Every time I go back and watch the Disney Robin Hood from ’73, I’m always reminded of what a pleasing mixture it is of animation and a whimsical soundtrack. To me, the animation is timeless. It’s refreshing to see an animated movie where the characters have an older, more earthy and worn out look to them rather than today’s modern trend of oddly proportioned super-athletic looking figures that are common to today’s Saturday morning cartoons. In fact, what makes this movie so visually great is the fact that all the animators took such thought into giving each person a lot of character. For instance, the Sheriff of Nottingham is this grizzly, old, and overweight possum with a couple of stray whiskers and a voice that makes him come across a bit like a classic son of a gun with a little West Virginian thrown in for good measure
Another aspect that is well-done in this movie is the colors and facial expressions flowing well with the mood. When it’s a down point in the film, the animators use deep blues, grays, and greens normally accompanied by steady rainfall with a few drops landing inside a cold window here or there. During these times, the characters move noticeably slower and have drawn faces that a reflected well with the rest of their body language.
I love that the animators saw the beauty of simplicity in Robin Hood. The one scene that really was impressive was the point in which the Sheriff began making his rounds of the town to pickup Prince John’s “rightful share of taxes.” The old blacksmith (a dog) was walking around on a cast with some crutches and gave every last gold coin he had except for one single coin he was hiding in his boot. However the Sheriff wises up to it and very human-like lifts up the dogs cast and gives it a couple good taps until the coin drops out. It wasn’t an over-the-top amount of force; rather it was just enough to get the coin out and see the pain on the old blacksmith’s face with every swift tap to the cast.
I commented here: http://balberry.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/blog-post4-the-trials-tribulations-of-making-toy-story-3/#comment-30
and here: http://hallingham.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/blog-4-virtual-bands/#comment-12
