Product: Robin Hood [VHS] (1973)
Rating: 3.0
Certainly Not Walt's Shining Moment . . .
Forget what critics have been pounding about "The Sword in the Stone" and "The Black Cauldron" being Disney's least distinguished animated features. "Robin Hood" takes the cake (or gold?) as far as mediocrity is concerned. It starts off well enough but never sustains any significant emotion- our sympathies don't lie with the hero (depicted himself as rather shallow and bland) but with the villain, the only joy in the entire film. One part of the film is lifted directly from Snow White (and the attempts to hide this show!); the music is forgettable and Little John is a direct reprisal of Baloo from "The Jungle Book". Few of the voice performances are worth mentioning and the animation itself is not even good for the 70s (and this is a Disney film!) If you collect Disney films, buy it and you'll watch it once. If you don't, skip this one by and seek out the live-action Disney feature.