The Rescuers Down Under

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The Rescuers Down Under
Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Hendel Butoy Mike Gabriel
Produced by	Thomas Schumacher
Written by	Margery Sharp (books) Jim Cox
Starring	Bob Newhart Eva Gabor John Candy Tristan Rogers Adam Ryen George C. Scott
Music by	Bruce Broughton
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	November 16, 1990
Running time	74 min
Language	English
Preceded by	The Rescuers (1977)
IMDb profile

The Rescuers Down Under is the twenty-ninth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and was released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990. The film, which takes place in the Australian Outback, is the sequel to the 1977 film The Rescuers, based upon the novels of Margery Sharp. A team of over 415 artists and technicians were required for the production of the film. Five members of the team traveled to the Australian Outback to observe, take photographs and draw sketches to properly illustrate the outback on film.^[1]

1 About the film
- 1.1 Characters
2 Plot
- 2.1 Disney firsts
- 2.2 Reaction and cancelled sequel
3 Cast
4 International release dates
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] About the film

[edit] Characters

The Rescuers Down Under has the familiar characters from the first Rescuers movie, the mice Bernard (Bob Newhart) and Bianca (Eva Gabor). New characters include the albatross Wilbur (John Candy), brother of the albatross played by the late Jim Jordan in the original; Jake the kangaroo mouse (Tristan Rogers) who falls in love with Miss Bianca (just as Bernard is preparing to propose to her); and the movie's villain, an animal poacher, named Percival C. McLeach (George C. Scott). Like the original movie, the sequel once again involves Bernard and Bianca having to rescue a child from the hands of a greedy kidnapper.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie starts with Cody, a young Australian boy from the Outback, hearing a call that leads him to a kangaroo he knows. She tells Cody about a giant golden eagle, Marahute, in a rope trap on top of a cliff. Cody climbs up and frees the roc-like bird, but is knocked off the cliff by her flailing wing. Marahute saves Cody before he hits the ground and takes him for a ride. She shows him her nest, which contains her eggs; he notices, sadly, that the father of her eggs, like his own father, is absent. Marahute gives the boy a golden feather as a gift, then takes him down to the ground. Cody begins home, but sees a tightly bound mouse and releases it. The ground disintegrates underneath him, revealing that the mouse was bait for a trap. The trap also triggers a radar signal which attracts poacher Percival McLeach. McLeach, upon realizing that his captive is human, tries to claim that his pet lizard, Joanna, dug the trap. During the argument, he notices the feather, and realizes that Cody knows the location of Marahute. Having wanted for years to find Marahute (and, we learn, being responsible for the death of her mate), he instead takes Cody prisoner. The mouse Cody released sends a signal that is relayed all the way across the Pacific Ocean, and the United States, to the Rescue Aid Society in New York City, trying to summon aid for the kidnapped boy.

Bernard and Bianca, the heroes of the original The Rescuers film, are eating dinner at a fancy restaurant. Bernard is about to propose marriage to Bianca when they get the message about Cody, and Bernard is forced to wait while the two of them go on the rescue mission. They travel to find Orville, the albatross who aided them previously, but instead find Wilbur, Orville's brother who was singing Black Slacks. Bernard and Bianca convince Wilbur to fly them to Australia to save Cody. In Australia, they attempt to land at an airstrip run by Jake, a kangaroo rat. The runway is too small for Wilbur, and in the process of landing the albatross injures himself and is taken to a clinic. Needing a guide, Bianca asks the flirtatious but experienced Jake to help them. They travel across the outback; Bernard again attempts to propose to Bianca but is again interrupted.

Meanwhile Cody is being questioned by McLeach as to the whereabouts of Marahute's nest. Cody refuses to tell the hunter anything, and is thrown in a cage in McLeach's home, surrounded by captured animals which are to be skinned. Cody tries to free the animals, but is thwarted by Joanna and McLeach. McLeach then changes tactics with the boy, telling Cody that someone has shot Marahute, implying heavily that her eggs are in danger with their mother gone. Cody immediately sets out to take care of Marahute's eggs, and McLeach follows him. Bernard, Bianca, and Jake, just arriving at McLeach's home, realize what is happening and climb onto McLeach's vehicle.

At Marahute's nest, the three mice climb down to warn Cody that he has been followed, but at that moment Marahute returns to her nest and is snared by McLeach's net. Cody tries to free Marahute, but is recaptured, along with Jake and Bianca. Bernard remains in Marahute's nest and protects her eggs from Joanna, replacing them with inedible rocks to discourage the lizard. After Joanna leaves with McLeach and the others, Wilbur arrives and Bernard convinces him to sit on the eggs. In McLeach's vehicle Bianca tells Cody not to give up, Bernard is still out there. Jake at first agrees with her, but in a whisper tells Bianca it was a nice bluff. Bianca tells him she wasn't bluffing. He doesn't know Bernard like she does, he'll never give up! At that momennt, Jake begins to understand how Bianca truly loves Bernard. The poacher takes Cody and Marahute to Crocodile Falls, where he attempts to feed Cody to the crocodiles. Bernard follows them by intimidating a wild boar into being his mount (a technique he learned from Jake), and disables McLeach's vehicle. McLeach is suspicious of his vehicle's failure, but can find no incriminating evidence. He then tries to shoot the rope holding Cody above the water. Bernard thwarts him by luring Joanna to crash into McLeach, sending the villain into the water. The crocodiles chase McLeach, who fights them off but then goes over the nearby waterfall. The damaged rope holding Cody snaps, and he falls into the water. Bernard gives the keys to the cage to Jake and Bianca, then dives into the water to try and save Cody. Bernard isn't strong enough to keep Cody from going over the waterfall, but Jake and Bianca free Marahute just in time for her to burst free and snatch Cody out of the air. Safe at last, Bernard immediately proposes to Bianca, who accepts the proposal. Jake, despite his own feelings for Bianca, is impressed by Bernard's courage and gives his blessing. The film closes with Marahute's eggs hatching under Wilbur's care– much to his dismay.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Disney firsts

The Rescuers Down Under is notable for its firsts for Disney. It was the first Disney traditionally-animated movie to completely use the new computerized CAPS process. CAPS allowed more efficient and sophisticated post-production of the Disney animated films, and made obsolete the traditional practice of hand-painting cels. As a result, The Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film for which all original film elements were completely made within a digital environment. The film was also the second sequel made by Disney for one of its animated films, the first being The Three Caballeros, the 1944 sequel to Saludos Amigos. It is Disney's second animated feature that does not include any musical numbers, the first being Disney's The Black Cauldron.

On its first release, The Rescuers Down Under was preceded by a short subject starring Mickey Mouse in an adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper. (This was only the second new Mickey Mouse short made since the 1950s, the first being Mickey's Christmas Carol, which was made to accompany the 1983 re-release of The Rescuers.)

[edit] Reaction and cancelled sequel

Most critics praised the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of the critics reviews were positive. But despite the fair critical success, the film underperformed at the box office, grossing only $27 million. The film's poor box-office performance discouraged Disney Studios to release any sequels to animated Disney movies theatrically. Only when they were fully convinced that the sequel would be a success would they release it theatrically, such as The Jungle Book 2 and Return to Never Land, which were both successful. The Rescuers Down Under is considered the black sheep of the Disney Renaissance era (1989-1999), ironic given the success of the original The Rescuers. However, despite the failure, a third movie was later planned for 1996 (presumably to high VHS sales, since the movie was quite popular with child audiences), but Eva Gabor suddenly died the previous year from respiratory failure from complications of food poisoning. Therefore, the planned movie and all future Rescuers sequels were scrapped.

[edit] Cast

Bob Newhart - Bernard
Eva Gabor - Bianca
Adam Ryan - Cody
George C. Scott - McLeach
Tristan Rogers - Jake
John Candy - Wilbur

[edit] International release dates

[edit] Trivia

When Mcleach sings his own version of "Home on the Range" during the scene when he first takes Cody to his hideout, his singing voice is not provided by George C. Scott, but by Frank Welker, who also plays McLeach's pet lizard Joanna.
This is the first and only film in the Disney animated features canon to take place on the continent of Australia.
This is one of the few Disney animated films in which the romance does not happen "at first sight". Rather, the hero and heroine are already in love as the film begins.