This article is about the character from Robin Hood (film). For the character from The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, see Maid Marian (1952 character).
Maid Marian is a vixen and one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Little John) of Disney's 1973 animated feature film Robin Hood. She is the love interest and later wife of the title character. She based on the character from the Robin Hood legend of the same name.
Background[]
It is stated in the film that Maid Marian is King Richard's niece but never actually revealed how they're related, and she doesn't really appear to be related to Prince John, despite him being Richard's brother. Because of that, it can be assumed that Richard is Maid Marian's uncle by marriage, meaning that the sister of either Marian's mother or father was the wife of King Richard (making Marian's aunt the queen).
She and Robin Hood have known each other since they were young, and fell in love as they grew older. However, several years before the events of the film, she left for London for unspecified reasons and had only recently returned to Nottingham.
Personality[]
Maid Marian is a very beautiful, ladylike, nice, loving, and kind woman. Despite being separated from him, Maid Marian is still very much in love with Robin Hood as he loves her. So much so that she finds the courage to plead for his life.
She also loves children and is happy to meet Skippy and the others when the former sneaks into the castle to retrieve his arrow, which he had accidentally shot over the walls of the castle as he was playing with the bow he had gotten as a birthday present from Robin Hood. Marian eagerly and willingly plays the role of the damsel-in-distress as Skippy (playing Robin Hood) fights with Lady Kluck (playing Prince John) to save her and then takes her into a grove of bushes and trees that represents Sherwood Forest. She also kisses him on the cheek to thank him and teach him how a hero should treat his "lady fair".
Indeed, it is thought that after Marian and Robin Hood are married, Skippy and Marian develop something akin to a mother-son relationship.
Physical appearance[]
Maid Marian is a undoubtedly beautiful, tall, slender, anthropomorphic vixen roughly the same height as Robin Hood.
She has scarlet fur, a cream muzzle and underbelly, pale orange eye patches, and brown eyes. Her color palette on her fur is slightly lighter in hue than Robin Hood's.
The primary and most common outfit she wears is a pale-lavender floor-length dress with a matching-colored sash holding it in place around her waist and a wide V-shaped collar. Under the dress, Marian wears a deep pink blouse with large, puffy sleeves that reach halfway down her forearms with matching cuffs. On her high collar is a gold brooch with a blue gem (probably a sapphire in it) held in place with a purple ribbon around her neck, and she wears simple lavender high-heel pumps. On her head, Marian wears a simple, lavender-colored, present-shaped headdress that covers her ears and wears a light pink veil just on top of that.
Her wedding outfit is basically a white version of her normal outfit, while her brooch remains unchanged.
Appearances[]
Robin Hood[]
Maid Marian is first seen in the courtyard of Prince John's castle, playing badminton with her lady-in-waiting, Lady Kluck. She invites a group of children, including Skippy, his two siblings, and friend Toby, to come to her when she discovers Skippy trying to retrieve an arrow, and later finds the rest of them outside the gate. She is described as being "awful nice" ("awfully nice", actually), and the children approach her without fear. After speaking of her past relationship with Robin Hood, she joins in the children's role play of Robin rescuing her. Later, in her room, Marian expresses her worry that she has been away so long that Robin has forgotten about her, despite Lady Kluck's attempts to reassure her.
Marian is next seen at Prince John's archery tournament, where she is to give a kiss to the winner. She and Lady Kluck sit in a grandstand alongside Prince John and Sir Reginald (who is Little John in disguise). As contestants of the tournament enter the field, one of them, a "stork", walks over to Marian, gives her a flower, and expresses his hopes of winning the match. Marian immediately recognizes the "stork" as Robin Hood in disguise and cheers him on throughout the tournament, although this does raise a bit of suspicion from Prince John, despite his own knowledge of Robin Hood having infiltrated the tournament and recognizing his archery skill, even in disguise as the stork. It is not long until Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham are declared finalists. Marian grumbles when the Sheriff scores a bullseye (thanks to Nutsy), but when Robin splits the Sheriff's arrow and wins, she rejoicingly hugs Lady Kluck.
Robin then comes to the grandstand to claim his prize, but Prince John unmasks him, has his guards seize Robin, and sentences him to death at once. Marian falls to her knees and pleads with Prince John to show mercy and spare Robin's life while admitting her love for him, which Robin reciprocates. Refusing to care about either, Prince John proceeds with the execution anyway, and Marian breaks down in tears at the thought of losing her beloved. Helpless, Lady Kluck soothes her. Thankfully, Little John intervenes and threatens Prince John with a knife to the back, ordering him to let Robin go or else, and Robin is eventually released; Marian runs over to him, and the two embrace each other. Unfortunately, their moment is cut short when the Sheriff finds Little John threatening Prince John, and a battle breaks out once Prince John is no longer being threatened by Little John thanks to the Sheriff.
During the battle, Lady Kluck tells Marian to run for her safety. Marian immediately finds herself being pursued by members of the Sheriff's posse and calls for Robin to rescue her, which he does in a dramatic fashion. He then proposes to her; she accepts, but playfully chides him for not choosing a more romantic setting. She then accepts his ideas of going to London, Normandy, and "Sunny" Spain for their honeymoon, Robin tells her they will have six children, but she tells him she wants a dozen. She even takes the chance to throw a pie into the face of Trigger after he tried to sneak attack Robin from behind with his crossbow.
After escaping to Sherwood Forest, Marian takes a romantic moonlight stroll with Robin and eventually goes to a hideout he shares with Little John. Upon arrival, they are surprised by the citizens of Nottingham, who throw a celebration for the newly-engaged couple while singing and dancing to a hilarious song about Prince John.
Marian is not seen again until the finale, where it is revealed that she marries Robin Hood and leaves with him on their honeymoon, riding off in a carriage driven by Little John.
Cameos[]
Maid Marian makes occasional cameo appearances as a guest at the club in House of Mouse.
In "Halloween With Hades", she appears embracing Robin Hood, and in "Max's Embarrassing Date", she appears at a table with Robin Hood.
Live-action appearances[]
Once Upon a Time[]
Christie Laing as Marian.
Maid Marian appears in the ABC drama, but as a human rather than a fox-like Robin Hood. She is portrayed by Christie Laing.
She is the lover of Robin Hood but had fallen ill while she was pregnant with their child. To heal her, Robin Hood had to venture into Rumplestiltskin's castle to steal some magic. He escaped with the aid of Belle and hid out until Marian arrived on a cart. He manages to cure her illness, however, an arrow is shot by Rumplestiltskin, forcing Robin Hood to run off with Marian to escape him.
Emma Swan meets Marian when she and Hook go back in time to the Enchanted Forest (although unaware of her identity). She is arrested by Regina for helping Snow White escape and is set to be executed. Wanting to aid the woman's life, but not wanting to change the current timeline, Emma takes Marian back with her to Storybrooke in the present time to prevent any changes from occurring. What Emma is unaware of, however, is that Zelena killed Marian when she and Hook left her unattended and took her identity so that she can find her way back to Storybrooke and ruin Regina's happiness.
Disney Parks[]
Marian appeared in the Disney parks as a meetable character following the film's release, but disappeared during the 1990s.
Unlike her animated counterpart, Marian's ears were revealed while her headdress was smaller and didn't hide them, but rather was between them. Also, her shawl didn't cover her ears either. And she wore white socks and black Mary Jane shoes. However, there are multiple rare variants of Marian, The first with a singular Hennin and the Second with a form-fitted headdress on her ears, The first was released in the early '80s and the second was released around the early '90s.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Maid Marian is the only female character from Robin Hood to ever wear shoes on her feet; all other females are barefoot; however, in the storyboards (particularly for the part of the alternate ending where she tends to a wounded Robin Hood and when she runs to hug King Richard, who has returned from the crusade), Maid Marian's feet are bare, too.
- During "The Phony King of England", some of Maid Marian's dance moves are rotoscoped from those of Snow White and Duchess.
- Maid Marian's design was eventually reused for that of Vixey's from The Fox and the Hound, though Vixey is less anthropomorphic and more realistic-looking than Marian.
- Curiously enough, Monica Evans, Maid Marian's voice actress, as with Carolle Shelley, Lady Kluck's voice actress, also voiced Abigail and Amelia Gabble from The Aristocats.
- She calls Lady Kluck "Klucky" the same way Robin Hood called Little John "Johnny".
- According to Disneystrology, her birthday would be on May 1st.
- There was a scene deleted from the final film in which she and Lady Kluck provided comfort to the poor people of Nottingham by showing them pictures of delicious food.
- An alternate explanation of Marian's background is suggested by the original Robin Hood legends. In some versions, she is a Royal Ward, meaning that she is an orphaned noble who was taken in as a member of the Royal household. If this is the case, it may be that she and the king use Uncle and Niece as descriptive of their relationship rather than implying actual familial relations.
- Maid Marian is referenced in the Marvel What If...? episode "What if... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?", when a Robin Hood-inspired Steve Rogers mentions his deceased lover Maid Margret (Peggy Carter) to her alternate self.
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