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Studio HOF, Vancouver, WA (2026)

03/07/2026

02/21/2026

It’s all about the layers

08/23/2025

Brendan

Disney Discovers Robin Hood 🏹

I’ve been researching Robin Hood for my next novel, elbows deep in weighty tomes on everything from the political history of medieval England to what people ate in York in the 12th century. You won’t be surprised to learn that it’s not a beach read.

So I decided to take a break from the Robin of long ago and take a look at who he’s become for us moderns. I’ve been entertaining myself by watching Robin Hood on the silver screen.

I started with the 1973 Disney animated version, which followed his 1952 live action film. This one makes animals of all the characters and I loved it at the time. Of course, I see it with different eyes now but I dug deep to find my inner child and let her loose.

There’s a lot to love.

The now-retro animation is terrific, and captures the nuances of every personality. It has a great cast that includes Brian Bedford, Peter Ustinov, Roger Miller, Andy Devine, and Terry-Thomas, and a smart, funny script.

Sly red fox Robin is, like Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. He skates from prank to prank while redistributing the wealth and confounding the villains. Lumbering bear Little John is the perfect sidekick. This is a Robin Hood who teaches us that you can enjoy complete freedom in harmony with the natural world, while fighting for the rights of the downtrodden. And get the girl.

Ah, but she’s a character who would be portrayed very differently today. This Maid Marian (voiced by Monica Evans) fits perfectly into the Disney ideal of simpering femininity. It’s an ideal that goes right back to Snow White in 1937 and had hardly changed in 1973. She’s content to live a cloistered life waiting for her man to arrive from his deeds of derring do and sweep her off to the forest.

Did I want to throw something at her and tell her to wake up? I’m not saying.

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