The Rescuers

In 1977, Eva Gabor would star in another Disney movie alongside Bob Newhart. Based on the Margery Sharp books, The Rescuers and Miss Bianca, the film known as The Rescuers would be the highest grossing animated film of all time until Don Bluth released An American Tail in the 1980s. It was the last time Milt Kahl and Frank and Ollie would work on a film together. This film was also the first Disney movie to warrant a sequel, with The Rescuers Down Under. Not The Jungle Book as I had previously stated.

The flamboyant Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page) is trying to get her hands on the world’s largest diamond, which is hidden in a dank and gloomy swamp. However, she needs someone who will fit in a tiny hole so she kidnaps an orphan girl named Penny (Michelle Stacy).

Penny sends out a message in a bottle asking for help. The message is found by the all-mouse Rescue Aid Society, who send out Agent Bianca (Gabor) and the janitor, Bernard (Newhart).

Along the way, they are assisted by an albatross named Orville (Jim Jordan), a dragonfly named Evinrude (James MacDonald) and the denizens of the swamp (Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, George Lindsey, Larry Clemmons, Dub Taylor, and John Fiedler).

Once again, the villain is the most memorable part of the film. Medusa is very reminiscent of Cruella De Vil, trying to put on a façade of glamour and refinement, thinking she has a sense of subtlety, but loves to go overkill and has a tendency to go berserk when she isn’t getting her way. She’s also got a shotgun in this film. A shotgun with which she uses to try and kill Bernard and Bianca. The pet alligators are a nice touch to. Medusa’s henchman, Snoops, is also fairly interesting. Like with Merlin, there’s a sense that he’s obfuscating incompetence and can actually be fairly useful when he wants to. This is seen at the end where he manages to escape and laughs at Medusa’s misfortune. You can tell he also really doesn’t like Medusa and is just partnering with her for a cut in the profits, as he really doesn’t want to let Penny drown in pursuit of the gem.

And then there’s Penny. She suffers from The Aristicats’ problem in that she’s there to be cute and innocent for the sake of it. However, the helpless, endearing and naïve traits that Disney was going for just become incredibly annoying. On the other hand, Stacy does good voice work and makes it sound like Penny’s always three seconds from having a nervous breakdown. Considering her situation, she probably is, but she needs more characterization than “I’m here, save me.”

As for the mice, Bernard and Bianca are good foils for each other. She’s strong willed and doesn't care about what troubles they may befall, he’s superstitious and constantly wondering about what could go wrong. The alligators turning on Medusa at the end is also ironic, considering their names are Brutus and Nero.

As for everything else, the music is decent and the animation is pretty good. The story is your average kidnapping and salvation plot, but even if Penny suffers from a lack of characterization, everyone else carries it along quite well.

Final Call: A good film with mostly great characters. #11.