Day 19: The Fox and the Hound

"Darlin, forever is a long, long time, and time has a way of changing things. "

Friendship is one of the most valuable things anyone can have. Without it we would find ourselves lonely during many occasions. It breeds love, excitement, and sometimes pain into our lives. The same goes for two animals named Tod and Copper, the two main characters in The Walt Disney Classic “The Fox and the Hound.” Their friendship wasn’t always easy though, many times running into bumps along the way.

Ted Berman’s 1981 film is a story of true friendship put to the test. The movie opens with a stranded baby fox named Tod being adopted by Widow Tweed. The fox is brought to her attention by Big Mama, an owl who roams the area along with Boomer the woodpecker and Dinky the finch. Across the way lives Amos Slade, a grumpy old coon hunter that owns a young hound dog named Copper and an older hunting dog named Chief. Upon meeting each other, Tod and Copper become best friends instantly. Like young children, they don’t judge each other by their species; they see themselves as equal to one another.

There is one major problem though, and as they grow older they come to realize that. Amos, the grumpy owner of Copper and Chief hates Tod, even threatening to kill him, especially when Tod causes trouble on his property.

Hunting season arrives and Amos takes Copper and Chief on a long trip, leaving Tod to grow up along. Over that span of time Tod stays the giddy fox that he is, but Copper comes back a changed dog, a thoroughbred hunter. Their differences are now noticeable to one another, and their friendship begins to fade. Tod tries to renew his friendship with Copper, but it only leads into Amos once again trying to kill Tod, eventually ending with Tod’s banishment to the forest all alone. While living in the Forest Tod faces many hardships that he has never had to deal with before.

Like all Disney classics though, the ending of the movie hits the soft spot in your heart. Tod and Copper both find a happy way of life and terminate the short lived tension between them. Tod is able to find true love and Copper is able to do what he was born to do, hunt.

As a young child this was my favorite movie, but not until I was older did I realize the powerful message it held. A message that everyone should be aware of, no matter what their age is. No child should live through their youth without seeing this movie at least once. Maybe even once a week.