The Sheriff was originally going to be a pig, but it was felt that this would be offensive to police officers at the time. The most interesting animal choice, however, is that of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Sir Hiss, a snake, stands in for the devil’s advocate, who hisses in the young Prince John’s ear. Lady Kluck is a chicken, who is fiercely protective of her “egg” Marian. This characterization not only speaks to his origins as Reynard the Fox but to the cunning nature of foxes that speak to Robin’s thievery. Prince John is depicted as a cowardly lion, while his brother Richard is a strong majestic lion. It was determined that by making the characters into animals it created moral distance for the viewer from their unethical decisions (Harty, 140). Such a storytelling technique was supposed to show that these immoral acts are not acts of people but are part of a simply fairytale, which used animals to signify the characters’ standing in society. The animators felt that they ethically had to do this because it was just not right to have a criminal as the film’s main character (Harty, 142). In a draft of an essay from 1962, Disney wrote about the importance of teaching children that good always has the ability to beat evil, and that is what he tried to do with his films (Harty, 143). The original script of Reynard the Fox was transformed into Robin Hood following Walt Disney’s death. He was worried about how a film depicting a character committing crimes in a positive light and receiving no punishment would affect young children. He thought that such would suggest that it is acceptable to take up arms against an unlawful authority (Harty, 141). Originally Walt Disney wanted to adapt Reynard the Fox into a film but was worried about the violence and morality of the character (Harty, 142). The tales of Reynard the Fox go back to Roman times, but the stories were compiled and written down by William Caxton in the late fifteenth century (Morley). Robin Hood is a film that was conceived by Disney from the medieval tales about Reynard the Fox and crafted into the social commentary after his death. Creating a film about social responsibility, without having it come off as socialist, was his biggest issue. The unique historical context of this film, the Depression, and the Cold War made it difficult for Disney to create this film. It is a film that summons a message of social responsibility and cares for the marginalized. The idea for this film came about during the Depression era but was not truly started until the 1960s. Disney’s Robin Hood, on the other hand, was released in 1973 following the Civil Rights movement. This is evident in Robin’s motto: stealing from the rich to give to the poor (Aberth, 173). The Adventures of Robin Hood has a measure of “conservative” socialism, in that it supported the New Deal programs that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had recently created. Robin Hood films have boasted social justice themes since The Adventures of Robin Hood. Disney’s animated Robin Hood is based on a previous intellectual property, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and scenes in the animated film mirror this classic, swashbuckler film. The legend of Robin Hood is now traditionally set in medieval times, precisely during the reign of Richard I following Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819) (Lynch, 30). It is a general consensus that each new Robin Hood adaptation is the product of its predecessors (Lynch, 30). King Richard returns and imprisons Prince John, while Robin and Maid Marian are married. Robin Hood and Little John break Friar out of jail out and steal money from the royal treasury. In another attempt to try and capture Robin, Prince John arrests Friar Tuck and sentences him to death. Prince John holds an archery contest to try and catch Robin Hood. Prince John becomes greedy and starts to excessively tax the people. Robin Hood (a fox) steals back the taxes to give to the poor people of Nottingham. While Richard is away on Crusade, his younger brother Prince John (a lion) rules in his absence. The Third Crusade took place from 1189 to 1192. Robin Hood takes place during the reign of King Richard I while he is on the Third Crusade. The animation was created at and by Walt Disney Studios, which was also called Buena Vista Studios. Disney’s animated Robin Hood (1973), directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, is a zoomorphic version of the famous tale, meaning that animals of different species represent the classic characters of the Robin Hood legend.
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