Review of The Rescuers Down Under (1990) by Mary M — 09 Jun 2013

This was my childhood film.

The reason why I partially enjoyed this was down to the nostalgic value, as I watched this to death as a kid, and in each scene it all started to come flooding back. The irony is that the film is actually quite forgettable in nearly all areas, compared to other Disney animations.

I do prefer this to the original, just because the original left me feeling a little cold and withdrawn, this had a much more adventurous and exciting feel to it.

The visuals are much better than the first film, partially because there was a 13 year gap between the two film's production but also this film has some of the first CGI mixed in with 2D animation, and although it looks much more like a scene from Tron in some instances, I still found it impressive for it's time.

The villain was decent enough, although the film is so realistic that it almost seems to lose some of the Disney magic. I understand that the Golden Eagle represented the magic of nature etc, but there wasn't enough 'Disney Magic', but more just beautiful landscapes. Now there were a few characters that I started to remember, that I found amusing simply because I found them amusing when I was younger- the villain's pet lizard, and the Frilled Lizard, who is probably quite annoying to others.

But this is a perfect children's film, as it was for me, and although it dragged when I watched it again, I was still entertained. If your kids aren't old enough to watch Indiana Jones, give them this to watch. A much lighter Indiana Jones, with talking animals.