Why did the old lady leave the fox in The Fox and the Hound?

“You’re not even aware, you’re such a funny pair. You’re the best of friends!” Welcome back to our blog, everyone! This week we watched the 74th film in our Disnerd Movie Challenge, The Fox and the Hound. This one may require some tissues to get through, but we’ll do our best! If you’ve seen this movie before, you can scroll on down to read our review. For those who haven’t seen this or need a refresher, our synopsis is directly below.

Synopsis

A mother fox runs through the woods, carrying her young kit in her mouth as she tries to outrun a hunter and hunting dogs. She arrives outside a farm, where an owl is awoken by the sound of the barks. The mother hides her kit in tall grass near the farm before fleeing. A shot rings out; the mother is killed. The owl spots the fox kit and introduces herself as Big Mama. She tells the kit that he will need caring for. In a nearby tree, two birds named Dinky (a sparrow) and Boomer (a woodpecker) are trying to catch a caterpillar named Squeaks. Big Mama enlists their help with the young fox, and Squeaks is relieved when they leave. Dinky gets an idea after looking at the farm’s house. The three birds get the attention of the old woman inside, Widow Tweed, and manage to lead her to the fox. Tweed is immediately enamored with the fox and decides to take him in and care for him. She names him “Tod” after observing that he acts like such a toddler. Tweed smiles and tells Tod she won’t be so lonesome anymore. Just down the road, Amos Slade returns home with a surprise for his wolfhound hunting dog, Chief. The surprise turns out to be a hound dog puppy, whom Amos names “Copper.” Chief initially doesn’t like Copper, but the young pup soon wins him over. Some time later, Tweed milks her cow, Abigail, while Tod watches. Tod accidentally creates a ruckus after trying to snatch a baby chick, causing the mother hen to chase him off. Abigail is frightened by the commotion and knocks over the bucket of milk. Tweed briefly scolds Tod, but kindly says that she can’t stay angry with him. She sends him outside so she can work, and Tod runs into Dinky and Boomer who are making another unsuccessful attempt to catch Squeaks. Tod wanders off to play. At Amos’s house, Copper smells something he’s never smelled before and walks off to find the source. His tracking leads him to Tod. The two strike up an immediate friendship and Tod suggests playing hide-and-seek after seeing how good Copper is with his nose. Big Mama witnesses the two playing and is surprised at the unlikely pairing. Time passes and the two pups continue to see each other and play. One day, Tod tells Copper that he is Tod’s very best friend. Copper returns the sentiment, and the two promise they will always be friends forever. The next time Tod goes to visit Copper, the hound dog is tied to his dog house as punishment for always wandering off. Copper tries to warn Tod to stay away or he’ll wake up Chief. Chief soon wakes and chases Tod around Amos’s farm. Tod inadvertently upsets Amos’s chickens, making Amos believe Tod was trying to eat them. Amos tries to shoot Tod as the young fox runs away. Tod chases after Tweed, who is driving off with pails of milk. Amos gives chase in his own car and shoots at the milk barrels in the back of Tweed’s car in an attempt to kill Tod. Tweed slams on her brakes and confronts Amos. She forcibly takes Amos’s gun from him and shoots his car’s radiator. Amos angrily tells Tweed the next time he catches Tod on his property he will kill him.

Tod is kept inside Tweed’s house for his safety, but he manages to slip through a crack in the window and runs over to meet with Copper, but the pup is getting ready to leave on Amos’s next hunting expedition with Chief. Copper jumps up to the front seat, but Chief tells Copper he has to earn the right to sit up front. Amos drives off, and Tod and Copper sadly look at each other as Copper leaves. Big Mama tells Tod that he must realize his friendship with Copper can’t last forever since one day Copper will become a full-fledged hunting dog. Tod is sure that Copper would never hunt him down, believing their friendship is too strong. Winter soon sets in, and Squeaks the caterpillar sneaks into Tweed’s house, where he rests in a potted plant near Tweed’s stove to get warm. Dinky and Boomer fly south for winter and decide they will get Squeaks in spring. Meanwhile, Amos and Chief teach Copper how to hunt. Copper is at first too energetic and playful, but he soon grows up into a skilled hunting dog. On the final leg of the trip, Copper’s senses lead him to prey that Chief could not smell. Copper successfully hunts down some game to Amos’s delight and Chief’s jealousy. As they head home, Copper takes the front seat, having earned his right. Spring arrives not too long after, and Dinky and Boomer return home. We see that Tod has grown up, too. He now wears a collar. Dinky, Boomer, and Big Mama playfully tease him. Tweed brings out the potted plant to get some sun; Squeaks is spotted by Dinky and Boomer. The two birds chase the caterpillar up to Tweed’s roof and along some electric wires. Boomer accidentally shocks himself and Dinky while trying to get to Squeaks, allowing Squeaks to escape again. Amos, Copper, and Chief soon return home, and Tod is adamant that he can resume his friendship with Copper. He goes to visit Copper that night after Amos and Chief fall asleep. Copper is glad to see Tod but tells him he shouldn’t be hanging around. Tod asks if they’re still friends, but Copper tells him those days are over, leaving Tod deeply saddened. Copper tells Tod he should leave before Chief wakes up. Once more, Chief awakens and breaks free of his dog house, chasing Tod away from the farm and alerting Amos. Amos and Copper follow, as does Tweed. Tod hides under a pile of wood and is cornered by Copper, who lets Tod go while diverting Amos. Chief catches Tod, who runs onto a railroad track. Chief continues chasing Tod, but is knocked over the railroad by an oncoming train and falls into the riverbed below, injuring his leg. Copper witnesses this and, enraged, yells to Tod that he will get him for this. Tod and Tweed are reunited and return home, but Amos bangs on Tweed’s door and attempts to force his way into her home to kill Tod. Tweed manages to shove him away, but Amos says that Tweed can’t keep him locked up forever. Realizing the truth of this, Tweed takes Tod to the game reserve the next day. She sadly reminisces about the good times she shared with Tod, and motions to Tod not to follow her. She returns to her car and cries as she drives off.

Tod’s first night in the reserve does not go well. He attempts to find shelter and accidentally upsets an irate badger. A porcupine takes pity on Tod and provides him a place to stay for the night. Meanwhile, Amos and Copper discuss how they are going to catch Tod with a trap. Chief rests up, though he admits to himself that his injury has its perks as it means he is pampered. The next morning at the game reserve, Big Mama mistakes a female fox named Vixey for Tod. Big Mama gets the idea to introduce the two foxes to each other as a way to help Tod adapt to life in the forest. Their first meeting goes horribly wrong when Tod attempts to impress Vixey by catching a fish, only to grab a twig instead which makes Vixey laugh. His temper already flared from the previous night, Tod insults Vixey, who scolds him for it. Big Mama kindly helps Tod understand how to win Vixey over. This time, Tod is successful. Vixey shows Tod around the forest and tells him she knows he will love it there. Amos and Copper trespass into the reserve in an attempt to hunt down Tod. Amos sets down several traps while Copper sniffs out Tod’s path. The two then hide and plan to wait for Tod to come their way. The next morning, Tod and Vixey wake up, and as Tod takes in the beautiful morning he tells her he has never been happier. They walk through the forest, but when they reach the place where Amos and Copper are hiding, Vixey says they should avoid it because it’s “too quiet.” Tod presses on and accidentally triggers some of Amos’s traps. He isn’t injured, but Amos immediately begins firing at him while Copper runs after him. Tod tells Vixey to run while he distracts Copper. The two former friends confront each other, snarling and growling. Tod manages to bite Copper and runs off to join Vixey at their burrow. Amos lights one of the burrow’s exits on fire and he and Copper block the other, trapping the foxes. Tod tells Vixey they have to escape through the burning exit, and the two manage to get out unharmed. The chase continues up a waterfall, where Copper and Amos attract the attention of a large, savage bear. Frightened, Amos tries to shoot the bear but falls down the hill and gets his leg stuck in one of his own traps, with his gun lying out of reach. Copper attempts to fight off the bear but is vastly overpowered. At the sound of Copper’s cries, Tod runs back and battles the bear himself. The bear chases Tod onto a log hanging over the waterfall, and its weight causes the log to break. The two plunge down the waterfall and into the river below. The bear appears to be killed, but an injured Tod swims to shore and collapses. Copper tentatively approaches his old friend and is concerned for him. Amos suddenly appears, ready to shoot Tod, but Copper steps between the fox and his master’s gun. Though Amos tells Copper to move, Copper refuses. After a few moments, Amos drops his gun and leaves with Copper. Copper turns back to look at Tod, and the two share one last smile before Copper goes home. Back at the farm, Dinky and Boomer make a final attempt to catch Squeaks in a tree hole, but instead of finding the caterpillar, a butterfly flies out. They don’t quite realize it’s Squeaks, although the butterfly does look familiar. Squeaks happily flies off. Tweed bandages up Amos’s leg while Chief mocks his master for complaining about his injury. Copper drifts off to sleep as he happily recalls the promise he and Tod made when they were young. Tod and Vixey watch the scene from the edge of the woods.

Thoughts Before Watching

Kevin: Oookay, so I’ve got mixed feelings going into this. On the one hand, I think this is a good enough movie, though certainly not among Disney’s best. On the other hand, this is probably one of the saddest films the studio has put out, or at least has one of the saddest scenes. It’s kind of crazy how after so many weeks of mostly mediocre films, we got something like Amy that had an actual emotional punch, and now we are watching this! Although I’m excited to finally watch another animated movie, I’m also mentally preparing myself to have my heartstrings tugged.

Megan: Story time: this movie gave me separation anxiety as a kid. I’m not even joking. Before seeing this movie, I went off to pre-school no problem—getting to play with other kids all day seemed great! Then my mom put on The Fox and the Hound. Next day, I did NOT want to go to pre-school and started crying and fighting it once we got there. I was terrified that my mom was going to leave me there and never come back the same way the old woman abandoned the fox in the woods forever! Eventually I got over the separation anxiety and things were fine, but to this day I cannot watch that scene without bawling. The main reason I ever go back to watch this movie is if I know that I really need a good cry. Sometimes I’ll even just go on YouTube to watch only the sad scene. Even going into this movie to watch it analytically, I don’t think there’s any way I’m going to make it through the sad scene without crying. There’s just no way.

That said, I am relieved to be watching something familiar again. It might make me cry, but at least I know what I’m getting into. For example, I know I’m going to love the friendship between Tod and Copper and the humor of the birds chasing the caterpillar; I know I’m going to hate the hunting (seriously, between this and Bambi, how could any Disney kid like hunting?); and I’m like 99.9% sure this isn’t going to pass the Bechdel test because I’m fairly certain Big Mama and Vixey only talk about Tod (a male character).

I’ve got my tissue box at the ready—let’s do this.

“Searching for this image nearly made me cry all over again.” —Megan

Thoughts After Watching

Yup. We cried.

Megan: If anyone can watch this movie without crying then clearly you have no heart (or you’re a toddler and you don’t quite have a full grasp of what is going on. Although, I was only a pre-schooler and yet fully understood that a mother figure was abandoning her fur-baby and that was a sad thing). I have to hand it to the filmmaking team for making Disney fans everywhere bawl their eyes out every time they watch this movie. All the film departments work in concert to give us that emotionally gut-wrenching “All Is Lost” moment (for those of you unfamiliar with the story beats described in Save the Cat, I’ll get into that in a moment). The writers get us to feel for Widow Tweed as we see how caring for a little fox heals her loneliness. They make us care about Tod and root for his friendship with Copper. That’s why it hurts so much when Tod’s attempt to reconnect with Copper has the absolute worst consequences of him being abandoned in the woods by the one person he thought would always care for him and protect him. Apparently that wasn’t enough, though, because the music team adds in the tear-jerker “Goodbye May Seem Forever” to wring the emotions out of this scene. I mean that sad music! Those heartbreaking lyrics!

We met, it seems, such a short time ago.
You looked at me, needing me so.
Yet from your sadness
Our happiness grew

And I found out I needed you too.
I remember how we used to play.
I recall those rainy days,
The fire's glow
That kept us warm

And now I find, we're both alone.
Goodbye may seem forever,
Farewell is like the end,
But in my heart is a memory
And there you'll always be.

Goodbye may seem forever,
Farewell is like the end,
But in my heart is a memory
And there you'll always be.

I’m just transcribing these lyrics and I’m already tearing up! Then the filmmaking team tops it off with the animators showing us the mix of emotions on Widow Tweed’s face with that look of confusion and utter betrayal on Tod’s face and there’s no way we’re not a puddle of tears.

Megan: Seriously, well done, filmmaking team. I kind of hate you for it, but wow, that is some amazing emotional storytelling. I wonder if this film was one of the ones Blake Snyder studied when he came up with the story beats in his book Save the Cat (first published in 2005), because this film really nails that sucker punch. For those who aren’t familiar with the book, the “All Is Lost” moment is just what it sounds like—the moment when the hero loses everything. It’s the lowest point, emotionally, and it is immediately followed by the “Dark Night of the Soul” where the hero wrestles with the aftermath of the “All Is Lost” moment. The “All Is Lost” moment for Tod really piles it on—he’s lost his best friend, he’d already lost his fox mother in the opening of the film but now he’s also lost his human mother figure, and he’s lost his home. He’s also literally “lost” in the woods with no idea where he’s going or what he’s going to do next. Things only get worse as he heads into a literal “Dark Night of the Soul.” It’s dark. It’s raining. The badger he meets is far from welcoming, and the only friendly creature is a porcupine who ends up accidentally pricking Tod in the morning. It’s no wonder Tod is a cranky mess when Big Mama finds him! The rest of the film’s plot is well-done, too (it has to be for the “All Is Lost” and “Dark Night of the Soul” moments to land the way they do), but I think I speak for most of us when I say that the lowest point in the movie is the one we all remember with utmost clarity.

The movie explores many types of love

Kevin: What’s interesting is that I’m pretty sure my brain realized this a long time ago, but this is probably the first time I was consciously aware of just how deeply this movie explores love as a theme. (Granted, this is the first time I’m doing a challenge like this where I’m thinking this critically about Disney movies.) We’re given examples of different forms of love in the film. The first is love between parents and children. This is most evident in the relationship between Widow Tweed and Tod. Tweed immediately takes Tod and gives him a loving home. It’s worth noting that the film never gives the impression that she treats Tod like a pet, but rather like he is her own son. It’s not seen as weird, but completely endearing. Tod may not be a human child, but he is Tweed’s child all the same. The relationship is built up so well that we feel Tweed’s pain when she makes the heartbreaking decision to take Tod to the game reserve to keep him safe from Amos. Such is Tweed’s love for Tod that she chooses to give him his best hope for survival in spite of her immense grief. Amos also demonstrates love towards his dogs, Chief and Copper. Though he is the main antagonist, it’s quite clear that he feels affection for his hunting dogs. The dogs in turn show affection for Amos, especially when Copper fights the bear to save Amos. Amos’s love for his dogs ends up being part of his redemption, however small it may be. He is eventually able to let go of his rage and spare Tod’s life after Copper steps between his childhood friend and his master. I always thought the look on Amos’s face when he lowers his gun was one of regret for almost letting his anger consume him. In the end, perhaps Amos is willing to show small affection for Tod after the fox bravely fought off the bear.

Kevin: The second type of love we see in the film (though it starts off a bit more subtle) is that between siblings, specifically Chief and Copper. Again, while not related by blood, they are brothers in that they are raised by Amos to be expert hunting dogs; they are brothers-in-arms, if you will. When we first meet Copper, Chief wants little to do with him and finds him annoying. However, Copper’s playfulness and instant adoration of Chief wins the older dog over. Chief takes on the role of mentor and helps Copper learn how to hunt, even if he is sometimes snarky about it all. He does seem to show some jealousy when Copper grows up and manages to execute a successful hunt that not even Chief could pull off. However, Chief’s bitterness is quite short-lived, so I think it’s implied that Chief can let go of his pride. Copper is shown to admire Chief, which of course comes to its climax when Chief is severely injured by the train. Copper’s swearing of vengeance against Tod is a sad turning point for the two friends, but it still highlights how much Copper loves Chief.

Kevin: We’re given a third form of love in the form of friendship. This, of course, is most seen with our lead characters, Tod and Copper. The two first meet when they are very young and become friends instantly, neither knowing nor caring that they would be considered natural enemies. While I personally think the friendship isn’t quite given enough time for it to develop, the point still stands that this type of love is there. I presume their childhood friendship is given more weight in the sequel, but I digress. Though Big Mama has misgivings that Tod and Copper will eventually grow up to be enemies, both Tod and Copper establish a fairly believable friendship, and both believe that nothing will keep them apart.

TOD: Copper? You’re my very best friend.

COPPER: And you’re mine too, Tod.

TOD: And we’ll always be friends forever. Won’t we?

COPPER: Yeah. Forever.

I think it’s interesting that Tod is the one to first say that he and Copper will always be friends. When they grow up, it is Tod is who is the first to visit Copper. Though pleased to see Tod, Copper says things can’t be the way they were, but Tod still persists. The friendship is severely fractured when Chief is injured and Copper turns on Tod. The now former friends’ rivalry reaches its climax when the two square off in a fight. A bit later, Copper and Amos are attacked by the bear and nearly killed. Again, we see Tod’s lingering love and affection for his childhood friend as he almost immediately rushes to Copper’s aid. Ultimately, the two are able to repair their friendship, if only somewhat. Copper recognizes that Tod risked his own life in spite of everything that has happened, and so Copper returns the favor by stepping between the fox and Amos’s gun. Though Copper does leave Tod behind, they nevertheless exchange a smile. It may not be said outright, but it’s a sign that the two have reconciled. The fact that the movie ends with Copper smiling and thinking back to the above conversation he and Tod shared when they were younger is an additional telling sign that the two have mended their broken friendship. Will it ever be like it was before? No, probably not, but it’s a work in progress.

Megan: For me, I think the friendship between Tod and Copper is actually quite well-developed. There’s a subtlety to the information we’re shown on screen, but I can 100% believe it. Kid friendships happen pretty fast, but the level of emotion behind those friendships is no less real. Perhaps it’s so easy for me to get on board with the friendship between Tod and Copper because, in a way, I lived it. I had a childhood best friend who ended up going to a different school, which led to the eventual fizzling out of the friendship. We’re still friends on social media who loosely keep in touch (much as Tod keeps an eye on Copper from a distance at the end of the film), but we’re nowhere near as close as we were when we were kids. And it absolutely killed me in those early years. I remember rewatching The Fox and the Hound around that time and the filmmakers nailed it. No, our friendship didn’t have a major falling out. No, we never became enemies, and we certainly were never in any near-death scenarios. However, Tod’s longing for things to be like they were between him and Copper is so on point. I totally understand why Tod goes back to fight off the bear and save Copper—even though Copper was trying to hunt him down and kill him mere moments earlier. That friendship, that connection, that love—it’s still there, despite all that has happened since they shared those innocent, playful moments as kids.

Kevin: The very last type of of love the film presents is the romantic love between Tod and Vixey. This is definitely the least developed love throughout the movie, and that’s important since the story is really focused on Tod and Copper. Still, it has its own importance to the story by allowing Tod to find companionship in a world he doesn’t know. Having grown up with Widow Tweed after the death of his own mother, Tod is certainly ill-equipped to live as a wild fox. Though his meeting with Vixey starts off on the wrong foot, they eventually form a bond. I will admit now in looking back on this scene this time around that I don’t really get why Vixey eventually fell for him, but I guess she is just more forgiving. The main point is that this relationship is established as part of Tod’s journey as he adapts to his new life. With Vixey’s help (encouraged by Big Mama), Tod comes to appreciate the forest as his new home and grows to care for Vixey as a mate. Though he grew up with humans, he has learned to adapt.

Megan: I know in other reviews we’ve often commented on how quick Disney movies (especially animated ones) are to establish romantic relationships. For this film, the romance between Tod and Vixey didn’t bother me so much. Yes, they move quite quickly to sharing a burrow together, but…they’re foxes. In the wild, it doesn’t take much for a couple of animals to pair off, so even though these foxes talk just like humans, I still end up seeing them as foxes (while at the same time really just wanting to hug Tod and Widow Tweed and to tell Tweed that no, she can’t leave Tod in the woods, and I won’t let her. We’ll find another solution!)

Humans ruin everything…sort of…

Megan: I have mixed emotions when it comes to the human characters interacting with wildlife in this movie. Let’s go all the way back to the beginning of the film. The most heart-wrenching scene in the entire movie, Tod being abandoned by Widow Tweed, never would have happened if an unseen hunter hadn’t shot and killed Tod’s fox mother in the opening scene (I always presumed it to be Amos, though he doesn’t return with a pelt, so it could be some other gun-toting neighbor). Tod could have grown up with his fox mom in the woods and learned everything he needed to know to survive. Instead, a human interferes and leaves Tod motherless (see also, Bambi). Luckily for baby Tod, Big Mama finds him and brings Tod to the attention of Widow Tweed, who immediately takes it upon herself to care for Tod. I don’t think any of us would disagree that Tod needed caring for in the beginning, but then it’s also hard to say that releasing Tod into the wild was the right choice later in the film. Tod grew up in a human environment where he was discouraged from honing his hunting instincts (though he initially tries to practice on the chickens). Once he’s put into a wild environment, he has no idea how to fend for himself. He can’t find shelter from the rain without assistance. He can’t catch a fish and it’s likely Vixey will have to teach him how to hunt for food. He also doesn’t know how to read the forest’s signs of danger. While Vixey doesn’t want to go into one part of the woods because it is too quiet, Tod confidently walks in…until he realizes Vixey was right to be wary. Without Vixey’s help, Tod very quickly could have died in those woods, so while Widow Tweed’s intentions were good (wanting to save Tod from Amos), the results seem a bit mixed. It all ends well in the film, but it very easily could have gone the other way.

So many familiar voices!

Kevin: Although I have known for years now some of the voices behind the characters in this film, it was still a pleasant surprise to discover even more actors whose voices I could recognize. Even more so, many of these actors were from earlier films in this challenge, which made it even easier to recognize them! I already knew that Kurt Russell, Jack Albertson, and Sandy Duncan voiced adult Copper, Amos Slade, and Vixey, respectively. Russell and Duncan have, of course, made several appearances in past Disney films. We are also treated to many other Disney veterans, including Mickey Rooney, Pat Buttram, John Fiedler, Jeanette Nolan, John McIntire, Dick Bakalyan, and Paul Winchell. I’ll skip explaining some of their previous roles, but I am sure you would recognize many of these voices instantly. Hearing all of these familiar voices felt a bit like Easter eggs!

Big Mama and Vixey

Megan: As predicted, the film fails the Bechdel test since the only conversations between two named female characters are between Big Mama and Vixey, and they only talk about a male character: Tod. I’m gonna chalk that up to an all-male team of writers. However, The Fox and the Hound does give us something we haven’t really seen in our challenge thus far: a female mentor for a male protagonist. Both Big Mama and Vixey act as mentors for Tod. Big Mama is the one who helps find Tod a surrogate mother. She’s the one who warns him about the potential dangers of befriending Copper—a hunting dog. She’s also the one to teach him the hard truth about just how many animals Amos and his dogs hunt and kill. Though Tod must face his “All Is Lost” and “Dark Night of the Soul” alone, Big Mama is there immediately after to make sure Tod is okay, and to set him up with his next mentor, Vixey. Though we don’t see all of it on screen, we get the sense that Vixey will be the one to teach Tod how to truly be a fox in the wild so he can survive. Up until now, I think we’ve only seen male mentors for male protagonists (or at least no female mentors are immediately jumping to my mind…give a shout out in the comments if you can think of an example prior to 1981). I’m totally a fan of these female mentors. My one minor critique is that these female mentors fall into traditional female roles: Big Mama is literally named as a mother figure, and Vixey is, of course, the love interest. Still, I like it, and I’ll have to remember to keep an eye out for more female mentors to male protagonists as we move through the challenge.

Sexism is still at play

Megan: Unsurprisingly, sexism is still present in this film. Amos is the most obvious culprit as he repeatedly berates Widow Tweed, often using the word “female” like a swear word. It’s hard to tell, at times, if he’s more angered by the fox in his yard or by his neighbor being a woman. To Widow Tweed’s credit, she holds her own against Amos. At one point she goes so far as to turn Amos’s own gun against him and shoot out the radiator in his car. However, in the end, Amos is the one who gets his way, not Widow Tweed. Amos gets to live without a fox next door, and Widow Tweed is once again alone. Sure, the film ends with her helping Amos and having her own fun at his expense, but I don’t believe those two would ever truly be friends, which means Widow Tweed will be just as lonesome as she was before Tod came into her life. The whole story arc becomes a bit sexist: because of a man’s violent tendencies, a woman has to give up something she loves, and yet the man is largely unchanged. Sure, Amos didn’t kill Tod because Copper defended him, but will Amos give up hunting? I don’t think so. Will it stop Amos from killing any fox he comes across in the future? Again, I don’t think so. He clearly doesn’t like Widow Tweed any better than he did at the opening of the film, so aside from choosing not to kill Tod, he hasn’t really changed. Granted, he’s the villain, and villains don’t typically change in a story, but I don’t like that, as a villain, he basically gets what he wanted in the end—a life without Tod next door—and Widow Tweed, who did nothing but love Tod (even though none of us likes her decision to leave him in the woods), doesn’t get what she wanted—true companionship—at the end of the film. I’m still waiting for a reunion between Widow Tweed and Tod where he introduces her to Vixey and (maybe) his future kits.

A bittersweet ending

Kevin: Usually most Disney animated movies end on a happy note, even the films that are more grounded in reality. I think The Fox and the Hound may be the first of its kind, at least as far as I can remember at this moment, to have an ending that isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The ending to this film is totally bittersweet, and possibly even sad depending on your point of view. Some of the brighter moments are Squeaks turning into a butterfly and Tweed bandaging Amos’s leg while he whines, showing that the two have reached at the very least a cordial relationship. Chief and Copper appear content, and Tod watches his best friend from afar with Vixey. The film closes with a voiceover of Tod and Copper promising to remain friends forever, but I can’t help but wonder… do they? It seems to be implied, but I am curious just how strong their friendship is after it was so nearly utterly destroyed. Also, does Tod ever visit Tweed again? For how much they loved one another, I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that we don’t see even one scene of the two reconnecting before Tod returns to Vixey. The best I will presume for all of this is that Amos must have told Tweed what Tod did in fighting off the bear and saving his and Copper’s lives. This would explain him and Tweed seemingly patching things up, and would allow Copper and Tod to go their separate ways without any lingering feelings of regret or pain. I will just have to imagine that Tod would occasionally visit the farm and catch up with his human mother and his best friend.

Verdict

Kevin: 6

Megan: 6

Final Score: 6

Ways to Watch

Disney Plus

Amazon Digital Video

DVD

Disnerd Movie Challenge, Movie ReviewsMeganMay 28, 2021The Fox and the Hound, The Fox and the Hound (1981), Disney Plus, Disney, Disnerd Movie Challenge, Disney classic, animation, animals, animal movie, animal rights, dog movie, dog, fox, fox movie, Tod, Copper, friendship, best friends, feminist lens, feminist analysis, Bechdel Test, sexism, all is lost, Save the Cat, dark night of the soul, sad movie, movie that makes you cry, types of love, Kurt Russell, Mickey Rooney, Sandy Duncan, Jack Albertson, characterization, character development, character arc, emotions, emotional storytelling, plot, Disney movies that make you cry, sad Disney movies, platonic love, romantic love, familial love, woodland creatures, wildlife, Big Mama, Vixey, Widow Tweed, Amos Slade, Chief

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