Disney's Robin Hood and the Death of Color

[@BREADSWORD]

Keep your chin up, someday there will be happiness in Nottingham again. You'll see. PATREON: bit.ly/2GhaUMJ TWITTER: bit.ly/2FvQGBq TWITCH: bit.ly/2EkPmlI DISCORD: bit.ly/2NFLQRA INTRO BEAT PROD. BY: bit.ly/34V4Bfv

[@d4davidg302]

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS

[@ProjectSudoku]

Was expecting a video on Spirit: That Old Dreamworks Horse Movie, but this is good too.

[@bruhmoment8473]

I’ve watched all of your videos in the background twice in the past few days, your voice is so soothing, thank you

[@pet-purple-panda1634]

Every video you make humbles me as a english student, your command of the language is amazing whether it's extolling the triumphs of early Dreamwork's films water or why Joy is necessary to retelling Robin Hood.

[@LanceThumping]

On one end, I love listening to you gush on these properties and enjoy the positivity. On the other, I kinda want you to make a channel like "MoldSword" or something, so I can hear your same eloquence aimed at taking down the poisonous remakes that voided the soul of a property or describing the older works that unfortunately didn't work or stand the test of time.

[@mistertwister2000]

Certain heroes can be brooding and dark, you’ll never see me complain about Batman being a scary boy. But Robin Hood doesn’t brood, he isn’t vengeful or morally contentious, Robin Hood is basically medieval Spider-Man: quipping and joking, never taking himself too seriously, always standing up for the right thing, always good hearted

[@levongevorgyan6789]

THere are times when he gets serious. Hell, he even killed a few men in the original stories, out of anger, disgust, or in battle. And he disliked the Norman colonialist aristocracy

[@mistertwister2000]

@@levongevorgyan6789 True, but those moments are more impactful because he normally isn’t so intense.

[@hotwax9376]

And before Batman, there was Zorro and the Shadow. Bob Kane even said that Batman was partially inspired by Zorro.

[@SpoopySquid]

@@hotwax9376 so much so that his original origin story had his parents being killed after watching _Mask of Zorro_

[@EvripidouM]

He's a man in tights. He 's fun

[@pennyj5595]

“You know when you’re talking to someone and you can hear them smiling? Like, you can’t see it, but you know they’re smiling as they’re telling you something? That’s kind of how this entire film feels.” This is beautifully put and I can’t believe a Disney Robin Hood analysis is making me cry 😭🤚

[@favoritemustard3542]

One does not need a reason to shed tears, but this is a good one.

[@finnpendleton4615]

Breadsword has a hell of a way with words.

[@matty3501]

I feel you. I adored this movie when I was a kid. I watched it countless times. This vid is a love letter to the film and it rly makes me feel some kinda way.

[@eiriankt]

ngl, I'm glad I'm not the only one who started crying during this video.

[@br.j9145]

I mentioned your delivery in my own comment - but it's true, if anyone doubted how good it was, that section alone about intimacy would shatter any of their arguments.

[@Thehouseoffail]

I noticed that the southern and british accents were mostly divided along class lines in the movie. Except for the sheriff. Which is why I alway thought the sheriff was lower class aspiring to be upper class, and swiftly rising though the ranks

[@Maliceinponderland]

Javert

[@undercookedtoast1479]

Makes sense, cops are working class but operate in the interest of the ruling class

[@nellgwenn]

It originally wasn't supposed to be in the South. They wanted to make it into a western. But they scratched that idea, but kept a few of the actors. That's all. Kind of like High Noon.

[@lfroncek]

Ironically, the southern accent is probably closer to what people back then sounded like than the RP accent used by the British today.

[@bleedingmasque.6193]

​@@lfroncekwe call that West Country English

[@ez8314]

I love the way they utilized Sir Hiss in this movie. The way he inches, slithers, even the one shot where he is leaning on the lip of a basket so that it looks like he has crossed arms... All of it is so dynamic!

[@BREADSWORD]

fr I totally agree!!! it’s incredible how expressive he is!

[@juliamavroidi8601]

In their review of Aristocats, the Escape from Vault Disney podcast talked about how the butler, despite being one of the most forgettable Disney villains, has such dynamic facial animation that really sets him apart from other bad guys. Even though the scripts were hit and miss, the animators still poured all of their heart and effort in the material they were given. Truly admirable.

[@fusetunes]

he's my favorite character in the film. i'm glad someone else agrees! :)

[@BloodylocksBathory]

It still trips me up that he's fuzzy, lol.

[@amrys_argent]

@@fusetunes Mine too. He was the subject of my very first fan art when I was small.

[@jessicawurm23]

I always liked how this film also nodded to the underlying conflict in Robin Hood stories not just between peasants and nobility, but ancestry as well. The nobility were Normans from France and Brittany, the peasants were Anglo-Saxon. The film illustrated this by having King Richard, Prince John, and their lackeys and guards be "foreign" animals from Africa, while the peasants are common English forest creatures. The exceptions are the Sheriff and his men, who are typical forest animals (people of Saxon heritage) who have betrayed their neighbors by allying with the conquerors.

[@sandradermark8463]

Hadn't thought of that nobility=exotic species and peasantry=endemic species analogy before. And boy does that ring true! Disney Pictures' Robin Hood can be read as a medieval furry version of Orwell's Animal Farm... It's basically Redwall meets Animal Farm.

[@picklesthewise]

Oof. Hadn't considered that before but that is awesome.

[@keinkanal7382]

Funnily enough the Saxons aren't even originally English.

[@odysseusrex5908]

That's a very interesting observation. I wonder if the film makers consciously had it in mind when they made the film.

[@Hellothere_453]

@@keinkanal7382 nope they’re Germanyyyyyy

[@NesRuA]

Ironically, the older Robin Hood movies + Disney's make a better job at depicting how colorful life actually was back in the High Middle Ages than modern gritty and grey films.

[@mmneander1316]

Exactly. Well said.

[@Ultimus31]

I kind of want a film that shows the grimy reality of the Middle Ages while not shying away from vivid colours. Let us show the rolling green fields and silver fish in clear streams moments before a chaotic conflict, the blood running down a sword and the dark muck the dead fall into. Maturity is not without colour.

[@NesRuA]

@@Ultimus31 Unfortunately, folks nowadays seem to consider colorlessness to be maturity, which is simply idiotic.

[@mmneander1316]

@@NesRuA Going out on a limb: I think the colorlessness is an effect of the rampant narcissism pervading society "nowadays". Namely, I think the colorlessness is how narcissists perceive the world. Everything is dreary and threatening, the world is your enemy, there is no joy in life.

[@gentlemanscarecrow5987]

@@Ultimus31 Watch the Green Knight

[@GeneralOlde]

I feel like everything you have to say about the way modern media treats Robin Hood can also be said about how it treats Alice in Wonderland. Like, it was never intended to be dark and joyless.

[@nalublackwater9729]

Exactly, in fact, Disney's Alice in Wonderland is one of the few examples where the film is pretty accurate (despite leaving several characters out).

[@k80_]

I do think its whole point is to be an escape from the hard realities of life. You watch it to see the little guy win against institutional power in a fun way, something that rarely happens in the real world. To portray it as a gritty grimdark superhero movie or tragedy misses the whole reason why people like it

[@rafferdx]

Same with Peter Pan, or honestly almost any colorful fable or fairy tale. Grimdark is sadly the industry norm

[@dannypalin9583]

It reminds me of those Looney Tunes or Animaniacs fanfics that have a laughably serious plot with blood and swearing.

[@Kairos_Akuma]

I mean I musst admit I liked the version of Burton. It reminded me more of the Depressive Part of Insanity/a Dream than Disney's manic style. But in general you're right.

[@KhakiCube]

"How do you kill a legend? You don't. But you can try. All you have to do, is prove they were really here." I love that line, fantastic video.

[@StokeDAlive]

I'm a year late to this, but my God man. "How do you kill a legend? You can't. You can try. All you have to do... is prove they were really here." Absolutely powerful stuff. Every SINGLE one of your works is so utterly captivating and your passion and enthusiasm is so infectious, I am convinced that you yourself are a legend of your own craft. Thank you for being here, and thank you for everything you do.

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

Characters like robbin hood and superman are never going to have good movies as long as they're being written by their real life villains

[@darkkingriku]

You know when looking through the comments I was not ready for a hot take that resonated with my soul like this. Thank you

[@plzletmebefrank]

I mean, the writers aren't the problem most of the time. It's usually the producers, the corporate types worried about either the bottom line or selling products inside the movie. However, more lately the writers, directors, and heads of divisions have been more and more political and... Meddling.

[@Cheezmonka]

@@plzletmebefrank As if Robin Hood's stories weren't political already. It's OK to be fun and merry *and* have something pertinent to say about class struggle, though.

[@theguywithsomething8634]

@@plzletmebefrank He literally steals from the rich to give to the poor. That's like... inherently political.

[@SobiTheRobot]

@@plzletmebefrank Fun fact: at one point in our history, some people tried to get Robin Hood banned because he "promoted communism." He has historically been a controversial figure - a thief, a vigilante, an occasional murderer, a scoundrel, a rogue, a redistributor of wealth and a hero to the common people - but his positive qualities always seem to win over audiences.

[@adris8684]

I personally find the “Dark Age of Disney” to be my favorite. The sketchy style of Aristocats cemented it in my mind and it’s now my comfort film. Great Mouse Detective, Sword in the Stone, Oliver and Company, and of course Robin Hood, these films raised me. I would love to see a return of that 1970s style, but I know that would never happen. It’s tragic that many of these bombed at the box office and couldn’t find their footing. Thank you for giving this film a platform, as it deserves so much praise ❤️

[@jonalen4217]

Great Mouse Detective is fantastic stuff.

[@BREADSWORD]

FOR REAL IT SLAPS SO HARD

[@ProjectSudoku]

Does 101 Dalmatians count, 'cause if so that's my favorite of the era.

[@goreobsessed2308]

Agreed easily my favorite era of Disney

[@LukaC231]

Can’t agree more, I feel like I’ve barely seen those films more than once and maybe a decade plus ago but they are so solidly engrained in my memory

[@laotasurfs1110]

This reminded me of that scene from The Last Unicorn, where a glamor of Robin, Marion, and the Merry Men in spectral form walk through the bandits' camp and the bandits can't help but follow, wanting to join them because the heroic, romantic ideal they represent is too powerful.

[@Enkrod]

Oh no, please stop! The last Unicorn + Breadsword is a combination that would just ABSOLUTELY break my heart, so much happy sadness so much melancholic beauty, I'd never be able to shake the blues again.

[@maxr7616]

i was just thinking that! TLU is my favorite novel ever, amazing movie adaptation too.

[@ieatgrass1913]

Something about the voice work in older animated films just has this really comforting vibe to it. May just be nostalgia speaking as I watched these kinds of movies a lot during my childhood.

[@jericotyler]

Well the microphones did have a warmer tone to them, more concerned with sounding nice than recreating the sound perfectly. The recording medium plays into this as well. The technology had a smaller chunk of the audio spectrum they could capture so they focused on the ones that sound nice to people.

[@randybray7558]

@@jericotyler So in the process of making microphones better technologically we made them sound worse?

[@jericotyler]

@@randybray7558 well we invented the job of audio engineer, so if the sound in something sounds bad it's their fault now.

[@doctorwholover1012]

I feel like voice acting post 2000s just got more and more “celebrity name” focused instead of character-focused; as much as I love movies like Shrek, Megamind, Smallfoot, etc, there’s a certain….. joy…… in voice acting that you lose when you only hire celebrities to do celebrity voices. Hell, even just watching The Rescuers down under, with the perfectly-matched celebrity voices for Bernard & Bianca, compared to direct to dvd (now direct to streaming) kids movies like Smallfoot, there’s no competition. There’s a difference between casting a celebrity to voice a character, and casting the celebrity that you wrote the character to be voiced by. I can only think of one specific example (though I know there are more, I just can’t think of the others rn) where writing a character around the celebrity who’ll be voicing them worked - And we all know it’s Robin Williams as the Genie. But even then, they based the Genie off of Robin’s comedy routines + other work - not based off a shallow stereotype or generic typecasting (we need a comedic sidekick who won’t sound out of place next to a gruff main character? Someone call Eddie Murphy!) and they still put the effort in to make the Genie an actual character, not just “animated Robin Williams”. I do really miss classic voice acting, because you used to have a 90-95% chance of decent voice acting/ casting in a Properly released Disney/Pixar/etc movie, and a 70-80% chance of it in the direct to vhs/dvd sequels, and since 2000/2010 it’s been going down RAPIDLY. Now it’s mostly 60-70% of decent voice acting/casting in Proper releases, and like 20-30% for other releases (though indie movies have been rising rapidly, probably because the voice actors are available bc they aren’t working with the bigger companies 👀)

[@dan4lau]

Quite a few of the voice actors in pre 1980 Disney films had, I think, done a lot of work in radio too during its 'golden age', so they were a lot more used to acting with their voice than later actors whose work was primarily if not exclusively visual. Phil Harris for instance had his own radio show with Alice Fay in the 1940s and 50s.

[@lilithhedwig5408]

"the way you can hear a person smile just by their voice" ah yes you're talking about yourself right? Man you have SUCH an expressive voice, one of the reasons I keep coming back Thanks for this amazing video, once again

[@natesmodelsdoodles5403]

This. I could hear the nostalgia and despair in this video.

[@esmeraldaloschuetz9120]

Only halfway thorugh this video (love it), but I want to add here that the German voice-cast and acting is also absolutely STELLAR, and that the great Sir Peter Ustinov, being the polyglott that he is, also voiced King John in the German dub, without the slightest hint of an accent, and just as spendidly. My favorite childhood movie ever.

[@alicev5496]

I feel like the rant about the bleak gritty realism of robin hood could honestly work for any historical movie nowadays. The past used to be depicted so vibrantly, so colourful. And we weren't afraid to tell moral parables with it. And maybe it was necessary to inject some grit into it, to remind us that was an idealised version. But I feel like we've gone too far in the other direction (at least in games and movies, book illustrations often still dare to be colourful.) Tldr give me some vikings with red striped pants and a green tunic instead of Vikings buying out the local metal merch store.

[@Tasmantor]

I think it's a reaction to the problems caused by the constant white washing of the past. There are people who legitimately think that it was better back when (_insert what ever big bear they have_) didn't happen. This can lead to some pretty bad outcomes, when people have scuffed interpretations of history leading to misunderstandings to out right wrong understandings of the current world. Immediate edit to say I agree largely and would love some fun entertainment that isn't a fast and furious movie.

[@metallsnubben]

It's so much in the other direction that it's way beyond "showing the reality" into almost parody. Almost the renaissance idealization of white marble statues when the originals were painted in garish colours.

[@malahamavet]

have you seen gargoyles? the vikings there and all characters are both colorfull and dark, they use many colours but they use shadows, pretty cool asthetic in my opinion

[@doncristobalaspee5925]

@@Tasmantor bugbear* 😂

[@mirroredhour]

I relate to this but with depictions of Arthurian stories. That 2017 Arthur movie was a blight on my existence. Here's to "the green knight" hopefully being a breath of fresh air although it still looks like it's on the gritty side my fingers are crossed that it has spirit at least

[@the_julia_fair]

You know, Roger Miller was such a perfect voice casting I didn’t even realize that his southern accent was technically out of place in the setting of this movie until just now- it just felt so natural. Wow.

[@Zarastro54]

The way that movie blended accents from around the English speaking world is similar to how it was done in the Death of Stalin. Everyone spoke naturally and it all just fit.

[@markiangooley]

There is some similarity between an American Southern accent and some historical English accents. Though later in history than a real Robin Hood would have been…

[@hotwax9376]

Well, Southern accents are derived from the Elizabethan English accent, so it's probably closer to how English people talked in the Middle Ages than any of the modern English accents.

[@AshDemonYoung]

Being from the south, I just never noticed the accent

[@k80_]

I rewatched the movie after this video and I fully didn’t realize that the diss track is an appalacian bluegrass song. I guess song of the south made it in a bit more than we all realized

[@Christi-B]

"I don't care if a movie kills [Robin]. "I care if it kills his spirit." Goddamn it, that hurts in all the truest ways.

[@stantrien8106]

I am so UNBELIEVABLY tired of people in the creative spheres who have taken it upon themselves to seek out and kill the spirits of our various literary and cultural Heroes because they believe that makes them some sort of intellectual visionary. In their decades of effort spent deconstructing this and that, not one thing have they actually BUILT, not one thing have they added to the Human Experience. Actually it has progressed beyond tired, I am in abject fury over these insults and injuries not just to myself but to humanity at large. To quote Le Guin: "This is treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain."

[@Dragonrider1227]

I think this was my biggest issue with Disney's Star Wars movies. Not that Luke, Han, and Leia got killed off. I had half expected it for the new characters to take the lead. But that they had died separated from each other, with everything they fought for gone, and as miserable empty shells of their former selves.

[@jessicamoore5690]

"...Absence makes the heart grow fonder!" "...or forgetful..." Still haunts me 😂

[@angusmcfootball]

#longdistancerelationships

[@deusexaethera]

Absence makes the heart go yonder.

[@calacalamari3977]

thus might sound weird but im in love with how you talk about things, it feels like a guy enthusiastically explaining something to me while we sit on the sofa watching a movie

[@Nerdicaful]

Robin Hood's never been a favorite hero of mine, but I can appreciate him a lot more now as an adult than I could as a kid. Much of that has to do with what you talked about: the spirit of rebellion. The spirit of hope. When you "edgify" Robin, you're taking that away from people, whether intended or not, and leaving them complacent to their oppressors, whomever they may be. We've never needed a spirit of rebellion more than we do now.

[@squirlmy]

well, are you American? The fact is we've got a kind of "spirit of rebellion", but with two different sides. What you just said equally fits Trumpers and BLM and climate change activism. Robin Hood, in the Disney version anyways, is awaiting the return of King Richard. I don't know if any American has a King Richard to root for, not now, anyways.

[@harveylittle9401]

You should come to notts. We have alot of robin hood stuff

[@busterfixxitt]

"Du savoir-faire, ils-y-as, n'est pas?" Would be more accurately, "He has style (charm/class/know-how), doesn't he?" I love this film. I've never had to hesitate when asked 'favorite Disney film'. Thank you for this video.

[@latmos6142]

I'm kind of confused by this translation. Grammatically speaking, it's incorrect in french. Even after looking it up, nothing comes through. "savoir-faire" is a general term for : having knowledge, knowing how to do something, being good at something. The most correct sentence that is similar to the one said in the movie is "Du savoir-faire, il en a, n'est-ce pas ?" - which is a sentence you would say to someone while speaking about another person and complementing that person. Prince John was talking about Little John, complementing him for knowing how to speak to the king while talking to Hiss who minutes ago was sit higher than the king by his side. It just means Little John (in disguise) had proper etiquette and good manners towards the king.

[@busterfixxitt]

@@latmos6142 I agree with your reading of why Prince John said it & that it was a compliment. It's been 25 years since I spoke French so I'll accept that grammatically, 'il-y-as' should be 'il en as'. Beyond that, I don't understand what your objection is to my translation. What does Google say when you search 'savoir faire meaning'?

[@Nivek1993Nitram]

@@busterfixxitt French canadian here Savoir faire would translate to having skills or "know how". If the quote is indeed "du savoir faire il y a, n'est ce pas" it isn't proper french. The proper way of saying it would be "Il a du savoir faire n'est-ce pas" In english it would be close to "he can handle himself can't he". If they wanted to say that he has good manners as suggested by @Latmos it should have been "il a du savoir être" meaning that he has good social skils or that he is well behaved

[@busterfixxitt]

@@Nivek1993Nitram Thank you for your response. I think there are several points to consider, the most important of which is that Prince John is an incompetent idiot.😄 Even as a child I understood he was murdering the French language, trying to look sophisticated & to feel superior to Sir Hiss (who presumably doesn't speak French). Of course, Prince John said it weirdly!😉 Secondly, while you're correct that the literal translation of savoir faire is 'know how', its idiomatic use in English is: "capacity for appropriate action; especially : a polished sureness in social behavior" This is how savoir faire would've been understood by the English speaking audience. Stay awesome!

[@Jasonwolf1495]

@@busterfixxitt funnily enough savoir faire comes up in another Disney movie. Oscar and company, in the song "Why Should I worry?"

[@claireseelig3347]

holy SHIT that intro was not what i expected when i clicked on a video about robin hood from a youtuber i’d never heard of. that was spectacular. subscribed.

[@tuxedojunction9422]

When I was kid, I had a recording (on vinyl) of Disney's Robin Hood, with all the songs and dialog and a bit of narration to fill in the action sequences. I must have listened to it 100 times. As you were showing the clips, all the voices, all the dialog were running through my head. One of my favorite Disney films.

[@squirlmy]

Same. Never saw the film. Also the Aristocats.

[@kestaa]

I had that too! actually, we never owned the vinyl - my parents borrowed that from the library and then recorded it into a cassette tape. I used to listen to it every night as I fell asleep.

[@KatriceMetaluna]

So you're saying Robin Hood: Men in tights has been the best modern Robin Hood movie.

[@bleedingmasque.6193]

I saw it show up free with ads on yt a few days ago

[@Starrcross]

I love Men In Tights 😂

[@maxxpower3d6]

Of course it is. Unlike other Robin Hoods, Cary Elwes speaks with an English accent.

[@Zomburai45]

Pretty sure the villagers at the beginning disagree

[@Feasco]

hmm no this checks out

[@winterbeliever7525]

"How do you kill a Legend? You don't, of curse. But you can try. All you have to do is prove that they were really here" has to be one of the truest things I have heard in my life.

[@SeasideDetective2]

Dennis O'Neil, the longtime editor of the "Batman" comics, once said something similar. Except that he pointed out that getting people to still remember a legend is not enough. You can be vaguely aware of a mythical character's existence and still not care about him/her. He gave Paul Bunyan as an example. Who still treasures Bunyan as an American hero.

[@gueneveve1296]

Clearly you didn’t grow up in a north-midwestern state near the us/Canadian border that was founded on the logging and paper industry…… we’ve still got statues and references of the guy

[@SeasideDetective2]

@@gueneveve1296 I was indirectly quoting O'Neill, who is a Metropolitan New Yorker.

[@gueneveve1296]

Yes I know, my response wasn’t serious, it was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to an extremely niche childhood experience

[@WakoDoodle]

The further movies try to be "dark and realistic" the further they stray from fantasy. It leaves the depths of "adventure and wonder" to wanders into the world of Reality. We don't watch movies *to* remember reality. We watch them to escape *from* reality. Granted there are always exceptions, but Robin Hood was one of those fantasies we want to escape to, because it was "bright and fantastical". I am so glad the older movies are still around, because they shine a beacon of hope in a dreary world. A reason to keep smiling.

[@KairuHakubi]

so true. fantasy is supposed to give us the past that probably never was, while scifi is supposed to give us the future that likely never will be. the two ends of escapism that imagination is built on, and the only hope we have of legitimately giving reality the boot it deserves someday.

[@justanothercomment]

And here's another thing: many people striving for 'realism' seem to forget that actual reality ISN'T just grey and death and hopelessness. It's also love and laughter and kindness and joy and _life._ In trying so hard to be 'clever' and 'deep,' they forget to be human. They lose the sense of human spirit which permeates the real world in even the darkest crevice. That's why it's so hard to care about those movies, they have all the set-dressing of reality but they don't _feel_ real. Without spirit and soul, they're empty husks.

[@Dram1984]

At some point Hollywood collectively decided that being “smart and sophisticated” meant being as cynical as possible. They couldn’t be more wrong.

[@AndrianTimeswift]

Hollywood is going through its edgy teen phase right now.

[@SlimeyBaron]

Yeah, not enough films utilize the proper balance between absurdity and seriousness

[@jlupus8804]

I really hope Dark Knight trilogy isn’t to blame for this- I really love those movies, though that style shouldn’t be everywhere all the time

[@TomyDayos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mme8pHetnJV7n7s Everyone should see this video. The name of the movie is "Is Superman Still Relevant Today? " It talk about how modern writers do not know how to write heroes. Explaining things in detail.

[@foxymetroid]

Blame the audience. As long as cynical sells, cynical will be made.

[@TheRealVolk]

Robin Hood is my favorite Disney movie. Ever since I was a kid. Now I know why. And now I know why I’ve found every iteration of Robin since to be uninspired and depressing. Except the Mel Brooks version. He got it. 🐾

[@TomyDayos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mme8pHetnJV7n7s Everyone should see this video. The name of the movie is "Is Superman Still Relevant Today? " It talk about how modern writers do not know how to write heroes. Explaining things in detail.

[@franohmsford7548]

Have you seen the Patrick Bergin, Uma Thurman, Jeroen Krabbe Robin Hood from 1991? It was overshadowed by the awful Kevin Costner movie but I consider it the only actually good non-parody {Men in Tights was fun} Robin Hood movie made since I was born {1976}.

[@dan4lau]

For me, nothing will ever beat the 1950s television series with Richard Greene. I realize that most brought up on modern production values would struggle to take it seriously, even for the time it was cheap and cheerful, I think Sherwood Forest was played by just one mock-up tree, and often when they walk through the 'forest' you can hear their feet on the hard studio floor. I suppose modern audiences would have something to say about the acting too. But for me, it brought Robin Hood to the screen in a form by which the medieval originators of the legend might just have recognized it. Robin Hood was originally a hero to the poor, the disenfranchised, the down-trodden. His stories would have been acted at village country fairs and told by the firesides of inns. So its improvized and amateur feel, and its flagrant historical inaccuracy, and its long-running episodic form and often slightly whacky storylines are right out of the medieval tradition. And to put the feather in its cap, many of the series writers were Americans who had been 'blacklisted' under McCarthyism, and had come to England to find work. Many pseudonyms were used in the credits to prevent American network bosses from identifying the writers. And so once again, bold Robin Hood gave shelter and sustenance to the outcast and the silenced. I think there's something wonderfully symbolic about that. It's also the only Robin Hood series that shows him helping the poor consistently and often, rather than in a token scene before he gets on with trying to catch Maid Marian and sword-fighting with 'baddy' knights and hob-nobbing with Richard yay-and-nay. All-in-all I think it just captured the true spirit of the legend in a way nothing has before or since.

[@katiekane5247]

Our family fav too! It's a classic!

[@boscopappas234]

@@franohmsford7548 I loved “Prince of Thieves”. Except for that Bryan Adams song. If I ever hear that song again it’ll be too soon.

[@LordMangudai]

18:48 I'm so glad you brought this up. I have always maintained that somewhere between Disney's Robin Hood and Don Bluth's Secret of NIMH exists the perfect adaptation of Redwall that the world never got to see. (Though I am cautiously optimistic about the upcoming Netflix movie made by the creator of Over the Garden Wall...fingers crossed)

[@miwhitty8316]

I've always loved Disney's Robin Hood, and I've always hated the gritty re-imaginings that all studios love to do with anything light hearted nowadays. Love the video 💕

[@coolgreenbug7551]

Because Christ

[@hotwax9376]

The new live-action PowerPuff Girls series coming to the CW is a brilliant example of such a gritty reimagining.

[@miwhitty8316]

@@hotwax9376 wait THAT'S STILL HAPPENING?! OH GOD NO

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

Why not have a gritty Robin Hood? In the earliest version of the story he was a common criminal with, on some occasions, violent tendencies and lived in pretty gritty, edgy and dangerous times.

[@TomyDayos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mme8pHetnJV7n7s Everyone should see this video. The name of the movie is "Is Superman Still Relevant Today? " It talk about how modern writers do not know how to write heroes. Explaining things in detail.

[@SmithsMuseum]

The "John did, for whatever that was worth" hits differently, and I need to think about why.

[@SongbirdAlom]

Same

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa9068]

i think its the juxtaposition between the people as presented in the movie and our instinctual moral reaction to the statements made about the real people. It gives the feeling of an injustice being uncovered and inspires appreciation for someone who up to that point was painted as bad. he also just worded it really well and gave the comment time to sit in ones brain. that's my thought anyway

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

You can say a lot of negative things about John, but you can say the same about his brothers and their father, the were all gigantic egomaniacs and megalomaniacs and John was saddled with the burden of cleanning up after their failures, or paying for their civil wars, crusades and ransoms. Johns Reign was troubled from the start and John being paranoid did not help things. But in the end John did something amazing, he did it against his will and under threat of being deposed, But he did it. John signed the Magna Carta. Perhaps the most important legal document in European history. Kicking and screaming every step of the way, John reformed medieval England in a very profound way. What the hell has King Richard done for us lately or ever in fact. And yet it is John, poor John Lachland that is allways the villain. John was a major piece of shit, and the only reason he clung to power was that William Marshal kept him on the throne no matter how much John shat on Marshal. John was a loser, but Richard was a butcher, if we are going to hate John we might at least be honest about the Lionheart, the best thing he ever did for his realm was die.

[@BadWolfRT]

@@erikrungemadsen2081 Older comment I know, but are you familiar with Robin of Sherwood? The show depicts John as a cruel, paranoid man who can fly into a rage with the slightest provocation, but it's depiction of Richard in not much more flattering. Richard is played by John Rhys Davies, which is excellent casting, and is imposing, larger-than-life and charming. Also, seems to have a sense of humour. But over the course of the episode it is revealed that Richard is also ruthless, politically savvy and scheming, and does not care at all what damage he does to the people of England with his endless wars and spendthrift. Little John gets to call out that Richard barely spent any time in England during his reign, showing how little he actually cared about ruling well. Neither John nor Richard are depicted as good men, they're just very different in how they suck. Anyway, I love that show and that episode (The Kings Fool), so I would recommend it if it tickles your fancy!

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

@@BadWolfRT Now that is a classic, i remember watching it with my family when i was around 5-6 years old. I even played along with my Lego Robin Hood figures.

[@racheldobbs2028]

Oh thank you for showing love for Disney's Robin Hood! That movie had such a profound effect on me as a little girl--and one that has carried me to this day. I still love it. In fact, it got me interested in Medieval history and that eventually led me to getting a master's in history and thank you so much for the tiresome color drain on Robin Hood movies but it's not only those---it's also Medieval movies in general. Geesh--centuries ago--judging from the artwork, extant textiles, paint residue on statues, stained glass windows, etc--they LOVED color--lots of it--yes, even the lower classes were wearing color when then could--it was everywhere so these dark and gritty movies really don't convey how colorful it was.

[@henry3457]

My enthusiasm is immeasurable and my day is made.

[@BREADSWORD]

ayyy thank you!!

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@BREADSWORD what you talked about with how Robin Hood is portrayed before “Robin and Marian” fucked it up, I feel the same way when SEGA gave up on the Sonic franchise after the Dreamcast died; having Sonic X and Heroes kill his carefree spirit by being too apathetic and too in-control of the situation, which makes the audience not care about it. This is what we call "Cultural Vandalism", which involves destroying the reputation of a popular icon in front of the public.

[@gabe_s_videos]

Another great example of how too many people mistake "realistic" for "negative" and "negative" for "intelegent." I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but I think it's safe to say that, in the last centuries of storytelling, no story has ever benefited from being more deliberately realistic.

[@mrmadness2699]

There’s a place for realism… but realism is not Grimdark!!

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@mrmadness2699 Yeah, sometimes so-called gritty reality is extremely positive.

[@jlupus8804]

To be fair, there are a few that were also deterred by not taking themselves seriously enough, like Wonder Woman 1984. So there’s gotta be a balance somewhere.

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@jlupus8804 “taken too seriously” and “trying too hard to be realistic” are not the same thing, tho.

[@jlupus8804]

@@gabe_s_videos I think they ven diagram a lot. If silliness is the opposite of serious, and real-life is more often serious than silly, then maybe an attribute of realism is seriousness, with only breaks into silliness once in a while. This could be a binary view, there might be 3 or four directions these things can go in, and it may not be a two-dimensional spectrum as anticipated.

[@ROBtimusPrimeReborn]

That moment when Puss In Boots: The Last Wish is a better Robin Hood movie than any live action film of the last 30-40 years.

[@madisongreener1392]

This video brought tears to my eyes. My dad had a vinyl record of Disney’s Robin Hood soundtrack and dialogue as a child, and he listened to it so much that he still has it memorized. We watched this movie together so often when I was a kid that I have it memorized now, too. When you said the word you use to describe this movie is “love”, my jaw dropped because you are so correct. This movie just has a special something about it. You get the sense that it was made for the sake of passion rather than profit. I love a lot of children’s movies but this one takes the cake. It is so honest and unpretentious and sadly, unsung. Thank-you for this video.

[@MetFanMac]

"They had to make this thing on $15 Million, which sounds like a lot, but for a feature length animated movie is like trying to re-enact the moon landing with some aluminium cans and a few bottle rockets. And yet, I come here to praise Robin Hood, not to bury it. This movie, probably more than any other, perfectly encapsulates the Scratchy Era aesthetic: We got no money, we’re ugly as sin, but we got the charm and we got the tunes. Robin Hood has buckets of charm and some really great songs. It also has the kind of manic energy you would expect from a movie animated by starving hobos who were being paid in hot dogs." -Neil Sharpson

[@maxwebb2290]

one of favorite things about the movie is how you can tell they had fun with it, from voice actors to screen writers, nobody took themselves 100% serious

[@tatsuyasuou3368]

Draining the hope out of a story that’s very purpose is to be hopeful is a cruel tendency of modern media. Sometimes, you need something to lift you up. All modern Robin Hood does is weigh you down with reality.

[@austinreed7343]

Even before the age of woke, this was true. Woke only weaponized it.

[@SobiTheRobot]

I've been trying to come up with a good script for a Robin Hood story to pass to someone higher up than me, something that stays true to the character. So far I've got two problems: one, I live on the wrong side of the states, and two, I have six different interpretations to run with and I think they're all actually GOOD.

[@savagetv6460]

The problem is the writers of these stories are all depressed and angry people. Literally the only happy stories we see are cringy stories about gay folk

[@justalurker3489]

@@austinreed7343 It's a story about taking from the greedy rich and giving it to those who need it, obviously that's going to hit modern audiences differently than those in 1973 due to the material conditions we experience being different in the US then and now. It's a more serious subject today so it would be a little weird to portray it so lightly. I don't know what you think woke means but I doubt it's relevant here.

[@growingwild8411]

That’s because nihilism has overcome modern philosophy. They can’t help but write pessimism.

[@HeyItsCettefille]

“Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin have to sing to him bc he has no drip” just killed me lmao Excellent points throughout!!

[@BREADSWORD]

yoo thank you!!

[@OneTwoFreeForAll]

The escape from the castle jail always makes me tear up. You picked out a big moment, when Skippy steps up to defend the others, but when Alan-a-Dale uses his lute to block arrows, or when Robin has to go back for the youngest daughter, ugh, the whole scene is such a see-saw of jubilance and terror and real courage, its violence isn't brutal or gleeful, but it has menace, for a scene in which nobody actually gets hurt.

[@MetFanMac]

Robin Hood was absolutely Disney's funniest film at *least* until Hercules, and possibly right up to The Emperor's New Groove, which is of course 100% straight up comedy, with Peter Ustinov chewing up the scenery at least as much as Vincent Price in The Great Mouse Detective.

[@devinessence]

Also there's this crazy fluidity to the animation in this that still blows my mind. Like the expressions on the characters move and change with such perfect timing and smoothness it looks so perfect. I havent seen this in forever, but watching this makes me notice it again.

[@BREADSWORD]

totally agree!!

[@MichaelSchultzSF]

Right?! I complain to my friends about current animation all the time and they think I'm crazy. There are so many shapes edges everywhere now-a-days. I miss the soft textured look of these hand drawn roughs. It's just so life like in a way that cleaned up hand animation using a computer isn't.

[@MagicNateball]

You know how you can tell how much someone loves a thing by the way they speak about it? That's this video in its entirety. Spot on, beautifully written and edited. I had no idea what I was clicking on and now I'm very glad I did.

[@regularshowman3208]

That synopsis for Robin and Marian gave me clinical depression lmao. Literally who asked for a Robin Hood story that miserable.

[@BREADSWORD]

BRO RIGHT LMFAOOOO

[@Rhaifha]

Right? Geez, that one sounds so depressing. Who ever decided that a story that's all about escapism and fun should be depressing?!

[@PopfulFrost]

@@Rhaifha Hollywood, basically.

[@mr.bluefox3511]

I dont even know that kind of "Robin Hood story" even exited. I thought those newest hollywood are just missleading, too much "grey" from the Disney version i watched as a kid ... and now this "depressing" version. It just feel wrong.

[@eyesofthefox]

At least in the Disney version all the depressing stuff happens in the middle. Those shots of the sherrif preparing the gallows while the rooster sings Not in Nottingham still gives me chills.

[@bakuhakudraws5603]

This man misses about as often as Robin Hood does.

[@BREADSWORD]

LMFAOOO thank you!!

[@TheWuschi]

Haha - this was the first time I had to think twice about a KZbin comment, and it wasn't because of the orthography ;-)) - well shot, arrowperson Baku Haku!

[@Trinin]

Zing!

[@thebestofbass]

You give off an aura of a friend who knows a lot about the movie you’re watching with them. You have a very soothing voice and it gives off a cozy vibe.

[@charlesmelton3203]

"The Honda civic of middle aged folklore." -breadsword You bridged the gap between my knowledge of car culture with the endless expance of ancient legend, what a great way to start the day

[@Hideotronic]

I hadn’t really watched Disney’s Robin Hood all the way through since I was a kid and as is usually the case after watching your other videos, I went and rewatched the movie again through a new lens. Something I noticed more than anything else this time around was just how expressive all the characters are. Like, duh It’s animated, so of course it’s over-the-top, but I definitely didn’t appreciate the craft of animation as much as I do now. I wasn’t aware of any of the historical context to the “Dark Age of Disney”, the time-period it came out in or what came after. Thanks once again for shedding light on some under appreciated masterpieces.

[@BREADSWORD]

yooo thank you!

[@meikahidenori]

There's a book floating around about the dark age of disney animations. It's rather good but I'd be suprised if you can find it in print. (I actually borrowed it from a library so couldn't tell you where they got it from)

[@barbaraswitzler106]

I’ve watched this movie a million times, my children and I loved it!

[@annawaite5527]

One thing about that era is that ALL characters, even the human ones, seem more expressive and 'real'. Aristocats has people with distinctive faces as well as cats. The animators seemed to really go the extra mile to express character.

[@ShadowCatGambit]

I think about my Dad as you describe this movie. He may not be around for me much longer and he.... suffered greatly at the hands of those who were closest to him. When I used to live with him, he would play this movie so he could fall asleep. This is his favorite Disney film and I feel like I know a little better why he loves it so much.

[@OneroseArts]

“And Frank Sinatra And Dean Martin have to sing to him because he has no drip.” is not the words I planned to hear today but I am no less grateful.

[@kyon813]

_You've either got, or you haven't got, style..._

[@matthiasschulz3569]

@@kyon813 If you've got it, you'll stand out a mile! Such a lovely song

[@kyon813]

@@matthiasschulz3569 "...now this is something of a _disaster area."_ "Do you think I'm too bizarre?" "No pal, I think you're too _carnival!"_

[@snotenberg7]

Your intro to the topic alone is why I love your content. It feels like a stream of consciousness, almost bouncing back and forth like a hyperactive 5 year old, but always following a consistent through line. It never feels hard to follow because it doesnt stray from the path, but bolts down it, watching all the colors blur and merge together, before suddenly stopping and seeing the vista that they paint. It feel like someone took my own thought process out of my brain, and I love it

[@BREADSWORD]

yoooo thank you so much!

[@the13throse]

Same here, I think I like Breadsword's content so much because they talk about things in pretty much the same way I would were I talking to a friend (irl or online) or to myself when bored and alone. It comes across as very familiar and comfortable to me and I love even just having these videos on in the background. It feels more like you're listening to a friend info-dump and/or ramble about something that interests them, something they're passionate about, and you don't mind at all because you love hearing what they have to say. It feels very natural and genuine, instead of processed to appeal to the almighty algorithm and generate the most clicks like some other review channels I've seen.

[@snotenberg7]

@@BREADSWORD finally managed to set enough time aside to actually watch it in its entirety. Great work as always. You always manage to strike massive emotional spikes. Keep it up, you're amazing at this

[@Glasshouse828]

He also has a touch of the existentialism (for lack of a better word) found in Nick Robinson or Solar Sands’ videos

[@Bonko78]

It took a while but after a long (yet informative) dive into the history of this character, you arrive at the main point and it's very good indeed. Modern adaptations tend to entirely miss the point of what a legendary hero is and stands for. For some reason, film students apparently sneer at tradition and idealism, believing that subversion is the only _serious_ way to portray both history and myth. Yet, stories about heroes don't need to be relatable and grounded but rather to motivate and inspire. Just like Rocky shows us that with hard work we can achieve great things, Robin Hood inspires us to stand against injustice. Those ideas may be simple but unquestionably worth striving for and, by extension, worth telling stories about. This was a good video essay. Thanks!

[@lorettabes4553]

As an art student in a first world country, I think students my age are looking to normalize things and discuss topics they care about. The "problem" is that the people who have money are in power. And they only accept the things they like. These days, if your concept isn't good enough it'll be left at the bottom of a drawer. I am very tired of modern adaptations being 'true to life'. Gray, dark, complicated. But I think the shift is happening.

[@Bonko78]

@@lorettabes4553 Yes, money equals power, but even though that's unavoidable, it's not a problem in itself. We live in a time where more independent creators have a voice than ever before, thanks to the fact that people can go directly to the source of a good idea and support it, or to vote with their wallet, so to speak. But even ideas that aren't "good enough" can still get recognition through awards, lobbying, nepotism and a variety of other means. I would argue that the marketplace of ideas is more open than ever. But I very much agree about modern adaptations. Well said.

[@prometheus3396]

I miss movies that... made me happy. Everything these days tries to be dramatic, tension, dark, gritty, and just, grey. I miss lord of the rings, where no matter how dark it got, there was always a color or a musical note that reminded you of the beauty that exists despite it all. I miss films that were made, not to twist something familiar into something all new and modern, but instead improve on the core ideal and truth of the original piece, and more beautifully tell that story, and you can't do that if you remove all the color out of it. God, you made me wanna watch all my favorite old movies. Thanks for the vid breadsword, can't think of a single video of yours I don't love, or that changes my views on cinema. Keep on Keepin' on.

[@sarahgray430]

I think that the "gritty" representations of Robin Hood might have something to do with the fact that Hollywood is run by the rich and powerful, and representing an anti-authoritarian figure who redistributes wealth as a good guy galls them. They also like to gloss over the fact that he's a quintessentially British figure, and cast him as Kevin Costner instead.

[@UnfortunatelyTheHunger]

Another factor is the overall general shift towards "the grimdark", especially since 9/11, where anything sincere and cheerful is seen as immature, unintelligent and, dare i say it, effeminate?

[@kepral4912]

that last line... "How do you kill a legend? [...] all you have to do is you prove that it was really here." was so good man, here I was thinking you were quoting a proverb. thats legit gonna stick with me.

[@NeptuneRising70]

The way they drew Sir Hiss using his coils as arms to convey emotion…this is a great film! And wow, the editing in this vid is hugely impressive.

[@kenshinhimura9406]

Modern Robin Hood films sell the "character" Robin Hood, while films like the Errol Flynn Robin Hood and Disney's animated take sell the "story" of Robin Hood

[@BREADSWORD]

totally spot on!

[@savagetv6460]

Modern Robin hood films are written by pretentious progressives who view the character as a tool to spread their politics

[@ThunderStruck15]

@@savagetv6460 ...Robin Hood has *always* been progressive. It’s always been liberally political. I don’t know what fucking planet you’re from.

[@Aquatarkus96]

@@savagetv6460 wtf are you on about?

[@vaguelyvegan7340]

I have no idea how this ended up in my recommended vids, but this is a brilliant analysis, and I feel like Hollywood has made every hero story darker, not just Robin Hood, and it frustrates me.

[@mmneander1316]

Exactly. I feel the same way. The joy seems to have gone.

[@Harukurochan]

I’m not nearly as invested in the lore of “Robin Hood” as you, but *damn* do you make a convincing argument in regards to how the cynicism present modern adaptations of the folktale are antithetical to what the story is about. Also, it’s making me think that this modern pattern of turning characters who are symbols of hope for the oppressed into gritty, cynical re-interpretations at best to outright monsters and oppressors at worse makes me feel that this might be part of a wider cultural backlash towards efforts towards modern activism and political movements, but that is a thought for another day. What I will say is that Disney’s version of “Robin Hood” indeed slaps; it’s a film I always enjoy watching, and my respect for it has grown as I’ve aged.

[@TomyDayos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mme8pHetnJV7n7s Everyone should see this video. The name of the movie is "Is Superman Still Relevant Today? " It talk about how modern writers do not know how to write heroes. Explaining things in detail.

[@benjaminmiddaugh2729]

Part of the problem with modern "activism" is that it follows from the Leninist tradition. That is, it's an attempt by the few to impose a vision of how things ought to be on both the many and those in power. That's not how effective change happens (you get that by winning hearts and minds), but it can capitalize on misfortune, incompetence, and intransigence. Modern "activism" also is based on the idea that the populace must be manipulated, because they are somehow incapable of doing what the "activists" think is best for them. This is, sadly, quite similar to how most politicians seem to think that politics should be done, as well. A populace constantly under manipulative messaging is going to become exhausted with those doing the messaging, if for no other reason than manipulation tends to have problems with consistency and thus more mental effort is required to adapt to (or resist) the latest version of the message. I guess what I'm trying to say is that to the average person who takes a little bit of time to think about what's going on (even if only at the surface level), politicians and activists end up feeling pretty much the same, so having fluidity between the roles they position themselves to have when transitioned to fictional narratives doesn't seem as jarring as it otherwise might.

[@TomyDayos]

@@benjaminmiddaugh2729 You are right! And I would like to add more to your point. Activists seen to be trying to build an up bottom society. Where a person create a perfect system, and humans living in said system became perfect like clay. Basically its the belief that if capitalism or poverty or hierarchy end that the humans will become better. That's complete different from right wing philosophy that believe that evil is inside the humans and not a product of society. Right wing philosophy is based on the search for virtue. You have to try to be the better you. Right wing philosophy tries to build a botton up society, where humans tries to be their best, and as result the world gets better. If you look right wing philosophy is based on greek philosophy, roman law, democracy and freedom, Christian morals and the magna carta. And its core is the search for virtue. The woke do not want temperance, humility, do not want to forgive their enemies or anything like that. The way that they want to live put then at odds with right wing philosophy, so they will hate it even if it never tries to impose anything over them. I mean didn't Socrates said "Pride divide the men, humility join them"?

[@kokorodokoro]

"might be part of a wider cultural backlash towards efforts towards modern activism and political movements, but that is a thought for another day" What do you mean? That these movies are against or for modern activism and political movments? Iow. if the former that the message of the movies is "Don't try to change things, because the one who fights for the good cause will eventually become the tyrant"? Or something else?

[@Harukurochan]

@@kokorodokoro Not sure how this is “low”? But I meant that some modern movies seem to be antagonistic towards activists and social justice work. Granted, a lot of media, especially American media, likes to belittle activist work, but negative backlash tends to crop up during/after large social movements gain public attention. I was mostly thinking about how a lot of modern reinterpretations of Superman fail to remember that he was originally meant to be a symbol of hope for marginalized people, since he was created by two Jewish men who both encountered antisemitism in their lives.

[@imi9058]

The way you speak about movies is beautiful. It's like listening to someone talking about a loved one. It's almost poetry.

[@user-jy2sj4ed4i]

Truth

[@ratsinmamouf]

I’ve seen Disney’s Robin Hood SO MANY TIMES, it was and still my favorite (although I haven’t seen it in years). I loved the music and everything, especially the forest scenes. Seeing that rooster playing the mandolin made my heart happy.

[@philipwrighton]

I found you three or four years ago with Treasure Planet. You've been a part of dates and friends coming over, long lonely nights and you still throw absolute bangers. You opened me to a whole new group of KZbinrs and really put in perspective with things I've watched personally. I will always keep watching and when I get an actual job, I can support you more than just a lurker. Keep going with the bangers

[@jude8536]

Little fun fact about Disney's use of re-cycled animation from this era, It's actually NOT a cost cutting measure and is MORE difficult. Re-cycling animation like Robin Hood is much harder to do than just drawing something new due to how restrictive and time consuming it is. Disney animators from the era even spoke out against it and expressed their frustration. The only reason Disney ever did it was because Wolfgang Reitherman, one on the 9 old men, grew infatuated with said animation sequences and re-used them to play it safe.

[@BREADSWORD]

yooo this is so interesting!

[@awhitney3063]

Er, I'm an animation person and that's just not true. Having the keyframes done in another animation basically is like, half the work of animation; making sure the movement is right and tracks. That's why rotoscoping is often used as a shortcut; because you film a person doing an action and then you animate it. Drawing over it again with different clothes would be relatively easy. Drawing animation from scratch is hard.

[@ObsessedwithZelda2]

@@awhitney3063 What I heard on what made it difficult was they actually had to dig them up from their archives which was the time consuming aspect, but that’s just what I heard (haven’t checked the link yet)

[@samuelsolomon7330]

I'm guessing it's like having to make a specific model of a car with a slightly different look from the same parts. You know what to make and how to make it, but you still need to do all the work.

[@dogac_]

This is not entirely true. It was done for "time" which is true but the reason it had to be done for time IS money. Movies have deadlines because it costs a lot more to have people working on a movie for 14 months rather than 18 months. You have to pay for them, the space they use, the equipment they use and the overhead of keeping the lights on and water running. Tracing over the old animation you've done is absolutely not harder to do than animating from scratch. You basically have all the keyframes, timing and inbetweens done already.

[@matusfekete6503]

My favorite version is Prince of Thieves with Costner. For me it has the best balance between drama and comedy + unforgettably/delightfully over-the-top performance from legendary Alan Rickman. (And served as main inspiration source for crazy awesome Men in Tights).

[@TheMarquistador]

I'm with you here. I love Prince of Thieves and Disney Robin Hood. I'm surprised how the creator showed clips of Prince of Thieves, but never specifically took aim at what he didn't like from it.

[@reynaldolunajr.6909]

I always found Prince John's descent into madness frightening. Especially at the end when he realizes the castle is in flames. Peter Ustinov was great as were all the other voice actors. This is actually one of my favorite Disney films.

[@Galadhatan]

Nice video essay: particularly in that you have a very poetic style in your production. As a medievalist who works in Robin Hood (and hence someone who's seen nearly all the Robin Hood films, tv shows, and video games), I'd offer a contrary perspective on Robin. One of the aftereffects of Errol Flynn's AoRH was to present RH as a charismatic and appealing symbol of America (a culture which lacked a national literary symbol at the time), and Walt Disney (the man) cemented this in his preview of the 1952 Disney's RH by linking Robin's crusade to political philosophy & proto-democracy through the Magna Carta and then to the Declaration of Independence. Around that time RH was being adopted by all manner of American symbols: Gangsters (as you point out) & Cowboys (with Gene Autrey & Roy Rogers). As American society became unstable in the 60s & 70s, Robin was a symbol of relief, hope even. Even as the 1977 Robin Hood used Sherwood to "commiserate" with American economic woes: a sort of "we're all suffering together", R & Marian shows even this effort is futile: Robin dies powerless and spent, ultimately betrayed both by his own heroes (King Richard) and his own dreams. By the 90s, Robin's political philosophy becomes more embattled. In case it weren't clear enough, Crowe's RH explicitly ties Robin to the Magna Carta, but even he fails to root out the evil in government. I think that is why the Robins get darker and grungier: they are reflecting popular perceptions of America's position in the world. Where once it has glorious promise (after WWII), it descends into gloomy disappointment, barely eking out some relief for the poor but ultimately unable to overcome the world's woes. That's where the color goes, it fades as our confidence in America does.

[@PolarPhantom]

Very interesting. There was a lot more cynicism as time went on. I think there's also a matter of changing tastes, or rather, the perception of audiences. Related to the confidence in the US declining, people wanted "darker and edgier" stories. Or at least that's what studios thought they wanted. And there's this perception, I'd argue, that a whimsical, joyous Robin has been "played out" and is hackney now. Of course, the irony now is that Darker Robins have become the cliche. I think you're right, of course. The political climate's absolutely a contributing factor. As an aside, as an English man, I think it's cool for Robin to be seen by the US as this rebel against corruption and seeking power for the people. It's how I like to see him: A symbol of freedom and subversion against corruption.

[@squirlmy]

​@@PolarPhantom I find Galadhatan's analysis disjointed. Is "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" darker and grungier? I was listening to the Disney album in 1976, and there was a pretty clear direct line between RH resisting the King and American Independence, perhaps even a hint of King George's madness in Prince John's. That was long after WWII, and after Vietnam for that matter. I don't really see any patterns of "lighter" and "darker" over time, and yes, they are both cliched now, but have been for a long time. The American conundrum has always also been Aristocracy:Bad, but Leftist Politics:Bad, as well and there's never a clear way for conservative Americans to reconcile Robin Hood not being a symbol for the left as well as anti-royalist/anti-dictatorial without invoking American exceptionalism.

[@cassiacana5335]

@@PolarPhantom Lindsay Ellis has a great video on 9/11's ripple effects that led to the grimdarkening of narratives in fiction. The aftermath made unironic, earnest media seem sickly sweet and cheesy compared to reality.

[@stantrien8106]

"This is the treason of the Artist: The refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain." What you are describing is, if not factually wrong, then it is morally wrong. It is the duty of the artist to lift people up in dark times.

[@ghosttownguy7472]

I'm a rancher, and also the frontman of a metal band who lives in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't seen this movie once since I was, oh, about 6, and I just rewatched it a couple weeks ago and fell absolutely in love with the film. As someone who's never really experienced love, Robin and Marian's love is the most perfect and beautiful love I have ever seen. I'm never, never, sad. And this movie had me in a puddle for a good week. The love scene/song is just perfect. Perfect. It really spoke to me deeply as I live in a vast, open, and empty desert, where I'll just walk, and walk, and walk for miles into the nothing letting my mind wonder, and enjoying the utter silence and peace... always alone. And it got me thinking; "Wouldn't it be nice, to share my world with someone? Have someone sit next to me on my little mountain and enjoy company?" But I know that type of love expressed between Robin and Marian is very, very rare. Something only a very lucky few in this world will ever experience. Will I ever get that chance? Only time will tell. For now I'll remain in my secluded little world, far, far away from everything...

[@TenorCantusFirmus]

I could have written this comment myself. Even worse, I've ALMOST crowned dreams of love in real life, but in part because of bad luck, in part because of my disastrous social skills, it has never happened... Robin and Marian from this movie are the luckiest b*stards ever 😆😆, because their love is really perfect: not the kind of passion which burns white-hot, but worns out in a few months; it's just that the are on the same perfect page, and their gaze-crossing is so perfectly animated they seem to be real. Unfortunately, as I've yet said, I'm a very intelligent person in lots of other things, but my social skills are plain DREADFUL. And I'm a bit bitter towards those animators for having practically shoved into my face my perfect nemesis, their love is so simple and yet so deep I really can't but having my mind melt by trying understanding it. I'm the kind of person having passed gorgeous girls because I was afraid they might have distracted me from work or studies: and that scene makes me feeling like a m*ron for having failed at such an apparently simple thing like love.

[@tonzillaye]

Using the spiral king while talking about a king who lived for ever basically was so good I want to hug you.

[@BREADSWORD]

AYYY THANK U

[@tonzillaye]

@@BREADSWORD thank you king 👑

[@coolgreenbug7551]

Other than the Grimdark tone of the scene, I really like the whole 'Bury me where this last arrow lands' thing

[@StevensSounds]

The quote at the end, "How do you kill a legend? You can't, of course, but you can try. All you have to do is prove that they were really here." That hits really hard.

[@CHUCKLZLORD]

"every Robinhood movie since 1976..." Men in Tights: Am I a joke to you? (Yes, that's the whole point of the movie)

[@david2869]

While he does mention Men in Tights in passing, he criminally undermentions it!

[@jonathanstern5537]

He does say, "Nearly," before the word, "Every."

[@jonathanstern5537]

@@david2869 That's true. It was, IMHO the best Robin Hood movie ever.

[@syndigriner-owens4351]

Disney's Robin Hood and Men in Tights are my absolute FAVORITE versions of the Robin Hood storys

[@cinnabahn]

This man is just casually telling some of the most engaging and impressive stories I've ever watched on KZbin

[@BREADSWORD]

yooo thank you so so much!!

[@bahamutskingdom]

When one looks back (Life long Disney HAND animation fan) on the dark times of Disney (Aristocats - Oliver and Company) I find it weird that these are not widely regarded as masterpieces. The Rescuers is actually a well done movie. Great cast of Bob Newheart and Eva Gabor. Madam Medusa is one of the most enjoyable and comically evil villains ever. Aristocats, though slow, is a great deal of fun to watch. Robin Hood......Robin Hood is just damn near perfection. It is amazing. Fox and the Hound is one of those underrated masterpieces of film. An amazing show of friendship that should not be, with a remarkable turning of minds in those "should not be friends" tropes of old. The Black Cauldron (Though it has the worst animation seen) has the greatest hand done animation I have ever seen. That movies failure has nothing to do with the film, but the turmoil in the company at the time. But it is still great to watch. Great Mouse Detective and Oliver and Company are actually just jolly romps through great classic stories. This....this is what I know. Without this band of films, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas, etc would not have come to pass. Without those masterpieces of my childhood and teen years, Tangled, Frozen, Zootopia, and the new masterpieces would not be here either. To scoff these films is actually stupid as hell. They are great works of art that will never come again. Hand animation is all but dead.

[@timelyenigma]

I've only watched the furry Robin Hood a couple of times over the years, but it's always been in my heart as something so genuine and warming. It makes me yearn for another movie that isn't basted with cynicism. It's why movies like Speed Racer, Iron Giant, The Great Dictator, and (more recently) Spider-Verse have stuck in my mind as movies that are unashamed to be wholly their own, not succumbing to irony or sarcasm in their messaging. I like to believe there is still room in our broken world for stories of earnestness and hope.

[@briancox2721]

This version and "Men in tights" are 1 and 1A for good Robin hood movies. Oh, and I'm pretty sure "The princess bride" is a version of the legend as well

[@SobiTheRobot]

I don't think it is, but it is a swashbuckler, and like Men in Tights, it has Carey Elwes in the lead.

[@PopfulFrost]

It's more or less a pastiche and parody of the kind of tale Robin Hood is, especially when you read the book. The book is largely about how we as an audience interact with works from so long ago, retrofitting them to appeal to us; yes, these old stories have their fair share of problems and occasional sloppy writing, but if you're willing to be patient with their worst tendencies, a lot of these old stories still carry some of that life-changing magic they used to have.

[@oddeyes9413]

Also: The Court Jester with Danny Kay in the lead. If you haven't seen it, you really should.

[@rook1196]

Underrated Robin Hood: the BBC 1992 movie (Patrick Bergin, Uma Thruman) There isn't a lot of blue skies (its the freaking UK) but knows when to be fun.

[@willmfrank]

@@rook1196 The dreary skies are a feature of the film; notice the sky clears only at the conclusion of the picture, to accompany the happy ending.

[@Riptide27]

31:08 At the risk of translating something you already had translated, he basically says “He has savior-faire, doesn’t he, Hiss?” You’ve probably heard the term savoir-faire before, especially if you’ve seen Oliver & Company, it can loosely translate to “know-how” or “street smarts”. I’m especially fond of how PJ even puts a French affect on how he says “Hiss” (‘iss)

[@pcplayer9613]

Disney's Robin Hood was always that one film for me that I could turn on and enjoy. Didn't matter that people said it was cheaply made, with reused animation, or that it could never compare to The Lion King. I loved those fun, lovable, and hilarious characters, and I never grew tired of it. And as I got older, I came to appreciate the people who brought those characters to life. The way Breadsword describes this movie and everything in it feels like those words were torn from my mind and heart and read out, giving voice to them for the first time. This movie will always be my favorite Disney movie, so thank you, Breadsword, for helping me understand why. Stay awesome.

[@mikedrop4421]

It was my favorite animated Disney movie growing up too. All this time I thought it was because I was just a child who was oblivious to the quality of the film. I definitely feel vindicated.

[@TheWolfy90]

So true! This video essay almost had me crying and now I will rewatch Disney´s Robin Hood after a decade and surely I will cry about the beauty of the art, the characters and the music!

[@hotwax9376]

I agree. Just because it isn't on the level of many of its predecessors or successors doesn't mean that it isn't a good film. During my second year of college I took an introductory theatre class to fulfill my humanities requirement, and one of the things I remember the instructor telling us is that audiences can and should make up their own minds about how good a production is independent of what critics and reviewers think. And I think we need more of that kind of democracy in our culture. Perhaps we wouldn't be in the cultural wasteland we have today if more people took that to heart.

[@fablor9900]

Your writing and delivery is always top-notch. The soft-spoken, almost silent voice is funnily enough, the Monica Evans of KZbin. And your writing matches the way I view these things close to my childhood, and despite never having played any Jak, I know that experience of playing your first *real* game. Watching a movie older than you, but feels as though it was just made. It manages to capture a feeling that only our generation (Late Gen-Y/Early Gen-Z) really can. We were late catching the train of the 90's, and too early to catch the train of the 2010's that was the 00's. As someone with an extremely nerdy dad (D&D, Warhammer, Anime, Knows-Far-More-Than-Most, Music-Lover), I managed to barely begin living a life in 90's culture. You bring back those memories, and for that, Thank you. Thank you so, so much.

[@BREADSWORD]

yooo thank you so much!!

[@leighanne709]

I wrote a presentation back in college for my mythology class all about Robin Hood. You captured exactly what is great about Robin Hood and why this legend has endured. Your point about killing a legend is brilliant. Great video!

[@joefeldkamp5171]

Wojtek is actually pronounced like “Voytech” and Wojtek means “smiling warrior”

[@BREADSWORD]

LMFAOOOO I LOVE THAT

[@dangeldoll]

let me just, educate you with this gem, and drop in my “um actually” in here, it’s not “smiling” it’s “joy”, but yes it’s very literal - Woj - or wojak- means warrior or soldier, and Ciech is from - cieszyć/uciecha - joy/enjoyment , literally “the joyful warrior” or “one who enjoys being a soldier” and it was befitting the Corporal Wojtek HUZZA! there, get schooled, think again before you dare use the “actually” again, mike dropped

[@joefeldkamp5171]

@@dangeldoll Well well well… actually the polish doesn’t directly translate into English in this case since it has multiple meanings. and in interviews the soldiers who raised the bear said they intended it to mean smiling warrior.

[@dangeldoll]

​@@joefeldkamp5171 nie, pleciesz głupoty, żołnierze wcale nie nazwali niedźwiadka Wojtek bo miałoby to być "uśmiechający sie wojownik", skąd to wymyśliłeś? niedźwiadka oryginalnie nazwała Irena Bokiewicz - to ona namówiła żeby kupić niedźwiadka, którego miał irakijski chłopak, co spodobało się żołnierzom, potem ona podarowala go 22 kompanii zaopatrywania artylerii Generała Władysława Andersa, i tam Polscy żołnierze sie nim zajmowali, imię nadali oficjalnie tylko dlagego, że jak legitymowali żołnieży na granicach i jak odbywali Rejs do Włoch -na front, żołnierze ukryli fakt że to niedzwiedź, bez długiego namysłu powiedzieli Wojtek i imie zostało oficjalnie zapisane jako "żołnierz Wojtek", udało się im obejść wojskowe przepisy, zabraniające przewożenia zwierząt na pokładzie, i Wojtek również dostał się na rejs. Otrzymał wtedy własną książeczkę wojskową i stał się pełnoprawnym żołnierzem, od tamtej pory niedźwieź był oficjalnie w armii -tak piszą w książkach i w muzeum Armii Andersa jak również, nazywają go "Smutnym niedźwiedziem żolnierzem", poniewarz po wojnie został w zoo Edynburskim, gdzie traktowano go jak zwierzę, aż do śmierci. nie wiem skąd wziołeś tego "smiling worrior", to nigdy nie była intencja żołnierzy *also, all names have 2 or more literal meanings, mine has 3, and the word "literal" officially means "figurative" since its usage by W.Shakespeare

[@thatsnotyourdonkey5006]

Referring to Stanley Kubrick as “K-Breezy” is my new favorite thing and has earned my sub

[@russanothewise440]

Every time I watch this I forget he mentions Redwall and get so happy

[@triarcness]

So when you say "its like the Honda civic of middle age folklore" am I not supposed to imagine a cameo of yoda doing copious amounts of ketamine in it

[@FierceCritter]

I can't adequately convey how much I loved this. I was 5 years old when I saw this in the theater, and it has always meant a lot to me. I had a storybook record that me and my sister would follow and mimic as we did chores around the house. I had books, toys (some which I managed to hold onto to this day), and even a dress my sister made for me from fabric printed with the characters. I still find myself singing and whistling the songs around my home. Thank you so much for this love letter to the cartoon, as well as to the tale of Robin Hood in general (the Errol Flynn film played on local TV in our home on Saturday mornings, and is a favorite of my older sisters'). You've managed a brilliant dissection of what makes the cartoon so great, while not tearing it down into dry, impersonal analysis. This is the first video of yours I've seen. I'm now a subscriber.

[@katiekane5247]

My daughter is now 37 & we occasionally break into song or dialogue from Robin Hood.

[@evrfreez]

Don't know if you'll see this, BREADSWORD, but the French part "du savoir-faire, il y a" is.. well, first of all, it's explicitly bad French, like an English person mangling the syntax. Directly translated, it's "savoir faire, there is" but the character meant to say "du savoir faire, il a" (no "y"), as in, "savoir faire, he has". And savoir faire is one of those terms adopted fully into English, it means "the ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations." Literally it's "knowing how to do" (i.e. how to do things properly). The Oxford example is "this is a gracious occasion, so try to behave with a bit of savoir faire". Just thought I'd share that, since I was raised bilingual and your video inspired me to watch the Disney Robin Hood again, which is a dear memory from my youngest years. Thank you.

[@BorderlandSkylights]

Your videos make me so happy. You were on of the people who really opened my eyes up to the idea that the value of media and it's criticism is more than whether it was good or bad, but that the greater cultural context that surrounds it, as well as the emotional response and journey it can take us on is just as important. Thank you.

[@BREADSWORD]

yooo thank you so much!

[@mmneander1316]

"the greater cultural context that surrounds it, as well as the emotional response and journey it can take us on is just as important." -- that is very well formulated.

[@Bandstand]

You produced another banger 🤝

[@BREADSWORD]

MUCH LOVE BRO

[@pcm1011]

Hey I hope you're both doing well, thanks for creating your videos

[@AB0BA_69]

@@BREADSWORD bro did you say in the vid that taxation is theft? Based!

[@RedPatriarch]

only produce bangers* fixed that for ya

[@austinthe710messiah2]

I read that as badger.

[@MadameTamma]

I ADORE Disney's Robin hood! It doesn't get talked about enough compared to their other animated movies. I love that it's a perfect blend of intelligently Witty AND childishly silly. I love what a kind hearted trickster the main character it is. I love how it balances out the sorrow of going through bleak times with hope and effort to make the best of what you've got. I love how romantic it is, with Marian and Robin being so much on the same page with each other (and they're the only Disney couple I can think of who already have an established history with one another before the movie even begins.) I love the story of this anticapitalist leftist who's a fun, swashbuckling, hopeful kind of guy! It's such a great movie to put on if you're looking for a fun time.

[@2yang1002]

Oh thank god you mentioned Men in Tights. Was gonna say how that film hardly grounds him and is just pure funny and good times. Also I didn’t cry from a new breadsword video! Yay me!

[@reikun86]

Also the costumes in Men in Tights are bright and colorful. It always brings a smile to my face whenever I watch it :) I guess after the Fox merger, Robin Hood Men in Tights is owned by Disney now.

[@davididiart5934]

Hey now... Prince of Thieves is amazing simply by having Alan Rickman in it.

[@willmfrank]

"LOCKSLEY! I'm gonna cut yer heart out! WITH A SPOOOONNN!!!"

[@fblthpthblfp79]

I’ve been scrolling through these comments thinking “I know it came out when I was a kid, but wasn’t the Kevin Costner one okay?” Maybe it’s just not as bad as anything that’s come out since (except for Men in Tights). One might think that the fact that stories in the public domain can be adapted by anyone in basically any way would lead to more interesting films being made but that doesn’t seem to be what’s actually been happening.

[@SpartanChief17C]

Also the “Prince of Thieves” overture that was used for the mid-2000s BluRay ads absolutely slapped

[@GScheele3]

No lies detected.

[@SolracCAP]

You have raised the standards of video essays in my eyes. Bravo!

[@Matthy63]

- why are millennials communists? - why are millennials furries? one answer: Disney's Robin Hood

[@dragon1130]

Im not gonna lie, I had a crush on Maid Marion from this version of Robin Hood

[@alphalax7747]

@Alias Fakename I wish i could go back to a time where i did not know the term monsterfucker

[@Flareontoast]

@Alias Fakename how do you forget Venom?!

[@An1mag1qu3]

Gross.

[@SobiTheRobot]

@@dragon1130 She's just so...warm, and like he says, her voice is amazing.

[@kelath5555]

There's something wonderful about listening to someone who's passionate about something really get excited about that thing. Thank you so much.

[@lukascepanovic3609]

Calling this a video essay on Robin Hood would be a disservice, considering the amount of heart and hope this piece communicates. I hope you're proud of yourself , and that you are aware of just how much your voice means to a ton of us weirdos on the webs. Stay awesome, dude!

[@timothybrowning3542]

"...To turn people into furries." hol up I'm being called out here XD. Breadsword do you have something to admit here?

[@CeilingNinja]

We all know what they're saying here :3

[@timothybrowning3542]

Can we add Breadsword to the list of youtube furry deniers? We got Odd1sout, The Click, Saberspark, Fundy. Who else will join the ranks?

[@SpartanChief17C]

@@timothybrowning3542 I don’t think Odd1sout is denying it anymore lol

[@pinkajou656]

I laughed out loud.

[@cibacity]

Breadsword always delivers! This is gonna be the best video to watch with my dinner in a long time, hopefully I'm not crying by the end like the Gurren Lagann one...

[@BREADSWORD]

ayy thank you so much!!

[@maldon3659]

There's a deleted scene where Prince John sends fake love letters to Robin and Marian, the idea is to lure Robin out of hiding so John's assassin can shoot Robin, when Hiss asks about Marian being a witness, John says they'll shoot her too, showing how ruthless he is when it comes to family