The Rescuers Down Under

***The Rescuers Down Under*** is an American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It is the 29th animated film in the Disney animated canon and directed by Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel. It is also a sequel to *The* *Rescuers*, making it the studio's first canon animated sequel, and the first animated Disney film to use the CAPS system. It was released on November 16, 1990 during the Disney Renaissance era.

## Plot

In the Australian Outback, a young boy named Cody rescues and befriends a rare golden eagle named Marahute, who shows him her nest and eggs. Later on, he accidentally falls into a trap while trying to free a mouse being used as bait and is discovered by Percival C. McLeach, a local poacher who is wanted by the Australian Rangers. McLeach discovers one of Marahute's feathers in Cody's backpack, and realizes that the boy knows the eagle's location and reveals that he killed the her mate. He then throws Cody's backpack into the river to make the Rangers think he was eaten by crocodiles and kidnaps him, intent on forcing him to reveal the eagle's location. The mouse whom Cody freed runs to a secret outpost from which a telegram is sent to the Rescue Aid Society in New York City.

Bernard and Bianca, the RAS' lead elite agents, are assigned the mission, interrupting Bernard's marriage proposal to Bianca. They go to find Orville, the albatross who aided them in their previous mission, but find that management has fallen to his brother Wilbur, whom they convince to fly them to Australia. Wilbur is reluctant at first because of the bad weather, but relents when he learns of Cody's plight and agrees to be their pilot. In Australia, they meet Jake, a hopping mouse who serves as the RAS' local regional operative. Jake becomes infatuated with Bianca and flirts with her, much to Bernard's dismay. He serves as their "tour guide" and protector in the search for Cody. Wilbur, however, accidentally injures himself by bending his spinal column out of shape trying to help them and is sent to a hospital, which is in an abandoned ambulance. Wilbur refuses to go under operation (which includes shot with syringes and under the usage of several sharp and dangerous objects) and escapes his captors, unintentionally straightening his back in the struggle and he flies off in search of his friends.

Cody is imprisoned at McLeach's hideout with several imprisoned animals after refusing to reveal Marahute's location. Cody attempts to free himself and the other animals, but is thwarted by McLeach's pet goanna, Joanna. After the lizard eats the eggs he was preparing to cook and threatening her, McLeach's realizes that Marahute's eggs are Cody's weakness and tricks the boy into thinking that Marahute was shot and killed by another poacher and releases him, knowing that the boy will lead him to Marahute's nest. Bernard, Bianca, and Jake arrive at the hideout and follow on McLeach's halftruck. At Marahute's nest, the mice try to warn Cody, but Marahute appears and, along with Cody, Bianca, and Jake, is captured by McLeach. McLeach then sends Joanna to eat Marahute's eggs, but Bernard tricks her using egg-shaped stones, and the real eggs are left unharmed. Wilbur arrives at the nest, and Bernard convinces him to stay behind and keep the eggs warm while he goes after McLeach.

McLeach takes his captives to Crocodile Falls, a huge waterfall at the end of the river where he tossed Cody's backpack earlier. He ties Cody up and attempts to feed him to the crocodiles, but Bernard, riding a wild razorback pig he tamed using a horse whispering technique he learned from Jake, arrives and disables the vehicle. McLeach attempts to shoot the rope holding Cody above the river, but Bernard tricks Joanna into chasing him and crashing into McLeach, toppling both of them into the river. McLeach and Joanna are confronted by the crocodiles, while the rope holding Cody breaks and the boy falls into the river and Bernard jumps in to rescue him. Joanna flees as McLeach fends off the crocodiles, but is too late to notice an upcoming waterfall and falls over it to his death. Bernard manages to hold on to a tree root and keep Cody suspended above the water long enough for Jake and Bianca to free Marahute, allowing them to save the pair of them before they can go over the waterfall. A desperate Bernard, not wanting any further incidents to occur, finally proposes to Bianca, who happily accepts while Jake salutes him with a new-found respect. Safe at last, the group departs for Cody's home. Meanwhile, Marahute's eggs finally hatch to Wilbur's chagrin.

## Why It's Great

1. It surpasses the original in every way possible, bringing the size, scale, and adventure of the journey to a whole new level. This makes it stand out both as a sequel and as its own movie
2. The animation is gorgeous; because it was created digitally and not use a camera, it helps to make the entire film look big
3. Enjoyable characters and voice actors, with Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor reprising their respective roles as Bernard and Bianca, and new ones such as George C. Scott as Percival C. McLeach and John Candy as Wilbur, who is the perfect replacement for Orville from the first movie
4. There's a lot of character growth for Bernard, who we are left rooting for as he comes in to save the day and attempts to propose to Bianca
5. The opening is unbelievable, and stands out as one of Disney's best

## External Links

The Rescuers Down Under on IMDb

The Rescuers Down Under on Rotten Tomatoes

The Rescuers Down Under on RogerEbert.com