(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from The Fox and the Hound 2)
Doug (vo; sighs in disgust): Fox and the Hound 2. Here we go. This is yet another film that you think of when you think, "Ooh! Crappy direct-to-DVD Disney sequel." Once again going back to my original Disneycember review of Fox and the Hound, I thought it was...good. You know, not great, but it had some substance there, and it was kind of cutesy, but in the same way Bambi was cutesy, and it needed to be, and it kind of tricks kids into thinking it's a light and fluffy story, when suddenly, whoa, it's like a really heavy and dark story. But unlike Bambi II, that actually tried to keep that same spirit, Fox and the Hound 2 is just an obvious cash-in that doesn't try at all. Well, for the most part. Some of the animation is nice, but...yeah, that's about it.
Story
Doug (vo): Tod and Copper suddenly see that the CG circus is in town. Why is this CG? There's no reason. It's just a little cheaper and that's just kind of how this movie works. Copper sees that there's a band called the Singin' Strays, and he decides he wants to join. So he tries to sing, and they say, "Hey, you have a good voice, and seeing how our other singer just left, you can join our band." But the other singer doesn't like that she was replaced so quickly, so she joins up with Tod, who wants to get his best friend back, and says, "Hey, why don't we try to sabotage them?" So she shows that Copper is not really a stray. (Sarcastically gasps) And suddenly, everything is thrown AWOL, and they'll never be able to sing in the grand opera and, yeah, what the hell does this have to do with the original?
Review
Doug (vo): I'm not gonna act like the original was a classic, but, by God, it had some weight to it. It was about prejudice, it was about seeing past hatred, it was about trying to care for your fellow man, told through this story with a dog and a fox. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but it's because they really tried. They tried to work with the medium they had and the story they had, and they produced something that was actually kind of decent.
(Lots of clips are shown, with many of them being used to describe the animation)
Doug (vo): This is crap. This is nicely animated, actually too well animated, much better than the original, so it's kind of distracting how well animated it is, crap. It's just a knock-off, a knock-off that's not really trying. I mean, even the idea, Fox and the Hound 2, unlike Bambi II, where there was this large gap that could be filled in and could be interesting, Bambi with his father, what the hell can you do with Fox and the Hound 2? I mean, yeah, there is this gap, but what's there to fill in? Really nothing! The two main characters are separated, so there's nothing that fascinating you can put in there, and even if there was something fascinating to put in there, this team wouldn't put it in, because it doesn't care! Okay, that's me, I shouldn't say that. It acts like it doesn't care. What we get as a final product just feels like this cheap corporate shell. If your kids like really bouncy imagery and some music and just kind of pretty-ish animation, I mean, it's not really phenomenal, but it's better than average, which, again, kind of makes me feel bad, because why are we putting this good animation to this, this crappy story? This is the Mulan II of Fox and the Hound sequels! I know there's only one Fox and the Hound sequel, but, yeah! You can see why I'm going over this comparison! It's Mulan II all over again, except with The Fox and the Hound! It's this really decent but somehow misguided animation that's not given the proper direction.
(Several characters, mostly the Singin' Strays, are shown)
Doug (vo): There's not any investment in the characters. Honestly, there's almost no reason to call it Fox and the Hound. This could be any characters. Any characters could come across this group of Singin' Strays. Actually, why is it even a Singin' Stray thing? Like, the crowd is watching, saying, "Wow! It almost sounds like those dogs are really singing!" But they are really singing! That's really distracting! Wouldn't, like, the owner be, like, "Holy fucking shit! I have singing dogs, I have to do something with this!" But, no! Does he think it's a record, but they're really singing it...? It makes no sense, and I don't usually think about this, but they try to explain it, and they SUCK AT IT! Like, everything in this movie sucks!
(One scene about to be described is shown, along with more clips showing off the animation)
Doug (vo; sighs): I was trying to think if there was anything, anything in this film that was redeemable, and I guess I thought of one and-a-half things. One is the animation. Yeah, it is decent. The one full scene that I legitimately like is when the owner of Copper and the owner of Tod are both looking for their pets. Now these two don't like each other, but they cross paths and they legitimately wish that the other find their pets. That's a nice scene, that's something that actually would've been nice to see in the original. It's heartwarming, it's kind of decent.
Final thought
Doug (vo): Aside from that, it's fluff. It's pure 100% fluff. And don't get me wrong, if this movie just wanted to be fluff, if it wanted to be something on its own and just say, "Hey, here's something for two-year-olds, like Baby Einsteins, except without the education", that'd be fine. But it's not. It's The Fox and the Hound 2, and when you have that title, you have to have something that at least is trying to represent the original, and this one isn't trying. It has no interest in being the original Fox and the Hound. It just wants to make some fast money, look kind of cute, and then disappear. Well, you know what? You did it. You made some fast money, you looked cute, and you disappeared. Whoopdee-friggin-doo. I guess I can give it credit that just like Mulan II, it made me appreciate much more of what a good film the original was. Now I appreciate what it was doing and what a great work of prejudice destroying art it was. Or maybe this one was just so bad that I suddenly think it's a masterpiece in comparison. But either way, I guess some good is coming out of it. I'm seeing some more benefit out of the original Fox and the Hound that I did before. But if you want me to legitimately say that Fox and the Hound 2 has something good to offer, I say "woof".
(The musical number, "Good Doggie, No Bone!", showing various animals dancing, is shown)