Trailer The Death of Robin Hood

[jian]

My familiarity with Disney cartoons is... limited. I had no idea this one was a musical like Jungle Book (probably the only other cartoon of that type I've seen).

I think Robin Hood (1973) is just the best of the classic Disney cartoons, as well as a near-perfect Robin Hood film in a certain sort of way, in so many ways, but I may be biased because it came to the cinema in the UK (as a revival, presumably) when I was 7.

 

[MarkB]

I've never seen the Disney cartoon, but I watched that clip. I didn't realise it was so Jungle Book!

It's not just a matter of similarities. Disney were really cutting corners on the animation, and several scenes, particularly some of the dance scenes, have characters being animated by literally drawing over corresponding characters' figures from The Jungle Book frame by frame.

 

[jian]

I guess the main difference (going back to the trailer) between this film and previous versions is that Robin isn’t a good guy (or certainly thinks he isn’t), which is fair enough if you go back to the oldest ballads, where he’s more like Dick Turpin - a romantic brigand but not a hero.

Steeped as I am in Robin Hood lore, I have to then ask what the point of the character is. Is this the Worst Robin in the Robin-Verse? Will the Cavill-Robin turn up to shake his head at him sadly?

 

[Morrus]

Steeped as I am in Robin Hood lore, I have to then ask what the point of the character is.

I don’t understand the meaning of the question “what is the point of the character?”

 

[jian]

I don’t understand the meaning of the question “what is the point of the character?”

I guess I mean, a major if not essential part, the core, of Robin Hood is that he’s a hero. He takes from the rich and he gives to the poor, out of the goodness of his heart, because it’s the right thing to do. Sure, the very earliest versions of him were less like that, but those aren’t influential in the complex story we have now.

In this, he’s much like Superman. You can have a version of Superman who’s not a hero, there have been dozens, but they aren’t Superman - their whole schtick is Non-Hero Superman (e.g. Hancock or arguably Invicible, later in his development) or even Evil Superman (Homelander, Ultraman, Plutonian, Omniman, etc.). Telling stories about actual Superman who’s not a hero is pointless - just do an alternate.

Similarly, if you want to do a version of Robin Hood who’s not a hero, well, you can do that, but why bother? Just pick another famous mythologised outlaw who’s less heroic - Dick Turpin, Captain Blood, Cartouche, Hong Gil Dong, Ishikawa Goemon - or make up your own. Heck, there’s an entire sub genre of Western which is all this. If you’re doing it with Robin Hood, why are you doing it? Is it as a cheap name check? Or is there a genuinely interesting story here tied to the myth of the character and England? I guess we’ll find out.

 

[payn]

Im A-OK with anti-hero Robin. Im not calling the character police on anybody.

 

[Morrus]

If you’re doing it with Robin Hood, why are you doing it? Is it as a cheap name check? Or is there a genuinely interesting story here tied to the myth of the character and England?

It’s like Marvel’s ‘What If?’ or DC’s Elseworlds. Some writer thought “Hey, what if….?” and some producer thought “Sure, that sounds worth a punt.”

I don’t think it’s any more complex than that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My familiarity with Disney cartoons is... limited. I had no idea this one was a musical like Jungle Book (probably the only other cartoon of that type I've seen).

It's arguably the most beloved pre-Disney Renaissance cartoon. It never aspires to be great art (which Sleeping Beauty, for instance, would love to be considered as), but it's just delicious comfort food. Worth watching if you stumble across it.

 

[Deset Gled]

It's arguably the most beloved pre-Disney Renaissance cartoon. It never aspires to be great art (which Sleeping Beauty, for instance, would love to be considered as), but it's just delicious comfort food. Worth watching if you stumble across it.

Every Disney cartoon is loved by someone. But I'm going to have to push back on this a little bit. For starters, Rotten Tomatoes ranks their Robin Hood at only a 58%, which puts it at #60 out of 74 by one of their articles (above Wish and Home on the Range, but below Strange World and Dinosaur). Historically, Robin Hood and The Aristocats ushered in the 'Bronze Age" of Disney. Which is to say, the era where they went downhill enough for the next successful era to be called The Renaissance.

My last rewatch of Disney's Robin Hood was a couple years ago, and I can confirm that it's rough. It is, however, very memeable. Lots of good quips. And a side effect of the lackluster animation is that it can be cut down into gifs or vertical viewing without missing much. I suspect this has helped a bit of resurgence in it's popularity and enjoyment with rose colored glasses.

All that being said, I consider the 1938 Errol Flynn movie to the be the most definitive film version of Robin Hood. Men In Tights holds up extremely well for a comedy. Captain Picard's and Wishbone's renditions are both memorably fun. I didn't care for the Ridley Scott version much. And I've never been able to decide if Kevin Costner's version was hilariously great or terrible, but I've also never watched it sober, so...

I'm game to try out a new grimdark version of the character. But it feels like a "wait to see it on streaming" movie more than one worth going to the theatre for.

 

[MGibster]

In my heart I know these legends change with the times, but I'm still not over that French upstart being added to the Arthurian tales. I kid. I kid. That said, I took one look at Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and noped right out. It was not an interpretation I found the least bit intriguing.

It's been a while since I've seen a Robin Hood movie. The last Hood movie I was was Robin and Marian sometime in the mid-1990s and I thought it was pretty good. I had no idea the movie even existed, really had no idea how Robin was supposed to have died, and it had a killer cast. Nicol Williamson is my favorite Merlin and he did a great job a Little John. I don't watch many movies these days, but I might give this one a chance. Who doesn't like a good Robin Hood movie?