This week, mystery, fun, intrigue, child abduction all the normal things. It's the Rescuers from 1977. We climb aboard our local albotross and set a course for Devil's Bayou to drink some suspect moonshine, make friends with local hillbillies and water ski on some crocodile dogs. It's all fun and games this week. Do we make it out alive?
Storyline :When a bottle containing a plea for help from a little girl named Penny makes its way to the Rescue Aid Society, a mouse organization in the basement of the United Nations building dedicated to the rescue and well-being of anyone in need, it is up to the brave mouse Miss Bianca and her chosen partner, the shy janitor Bernard, to rescue the girl. Searching for clues at Penny's home at Morningside Orphanage in New York City, the two mice discover that the girl has been kidnapped by the evil pawn shop owner Madame Medusa and her companion Mr. Snoops. On the back of Orville the albatross, Miss Bianca and Bernard travel to the terrifyingly gloomy Devil's Bayou where they learn the shocking truth: the innocent young girl is being forced down into a dangerous, dark underground pirate's cave where she must find the Devil's Eye, the world's largest diamond and Madame Medusa's greatest obsession. Before returning safely home, Miss Bianca, Bernard, and Penny will have to combat Madame Medusa's two ferocious pet alligators Brutus and Nero with the help of Ellie Mae and Evinrude the dragonfly, as well as survive the raging tides inside the horrible pirate's cave.
Directors: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman and Art Stevens
Writers: Margery Sharp...(suggested by "The Rescuers" and "Miss Bianca" by) Larry Clemmons, Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Vance Gerry, David Michener, Ted Berman, Fred Lucky, Burny Mattinson and Dick Sebast
Stars: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Geraldine Page, and Joe Flynn
Awards: 2 Wins & 1 Nominations
Film Budget: $7,500,000
Gross Worldwide: $71,215,869
The soundtrack for Rescuers was originally supposed to be done by the Carpenters and we can for sure imagine Karen's beautiful voice over some of these tracks.
SOARING ADVENTURE from the depths of Devil's Bayou!
The film's popularity almost led to a spin-off TV series in 1989. When the animation department green-lit The Rescuers Down Under (1990), the spin-off was reworked into Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989), with Chip and Dale replacing Bernard and Miss Bianca.
One of Miss Bianca's traits, as portrayed in the original novel, was her trust and affection for felines (widely known as menacing predators of mice). This element was brought onto the film in the form of Rufus the cat. Though he frightens the mice duo initially, he quickly shows he is a friend and is willing to help the mice on their quest to find Penny, with whom he shared a special friendship.
Penny freezes whenever she gazes into Madame Medusa's eyes. In the Greek myth, those who gazed into Medusa's eyes turned to stone.
The Rescue Aid Society honors their founder, Euripedes Mouse, who removed a tiny needle from a ferocious lion's paw, a clear reference to the classic Aesop fable, "The Mouse and the Lion."
In the scene where Penny is seen carrying Rufus the cat off to supper, Penny grabs Rufus and uncomfortably carries him off in her arms, pushing him up with her knee as he begins to slip. Ollie Johnston, who animated this scene, explained that he did this in order to show the tender affection between Penny and Rufus, by having the cat be too fond of Penny to complain, since it would have been easier for Penny to walk away and have Rufus follow her.
The Rescuers and the sequel film are available on Disney+ here.
#disney #disneyplus #disneymovies #disneypodcast #movies #movieoftheweek #movietime #moviereview #moviepodcast #disneymovieinsiders #disneydiscussion #moviecommentary #disneylife #disneyfans #wdw #rescuers #disneyanimation #animatedmovies #childrensmovies #kidsmovies #nostalgia #therescuers #rescuers1977 #bernardandbianca