Orville (The Rescuers)
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Orville is a character from Disney's 1977 animated film, The Rescuers.
A clumsy, humorous albatross, Orville serves as air transportation for the two rescuing mice, Bernard and Miss Bianca in their adventure to rescue the little orphan girl Penny from the evil Madame Medusa.
Orville is care-free and wild, which is the reason Bernard doesn't trust him, instead, he wishes to take the train. Something Miss Bianca objects to, for she herself is just as carefree and longs for excitement. Convinced, Bernard agrees to fly on Orville and both mice are taken in a thrilling air ride across the streets of New York City, before settling down to a pleasant ride over the coast and eventually over the sea; Until they reach the end of their journey in the island where Devil's Bayou is.
Bernard, Miss Bianca and Orville are not well received at Devil's Bayou, where they are blasted, by accident, by Mr. Snoops' fireworks and forced into emergency landing. Orville leaves for New York shortly after his arrival at Devil's Bayou, not wanting to be too long in such a "creepy place" and Bernard and Miss Bianca are rescued by Ellie Mae and Luke, where they're brought to Evinrude, a dragonfly who leads them to Madame's hideout.
Orville serves as comic relief in Disney's "The Rescuers" (1977), a film which relied more on its dramatic appeal rather than its comedy and that's why most humorous characters (Such as Orville and Luke, the muskrat) are seen very briefly. Orville appears once again in the end of the film, taking the two rescuers to their next mission accompanied by Evinrude.
[edit] Interesting facts
- Orville made his screen debut in 1977 in the Disney film "The Rescuers", which quickly became one of the top films of the year.
- Was the last film performance for actor Jim Jordan, who voiced the character.
- Was animated by two of Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men", veteran animators, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Don Bluth also participated in scenes involving Orville.
- Orville performs the famous Goofy holler twice: once, when Madame Medusa runs him over, and later in the film when he falls backwards off the top of a tall building.
- Albatrosses have difficulty taking off, the animators portrayed a realistic take off by having Orville run a long way before being able to fly.
- Just like Madame Medusa shares design and character connections with Ursula from Disney's "The Little Mermaid" (1989), there are similarities between Orville and Scuttle from the same film.
- For the sequel, The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Orville was given a brother, Wilbur. Orville would have appeared again in the sequel, had his voice actor not died years before. The names are a play on the famous Wright Brothers.
