The Fox and the Hound 2

The Fox and the Hound 2 is a 2006 American animated direct-to-video movie. It was produced by DisneyToon Studios. It is a sequel to the 1981 Disney animated movie The Fox and the Hound. The movie was directed by Jim Kammerud. It was released on December 12, 2006. The story of the movie takes place during the childhood of Tod and Copper. In this movie, Copper wants to join a band of singing stray dogs. The movie features the voices of Reba McEntire and Patrick Swayze. The movie had an official soundtrack album released on November 21, 2006.

Plot
The movie opens with Tod and Copper chasing a cricket together. They see a line of trucks bringing the county fair to town. Copper is mesmerized by the sound of dogs singing together in an old school bus with "The Singin' Strays" painted on the side. The pair are eager to go see the fair, but when Copper's clumsy tracking skills disappoint his master Amos Slade yet again, the pup is tied up in the yard while Slade and Chief go to the fair without him. Tod arrives and pulls Copper's collar off. The two friends head to the fair.

Tod and Copper get to meet The Singin' Strays. The band has five members: Dixie, Cash, Granny Rose, and twin brothers Waylon and Floyd. It is important that they perform well because a talent scout from the Grand Ole Opry will be at the fair. Cash and Dixie get into an argument. Dixie walks off before their performance, forcing them to go on stage without her. During the show, Copper sings along. Cash invites Copper up on stage to sing with them. The musical number is a success. Cash invites Copper to join the band. Copper joins the band after Tod lies that Copper is a stray. Copper spends the entire day with Cash, forgetting his promise to watch fireworks with Tod.

Dixie finds Tod and sympathizes with his feelings of abandonment. During their conversation, Tod tells Dixie that Copper is not a stray. Dixie then hatches a plan to get Copper kicked out of the band. Tod sneaks into Chief's barrel, luring him and Slade to the fair in a wild chase. The chase leads to widespread mayhem in the fair. The Singin' Strays' performance is sabotaged right in front of the talent scout Mr. Bickerstaff. Copper is fired from the band and returns home with Slade. Granny Rose and the rest of the members of Cash's band feel quite sorry for Copper about this. This causes the band to break up. Tod tries to apologize to Copper, but Copper is angry at the fox for ruining everything. Tod is brought home by his owner, Widow Tweed. Along the way, Tweed narrowly misses being hit by the talent scout's car. Bickerstaff's hat flies off and lands on Tod.

The following day, Tod and Copper admit their mistakes and are friends again. Hoping to make up for his doings, Tod gives Bickerstaff's hat to Copper. Copper uses it to track down the talent scout at a local diner. Tod tricks Cash and Dixie into thinking the other is in trouble. The entire band end up meeting up at the diner. Copper convinces the band the importance of harmony. The Singin' Strays howl a reprise of their song We're in Harmony, attracting the attention of the talent scout and reuniting the band. Impressed with the band, he arranges for the dogs to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. The movie ends with Copper choosing to leave the band and play with Tod again.

Cast
 Reba McEntire as Dixie
 Patrick Swayze as Cash
 Jonah Bobo as Tod
 Harrison Fahn as Copper
 Jeff Foxworthy as Lyle
 Vicki Lawrence as Granny Rose
 Stephen Root as Winchell P. Bickerstaff, the Talent Scout
 Jim Cummings as Waylon and Floyd
 Rob Paulsen as Chief
 Russi Taylor as Widow Tweed
 Jeff Bennett as Amos Slade
 Kath Soucie as Zelda the cat
 Hannah Farr as Olivia Farmer

Reception
Kevin Carr of 7M Pictures gave the movie two stars out of five. He said that "“The Fox and the Hound 2” is never going to live down as a classic, but it isn’t terrible. It falls somewhere in the middle of the Disney DVD sequel spectrum."

John J. Puccio of Movie Metropolis gave the movie 4/10. He said that "Like most sequels, it's a pale imitation of the original."

On the website Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a 20% "rotten" rating and an average rating of 4/10 based on 10 reviews.

Soundtrack

The Fox and the Hound 2 Soundtrack Album is the soundtrack album to the movie. It has songs from Reba McEntire, who was the voice of Dixie in the movie. It also has songs from other well-known artists. They include Trisha Yearwood, Chip Davis, and Little Big Town. Composer Joel McNeely has a few score tracks on the album: "Depressed Dixie", "Sad Puppy Blues", "Nashville 7", and "Sticky Hound Puppy". The Fox and the Hound 2 Soundtrack Album features a combination of country and bluegrass writers. Performers were found in Nashville by Disney according to the music supervisor Kimberly Oliver, and Matt Walker Senior VP, DisneyToon Studios. Background music score composer Joel McNeely composed bluegrass music for setting the moods of scenes. They were performed by many famous bluegrass performers.

Track listing

References

Other websites

 
 
 
 DVD Review at UltimateDisney.com
 Director Jim Kammerud on The Fox and the Hound 2 Animated News & Views interview
 [ The soundtrack] on Allmusic

2006 movies
American buddy movies
American animated movies
American family movies
American musical movies
Disney animated movies
Disney direct-to-video movies
Movies about dogs