Robin Hood
- “Oh, Friar Tuck. It appears that I now have an outlaw for an in-law.”
- ―King Richard, talking with Friar Tuck about Robin Hood
Robin Hood is an anthropomorphic fox and the titular protagonist of Disney's 1973 animated feature film of the same name.
Although Robin Hood is often shown as an outlaw, who chooses to rob from the rich to help the poor people, in this animated version, he is shown mainly attacking Prince John and his agents, who have impoverished Nottingham with high taxes. Robin Hood and Little John steal the tax caravans and give it back to the peasants while trying to avoid capture by both Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Background[]
Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw living with his best friend and sidekick Little John in Sherwood Forest in an animal kingdom variant of the Middle Ages. During their adventures, they have frequently fended of Prince John and his minions Sir Hiss, the sheriff of Nottingham, and the Rhino Guards as they rob from the rich and give to the poor, motivated by sympathy and generosity. Robin Hood is also in love with the King's niece Maid Marian whom he, unfortunately, is unable to see often due to being on his heroic outings. In spite of this, he is adored by Nottingham's citizens for his heroism and generous persona.
Personality[]
Robin Hood is based on the character from the Robin Hood legends. Like the character of legend, Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. He is known for his mastery of archery as well as his talent for disguising himself. Despite being declared an outlaw, Robin Hood is a good and generous person at heart and is beloved by the townspeople for his deeds.
A little background is given as to Robin Hood's early life. It is mentioned that he had already met Maid Marian in the past, and they were in love. At some point after this, Robin Hood became an outlaw and was already being sought by the Sheriff of Nottingham at the opening of the film.
Robin is also kind-hearted (shown when he gives Skippy a bow and arrow as a present), generous (shown when he gives some money to the boy's mother to help them get by while promising them that happiness will come back to Nottingham soon), and self-sacrificing. The last one is shown when he falls back to save little Tagalong, who had been left behind from the cart during the mad dash to escape from the castle, leaving him trapped when the main gate was closed on him. He knew that he was risking his life, and he did it willingly to make sure everyone else escaped. For all these and many other reasons, he is much beloved by all citizens of Nottingham and England in general.
Another noteworthy trait of Robin Hood is that he holds a surprisingly realistic view of life. He is aware he cannot easily marry Marian due to his status as an outlaw being a danger to her. He also isn't imaginative with romantic tales, scoffing at Little John's notion of proposing to her out of the blue and riding off into the sunset (unaware she really wants that and it will happen).
Physical appearance[]
Contrary to most adaptations of the legendary outlaw, Robin Hood is not depicted as a typical human character, but as a tall, slender, anthropomorphic fox easily the size of an adult man, due part of his influence coming from Reynard the Fox. He has scarlet fur, a cream muzzle and underbelly, and pale-orange rings around his brown eyes, though his color palette is a bit darker than that of his love interest.
As Robin Hood's signature color is Lincoln-green, the Disney version's primary outfit is a simple, Lincoln-green tunic with two brown straps under the flapped collar, short-sleeves like a T-shirt, and a small brown belt with a gold buckle on his waist, as well a pair of matching green, medieval-style shoes, but no pants. Robin also wears an orange-yellow type of hat called a bycocket with a red feather situated on the left-hand side (he wears a green version of this hat later on).
His blind beggar disguise consists of a brown tattered cloak with patches and a matching hat. He also wears large dark sunglasses and wields an ebony cane.
His stork outfit which he wears to the tournament consists of a large-orange storks beak strapped to his face, a large lavender bonnet, a blue ribbon, and a drab-olive cloak.
The wedding outfit that he dons when he and Marian are married is a stylized version of his normal tunic. it consists of a green shirt similar to his tunic, but with white, puffy, wrist-length sleeves, a higher color and gold brooch in the middle of the color, a new belt with a round buckle, and his original shoes. His bycocket is still yellow in color, but now has a white, fluffy feather instead of the original red one from his main outfit.
Abilities[]
- Fox Physiology: Robin Hood is an anthropomorphic fox.
- Human Mimicry: As an anthropomorphic fox, Robin Hood walks on his legs and wears human clothing.
- Agility: Robin Hood is agile and uses it to outmaneuver his opponents.
- Master Archer: Robin Hood is a master of archery, he was able to hit every target in the "Archery Tournament".
- Disguise Mastery: Robin Hood is a master of disguising himself, he once disguise as a stork to avoid detection and a blind beggar to fool the guards.
- Skilled Swordsman: Even though he relies on a bow and arrow, Robin Hood is skilled in sword fighting.
- Skilled Woodsman: Due to his status as an outlaw, Robin Hood makes his home in Sherwood Forest, using the woods to evade the authorities and conduct raids on the nobility.
Appearances[]
Robin Hood[]
Robin in the original film.
Robin Hood is first seen running with Little John from the Sheriff of Nottingham and his posse. After escaping, he and Little John hide in a tree and have a brief discussion about them being outlaws, where Little John has doubts that they're good people as they steal. Robin, however, reassures him and playfully tells him they merely borrow money from those who can afford to loan it. Suddenly, they both hear music and see a carriage. They run towards the approaching carriage while at the same time disguising themselves as gypsy fortune tellers. When they arrive they see that it is Prince John himself; Little John doesn't think it's a good idea to steal from him and attempts to leave, but Robin is able to change his mind and prepare themselves. Together, they successfully rob Prince John, earning him the prince's ire. Robin Hood becomes Prince John's most wanted figure in Nottingham. While disguised as a blind beggar, Robin is seen giving the money to Nottingham residents who suffer from the oppressive taxes of Prince John. Robin also shows up at the birthday party of Mother Rabbit's son Skippy, to whom the former hands over his hat, bow, and arrow.
Later, Robin and Little John are at their hideout in the forest. Robin is supposed to be cooking dinner, but instead, he daydreams about Maid Marian and starts to burn the food. Robin apologizes and admits that although he loves her, he adds that he can't be with her as he doesn't have anything to offer to Marian while not wanting to involve her in a life of an outlaw. Soon, Friar Tuck arrives and says that Robin is no outlaw, but instead a great hero. Friar Tuck reveals to Robin and Little John that Prince John has organized an archery tournament, and the winner will also receive a kiss from Marian. Seeing this as a chance to see her again, Robin eagerly decides to enter and, aware that it is clearly a trap meant to capture him, disguises himself as a stork.
As Robin marches into the tournament fields with other contestants, he walks over to Marian, who is sitting in a grandstand alongside Prince John and Little John (the latter disguised as Sir Reginald). He hands her a flower and expresses his hope of winning the match. Marian easily sees through his disguise and sincerely wishes him luck. Robin also talks with the Sheriff about capturing him where the Sheriff admits his belief that he scares Robin as he is nowhere in sight of the tournament, unaware that he is actually talking to Robin himself in disguise. The tournament proceeds and it is not long before Robin and the Sheriff are declared finalists. Although the Sheriff attempts to make Robin miss the target, Robin manages to come out on top and wins the tournament.
As Robin comes to the grandstand to claim his prize, Prince John, tipped off by Robin's masterful archery skills, unmasks him, has his guards seize Robin, and sentences him to death. Marian tries to stop the execution where she begs Prince John to show mercy and admits her love for Robin Hood, who reciprocates his love for her. Despite her pleas, Prince John intends to carry it out, but Little John interrupts the execution by threatening the prince. With his life at risk, Prince John orders Robin to be released, and Robin and Marian share a brief, but beautiful reunion with each other. Unfortunately, their moment is cut short when the Sheriff, suspecting that something is wrong, finds Little John threatening Prince John, and a battle breaks out.
During the battle, Robin rescues Marian from soldiers and proposes to her; she gladly accepts and also agrees to his ideas of going to London, Normandy, and "Sunny" Spain for their honeymoon. Robin initially suggests having six children, to which Marian expresses her desire for at least a dozen. After the battle, Robin Hood escapes into Sherwood Forest with Little John, Marian, and the others.
That night, Robin and Marian have a romantic moonlight stroll in the forest, happy to finally be with each other again and spending the moment to catch up with each other since it had been so long since the two last saw each other. Robin later takes Marian to his hideout, where the two are surprised by the citizens of Nottingham, who hold a celebration for the newly engaged couple while singing and dancing to a hilarious song about Prince John.
Much later, after learning that Friar Tuck had been imprisoned by Prince John for treason and is to be executed in the morning, Robin Hood immediately stages a rescue mission to save the Friar from death and the residents of Nottingham who were imprisoned for failing to pay taxes. The jailbreak goes successfully; however, one of Mother Rabbit's children Tagalong gets left behind. Robin Hood runs back to rescue the child, only to become trapped in the castle. He is stalked in the tower by a torch-wielding Sheriff of Nottingham who engulfs the tower in flames while trying to hit Robin Hood with the torch. Robin Hood escapes the Sheriff and the flames and eventually jumps from a tower into a moat while being shot at by the sheriff's posse. Though originally believed to be dead, Robin Hood survives, much to Prince John's chagrin and to the relief of both Little John and Skippy.
In the end, King Richard returns, pardons Robin Hood for his valiant deeds, and allows him to marry Maid Marian. The newlyweds ride off on their honeymoon in a carriage driven by Little John.
House of Mouse[]
Robin Hood in House of Mouse.
He makes recurring cameo appearances as a guest on House of Mouse.
In "Unplugged Club", Pete borrowed Robin's bow to shoot Donald Duck (who told Pete to scram after he and Daisy Duck confirmed that he wasn't on the reservation list) like an arrow at Mickey Mouse.
In the episode "Thanks to Minnie", Robin Hood was part of the rumor chain, mainly the end of the rumor that Clarabelle Cow sends from Mickey to Donald to Daisy to Goofy to a Flamingo to the Queen of Hearts to a Hedgehog to Pocahontas and finally to Robin Hood, who wrote down the message with the quill in his hat and sent it back to Clarabelle saying that "We'd be better off without Minnie" due to some unknown confusion in the rumor.
In House of Crime, Robin Hood was accused by Prince John for stealing his gold.
In "Ask Von Drake", Robin Hood was present during Ludwig Von Drake's headcount of the guests.
Once Upon a Studio[]
He and Little John appear, jumping from their frames and grabbing Scrooge's two sacks of money as they say "Oo-de-lally!". He later joins in on singing the last line of "When You Wish Upon a Star", standing beside Maid Marian as the group photo is successfully taken for Disney's 100th anniversary.
Wish[]
He was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland[]
Robin in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
With his group of Merry Men, Robin Hood pulls off a scheme on the road to stop a wealthy man's coach and steal money and jewels. A new recruit, Will Scarlet, comes by to drop a chestful of goods he procured for them. Robin Hood accepts him into the group with a bit of advice; that Merry Men are not thieves and do not steal for themselves, but for others. Will proposes the next place they should go is Maleficent's castle, which is rumored to contain enough gold to feed the whole kingdom. Robin dislikes the plan since the expedition is incredibly dangerous, but is tempted into accepting by both the amount of gold they will receive to help the poor as well as the fact Maleficent is currently away from the castle. Inside the castle, Robin Hood warns his group against taking that is not necessary. With their mission a success, they return to camp to celebrate. Suddenly, the displeased voice of Maleficent booms all around the campsite stating she cares little if they keep her gold, but demands the other item be returned or there will be consequences. In anger, Robin Hood calls the thief among his men to step forward, but no one does. That night, after catching Will sneaking away, he realizes his comrade had stolen something from Maleficent. When Robin Hood questions if he did it for a woman, Will guiltily looks down. Disappointed, he allows Will to go with the warning that his punishment for stealing will come in the near future.
Video games[]
Disney Universe[]
A playable, costume add-on of Robin Hood was available for the game.
Disney Infinity[]
Robin Hood appears in the Disney Infinity game as a townsperson. In the 3DS version, he appears as a cameo. He steals coins from the player with the highest amount of coins and then gives it to the player with the lowest amount of coins. It is his trademark of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode[]
Robin Hood in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
Robin Hood appears in the game as one of the playable, Robin is Damage role hero, his abilities are the same as in the movie, using his archery skills to damage enemies, apply stuns, and steal HP from enemies to grant the same amount to Robin's ally with the least HP, healing them.
Robin's friendship campaigns are with Merida and Nick Wilde. His other friendship campaigns are with Peter Pan, Tigger, Esmeralda, and Little John.
Disney Parks[]
Robin Hood is currently a rare character in the Disney theme parks around the world. He can occasionally be spotted in some of the parks for random meet-and-greet appearances.
Walt Disney World[]
Robin Hood has his own spell card known as "Robin Hood's Magic Arrow" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
A giant inflatable Robin Hood was featured in Epcot's Surprise in the Skies aerial show, representing the United Kingdom Pavilion.
Relationships[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The costume that Robin Hood wears is similar to that of Peter Pan albeit without the tights.
- Tommy Steele and Bernard Fox were both considered to voice Robin Hood.
- In the Phineas and Ferb Season 3 episode "Canderemy", Stacy Hirano wore an outfit very similar to Robin Hood's.
- There are a few contrivances and inconsistencies between the Disney adaptation of Robin Hood and the original ballads and folk-tales (outside of him being a cartoon anthropomorphic fox). Some of these are typical to deviations from the source-material in Robin Hood stories over-all.
- The characterization of Friar Tuck and Robin in the film and many other adaptations is considerably unfaithful to the original Robin Hood ballads and folk-tales. In these stories, Robin Hood held contempt for the clergy and the church due to their taxing and exploitation of the poor and religiously-motivated tortures and executions. When Robin Hood tales became more widespread, the church actively revised and altered the stories for propaganda purposes, introducing more heavily Christian themes and the character of Friar Tuck.
- Robin Hood was first created in the late-14th/early-15th century and was typically set in what was then modern day. He is however frequently shown as being active during the reigns of King John I and King Richard I of England who were both only active during the 12th century, approximately 200 years before the character of Robin Hood was created.
- The fact that Robin Hood is portrayed as a fox may be a reference to Reynard the Fox, a fox trickster figure of Western folklore. More probably, the animators of Robin Hood reused the design of Reynard, the antagonist of the unfinished film Chanticleer, which was a great help for Robin Hood: the sheriff's design is the one of Ysengrimus from Chanticleer, and Alan-A-Dale's the one of Chanticleer himself.
- Around the time of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney showed interest in adapting the 12th-century legend of Reynard the Fox, which languished due to Walt's concern that Reynard would be an unsuitable choice for a hero. Ken Anderson, who co-wrote the scripts for the 1973 animated film, noted that: "As director of story and character concepts, I knew right off that sly Robin Hood must be a fox. From there it was logical that Maid Marian should be a pretty vixen. Little John, legendarily known for his size, was easily a big overgrown bear. Friar Tuck is great as a badger, but he was also great as a pig, as I had originally planned. Then I thought the symbol of a pig might be offensive to the Church, so we changed him. Richard the Lion-hearted, of course, had to be a regal, proud, strong lion; and his pathetic cousin [historically, and in the movie, his brother] Prince John, the weak villain, also had to be a lion, but we made him scrawny and childish. I originally thought of a snake as a member of the poor townspeople but one of the other men here suggested that a snake would be perfect as a slithering consort (Sir Hiss) to mean Prince John."
- Unlike a real red fox, Robin Hood, as well as Maid Marian to a much lesser extent, for some reason doesn't have black fur on the tip of his ears and does not sport the brown "gloves" on his arms and legs and the white tip on his tail. This was eventually corrected with Tod in The Fox and the Hound.
- Robin Hood calls Little John, "Johnny", the same way Maid Marian calls Lady Kluck, "Klucky".
- Robin Hood is apparently ambidextrous, as he can shoot an arrow with both hands.
- According to Disneystrology, his birthday would be on August 8.
- Robin Hood had a bounty of 10,000 ingots for his capture. Given how famous and popular he is among the people, however, it is doubtful if anyone would want the money enough to turn him in.
- Robin Hood in Once Upon a Time is portrayed by Tom Ellis in Robin's debut episode and replaced by Shawn Maguire in season 3-onwards. This was because Ellis had other commitments at the time which meant the character had to be recast. In the show, it explained that Robin used a glamour spell in "Lacey" which allowed the recasting to make sense within the story.
Variants[]
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