Robin Hood – a classic fictional hero for the poor, but a nightmare for the rich. It was just a matter of time before Walt Disney Productions would have an animated movie that was about everyone’s favorite archer.

Critics were okay with the movie’s results, despite the production costs that Disney was forced to follow through with due to Walt and Roy’s deaths.

After a botched attempt to capture Robin Hood at an archery tournament for raiding the royal coach, Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham tax the hell out of their followers to the point where they can’t even pay poor tax of 15 farthings and get thrown in jail. Robin Hood and Little John storm the castle and launch a jailbreak to free the prisoners and raid the treasury.

Due to financial problems mostly from blowing money on Walt Disney World, Walt Disney Productions was forced to reuse animation. They’ve done this in the past, but Robin Hood is the most notable case. The Phony King of England has a lot of this.

Initially the ending was to involve Robin Hood not looking before he leaped into the moat and/or struck by some arrows, forcing Little John to get Robin Hood out of trouble, and Prince John attempting to finish Robin Hood off just before being caught by King Richard. Bits and pieces of this idea were used in the Hunchback of Notre Dame 20+ years later (i.e. Phoebus gets hit by an arrow and is taken by Esmeralda to get him fixed up, Frollo tries to assassinate Quasimodo as he’s tending to Esmerelda in the tower).

Some of the characters (notably Little John) are nearly identical to older Disney characters. Little John isn’t much different from Baloo in terms of appearance and he’s voiced by Phil Harris as well.

Prince John could’ve gotten England in a lot of trouble by sentencing Friar Tuck to be executed.

Roger Miller would narrate another cartoon, Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey, in 1977.

Most of the Robin Hood adaptations typically place the Sheriff of Nottingham as the archenemy of Robin Hood, not Prince John.

If you listen VERY closely on most home video copies (at least prior to the “gold collection” version) you can hear someone yell “cut” right after the movie ends. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V4hNlBtlow)

Robin Hood was used as the first movie to be tested for Walt Disney Home Video’s “Walt Disney Classics” lineup that went from 1984 to 1994.

Very popular with furries. And I have no idea why.

Looney Tunes also had some animated Robin Hood adaptations with Rabbit Hood and Robin Hood Daffy. There might be other ones they did. Additionally, a live action Robin Hood was done in 1952 when Walt Disney was alive.

Skippy and some of the other rabbits and Toby appear in Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

Excluding South Park, Robin Hood is probably the most politically animated material I’ve ever seen done right. As a whole Robin Hood is typically about politics anyway so there isn’t a way around it.

Donald Trump (NO he didn’t fucking win in 2020 so stop bitching about a “stole election”) fully embodies the behaviors of Prince John. He just got indicted for the third time and he’s still throwing up false claims. Yeah I know it’s kind of lazy to be making fun of Trump but the similarities between Prince John and Donald Trump are nearly identical.

The recycled animation doesn’t bother me, especially because Disney was going through some very hard times. Besides it’s always been done as long as Disney’s been around pretty much, and other animation studios likely did this as well.

Alan-A-Dale makes me want corn flakes.

1. Phony King of England is a banger.
2. Probably my favorite adaptation of Robin Hood; even Errol Flynn’s doesn’t compare.
3. A lot of funny moments.
4. Prince John’s a great role model for how not to be a leader.
5. Despite the recycled animation, the animation itself is still great as is typical with Disney.
6. The IRS could use the part where the Sheriff gets creative with managing to swipe coins for taxes.
7. Watching the narrator interact with the main characters is clever.
8. Robin Hood is one of the few animated materials out there that actually does politics right.

Cons

1. Questionable voice casting; while some are perfectly fine like Monica Evans and Brian Bedford, there exist some that don’t fit in like Pat Buttram and George Lindsey (though their work on this was phenomenal).