DisneyToons review: The Fox and the Hound 2

DisneyToon’s 36th film.

http://freedisneycartoon2.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-fox-and-hound-2-2006-watch-online.html

My opinion right after watching the film

My opinion right after watching the movie is that the tone and style of the original is completely removed in this film. There is literally no connection between the films outside of the characters. A franchise needs to have a similar theme and tone to hold it together, and this film falls completely flat.

Production

There is no information on the production of this film.

Story

The film starts with Tod (Jonah Bobo) and Copper (Harrison Fahn) chasing a cricket together, which becomes a pattern in the film. Copper ends up making a mess of a few situations, which causes him to think that he is good at nothing, and a screw-up. This causes Amos Slade (Jeff Bennett) and Willow Tweed (Russi Taylor) end up in an argument over this mess, and Copper feels poorly about himself. Tod goes to pay him a visit, and breaks out Copper’s restraints, so they can have some more fun.

So they end up at some sort of carnival, where w are introduced to the other main characters. Dixie (Reba McEntire) and Cash (Patrick Swayze), who are a part of a dog singing group, called The Singin’ Strays. Dixie is pissed that they are performing in a run-down area, which causes her to be removed from the group. They perform anyways, and as Copper sings in the audience, Cash forces him to join them on stage to sing.

Apparently, only stray dogs are allowed to join the group, and Tod lies for him, telling Cash that he is a stray dog. Copper will only join unless Tod is hired, which Cash makes happen by telling Tod by being their personal cleaner. There is a huge plothole issue with this film. There is a montage song that makes it seem like the film takes place in days, but HOW are Todd and Copper stay in the carnival park for DAYS, and NOT have Amos Slade and Tweed look for them? Sure, they do eventually look for their pets, but it would not have taken days, like the song of the group getting famous is insinuating.

The relationship between Dixie and Cash confuses me. Are they lovers? Good friends? Just associates? There seems to be a lot of weird innuendo and hints towards one another, but nothing gets explained, other than the fact that those two started the group together.

Tod is mad at Copper for bailing on their plans to go to the fireworks, and right when they are going to hang out again, Cash recruits him back to work. Dixie walks to him, and they make a connection about being outcasted by the one they care about the most. She is doing this, so she can eventually manipulate Rod to oust Copper front he group, which he takes the bait, by revealing that Copper is not a stray dog.

Dixie and Tod execute their plan, but it goes too far when the entire carnival is ruined. There is a bunch of blame game because of this “liar’s revealed”, since Cash blames Copper for lying about his identity, Cash blames Dixie for her trifling ways, Copper blames Tod for ratting him out, and the other singers Granny Rose (Vicki Lawrence) and the twins Waylon and Floyd (Jim Cummings) blame Cash for not making the group fun anymore, and for being a stick in the mud.

Dixie apologizes to Copper and takes all respobsibility, which causes him to forgive Tod. They create a plan to get the group together (claiming to Dixie and Cash that the other is in trouble) to sing in front of the Talent Scout (Stephen Root). The initial group gets recruited and reunited, while Tod and Copper go back to their loves.

The thing with midquels, and especially one to The Fox and the Hound, is that you begin and end at the same place. The conflict and the main message in this film means nothing, because we KNOW that Tod and Copper do not remain friends. The tone of this film is something completely different. The first film was VERY serious in all aspects, but this crap is laughable at best. The plot and characters left a lot to be desired.

Characters

The characters from the original are more one-dimensional than they were, and the new characters are alright. Some of them are unimportant or unmemorable, but the two that were important are strong enough.

Tod was downplayed a lot in this film. He was a bit mischievous to get Copper back, but there is really nothing else to say.

Copper initially feels like he is talentless, and I wished they focused on that part a bit more as a character arc. He was the same otherwise.

I feel like he was flanderized to show his more argumentative and foolish side.

Willow is kind of flanderized as well. All we see of her is bickering, and acting like a fool in regards to Amos Slade.

Cash was a strong enough character. He wants to succeed and to make something of himself so much, where he lost what made the group so fun to begin with.

Yes, she is an upright bitch in the film, but she was not completely villainized, and showed to have some compassion.

Animation

The animation in this film is a mixed bag. Regarding the traditional animation, it is some of the best I have ever seen DisneyToons put on a film, but there is an UNNECESSARY amount of CGI animation. Like all of the cars, and most of the objects were CGI, and it looked so cheap. My eyes hurt a lot through the film.

Music

Regarding the music, I like that they wanted to have a country-theme soundtrack, but the songs did not make any connection to me. Some of it was blandly describing what we were already seeing, or it was a filler song.

Reception at Release

When the film was released on December 12th, 2006, there was a lot of negative reception received towards it.

Reception Today

The reception today that this film has is that it is one of the most disliked films in the canon. A lot of people try to forget about it, and it is not as memorable as the earlier ones, but when it is mentioned, a lot of hatred is shown.

Final Score

Story: 5/10

Characters: 6/10

Animation: 6/10

Music: 7/10

24/40 = 60%

Next time…

Review: April 3rd, 2016.

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