Wolfgang Reitherman Movies

The Disney animated feature The Fox and the Hound tells the story of a friendship between traditional enemies. Tod is a fox whose parents have died. His best friend is a hunting dog named Copper. As Copper grows up, he learns that it is his job to hunt foxes. Tod's caretaker Widow Tweed takes Tod to live in a game preserve where he falls madly in love with Vixey. Copper and his owner eventually enter the preserve to hunt Tod, and eventually Copper must decide between duty and friendship. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an hour-long compendium of the three Disney "Winnie" animated short subjects produced between 1966 and 1974. Sterling Holloway provides the voice of A.A. Milne's whimsical pooh-bear in all three cartoons, the first two of which are directed by Wolfgang Reithermann and the last by John Lounsbery. The program consists of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974). The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was originally prepared in 1977 for theatrical release, and has since been available primarily in home-video form. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Aristocats was the first Disney Studios animated feature to be produced after Walt Disney's death. A wealthy woman leaves her vast fortune to her four cats: the well-bred Duchess and her kittens, Berlioz, Toulouse, and Marie. Jealous butler Edgar, eager to get his mitts on the cats' legacy, abandons the felines in the French countryside. The four lost kitties are aided in their efforts to return home by the raffish country pussycats Thomas O'Malley and Scat Cat. In keeping with a tradition launched by The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats is top-heavy with celebrity voices, including Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Scatman Crothers, Hermione Baddeley, and the ineluctable Sterling Holloway. Assembled by the "nine old men" then in charge of animation, The Aristocats was a commercial success, essentially proving that Disney animated features could succeed without the involvement of the company's founder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The final animated feature produced under the supervision of Walt Disney is a lively neo-swing musical, loosely based upon the tales of Rudyard Kipling. The story takes place in a tropical jungle where people are conspicuously absent. But one day Bagheera the Panther (voice of Sebastian Cabot) discovers a baby in the wreck of a boat. Feeling pity on the child, Bagheera takes him to be raised with the wolves. Ten years later, the child has grown into Mowgli (voice of Bruce Reitherman). Mowgli discovers that his life is in danger because of the return to the area of Shere Khan the Tiger (voice of George Sanders), whose hatred of humans is such that Mowgli faces certain death if discovered. Bagheera agrees to transport Mowgli to the human village, where he will be safe from Shere Khan. Along the way to the village, night falls and Mowgli and Bagheera almost succumb to the man-eating snake Kaa (voice of Sterling Holloway). Escaping Kaa's coils, they run into the lock-step military elephant band of Colonel Hathi (voice of J. Pat O'Malley). Afterwards, Mowgli, who doesn't want to be sent to the human village, runs away from Bagheera and meets up with the fun-loving Baloo the Bear (voice of Phil Harrris). With both Bagheera and Baloo to protect him, Mowgli is saved from several more life-threatening situations -- including a barber-shop quartet of vultures, the crazed King Louie of the Apes (voice of Louis Prima), and Shere Khan himself -- before making it to the village of humans. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

1963's The Sword in the Stone is Disney's animated take on Arthurian legend. In the midst of the Dark Ages, when England has no rightful ruler, a sword imbedded in a stone mysteriously appears in a London churchyard, bearing the inscription "Whoso pulleth out the sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England." Scores of would-be kings travel to London to attempt the feat and thereby claim the throne. They all fail. Years later, in the English countryside, an 11-year-old squire nicknamed Wart (Rickie Sorensen) is devotedly helping his incompetent foster brother, Kay (Norman Alden), train to become a knight, when he meets the great magician Merlin (Karl Swenson). The well meaning, but absentminded, wizard declares himself Wart's mentor and claims that he will lead the boy to his destiny. Spirited and full of spunk, Wart (whose real name is Arthur) approaches Merlin's lessons with the same determination that he applies to Kay's hopeless training and to the monotonous chores he is assigned by his guardian. He soon finds himself accompanying Kay to London for a jousting tournament that will determine England's new king. There, Wart forgets to bring Kay's weapon to the joust, but finds an abandoned sword in a nearby churchyard -- which he effortlessly pulls out of a stone. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi

Although advertised as a "premiere," the first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color was actually a continuation of the ABC anthology series that had run under the titles Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents since 1959. The major changes in the "new" version were twofold: Disney was now seen on NBC, and (of course) his program was broadcast in "living color" (and in fact was sponsored by RCA, foremost manufacturer of color TVs). Episode one opened in black-and-white, with Walt Disney discussing his plans for the future, then magically switched over to a full rainbow of hues. Further emphasizing the advantages of color over black-and-white, Disney compared his 1927 Mickey Mouse cartoon vehicle Plane Crazy with his earliest Technicolor effort, the 1932 "Silly Symphony" Flowers and Trees. Walt also introduced the viewers to his latest cartoon creation -- a brilliant, erudite Viennese duck named Ludwig Von Drake, who happened to be the uncle of good ol' Donald Duck (Professor Von Drake was not so brilliant as to disbelieve Donald's claims that Disney worked for him, instead of the other way around!). The remainder of the episode consists of the 1959 animated theatrical short subject Donald in Mathmagic Land, an entertainng foray into the world of numbers, angles, and shapes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this Walt Disney Presents salute to the American father, cartoon hero Goofy appears in the guise of "George", a typical example of Yankee manhood (or is it doghood?). After a brief segment in which bachelor George's head is turned by the pretty girl who will soon become his wife, the episode settles down to choice clips from previous Disney theatrical animated shorts stitched together to illustrate an average day in the life of a suburban daddy. "A Salute to Father" was rerun on June 20, 1976, as "Goofy's Salute to Father," the title it has borne ever since. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The protagonist of this Oscar-nominated Disney cartoon featurette is a very tiny elephant named Goliath II--so tiny, in fact, that he is hardly any bigger than one of his father's toenails. Alas, in elephant society the bigger you are the better you are, so Goliath II doesn't amount to much in his dad's eyes. But the mini-elephant's mom is proud of her son, and is certain that he will someday prove his worth--provided he doesn't get gobbled up by a crafty tiger. Ultimately, Goliath II becomes a hero when he is the only member of his elephant pack willing to stand up to a bullying mouse. The first Disney cartoon to use the Xerox animation process (later honed to perfection in 1961's 101 Dalmations), Goliath II also proved useful a few years later, when some of its "elephant march" footage was recycled in the 1967 cartoon feature The Jungle Book. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally titled "The Adventure Story", this is one of several Disneyland episodes which splices together vintage theatrical cartoon shorts into a single, cohesive storyline. In the framing sequences, Papa Goofy ("uh-hyuk") tells his young son the story of their illustrious family. In flashback, we see Goofy's various forebears as they go through their paces as gladiators, knights, seafarers, hunters, artists and scientists--and none too competently. As Goofy would put it, "YAAAH hoohoohoohoooooo." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Disneyland episode opens with host Walt Disney proferring a special award, bestowed upon cartoon star Pluto as "most promising dog actor." Uncle Walt goes on to explain that Pluto has been thus honored not for his great acting ability, but simply because he has the happy knack of being "himself" before the cameras. This thesis is illustrated with choice clips from Pluto's theatrical cartoons, showing the playful pup having run-ins with a ferocious bulldog, a mother hen, a pair of mischievous chipmunks and even an octopus. One of the more popular Disneyland entries, "Pluto's Day" was rebroadcast three times between 1957 and 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the most popular episodes from Disneyland's first season, "From Aesop to Hans Christian Andersen offers choice clips of past Disney cartoon shorts, based on famous fables. Excerpts include scenes from The Tortoise and the Hare, The Country Cousin, The Ugly Duckling, The Brave Little Tailor (starring Mickey Mouse), and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, here seen on TV for the very first time. An expanded version of From Aesop to Hans Christian Andersen was released theatrically in Europe in 1958. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lady and the Tramp represented two "firsts" for Disney: It was the studio's first Cinemascope animated feature, and it was their first full-length cartoon based on an original story rather than an established "classic". Lady is the pampered female dog belonging to Jim Dear and Darling. When her human masters bring a baby into the house, Lady feels she's being eased out; and when Darling's insufferable Aunt Sarah introduces her nasty twin Siamese cats into the fold, Lady is certain that she's no longer welcome. The cats wreak all manner of havoc, for which Lady is blamed. After the poor dog is fitted with a muzzle, Lady escapes from the house, only to run across the path of the Tramp, a raffish male dog from the "wrong" side of town. The Tramp helps Lady remove her muzzle, then takes her out on a night on the town, culminating in a romantic spaghetti dinner, courtesy of a pair of dog-loving Italian waiters. After their idyllic evening together, Lady decides that it's her duty to protect Darling's baby from those duplicitous Siamese felines. On her way home, Lady is captured and thrown in the dog pound. Here she learns from a loose-living mutt named Peg that The Tramp is a canine rake. Disillusioned, Lady is more than happy to be returned to her humans, even though it means that she'll be chained up at the insistence of Aunt Sarah. Tramp comes into Lady's yard to apologize, but she wants no part of him. Suddenly, a huge, vicious rat breaks into the house, threatening the baby. Lady breaks loose, and together with Tramp, runs into the house to protect the infant. When the dust settles, it appears to Aunt Sarah that Tramp has tried to attack the child. That's when Lady's faithful friends Jock the bloodhound and Trusty the scottie swing into action, rescuing Tramp from the dogcatcher. Once Jim Dear and Darling are convinced that Tramp is a hero, he is invited to stay...and come next Christmas, there's a whole flock of little Ladies and Tramps gathered around the family. Beyond the usual excellent animation and visual effects, the principal selling card of Lady and the Tramp is its music. Many of the songs were performed and co-written by Peggy Lee, who years after the film's 1955 theatrical issue, successfully sued Disney for her fair share of residuals from the videocassette release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi