also learn that this movie made BANK.

Welcome to the one scene everybody remembers.

Our Voice Cast is chock-full of Disney alumni, which makes up for the rather disappointing inspiration and influence. Fox and the Hound isn't exactly a staple in the world of Disney Parks or merchandise. But it did get a sequel!

Our walkthrough has us squeeing over the cuteness of baby Copper and Tod, questioning the need for the most useless subplot ever, realizing maybe more subtlety could have been used in the voice acting, and kind of falling in love with the opposite characters we thought we would.

Why were you a thing?

Then we get Curtis's verdict on whether this movie holds up to somebody who has never seen it before!

So practice your howling, grab your best friend forever, and let's get some education (to avoid elimination).

LOOK AT THIS LIL' NUGGET!

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Our Sources:

Podcast Music By: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

IMDb Page for The Fox and the Hound
Wikipedia Page for The Fox and the Hound (film)
Wikipedia Page for The Fox and the Hound (novel)

Wikipedia Article for Daniel P. Mannix
OzClub.org

Popsci.com Article on Domesticated Foxes
TheSpruce.com Article on pet Foxes
Juniper the Fox
Telegraph.uk Article on Pet Foxes