Foreverisacastironmess This was released on the date of my birthday. It's always kind of meant something to me ever since I first saw it as a kid at this after school party night thing. It's a quaint straightforward kind of adventure, but it's very warm and charming and is a story that's dead easy to get drawn into and connect with the characters. Barring one song I love the music, it feels very representative of the decade in which it was made, very free-spirited and poignant and heartfelt. "Someones's Waiting For You" is a real tearjerker of a song that plays at a very heartbreaking part of the movie and it always puts a little something in my eye because it's about a child in a very dark place without love who must keep hope in her little heart that one day she'll have a family of her own... That's what makes this movie a ten for me, its deeper themes of lost children and family that are woven into the story. There's just two little things about it that I don't like. One is the clan of hillbilly swamp critters, their little barrel of pep booze and how they yell "Charge!" and their whole yokel shtick feels out of place and rather dumb to me, and I really dislike the Rescue Aid Society song, I actually find that entire early scene in that place to be so sappy and off- putting, thank goodness it's not reflective of the picture as a whole! Gabor and Newhart both gave very good voice performances that complement and work off each other well, and also made their mousy characters seem much bigger. They made a great team, she loves the adventure and peril and he's superstitious and overly-cautious but also brave when he has to be. I like their quasi-romantic moments, very sweet. I like Penny because she's imperfect with her gappy child's teeth and mildly annoying energetic manner, it made her seem more like a real little girl that you actually want to see pull through and have a happy ending. The most tension is easily in the scene where she has the Devil's Eye diamond under one arm and her new rescuer friends in the other hand and she's trying to get out of the flooding underground pirate cave before they all drown. I love Evinrude the dragonfly because it's so cute the way he wears a little sweater and speaks only in a fairly expressive buzzing sound, and his purpose in the movie is like a living mini motorboat that runs out of steam all the time! It might make me sound bad but I think my favourite character is Medusa. Her motivation isn't anything special at all, I mean she's just a very greedy and demented bird-like woman who greatly desires a large one of a kind diamond and is willing to go to any lengths to get it, including kidnapping a child. But the voice actress does such an amazing job with her piercing crazy inflections that to me the character all but steals the show. She's not downright evil but she's so selfish and mean to everyone around her that she's very entertaining and you love to hate her and can't wait for her to get a comeuppance and be put in her place! To my mind she's also the only Disney villain that's a redhead, so props! Her pet alligators help to make her more of a threat. I love the scene where one of them inadvertently plays a comic tune of terror on the pipe organ while the other tries to snatch the mice as they're blasted out of the pipes! Also her squat sidekick in crime Snoops is a lot of fun, the man's wormy voice and the nerdy character design make for a classic bumbling stooge and I love Snoops, it's great to see him get the last laugh on Medusa at the end. Anyway it's a fantastic sweet movie that's always been a treasure to me and take care, for tomorrow is indeed another day! X

Anssi Vartiainen The Rescuers, at least in my opinion, is one of the forgotten Disney films. Though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it's one of the most overlooked Disney films. Most people know that it exists, certainly, it's part of Disney canon, and I'd even say that most people have even seen it. But not all that many people talk about it. I've never met any person who claims this as one of their favourites.And yeah, I can see why. The Rescuers is a fine movie, perfectly good children's entertainment. But, it's not very memorable. The characters range from slightly below average to merely good. The animation, while impressive in certain ways, is rather dark in its style and doesn't even try to reach for the stars like so many other Disney films. The music is okay, the story is okay and that's about it. It's okay. Which for a Disney film is not really a compliment.I truly think they should have made Cruella De Vil the villain. Yeah, this was going to be a sequel to One Hundred and One Dalmatians. But, alas, someone decided that the audience would feel confused. Disney, making baffling executive decisions since the 70s. Because, while Madame Medusa is not the worst Disney villain we've seen, she just feels like a poor man's Cruella De Vil, or perhaps like something of a practice run for Ursula from The Little Mermaid. In a word she's okay, but something's missing.Then again, Bernard and Biance, the eponymous rescuing mice, are both very good characters, the backgrounds do look gorgeous, the story does some interesting things we haven't seen in Disney films before this one, and as stated, it isn't bad in any way. It just isn't great. Certainly worth a watch for all fans of Disney, but personally I rate it pretty low on my list of canon films.

Lee Eisenberg "The Rescuers" is the sort of movie that I watch to heckle like on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". When they show the UN building at the beginning I said "John Bolton's not gonna like that!" I ended up not heckling most of it, just since I couldn't come up with anything. I assume that this was the first animated feature to have the voices of really notable people in the lead roles. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor remain best know for their roles on sitcoms, although I prefer to think of Newhart's roles in "Catch-22" and "In & Out". As for Gabor, it ate at me that her character is named Bianca. Anyone who knows anything about Hungary or its language knows that Bianca can't be a given name in the Magyar Republic. Examples of authentic Hungarian feminine names are Dorottya, Erzsébet and Piroska. Other transparently obvious goofs include Latvia's seat at the Rescue Society: Latvia was part of the Soviet Union at the time.Anyway, it's probably a movie that the little ones will like.

AaronCapenBanner One of Walt Disney's finest animated films, this concerns two mice named Bernard & Bianca, who belong to the Rescue Aid Society, that operates out of the basement of the United Nations building in New York. There is a little girl named Penny being held captive by an evil woman named Madame Medusa and her henchman Mr. Snoops, who need her to lead them to a priceless jewel in the Devil's Bayou swamp, where she is being held on a riverboat. The mice fly atop Orville the Albatross to rescue her, and defeat the villains. Surprisingly touching and thrilling film done with care and imagination, with wonderful songs. To be enjoyed by both children and adults alike.