December Review: The Fox and the Hound (1981) (Patreon)

The Fox and the Hound (1981) follows the life of a little fox who is taken in by an elderly widow after his mother is killed by hunters. He quickly befriends a neighboring puppy who is being raised to be a hunting dog. Their unlikely friendship is broken up as time passes and they grow up into their respective roles, and they fall out. Later in life they find themselves pitted against each other as hunter and hunted, but when a bear attacks, the fox still cares enough to save the hound, and that care is reciprocated when the hound steps in to stop the hunter.

Playing on themes of nature and nurture, of the innocence of childhood and the way how we're raised can change us, The Fox and the Hound (1981) is not simple, but it is slow. The story necessitates the rapid passage of time, but every era in sequence is told in painstaking detail. Repetitive musical numbers hammer the theme of any given scene home. This isn't a long film by any stretch of the imagination, but its hour and a half moves like molasses. Movies don't have to all be fast-paced jam-packed extravaganzas, but pacing is an art, and in this instance it felt more like padding out an idea that lacked substance than it did purposeful slowing of the narrative.

Despite its slowness, The Fox and the Hound (1981) is not without its charm. A classic 2D animated flick, it has that late-70s/early-80s sketchiness that I find infinitely watchable. The animation isn't smooth, but rather uses some of the rough edges to add style and substance. Coupled with lovely painted backgrounds, and the lush forest setting really comes to life.

Perhaps what The Fox and the Hound (1981) is most known for however, is being very very sad. And at times it is, as the titular two's friendship breaks up, as the adults of the world pit them against each other. Despite this, I think what really makes this movie stick in so many young minds is not a melancholy atmosphere, but dread. Hounds hunt foxes. It may not be as common knowledge as it once was, but it is still a well-known enough fact. From the moment they meet viewers of all ages know the fox and hound are doomed. You spend the entire painstakingly long runtime waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when it does it is the culmination of all that dreadful foresight the title provided. Sure, there is a semblance of a happy ending, but even that is tempered by how little changes. The hound is still a hunting dog, he's just not hunting that one specific fox. The humans didn't go through this change, and so the world around our leads is still potentially dreadful. There isn't enough positives at the end to break through the malaise, and instead you leave The Fox and the Hound (1981) with that deep, lingering, dread.

As with all movies intended for a younger audience, I must ask myself at the end once again how I would feel seeing this for the first time as a child. I'd like the woodland creatures, I'm sure, and perhaps the music and jokes would land more for me, but overall I think The Fox and the Hound (1981) is just so profoundly dreadful that even as a child the ending would leave me staring at a wall afterwards. My proof? Everyone who has ever seen this film and thought first of how sad it made them feel. The Fox and the Hound (1981) is not remembered for being a story of transcendent friendship, it is remembered for how deeply upsetting it could be. That isn't to say there is no merit in sadness, but if you want you moral to shine through, you have to provide a way out of the pit for your viewers, especially the young ones.

Overall, it's a piece of classic animation and well-constructed, but if you're wondering if you should watch The Fox and the Hound (1981), check how you're feeling emotionally first. Need a good cry? This might just be the animated feature for you. Just make sure you have a wall ready to stare at afterwards.

6 out of 10 Worms?