Robin Hood (1973)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Animation & Audio Gallery-Art Featurette-Ye Olden Days Game Karaoke-Oo-de-lally
Rating
Year Of Production	1973
Running Time	79:42
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (52:55)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Wolfgang Reitherman
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Peter Ustinov Brian Bedford Phil Harris Terry Thomas Monica Evans
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	George Bruns Roger Miller

   Robin Hood (1973) is a Disney animated feature that re-works the classic tale of the outlaw and his merry men.

    The legend of Robin Hood (or Robin Hode) has existed in the UK since the Dark Ages. Originally a story told in poem or ballad form, it was later written down. The story, or stories, have changed dramatically over the centuries, and both plot elements and characters have been added and removed. For example, the character of Maid Marion is believed to be a relatively recent addition. During the Twentieth Century, over 70 movies and television programs have featured the hero who never seems to lose his popularity. I sense that the concept of robbing from the rich to give to the poor has universal appeal. Also, in a country like Australia, which is hideously over-taxed, Robin Hood 's distribution of taxes back to the people has special appeal -- at least to me.

    I imagine that the story is very familiar to all, but basically, King Richard has left for the Crusades. His younger brother, the inept Prince John (Peter Ustinov), has usurped the throne and is a cruel tyrant. With the help of his side-kick, Sir Hiss (Terry Thomas) and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Pat Buttram), Prince John is greedily taxing his subjects into poverty. The people's only respite is in the form of the loveable rogue, Robin Hood (Brian Bedford), who with the help of Little John (Phil Harris) and Friar Tuck (Andy Devine), steals some of the tax revenue from Prince John and returns it to the poor. When not being an instrument of social justice, Robin pursues his romance with Maid Marion (Monica Evans) who returns his affections. In this feature-length animated production, all the characters take the form of animals.

Video

    This movie features very smooth animation, and it's always a pleasure to watch animation in the classic Disney style.

    The movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, pan & scan. This is a departure from the original aspect ratio of 1.75:1. Strangely, the packaging claims that the DVD has a 16x9 transfer.

    The foregrounds and characters are reasonably sharp, but some of the backgrounds appear a little soft. I imagine that this might be a reflection of the source material.

    The colour in this movie is excellent for its age (almost 30 years). As with most animated features, colour is used very subtly to manipulate the audience's feelings.

    There are no MPEG artefacts or film-to-video artefacts  to complain of, but film artefacts appear throughout. Considering the age of the source material, this is to be expected, and only a few scenes are adversely affected to the point of it being distracting. Edge enhancement also appears throughout.

    There are six sets of subtitles present on this DVD, and the English subtitles are accurate.

    This is a dual layered disc, with the layer change occurring at 52:55. It is in between scenes and not disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three audio tracks on this DVD: English, Norwegian, and Danish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks.

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are generally up to the usual excellent quality for a Disney animated movie.

    The musical score is credited to George Bruns. The well known singer/songwriter Roger Miller also provides a number of songs with clever lyrics that advance the plot.

    Despite being a 5.1 mix, there is virtually no surround presence or subwoofer activity. A few very slight murmurs came from the rear speakers, and I did notice the subwoofer during a sequence with drums at 42:40.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Compared with some other Disney releases, this DVD has relatively few extras. All the extras are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Menu

    An animated menu.

Robin Hood Art Gallery

    Photographs and conceptual art from the production.

Cartoon: Ye Olden Days (8:00)

    A Disney short from 1933 featuring Mickey Mouse.

Robin Hood's Merry Games

    A simple kid's game using the DVD remote.

Oo-de-lally Sing Along

    A karaoke style 'sing along' featuring one of Roger Miller's songs from the movie.

    Robin Hood was released on DVD in Region 1 in July 2000.

    The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

• French and Spanish audio tracks.

    The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

• Danish and Norwegian audio tracks.

   They appear even, but for my money I would favour the local release for its affordability and superior PAL image.

    Robin Hood is an entertaining family movie, but it is not up there with the Disney classics. That said, the movie still looks great for its age, and it is well presented on this DVD.

    The video quality is good for its age.

    The audio quality is also good for its age.

    The extras complement the main feature.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall