The Fox and the Hound (1981) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Fox and the Hound
Year: 1981
Director: Ted Berman
Country: US
Language: English

Forget magic, music, anthropomorphic animals/objects, fantasy and mice that somehow are able to own dogs. Fox and the Hound is a Disney picture made during the time where there was a trend in more "realistic" animation productions. It's a downbeat film which maturely discusses real prejudices that hit very close to home. Stripped of happy woodland critters, and catchy songs Disney removes all the glitz and glamour and balances this run-time on real heartfelt emotion.

A young fox named Tod (Mickey Rooney) is taken in by an old woman after his mother is killed by a hunter. Full of mischief, Young Tod befriends Copper (Kurt Russell) , a hound dog pup. As they grow up, however, their friendship becomes endangered by what they have become; Copper is a hunting dog, and Tod is his prey. 

Forget Shakespeare and bring a box of tissues for this one, because Fox and the Hound is a real tearjerker about a forbidden (brotherly) love that can never be. Too much of cinema history has focused on touchy-feely romantic love, few films have captured platonic friendship in such an engrossing and endearing way. We can thank Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller for wanting to leave the fantasy world behind on this project and go for a gritter route. 

The movie’s moral message details the laws within nature and society as invoked by the duos masters.  Tod and Copper are conditioned to be who they are through their biological make-up, as well as their masters. They are continually at war with their inner feelings; a conflict we can all understand. Both characters are incredibly easy to empathize with, as an audience we desperately want these two to stay together.

In comparison, Cooper's master is a despicable human being because he does not care about this bond. In his mind dog's do not exist to love, they exist to be fox-killing machines. Disney's film is bittersweet; there is no happy resolution, but it's not entirely bleak either. Despite some filler,  Fox and the Hound is truly a well-made film.