The Rescuers (1977)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Directors:

John Lounsbery
Wolfgang Reitherman

Writers:

Margery Sharp (books)
Larry Clemmons (story) ...

Release Date:

22 June 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Mystery - Fun - Intrigue!

Plot:

Two mice of the Rescue Aid Society search for a little girl kidnapped by unscrupulous treasure hunters.

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | Mice | Little Girl | Mouse | Bayou

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Bob Newhart	...	Bernard (voice)
Eva Gabor	...	Miss Bianca (voice)
Geraldine Page	...	Madame Medusa (voice)
Joe Flynn	...	Mr. Snoops (voice)
Jeanette Nolan	...	Ellie Mae (voice)
Pat Buttram	...	Luke (voice)
Jim Jordan	...	Orville (voice)
John McIntire	...	Rufus (voice)
Michelle Stacy	...	Penny (voice)
Bernard Fox	...	The Chairman (voice)
Larry Clemmons	...	Gramps (voice)
James MacDonald	...	Evinrude (voice) (as James Macdonald)
George Lindsey	...	Rabbit (voice)
Bill McMillian	...	TV Announcer (voice) (as Bill McMillan)
Dub Taylor	...	Digger (voice)

Also Known As:

Bernardo y Bianca (USA: Spanish title)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | Finland:K-8 (1988) (uncut) | Finland:K-8 (cut) (1978) | South Korea:All | Canada:G (video rating) | South Africa:A | USA:TV-G (cable rating) | New Zealand:G | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Peru:PT | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:G | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario/Quebec) | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The talking animals in this film can communicate not only with other animal species but also with human children who bother to begin conversation with them. The 1977 "Disney's Wonderful World of Reading" picture book based on the film revealed that the reason Rufus had not told of Penny's fate to another child at Morningside Orphanage was because no child or adult had bothered to ask him. It is unknown whether Rufus could have spoken to a human child without being talked to first, or if he could talk to grown-ups at all.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Nero sends Bernard up in the air by playing a hard note on the organ, Brutus throws himself after the mouse causing all the pipes to go flying, however the one Miss Bianca was in re-stands on the next shot.

Quotes:

Bottle: [singing while being washed away] I'm lost at sea without a friend. This journey, will it ever end? Who will rescue me?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Soundtrack:

Tomorrow is Another Day

One of Disney's most charming films ever!

"The Rescuers" has got to be one of the best, dramatic, dark-atmosphered films that Disney has ever created. You can't help to fall in love with the sweet tale of a little orphan girl taken away from the orphanage and used as a slave in life-threatening underground missions. That piece of storytelling, on it's own is tear-jerking, but how emotional can it get? Very.

Beautiful, dramatic melodies that sound like lullabies are carefully added as finishing touches to the most warm scenes, beginning with the artistic musical sequence "The Journey," which opens the film in one of the most heart-calling ways Disney has ever done, to the soft "Someone's Waiting for You" in which the young girl Penny, loses and regains her faith and hope once again, you can't help but feel the urge of crying during scenes like this. The scene in which Penny says her night prayers before going to bed was carefully crafted to bring up a bit more emotion to the upcoming climax.

Songs like "Rescue Aid Society" and "Tomorrow is Another Day" are nicely added to allow the viewer a few moments of happiness during the charming film.

Besides the music, Disney has added several moments of action and suspense, including one in which Madame Medusa, the kidnapper, lowers poor innocent Penny into a dangerous and humid cave at the shore in which the girl's life might be threatened enormously, Medusa could care less about that, making you hate her even more, which makes her a fantastic villain whom from the first moment of the film's opening, she is motivating the story.

A lot of humor, fun and colorful and lovable characters are added to take you away from the dark atmosphere once in a while. The ending is one of the happiest among Disney's finales and certainly leaves you hoping for a sequel, one in which you can be sure Penny is happily living and away from harm's way as it would have happened in early development of "Oliver & Company" and not at all what we got in the lame "The Rescuers Down Under."

Overall, "The Rescuers" along with "Dumbo," "The Fox and the Hound" and "Bambi" is definitely a charming story anyone can enjoy. Disney's currently releases of the film leave a lot to be desired, especially the picture quality. Hopefully Disney will soon release this film properly like it deserves to be.