Animated Movies was launched by Olivier Mouroux in 1999. In addition to a daily news report, he also created a database of information about past, current, and upcoming films. In 2003, he took a job in the industry and had to give up his work on the site. Several fans of Animated Movies decided to take on the task of keeping the news portion of his site going, and founded what is now Animated Views. As AV turns 15, let's take a look back at the site we descended from. Below you can explore the database Olivier compiled at Animated Movies during its existence, as it last appeared online in October 2003. |
Directed by: Hendel Butoy & Mike Gabriel
Written by: Margery Sharp & Jim Cox
Music by: Bruce Broughton
Released
on: November 16, 1990
Running Time: 74 minutes
Box-Office: $28 million in the U.S.
Bernard... Bob Newhart
Bianca... Eva Gabor
Wilbur... John Candy
Jake... Tristan Rogers
Cody... Adam Ryen
Frank... Wayne Robson
Percival McLeach... George C. Scott
Krebbs... Douglas Seale
Joanna... Frank Welker
Baitmouse... Billy Barty
You
might remember 6'3" comedian John Candy (1950-1994) from his roles as Private
Foley in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979), Burton Mercer in The
Blues Brothers (1980) or Tom Hanks' sex-crazed, big-hearted brother
in the mermaid-themed Splash (1985).
A hiatus in a
series of huge blockbusters initiated the previous year by The
Little Mermaid (1989),
The Rescuers Down Under is an unpretentious
movie meant to entertain the younger crowds.
The Rescuers Down
Under is best remembered as the very first Disney sequel. The studio's
rule not to use the same characters in more than one movie was already
almost broken in the first The Rescuers
(1977), when animators considered for a long time using
101
Dalmatians (1961)'s Cruella De Ville as the villainess.
The movie was a disappointing box-office success but generated nice rental
revenues, which paved the way for direct-to-video (versus theatrical) sequels
to Aladdin (1994 and 1996), Beauty
and the Beast (1997), The Lion King
(1998), Pocahontas (1998),
The
Little Mermaid (2000), Lady and the
Tramp (2001) and many more currently in the works.
The production of The Rescuers Down Under required over 415 artists and technicians. Five key members of the animation team made a trip to Australia and came back with photograph of Ayers Rock, Katherine Gorge, and Kakadu National Park.
Glean Keane described the film as "probably the most technically advanced feature we’ve ever done."
Animators originally
wanted Bernard and Miss Bianca to get married at the end of 1977's The
Rescuers. Little did they know though, that they would get their
way 13 years later in its sequel!
Eva Gabor was
70 years old when she returned as the voice of Miss Bianca in DownUnder!
This was the first film in which Disney's CAPS technology was employed. CAPS is a computerized production system that permits handmade animation drawings to be copied and colored electronically (eliminating the need for hand-painted cels and the Xerox process).
Since the film didn't show the expected success, the CD was drawn from the market just six weeks after its release. It has since then become a collectors item, with an estimated value of $125!
Because The
Rescuers Down Under is short at 76 minutes, it was released accompanied
by another animated feature, The
Prince and the Pauper, starring Mickey Mouse in a dual role based
on the Mark Twain classic.