Why One Detail of Disneyâs Robin Hood Bothers Me And Always Will
Hi, welcome to my Ted Talk, today we will be dealing with something that has bothered me about Disneyâs Robin Hood since I was a kid and I still cannot get over to this very day.
And it all stems from THESE THREE PEOPLE:
Maid Marian, Prince John, and King Richard
Iâm going to preface this entire thing by saying THIS version of Robin Hood is very very VERY different than the source material, much like all Disney animated films, but it wasnât really DISNEY who did the big changes⌠those just came over time with making things more⌠Iâm just going to say ânormal for societyâ, which is ultra double lame.
BUT thatâs not the point, because that stuff happens everywhere and with everything, and if I started to complain about THAT weâd be here all day, and Iâm already going to take more of your time than needed to complain about something SUPER unimportant from a childrenâs animated movie made in 1973.
So, in the movie the titular character, Robin Hood, is a fox. Makes total sense, foxes are crafty, hard to catch, cunning, and known for getting into and out of situations that other animals would have difficulty with. Take that and turn it into an anthropomorphic character and youâd get someone who would easily be against the normal laws, not BAD, but would do BAD to do GOOD. Robin is a show off when he wants to be, and quiet when he has to be.
Heâs a pretty perfect Robin Hood, especially in the case of animated kids movies, his characteristics just work SO WELL with his personification as a fox. GOOD STUFF, if I do say so myself!
Little John, meanwhile, is a bear. Not just any bear, but a big olâ lovable brown bear. This plays on the idea of Little John being a cheeky nickname because Little John is a big, strong, and above all the calm, cool, and rationally smart one of the two. Robin may be clever, but John is the big picture guy. Pun intended.
These two designs and animal choices work SO well with each other, and itâs because these two are so different yet they get along and honestly NEED one another that makes the differences so perfect.
ALAN-A-DALE IS A ROOSTER. BRILLIANT. I donât even have to go into this, do I? What a GREAT call by making Alan-A-Dale a rooster. Though, I feel a bit of his characteristics were also borrowed from Will Scarlet for the Disney version, but even that still fits everything. And, honestly, I donât mind the blending of Alan and Will, it kinda works? Especially with the movie being as short as it is.
ROOSTER BARD. ROOSTER. BARD. So good, I mean câmon. Itâs perfection.
The Sheriff of Nottingham being a wolf is⌠okay. Itâs okay. I get it though, having the wolf hunt the fox. Haha. Cheeky. Cliche, but cheeky.
I really have nothing to say about him, heâs justâŚokay. Dudeâs a cop, so whatever. Not a fan of bootlickers, and the fact that theyâre dragging wolves in the mud by making a wolf into a cop is⌠whatever. /Heâs A Wolf Cop/
Personally, I donât like Friar Tuck as a badger. It really doesnât make sense to me, and I lowkey hate it that they totally missed so many opportunities. DOVE OF PEACE? LAMB OF GOD? Like FOR REAL, you coulda done something super cute like that, but NOoOoOoOoOoO⌠heâs a badger. And they kinda pick on him for half the movie, for no reason, and I donât like that.
Still, Friar Tuck is cute, and a really fun character and they do some clever animation stuff with his âbadgerâ-ness. Still a bit of a missed opportunity.
OKAY NOW THAT WEâVE GOT THESE OTHER BIG ONES OUT OF THE WAY, ITâS TIME FOR MY ACTUAL PROBLEM!
MAID FRICKIN MARIAN IS A FOX.
WHAT THE FRICKEN FRICKITY FRACK?!
ABSOLUTELY NOT! Disney did this JUST because they wanted Maid Marian and Robin Hood to be THE SAME ANIMAL, and thatâs ABSOLUTE BUNK!
WHY? Well thereâs two BIG reasons that is irks me!
First, the idea that they HAD to be together because they were the same animal or they were made to be the same animal so it wouldnât be âweirdâ that they were together.
LAME! UNINSPIRED! BULLSHI-
*ehem* Nonsense. Nonsense.
And itâs even MORE nonsense because of this little factâŚ
PRINCE JOHN AND KING RICHARD ARE HER RELATIVES!
MAID MARIAN THE NIECE OF PRINCE JOHN AND KING RICHARD!
Okay, you could argue that Maid Marian was adopted, or that King Richard married a lovely fox woman and the fox womanâs relative had a daughter and THAT was Maid Marian. And YES, that would make the situation plausibleâŚ
This is MEDIEVAL ENGLAND and they are ROYALTY and that kinda stuff wouldnât fly even IF King Richard is the King.
DISNEY ARE COWARDS FOR NOT HAVING A BIG LIONESS LADY DATE A TINY FOX MAN AND WE WERE ROBBED!