The Fox and the Hound 2

When it comes to these Disney direct to video sequels - no, they are not as good as the originals but since they've got the Disney name attached to them and they are follow-ups to some of my all-time favorite movies, I gotta see `em! For the most part, the DTV sequels haven't been all that bad. At the bottom of the list would be ATLANTIS: MILO'S RETURN and CINDERELLA 2: WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE. Both of these releases turned out to be nothing more than thinly vailed collections of TV show episodes from abondoned series strung together to make a feature presentation. On the other hand, a film like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: THE ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS manages to capture most of the charm of the original but suffers from it's limited animation. Belive it or not, I found MULAN II and LEROY AND STITCH (the fourth in that series) to be just as good as the originals. Now Disney drops THE FOX AND THE HOUND 2 on us 25 years after the original hit theatres.

For me, this movie falls into a special category when it comes to the DTV sequels. It's beautifuly animated, the story was enganging, and it was an all around well done picture BUT it has absolutley nothing to do with the original movie! The original 1981 movie was about little puppy Copper befriending Tod a little...what do you call a baby fox...? Anyhow, the two become best friends until Copper is taken away and trained to be hunting dog. Then when he returns, both Tod and Copper have to deal with their new roles as hunter and the huntee. It's a very moody and touching film.

It's 2006 sequel...? Copper runs away from home and joins a professional all-dog singing act at the county fair. What!? Sorry, did you say he runs away and joins a band!? Yes, I did! It's a fairly decent movie and all, but they missed the theme of the original picture completely! It's kind of like the early 90's Disney cartoon series TALESPIN where the characters from THE JUNGLE BOOK were now airplane pilots!? Strange...but it worked, and so does this movie. Like I said, it was a pretty decent watch! It's even got Reba McEntire and my neighbor Patrick Swayze in it!

Next up from the Disney Toon Studios sequel factory: next months Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.