Feminisney: “The Rescuers” and “The Rescuers Down Under”
Can two mice rescue children AND feminism?
New to this series? Figure out what’s going on here!
After our CineNation column about best underrated Disney animated films, we had a lot of readers on Facebook express dismay that some of Disney’s animated movies didn’t make our list. And most of that dismay was reserved for these two films. While I’m not doubting my own choice(s) in that previous post, I have to say these two movies are two of the better ones in the Disney catalogue outside of those that get the constant attention. And it’s the first instance, and practically the only instance, of a Disney animated film sequel that is legitimately good. (Somehow, Disney got it right the first time since Rescuers Down Under was their first theatrical film sequel of an animated film.) Based partly on a series of books by Margery Sharp, particularly The Rescuers and Miss Bianca, the first film was a huge success ($71.2 million on a $7 million budget) and the second… sadly was the worst performer of the Disney Renaissance, only earning $47.4 million. It probably deserves better as a film. But how about as a feminist piece? Let’s join the Rescue Aid Society and find out.
The Rescuers
In this 1977 film, a young girl named Penny sends an SOS message in a bottle that is picked up by the Rescue Aid Society, a group of mice sworn to help any in need. The Hungarian representative Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) and the American janitor Bernard (Bob Newhart) go to find out what happened to Penny and rescue her. Turns out, she was “adopted” by Madame Medusa, who was looking for a small child to squeeze into a sunken pirate cave and retrieve a massive diamond called the Devil’s Eye. On the way, Bianca and Bernard fly with the help of Orville the albatross, and rescue Penny with the help of local Louisiana animals. It’s got child endangerment, kidnapping, and a lot of dour stuff… but there are women!
Number of named characters with speaking lines: 10
Number of named female characters with speaking lines: 4
Does the film pass the Bechdel Test? Yes. Medusa and Penny talk about the diamond.
Number of named non-white characters: 0
Number of named non-white female characters: 0
Number of openly non-heterosexual characters: 0
Number of openly transsexual characters: 0
Is there a heterosexual romance? Yes: Bernard and Bianca
True Love’s Kiss? No.
Number of female mentors or rulers? 0
Number of named female characters wearing “men’s clothes” (pants instead of dresses): 0 (With 0 men wearing “women’s clothes”.)
Main character male or female? Two female, one male (I’m arguing that Penny is as central a character as Bernard and Bianca are. The film does start with her.)
Number of named female characters saved from peril by male characters: 1: Bianca
Number of times named female characters saved from peril by male characters: 3: Saved by Bernard from someone stepping on her, grabbed when she falls out of Orville’s carrier, and (with help from Evinrude the dragonfly) when she falls out of the boat.
Number of named male characters saved from peril by female characters: 1: Bernard
Number of times named male characters saved from peril by female characters: 2–3: Bianca saves Bernard from the gators and in the pirate’s cave. Penny also attempts a rescue of both Bernard and Bianca in the cave, though the cave’s water system ultimately spits all three up.
Number of named female characters breaking gender stereotypes with their actions (performing “masculine” feats): 0
Number of named male characters breaking gender stereotypes with their actions (performing “feminine” feats): 0
Now, before I get into the feminism aspects of this, I need to say: Disney got pretty daggum dark after Walt died. The opening to this movie by itself is ridiculously sad and frightening. Gorgeous drawings, but a young child drops a bottle that says “HELP” inside into the ocean where storms and waves bat it about and threaten its destruction while a woman sings a haunting “Who will rescue me?” throughout. It’s beautiful, but sets a clearly darker tone for this film than your standard Walt film. And that tone carries throughout the Disney Renaissance. Frankly, it’s a fairly welcome maturity of script and storytelling.
Now, as for this film as a feminist piece… it definitely has a few bonuses. First, it has several central female characters: The villain Madame Medusa, the child Penny, and Miss Bianca. We have a lot of time spent with these ladies, so we get a lot of lines from them. And it does, as I mentioned before, satisfy the Bechdel Test (through a single conversation, I think). And while there are no named characters of color, we do see both humans and mice representing cultures from across the world. It is a reference to the United Nations, but it’s still nice to see multiculturalism referenced, especially in the world’s current political climate seeing a rise in nationalism. Furthermore, Penny isn’t ever treated as a damsel in distress as most female captives are in media. She in fact manufactures one on-screen escape attempt that nearly succeeds, and it isn’t her first time doing so.
The film also does something interesting with the stereotypes of how men should act around women. Be “manly” and “impressive” and “strong” and blah blah blah. The film contains several sequences with Bernard trying to play the role of stereotypical manly-man to impress Bianca. But the neat part is: he sucks at it. A lot. And Miss Bianca is still clearly attracted to him. This ends up being a nice lesson for the film and for the young straight (or otherwise attracted to women) men watching it (and maybe even the young women). You don’t have to “act like men,” however society has decided to define that these days you have to be in order for women to be attractive to you. Gender roles and demands on relationships and interactions with other humans are ridiculous. Just be yourself, and it might just work out.
That said, this film certainly has its flaws when it comes to feminism. Here are some sample quotes:
“A lady does have to pack a few things you know!” Sigh.
“It’ll wrinkle my dress!” — Miss Bianca on why she doesn’t want to buckle up. Yes, let’s sacrifice safety for fashion. Double sigh.
And then an almost positive quote from the chairman of the RAS: “It’s not like the old days when it was a man’s world. However I suppose there has to be a first time!” This little moment of being progressive is kinda undercut by the demand that Bianca travel with a man (and Bernard’s fear for her safety).
And of course every man jumps at the opportunity. Because Miss Bianca is treated immediately on her first appearance as a blatant sex symbol. Yes, she’s supposed to be considered attractive, and perhaps there’s something positive to be said about how ridiculous the male mice look openly ogling at Miss Bianca when she enters and going crazy trying to go on a mission with her… but it isn’t really treated that way. It’s more shown as a natural way of things. And I think most people should know that’s not at all how people should be treated.
There’s also some heavily-caked makeup on Madame Medusa meant to imply vanity and fake looks, which, as she’s the villain, seems to suggest undesirable traits. My biggest issue with this is the recent trend of sexist men complaining in public forums about women wearing makeup and “hiding who they really are” as if women are presenting themselves as sexual/dating advertisements for… themselves. And it feels like the heavily-caked makeup and the way Medusa is treated through subtext (ugly heart, abusive, etc.) leans in that sort of direction. Then again, maybe I’m reading too much into things. All in all, it’s certainly not the worst of the Disney animated catalogue.
Fun Notes:
Awkward that the Brit can’t read English, but the Hungarian mouse can. It’s interesting how people who have English as a second language can often be better at it than those who have it as their first language.
Who the heck started the whole “lick a pencil before writing” trend? It makes no sense.
Interesting that the animals can actually talk with the humans in these films, unlike in The Jungle Book where the only human was raised with the animals.
I’m not gonna be heartless. The Bianca and Bernard relationship developing is cute, partly because Bernard is fairly cowardly and clueless and Bianca knows what she wants.
…okay, Orville’s a dick. He moved out of the way to let his passengers fall into the water. You couldn’t catch them as they fell?
Why does Medusa work and live in New York, yet have pet gators who clearly live in Louisiana?
The woman afraid of mice trope. Always fun.
…does Medusa have a shotgun with a magazine?
Casual cruelty from Madame Medusa leads into yet another sad song moment.
Bernard somehow knows the names of Ellie-Mae and Digger despite no one ever saying it to him.
…how did those mice get that TV into their place.
Evinrude flew from Louisiana to New York? Are you serious?
The Rescuers Down Under
Thirteen years later in real life, though no discernible time in the film’s world, we get a sequel. Same basic setup: A child is kidnapped by an adult and Miss Bianca and Bernard must go save them. This time, an Australian boy (who doesn’t sound Australian) named Cody is captured by a poacher named McLeach (who also doesn’t sound Australian), who thinks the boy can lead him to the rare female golden eagle Marahuté and her eggs. Bianca and Bernard are assisted this time by Wilbur (Orville’s flying brother… get it?) and a kangaroo rat named Jake (one of the few with an Australian accent). The film is probably Disney’s heaviest and most noticeable use of computer graphics, making this the first official Disney-Pixar feature collaboration film. And the first fully digital film ever. The more you know.
Number of named characters with speaking lines: 9
Number of named female characters with speaking lines: 2
Does the film pass the Bechdel Test? Nope. The only two named females with lines never come close to meeting.
Number of named non-white characters: 0
Number of named non-white female characters: 0
Number of openly non-heterosexual characters: 0
Number of openly transsexual characters: 0
Is there a heterosexual romance? Still Bianca and Bernard, though Jake also clearly shows affections for Bianca.
True Love’s Kiss? No.
Number of female mentors or rulers? 0
Number of named female characters wearing “men’s clothes” (pants instead of dresses): 0 (With 1 male wearing “women’s clothes”: Wilbur has a moment where he ends up with a bra on, played for laughs.)
Main character male or female? This time, 2 male, 1 female (I’m not counting Jake as a main character, but Cody certainly is.)
Number of named female characters saved from peril by male characters: 2: Marahuté and Bianca
Number of times named female characters saved from peril by male characters: Marahuté is saved once by Cody (and once through collaboration), Bianca is tossed into a tread by Bernard to keep her from being crushed, and both her and Bianca are saved by Jake.
Number of named male characters saved from peril by female characters: 0
Number of times named male characters saved from peril by female characters: 0
Number of named female characters breaking gender stereotypes with their actions (performing “masculine” feats): 0
Number of named male characters breaking gender stereotypes with their actions (performing “feminine” feats): 0
With the sequel, we’ve definitely taken a step back with feminism. It’s a good environmentalist message, but the only named female characters are Bianca, Marahuté (who for some reason doesn’t speak… the difference between speaking animals and non-speaking is never made clear), and Faloo, a female kangaroo with about one line in the opening of the film. Less representation, less focus and character development… it’s just a downgrade on every level (of feminism) from the original. (There’s also a moment where Wilbur flirts with pink birds and calls them ladies… insinuating pink = women. A trend that is less than 75 years old, by the way.)
Plus, we’re introduced to Jake. Gonna be honest. I always disliked Jake. He comes off as a player and pickup artist. And poor Bernard still has no confidence. It’s a classic “You vs. The Man She Tells You Not To Worry About” situation in Bernard’s mind. Though, for Bernard’s character, gaining that confidence is his arc for the film. And as much as I dislike Jake and his being a jerk, I will say this: The movie doesn’t let him win. Nor does Bianca give him a moment for the audience to doubt her faithfulness to Bernard. Other films, not so good on that front, and that’s a bad message to proliferate. It’s unfortunate Bianca is so passive in the movie, by and large, never flatly denying Jake and telling him to back the hell off.
That said, one other positive note: It’s nice that Bianca is the famous one between her and Bernard (Wilbur reacts to her as THE Miss Bianca, Bernard is largely ignored). But other than that… not much to talk about from a feminism standpoint. An enjoyable film, I think, but the original is definitely the winner for our Feminisney qualifications.
Fun Notes:
This movie has what might be the most epic, visually impactful opening of a Disney animated film. It has stuck with me for a long time. Simple, zooming in on the house, but with the use of CG, impressive.
Cody and Marahuté flying through clouds and over rivers was the original Harry Potter and Buckbeak scene for a lot of ’90s kids.
The animation on this film is actually ridiculously pretty, especially the way Disney drew the many animals and brought emotion out of the non-humanoids like Marahuté.
Disney is really starting to lean into the star power in this film. Newhart and Gabor are back and we lose Academy Award-winner Geraldine Page, but we add George C. Scott and John Candy (in a sort of small glimpse at what type of performance Robin Williams would be able to bring to Disney in Aladdin).
Animation error in the checkers game. Some of Sparky’s pieces (red) turn to black so he can destroy Jake with the final piece.
Funniest part is the fear of the doctor’s office and the pun of the shots literally being shot into Wilbur.
I do not believe an albatross’ heartbeat can be measured through his beak.
The fact they have a “patient escaping” sign at the ready does not give me the greatest faith in this hospital.
Frank could easily fit through the cage, but the movie would rather you not think about that. Except when it, you know, shoves Frank through the cage casually.
I might not be up to date on my hunting/poaching methods, but McLeach seems pretty high-tech, what with a rocket-propelled netting device.
Bernard essentially commits murder, but no one cares because, well, he just sent an attempted child murderer to his death, so… (Add one to the Disney death by falling counter.)
Next time, I’m gonna be talking about critics (the pros more than amateurs like me) vs. audiences and, for Feminisney, hopefully a combination of the least popular pre-Renaissance Disney animated film… with my favorite Disney animated film of all time, as we travel back to the UK. Until then, let me know what you think.
