Friday, June 5, 2015

Review: The Rescuers (1977)


Summary:
When The Rescue Aid Society (an organization of mice) receive a desperate cry for help, Miss Bianca enlists the help of the shy janitor Bernard to go on a rescue mission in the bayou to save a little girl named Penny.   Penny is being held hostage by Madame Medusa and her accomplice, Mr. Snoops, to retrieve the one thing that Medusa cares most about: the Devil's Eye Diamond.   Miss Bianca and Bernard must save the innocent Penny from danger with the help of a ragtag team of bayou creatures.

Thoughts:
       The film begins with Penny, a young girl, sending a letter calling for help in a bottle.   She is on a large riverboat in the bayou, with two alligators threateningly snapping at her nearby.   She throws the help letter into the water and it floats away.   We see through the entire opening credits (over the hauntingly beautiful song, "The Journey") that the bottle eventually floats all the way to New York City, where it is found by a bunch of mice.
      Next, we see several people from all over the world coming together for a meeting of the United Nations.   Mice have stowed away in almost every member's suitcase to come to a meeting of their own.   These mice are members of the Rescue Aid Society, an organisation that helps children in trouble.   At the meeting, Penny's help letter is read.   No one wants to help poor Penny, except for Miss Bianca, the representative from Norway.   She enlists the help of Bernard, the janitor, to go with her.   Bernard shyly agrees.
     Miss Bianca and Bernard head to Morning Side Orphanage, Penny's old home.   They discover a cat named Rufus, a friend of Penny's,  who tell them that Penny was happy when she suddenly disappeared.    Rufus also explains that a "trashy lady" who owns a pawn shop nearby offered Penny a ride in her car.   Miss Bianca and Bernard go straight to the pawn shop.
     The pawn shop is a dangerous place for two little mice.   They discover a notebook with Penny's handwriting on it, so they know that they are in the right place.   The phone rings, and the "trashy lady" comes and answers it.   Her name is Madame Medusa, and during the phone call the mice discover that her accomplice, Mr. Snoops, is keeping Penny in a riverboat in the Devil's Bayou.   Medusa, frustrated with her accomplice, decides to go to take care of Penny herself.   Miss Bianca and Bernard go, too.
     They ride on the back of a ditzy albatross named Orville to the bayou.   Naturally, on the ride over (since this is a Disney movie after all), Bernard falls head over heels in love with Miss Bianca.   When they arrive in the bayou, they are introduced to some new creatures.   These animals are so hillbilly they put the Clampetts to shame.   That being said, they do point the mice in the right direction and get a"boat" (a leaf with a dragonfly engine) to take the mice to Penny.
     Poor Penny is being threatened by Mr. Snoops and the alligators.   Fortunately for her, Penny is also a sass sensei who doesn't take Mr. Snoops very seriously.   Also, she has a teddy bear, which helps make everything better.   Unfortunately for her, Madame Medusa has now arrived and isn't so easy on Penny.   Miss Medusa reveals in a conversation with Mr. Snoops that she intends to make Penny find the Devil's Eye Diamond, one of the most valuable gems in the world.   The two mice must help Penny escape, but how?

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
   This was a very cute movie.   I loved the adorable budding romance between Miss Bianca and Bernard, and I loved the wonderful message the film gave.   It gave hope to a very serious situation that we still see today, and that is very important.   I read recently that someone used to daydream about the Rescue Aid Society rescuing them from their poor childhood.   That is what films should do: show us that there are problems in our world and that life can and will get better.

Have you seen The Rescuers?   What was your favorite part?

4 comments:

  1. The Rescuers is adorable! I'm seen it more times than I can count. It's one of my favorite older Disney movies. :)

    ~Lydia~ <3

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  2. I do like The Rescuers—in particular the Rescue Aid Society song, as well as "Someone's Waiting for You." That's a sweet one. :)

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