Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at The Rescuers Down Under

Welcome everyone to Deep Dive Disney and welcome to another one of my Big 5. For those who may not remember, my Big 5 Disney Movies are the five Disney Animated Films that I have loved unconditionally since the moment I saw them. Today’s film, which also happens to be the first sequel we’ll be covering, is one I watched almost every day when I was growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I ended up enjoying the original Rescuers more than I expected,but I still will never understand why it was that movie of all movies that got picked to be Disney’s first official sequel as well as the only sequel to be considered a part of Disney’s animated canon until Ralph Breaks the Internet came along in 2018. Whatever the case may be, this movie is such a vast improvement over its predecessor that it seems to have completely overshadowed it, and from frame one of the movie you can see why. This film boasts some of the most beautiful animation I have ever seen in my life, putting every Disney film we’ve covered so far and even many still to come to shame. So many times while watching, I simply in awe of this breathtaking animation. The movie feels epic and colossal in scope. So, what’s the story that warranted bringing Bernard and Bianca out of retirement. Well, this time around we head to the Australian outback where a young boy named Cody has befriended a rare giant golden eagle. Said eagle happens to be the target of a ruthless poacher named McLeach who kidnaps the boy in the hopes that the boy will help him find his quarry. Word of the boy’s kidnapping reaches the Rescue Aid Society and Bernard and Bianca are put on the case. With the help of their guide, Jake, a fearless kangaroo mouse, our heroes must trek through the treacherous terrain of the Australian outback before time runs out for the boy. I’m excited to get into this one so let’s dive right in and look at, The Rescuers Down Under.

Main Character:

We’ve already covered Bernard and Bianca at length in the first Rescuers article and the characters remain primarily unchanged. Bianca is still wild and adventurous Bernard is still cautious and unsure of himself. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor come back to reprise their roles from the first film and they both do just as good a job here as there. One bit of character development I really appreciate is that Bernard no longer appears to be superstitious. Very nice, it shows that Bianca has had a positive influence on him. Throughout the film, Bianca is constantly trying to propose to Bianca but is constantly getting interrupted any time he finds the chance. Things get worse when Jake enters the picture and almost immediately starts putting the moves on Bianca. Obviously, Bianca loves Bernard, but seeing this new guy who’s tough enough fight a man eating snake into submission trying to get with his woman, he can’t help but feel emasculated. Still, throughout the course of the story, Bernard learns that he can be every bit as clever and as tough as Jake as demonstrated by how he’s able to quickly come up with a way to keep the eagle’s eggs safe and even tame a wild razorback. It’s actually really cool to see this previously meek character being shown to be really tough and assertive. Hell, it’s actually Bernard himself who ultimately vanquishes the villain this time around, so that’s pretty cool. Bianca doesn’t get as much of an arc this time around, but I honestly appreciate how she never succumbs to Jake’s advances or loses faith in Bernard for a second. It’s actually really sweet. The chemistry these two characters shared that I loved so much in the first film has very much carried over here and these two characters are just as great this time around if not better.

Villain:

Percival C. McLeach is a great villain. He’s not quite on the level of someone like Ursula or Ratigan, but he’s still a lot of fun and a huge step up from the underwhelming Madam Medusa from the first Rescuers movie. This time around, our villain is voiced by the great George C. Scott, who many may remember as having played General George S. Patton in the 1970 biopic, Patton. Scott’s gravely voice and natural enthusiasm really work for a scumbag like McLeach. As a greedy and sadistic poacher, McLeach is motivated by one thing and one thing only, money. McLeach will do whatever it takes to get rich and could care less if some animals, or humans, have to die in order for him to accomplish that. He’s an absolute amoral dirtbag who, while occasionally comedic, can also be very threatening when he needs to be. There’s this one particularly intense scene where he’s trying to get the kid to tell him about the eagle while throwing knives at his head and then later locks the boy up and says tomorrow there’s going to be no more Mr. Nice Guy. No More Nice Guy!? Dude, you were throwing knives at the kid’s head! What is Mr. Mean Guy going to do, shoot him? Something especially disturbing about that scene is how McLeach tries to split the money he makes from selling the Eagle with him 50/50. It doesn’t even cross his mind that someone might not be as greedy as him. How messed up is that. Despite never completing the fourth grade by his own admission, McLeach is actually fairly clever. When intimidation tactics don’t work, McLeach tells Cody that someone else killed the eagle, meaning her eggs are now unprotected, knowing full well that Cody will head straight for the nest and lead McLeach straight to his big prize. Cruel, greedy and having no regard for any lives other than his own, McLeach should definitely be remembered as one of the great Disney villains.

Side Characters:

Let’s talk about Cody, who definitely feels like a more complete character and not just a little kid in distress like Jenny in the first film. Having grown up in the Australian outback, he’s pretty tough kid and he uses his clear kinship with the animal kingdom gets him out of more than a few scrapes. I also like that he’s clearly not afraid of McLeach, which makes it all the tougher for the nasty poacher to pump him for information. He’s not most interesting of characters, but it’s still nice to have the kid being rescued feel more important to the plot this time around.

We’ve already discussed Jake a little bit. He’s a bit of a jerk for trying to put the moves on Bianca and not thinking too much of Bernard, but his experience with the harsh terrain of the outback still proves invaluable and he’s also the first to congratulate Bernard after he saves the day and proposes to Bianca, so I guess he’s not such a bad guy.

Some of the animals locked up in McLeach’s hideout get some interesting personalities like Frank, the crazy lizard or Krebbs the sarcastic koala. Krebbs, it’s worth mentioning, is voiced by the late Douglas Seale who would later go on to play The Sultan from Aladdin.

Finally, there’s Wilbur the Albatross, the brother of Orville the Albatross from the first movie. First of all, the birds were named after the Wright Brothers, that’s cute. Second, Wilbur is voiced by the late great John Candy who always turns in a hilarious performance. His comedic timing is on point the entire movie, he gets a ton of laughs and, much like Cody, actually feels more important to the story this time around.

No Songs this Time Around save for an excellent and beautiful score, so we're skipping that section and moving right along.

Memorable Scenes:

My god, this movie takes full advantage of its absolutely gorgeous animation. I don’t even know if I can do it justice in a text-based article. Even the opening title sequence feels like a thrill as your yanked through the landscape of Australia and breakneck pace. The scene where Cody first flies with the eagle absolutely blew me away. There isn’t even any dialogue, it’s just beautiful animation set to epic music. It almost felt like something out of a sequence from something like Fantasia. Even more mundane stuff like a scene early on where Bernard and Bianca are out on a date there’s this restaurant built into a chandelier and there are these bugs who run the place and it’s got all these everyday objects being used as cookware, it’s surprisingly creative.

With all that said, I’m almost embarrassed to say that my favorite scene in the film is a silly little comedic sequence between the villain and his pet lizard. McLeach is in a bad mood since he can’t get anything out of the boy so decides to help himself to some eggs. That’s funny, the poacher’s favorite food is eggs. While talking to himself, Joanna, McLeach’s pet lizard keeps stealing his eggs irritating the greedy poacher to no end and leading to the meme-worthy line, “These are Not, Joanna Eggs!”

Story:

If you’ll recall, one of my biggest issues with the first rescuers film was a failure to live up to its own potential. In opinion, Rescuers down under is the potential of the first film fully realized. The stakes feel bigger, the characters more fleshed out, the scenery and animation are a massive step up. The villain feels more threatening. Literally, everything is better. I still feel that Disney missed an opportunity by not turning this property into an animated series but this sequel more than makes up for it.

The Dark Disney Factor:

Despite being set on one of the scariest places on the planet, (seriously, it actually rains spiders in Australia. I’m not bullshitting, look it up.) The Rescuers Down Under doesn’t really have a lot that’s particularly dark, and most of it is kind of small in scale. There are snakes, razorbacks and crocodiles constantly trying to eat everybody and Krebbs the Koala’s cavalier attitude to his skin being used to make wallets is pretty morbid, but honestly, this one takes it pretty easy on the dark and disturbing stuff.

Final Thoughts: I was unsure about this movie being in my Big 5 since out of all of those films, it's the one I watch the least as an adult. However, after this most recent viewing, my confidence in this film and it's place amongst my favorites is renewed completely. This film is an absolute blast and the ultimate argument against the suggestion that all Disney sequels are crap. Well, our next movie in line is Beauty & The Beast, however, we won't be doing that one just yet. No promises since the the Disney+ account I use isn't actually mine but at some point I'd like to do a special article on the recently released Raya & The Last Dragon. In the meantime, I'd like to try something a little different. Perhaps we might solve a mystery... or rewrite history. See ya next time!