The Rescuers Down Under

The Rescuers Down Under
Directed by
Screenplay by
Based onCharacters created
by Margery Sharp
Produced byThomas Schumacher
Starring
Edited byMichael Kelly
Music byBruce Broughton
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • November 16, 1990 (1990-11-16)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$47.4 million[1]

The Rescuers Down Under (also known as The Rescuers 2 and The Rescuers 2: Down Under) is a 1990 American animated adventure movie. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990. The movie is the sequel to the 1977 movie The Rescuers. The original movie was based on the novels of Margery Sharp, while this one is based on the characters created by Sharp (as credited in the ending credits).

This movie, Fantasia 2000, Winnie the Pooh, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen II, Moana 2 and Zootopia 2 are the only Disney sequels that are part of the Disney canon. This is because all three were produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Set in the Australian Outback, The Rescuers Down Under was Eva Gabor's final movie role before her retirement from acting in 1994 and death in 1995.

Cast

The Rescuers Down Under has three characters from the first movie: Bernard, Bianca, and the Chairmouse. All of them are played by the same actors as in the first movie.

  • Bob Newhart as Bernard, a male grey mouse; the United States representative of the Rescue Aid Society. Mark Henn, Ed Gombert, and Anthony DeRosa were the supervising animators for Bernard.
  • Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca, a female white mouse; the Hungarian representative of the Rescue Aid Society. Mark Henn and Ed Gombert were the supervising animators for Bianca. This is Gabor's final film role: she died in 1995. Disney would have made a third movie, but due to that, all Rescuers movies were cancelled. Neither reviving the third movie nor replacing the voice of Miss Bianca could work. This might be the last movie of the series.
  • John Candy as Wilbur, a comical albatross; named after Wilbur Wright. He is the brother of Orville, the albatross who was in the first movie. Nik Ranieri was the supervising animator for Wilbur.
  • Tristan Rogers as Jake, a debonair and charismatic kangaroo mouse. Ruben A. Aquino was the supervising animator for Jake.
  • Adam Ryen as Cody, a young boy able to talk with most animals. Russ Edmonds was the supervising animator for Cody.
  • George C. Scott as Percival C. McLeach, a greedy and sadistic poacher who has captured Cody. Duncan Majoribanks was the supervising animator for McLeach.
  • Wayne Robson as Joanna, an erratic frill-necked lizard captured by McLeach. Kathy Zielinski was the supervising animator for Frank.
  • Douglas Seale as Krebbs, a koala captured by McLeach. Ellen Woodbury was the supervising animator for Krebbs.
  • Frank Welker as Marahute, a giant Golden Eagle, Joanna, a comical goanna and McLeach's pet who acts to scare her captives and additional special vocal effects. Glen Keane was the supervising animator for Marahute.
  • Bernard Fox as Chairmouse, the chairman of the Rescue Aid Society. Will Finn was the supervising animator for Chairmouse. Fox also voices Doctor Mouse, the supervisor of the surgical mice who examine Wilbur when he is injured.
  • Peter Firth as Red, a male red kangaroo captured by McLeach.
  • Billy Barty as the Baitmouse.
  • Ed Gilbert as François.
  • Carla Meyer as Faloo, a female red kangaroo who gets Cody to save Marahute and Cody's Mother.
  • Russi Taylor as Nurse Mouse, the operator of Doctor Mouse's instructions and a competent second-in-command.
  • Peter Greenwood as the radio announcer and the airport captain.
  • Mickie McGowan as various international mice.
  • Patrick Pinney as an Icelandic mouse.
  • Phil Proctor as a French mouse.

Additional voices were provided by Charlie Adler, Jack Angel, Vanna Bonta, Jess Harnell, Marii Mak, Danny Mann, Jan Rabson and Will Ryan. Non-speaking characters include Polly, a platypus captured by McLeach and Nelson, an echidna.

Release

The Rescuers Down Under was released in the Walt Disney Classics video series on September 20, 1991 with a home video trailer for The Jungle Book, while The Rescuers was released on VHS a year later in September 1992. However, unlike The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under did not make it to the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. It was re-released on VHS and DVD on August 1, 2000 as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection.

The Rescuers Down Under was released alongside The Rescuers on Blu-ray in a "2-Movie Collection" on August 21, 2012 to commemorate the first movie's 35th anniversary.[2]

References

  1. "The Rescuers Down Under (1990)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  2. "The Rescuers: 35th Anniversary Edition (The Rescuers / The Rescuers Down Under) (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 21, 2012.

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