The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 American animated buddy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens. Mickey Rooney and Kurt Russell respectively star as the voices of Tod and Copper, with Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson (in his final film role), Sandy Duncan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, John Fiedler, John McIntire, Dick Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Keith Mitchell, and Corey Feldman in supporting roles. Loosely based on the 1967 novel by Daniel P. Mannix, the film tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a red fox named Tod and a hound named Copper, as they struggle against their emerging instincts and the realization that they are meant to be adversaries.
Walt Disney Productions first obtained the film rights to the novel by Daniel P. Mannix in 1967; however, actual development on the film would not occur until spring 1977. It marked the last involvement of the remaining members of Disney's Nine Old Men, which included Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Though they had involvement in early development of the film, it was ultimately handed over to a new generation of animators following the retirement of the old animators. As such, it was the first film for future directors, including Tim Burton, Brad Bird, and John Lasseter. During production, its release was delayed by over six months following the abrupt departure of Don Bluth and his team of animators. Further concerns were raised over the handling of the scene in which Chief is hit by a train, which was originally planned to result in him dying. After debating the handling of the scene, the filmmakers decided to change the death into a non-fatal injury by which he merely suffers a broken leg.
The film was released to theaters on July 10, 1981, by Buena Vista Distribution. It was a financial success, earning $39.9 million domestically and receiving mixed reviews from critics.<!-- Per WP:FILMLEAD, any summary statement "should reflect an overall consensus explicitly summarized by one or more reliable sources". --> It was nominated for three awards, of which it won one. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive animated film produced to date, costing $12 million. In spring 1977, development began on the project, after Wolfgang Reitherman had read the original novel and decided that it would make for a good animated feature, as one of his sons had once owned a pet fox years before. The title was initially reported as The Fox and the Hounds, but the filmmakers dropped the plural as the story began to focus more and more on the two leads. Reitherman was the film's original director, along with Art Stevens as codirector. A power struggle between the two directors and coproducer Ron Miller broke out over key sections of the film, with Miller supporting the younger Stevens. Miller instructed Reitherman to surrender reins over to the junior personnel, but Reitherman resisted due to a lack of trust in the young animators.
In an earlier version of the film, Chief was slated to die as he did in the novel. However, the scene was modified to have him survive with a broken leg. Animator Ron Clements, who had briefly transitioned into the story department, protested, "Chief has to die. The picture doesn't work if he just breaks his leg. Copper doesn't have motivation to hate the fox." Likewise, younger members of the story team pleaded with Stevens to have him killed. He countered, "Geez, we never killed a main character in a Disney film and we're not starting now!" The younger crew members took the problem to upper management, who would also back Stevens. Ollie Johnston's test animation of Chief stomping around the house with his leg in a cast was eventually kept, and Randy Cartwright reanimated the scene where Copper finds his body and had him animate his eyes opening and closing so the audience knew that he was not dead. and animation was turned over to the next generation of directors and animators, which included John Lasseter, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Tim Burton, Brad Bird, Henry Selick, Chris Buck, Mike Gabriel, and Mark Dindal, all of whom would finalize the animation and complete the film's production. These animators had moved through the in-house animation training program and would play an important role in the Disney Renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s.
However, the transition between the old guard and the new resulted in arguments over how to handle the film. Reitherman had his own ideas on the designs and layouts that should be used, but the newer team backed Stevens. Animator Don Bluth animated several scenes, including of Widow Tweed milking her cow, Abigail, while his team worked on the rest of the sequence, and when she fires at Amos' automobile. Nevertheless, Bluth and the new animators felt that Reitherman was too stern and out of touch, and on Bluth's 42nd birthday, September 13, 1979, he, Gary Goldman, and John Pomeroy entered Ron Miller's office and turned in their resignations. Soon after, 13 more animators followed suit in turning in their resignations. Though Bluth and his team had animated substantial scenes, they asked not to receive screen credit. Four years after production started, the film was finished with approximately 360,000 drawings, 110,000 painted cels, and 1,100 painted backgrounds making up the finished product. A total of 180 people, including 24 animators, worked on the film.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album for the film was released in 1981 by Disneyland Records. It contains songs written by Stan Fidel, Jim Stafford, and Jeffrey Patch.
Track listing
Release
The film's original release was accompanied in most theatres by the short film Once Upon a Mouse.
Marketing
The Fox and the Hound hand puppets and a puppet theater could be obtained through a mail-in offer and the purchase of Dial or Tone soap bars. Smucker's gave away a pair of The Fox and the Hound beverage mugs, followed by a pair of stuffed toys in August 1981, when customers purchased their products and sent mail-in offers.
Box office
In its original release, the film grossed $39.9 million in domestic grosses, the highest for an animated film at the time from its initial release. Its distributor rentals were reported to be $14.2 million, while its international rentals totaled $43 million. It was rereleased theatrically on March 25, 1988, It has had a lifetime gross of $63.5 million across its original release and reissue. On May 2, 2000, it was released on Region 1 DVD for the first time as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection line, along with a simultaneous VHS re-issue as part of the same video line on the same day. This edition went into moratorium in January 2006. Soon after, a 25th anniversary special edition DVD was released on October 10, 2006.
The film was released on Blu-ray on August 9, 2011, commemorating its 30th anniversary as part of a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack that was bundled as a 2-movie Collection Edition featuring The Fox and the Hound 2 on the same Blu-ray Disc, as well as separate DVD versions of both films. Featuring a new digital restoration, the Blu-ray transfer presents the film for the first time in 1.66:1 widescreen and also features 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The Fox and the Hound 2 is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and features the same audio channel as the first film.
Critical reception
Initial reviews
Vincent Canby of The New York Times claimed that the film "breaks no new ground whatsoever", while describing it as "a pretty, relentlessly cheery, old-fashioned sort of Disney cartoon feature, chock-full of bouncy songs of an upbeatness that is stickier than Krazy Glue and played by animals more anthropomorphic than the humans that occasionally appear." He further commented that the film "is rather overstuffed with whimsy and folksy dialogue. It also possesses a climax that could very well scare the daylights out of the smaller tykes in the audience, though all ends well. Parents who don't relish chaperoning their tykes to see the movie, but find they must anyway, can take heart in the knowledge that the running time is 83 minutes. That's about as short as you can get these days." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times praised the animation but criticized the story for playing it too safe. She acknowledged that the writers were "protecting us from important stuff: from rage, from pain, from loss. By these lies, done for our own good, of course, they also limit the growth that is possible." David Ansen of Newsweek stated, "Adults may wince at some of the sticky-sweet songs, but the movie is not intended for grownups." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also praised it, saying, "For all of its familiar qualities, this movie marks something of a departure for the Disney studio, and its movement is in an interesting direction. The Fox and the Hound is one of those relatively rare Disney animated features that contains a useful lesson for its younger audiences. It's not just cute animals and frightening adventures and a happy ending; it's also a rather thoughtful meditation on how society determines our behavior."
Retrospective reviews
TV Guide gave the film four out of five stars, saying, "The animation here is better than average (veteran Disney animators Wolfgang Reitherman and Art Stevens supervised the talents of a new crop of artists that developed during a 10-year program at the studio), though not quite up to the quality of Disney Studios in its heyday. Still, this film has a lot of 'heart' and is wonderful entertainment for both kids and their parents. Listen for a number of favorites among the voices." Michael Scheinfeld of Common Sense Media gave its quality a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, stating, "It develops into a thoughtful examination of friendship and includes some mature themes, especially loss."
In The Animated Movie Guide, Jerry Beck considered the film "average", though he praises the voice work of Pearl Bailey as Big Mama and the extreme dedication to detail shown by animator Glen Keane in crafting the fight scene between Copper, Tod, and the bear. In his book The Disney Films, Leonard Maltin also notes that that scene received great praise in the animation world. However, he felt the film relied too much on "formula cuteness, formula comedy relief, and even formula characterizations". Overall, he considered it "charming" stating that it is "warm, and brimming with personable characters" and that it "approaches the old Disney magic at times." Craig Butler from All Movie Guide stated that it was a "warm and amusing, if slightly dull, entry in the Disney animated canon." He also called it "conventional and generally predictable" with problems in pacing. However, he praised its climax and animation, as well as the ending. His final remark is that "Two of the directors, Richard Rich and Ted Berman, would next direct The Black Cauldron, a less successful but more ambitious project."
Rob Humanick of Slant Magazine gave the film 3 out of five stars, noting that it was the transition point between the remaining original animators since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the new generation, saying that "the results culled the best qualities of both groups." and that "The result is a work of both learned, assured poise and triumphant freshman determination, not far away (in style or quality) from other benchmark-status works, like the aforementioned Snow White or Pixar's Toy Story." RL Shaffer of IGN wrote a rather mixed review, claiming that it "is just not as impressive as Disney's early work, or their late '80s/early '90s pictures." James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk stated that it "is not one of the studio's best efforts, but nonetheless it remains a fascinating product of an era of upheaval as well as a meaningful statement about the nature of prejudice." Peter Canavense of Groucho Reviews stated that it "is sweet but a bit dull", noting that "Overall, the picture is good-hearted and colorful, with an ending that carries a nice touch of ambiguity about the tussle of nature and nurture." John J. Puccio of Movie Metropolis claimed that it "is very sweet and no doubt a delight for children, but I found it quite slow and tedious."
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film received approval rating with an average rating of based on reviews. The website's consensus states that "The Fox and the Hound is a likeable, charming, unassuming effort that manages to transcend its thin, predictable plot." Metacritic gave it a score of 65 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
The film was awarded a Golden Screen Award () in 1982. In the same year, it was also nominated for a Young Artist Award and the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film.
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Ceremony
! Award
! Result
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1982
| 9th Saturn Awards
| Best Fantasy Film
|
|-
| 1982 Golden Screen Awards
| Best Motion Picture - Fantasy or Comedy - Family Enjoyment
|
|-
|}
Related media
Comic adaptations
As well as adaptations of the film itself, comic strips featuring the characters also appeared in stories unconnected to it. Examples include The Lost Fawn, in which Copper uses his sense of smell to help Tod find a fawn who has gone astray; The Escape, in which Tod and Vixey must save a Canadian goose from a bobcat; The Chase, in which Copper must safeguard a sleepwalking Chief; and Feathered Friends, in which Dinky and Boomer must go to desperate lengths to save one of Widow Tweed's chickens from a coyote.
A comic adaptation of the film, drawn by Richard Moore, was published in newspapers as part of Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales. A comic-book titled The Fox and the Hound followed, with new adventures of the characters. From 1981 to 2007, a few Fox and the Hound Disney comics stories were produced in Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, France, and the United States.
Sequel
An intermediate follow-up, The Fox and the Hound 2, was released directly-to-DVD on December 12, 2006. It takes place during Tod and Copper's youth, before the events of the later half of the first film. The storyline involves Copper being tempted to join a band of singing stray dogs called "The Singin' Strays", thus threatening his friendship with Tod. It was critically panned, with critics calling it a pale imitation of its predecessor.
Others
Amos Slade (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) appears as one of the villains present at The Simpsons 2024 short The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
In 2025, the video game Disney Magic Kingdoms included a limited-time event based on The Fox and the Hound with a storyline serving as a continuation of the events of the film, with Tod, Copper, Big Mama, Widow Tweed and Amos Slade as playable characters to unlock, along with attractions based on scenarios of the film.
See also
- Foxes in popular culture, films and literature
- The Belstone Fox, a 1973 British film with similar themes, based on David Rook's 1970 novel, The Ballad of the Belstone Fox