The Rescuers (1977)

 

Sometimes it seems as though this one isn't brought up as much whenever people discuss the better Disney projects. A real shame, because 'The Rescuers' is a lot darker and memorable than one would assume at first glance. But I guess stuff like 'The Lion King' ran away with more attention?

No, I didn't say 'The Lion King' sucks. But sometimes it seems as though that one coupled with 'Beauty and the Beast' are the only ones people mention. 

Anyway...

Unbeknownst to people there is a whole society of mice that dedicate themselves to helping humans in need across the globe. A bit like the United Nations, in whose building the mice reside, but then maybe also a lot more efficient, as these mice actually get shit done. 

A dig at an institution? How daring!

The mice receive a letter from a girl named Penny, who is clearly in need of assistance. A plucky Hungarian mouse (voiced by Eva Gabor) wants this assignment and because she has a connection with an unassuming janitor named Bernard, she chooses him to be her partner. They head out to the orphanage and discover Penny was kidnapped by a bizarre lady called Medusa.

On a sidenote: Medusa is all kinds of scary. She scarred me for life as a child, because she is one of those villains that feels all too real and her stare would haunt you in your sleep.

It turns out she and her associate Snoops kidnapped Penny because the little girl is small enough to fit through a hole where pirate treasure is buried. To be more precise, there is a massive diamond called the Devil's Eye and this is what Medusa craves. So our mice head down to a place ominously called Devil's Bayou to discover Medusa's lair on an old steamboat, where she also has two pet alligators called Nero and Brutus. 

So now it becomes tense as the mice try to save Penny with a little help from some Louisiana natives...

The animation on this one is beautiful. Check the opening scenes, where the backgrounds are actual paintings. You can even see the brush strokes! Okay, they don't use that for the rest of the film, but the choice in colours is on point and especially the bayou looks eerie and spooky and at the same time wonderful. The music is scary as all heck, though. I had this tale on vinyl as well, and the foreboding bayou tunes always gave me the willies. 

Don't even mention the part where a dragonfly is chased by hungry bats. That stuff is traumatizing, y'all.

The voice acting and character designs are also most excellent and the dynamic between our two leads Bernard and Bianca and the rest of the cooky cast is pretty much spot on. How can you not like Orville the albatross? Or Ellie-Mae? Or Rufus? 

In short: this is a wonderful adventure that deserves all the praise it can get. It's dark, funny, engaging and tense and never gets dull or old.