The Fox and the Hound director Ted Berman
The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, it tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a red fox named Tod and a hound dog named Copper. They struggle to preserve their friendship despite their emerging instincts and the surrounding social pressures demanding them to be adversaries, as they are enemies by nature. After Chief, Copper's mentor and guardian who is owned by the same hunter as him, is hit by a train while chasing Tod and seemingly almost dies, Copper assumes his role as a hunting dog and vows vengeance against Tod. Eventually, they fight each other, but in the end, Copper saves Tod after Tod saves him and his owner from a bear.
The film was directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens, marking the directorial debuts of Berman and Rich. It was produced by Ron Miller, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Art Stevens. The ensemble voice cast consists of Mickey Rooney as Tod and Kurt Russell as Copper, respectively, with Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson, Sandy Duncan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, John Fiedler, John McIntire, Dick Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Keith Mitchell, and Corey Feldman providing the voices of the other characters of the film. Mitchell and Feldman in particular voiced Young Tod and Young Copper. The instrumental musical score to the film was composed and conducted by Buddy Baker, with Walter Sheets performing the orchestration.
Walt Disney Productions first obtained the film rights to the novel by Daniel P. Mannix in 1967, however, actual development on the film would not occur until spring 1977. It marked the last involvement of the remaining members of Disney's Nine Old Men, which included Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Though they had involvement in early development of the film, it was ultimately handed over to a new generation of animators following the retirement of the old animators. As such, it was the first film for future directors including Tim Burton, Brad Bird, and John Lasseter. During production, its release was delayed by over six months following the abrupt departure of Don Bluth and his team of animators. Further concerns were raised over the handling of the scene in which Chief is hit by a train, which was originally planned to result in him dying. After debating the handling of the scene, the filmmakers decided to change the death into a non-fatal injury by which he merely suffers a broken leg.
The film was released to theaters on July 10, 1981, by Buena Vista Distribution. It was a financial success, becoming the 14th highest-grossing film of the year and earning $39.9 million in the United States. However, it received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation and voice acting of it, but believed that it was not groundbreaking enough. It was nominated for three awards, of which it won one. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive animated film produced to date, costing $12 million. It was re-released to theaters on March 25, 1988. An intermediate follow-up, The Fox and the Hound 2, was released directly-to-DVD on December 12, 2006.
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