The Rescuers (1977)

85% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
66% of users liked it
(74,671 ratings)

Two fantasy novels by Margery Sharp were combined for in the Disney animated feature The Rescuers. The title characters are a pair of mice, Bernard and Miss Bianca. A little girl named Penny has been kidnapped by Miss Medusa. When the human law enforcement officials fail to locate the child, Bernard… More Two fantasy novels by Margery Sharp were combined for in the Disney animated feature The Rescuers. The title characters are a pair of mice, Bernard and Miss Bianca. A little girl named Penny has been kidnapped by Miss Medusa. When the human law enforcement officials fail to locate the child, Bernard and Miss Bianca take over with the help of several colorful animal companions. In classic Disney tradition, the comedy element is offset by moments of genuine terror. Voices are provided by Bob Newhart (Bernard), Eva Gabor (Miss Bianca), Geraldine Page (Madame Medusa), Jim "Fibber McGee" Jordan, John McIntire, George "Goober" Lindsay, Joe Flynn (who died in 1974, not long into the four-year production), and a host of others. It scored at the box office, more than compensating for the $8 million investment and the half-decade of work it took to complete the film. In fact, The Rescuers remains one of the most popular of the Disney cartoon films produced after the death of Uncle Walt. A heavily-computerized sequel, The Rescuers Down Under, appeared in 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman
Written By: Margery Sharp, Larry Clemmons
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family

In Theaters: Jun 22, 1977 Wide
On DVD: May 20, 2003

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Four years of work were invested on this $7.5 million production and the expense, care, and expertise shows.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Efficiently short, charming, mildly scary in unimportant ways, and occasionally very funny.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The Walt Disney animators returned to top form with this beautifully crafted and wonderfully expressive cartoon feature, the first major work to come out of the Disney studios in a decade.
Ellen MacKay, Common Sense Media
Great adventure, but too dark for preschoolers.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
The one completely successful Disney feature produced between 1967 and the beginning of the company's renaissance in 1989.
Angie Errigo, Empire Magazine
A solid, child-friendly work which will keep little ones content, if not mesmerised.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A beautifully animated film that showed Disney still knew a lot about making quality children's fare even as their track record was weakening.
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal
An old-fashioned Disney delight/
, Time Out
The people who really need rescuing are the Disney animators and storymen, who seem uncertain whether to keep up the old studio traditions of cute characters and plush settings, or to branch out into contemporary urban satire.
Staci Layne Wilson, StaciWilson.com
The mice that soared.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
One of the bright spots in a dim period for Disney animated films.
James O'Ehley, Movie Gurus
Buy it for the little 'uns, but don't necessarily watch it with them.
Gerry Shamray, Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
The Rescuers remains a delight.
, Film4
A more than tolerable effort.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
I guess, in the vein of all Disney classics, it says that the little guy can triumph over the big ones -- in this case, a floppy-boobed, badly drawn, crazy woman who rides a jet engine through the bayou.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

The Rescuers was one of my personal favorite Disney films growing up. This is a terrific film that is very entertaining from start to finish. This is a very good film that will appeal to anyone who loves Disney films. The Rescuers has great characters, a very good story and good… More
The Rescuers was one of my personal favorite Disney films growing up. This is a terrific film that is very entertaining from start to finish. This is a very good film that will appeal to anyone who loves Disney films. The Rescuers has great characters, a very good story and good comedic elements with genuine tension only which Disney could deliver. The characters are what make this film work well, and I personally think that this film is underrated. The film is very good for what it is, and will satisfy people of all ages. This is one of the best Disney flicks to come out since The Jungle Book. The Rescuers is a great adventure classic that will probably scare the younger kids, but will definitely appeal to older kids as much as adults. This is a great film worth seeing if you love a good animated Disney film. This film has everything you'd expect from an animated classic. Brilliantly acted, and fun, terrifying bursting with adventure this is a must see film. Disney has always made great animated films, and The Rescuers is one of those films that have stood out because it's simply a fun, entertaining feature with a great cast of talented voice actor who bring great characters to life, The Rescuers is an exhilarating Disney adventure that will appeal to the child in all of us. The Rescuers is among Disney's greatest animated features and is a memorable film from start to finish.
Directors C

the film that redeemed Disney during its fall in quality during the 1970's. So much care was put into making this film and in the end it worked. I get just as emotional watching this as 101 Dalmatians and The Lion King.
Brad W

I cant remeber much all I can remember was that it was boring and not very good.
Alexander D

OK
erika b

to hard for me to understand.
AJ V

A pretty good kids movie, pretty fun, and sorta exciting, but if you ask me, it could have been a lot better.
Anthony L

I enjoyed The Rescuers very much growing up, I just love Eva Gabor's little mouse voice.
Michael E

i cant believe im going to say this even for a disney film but SO FREAKING BORING. Im not ashamed to admit i liked it alot when i was little but when i watched it recently after not watching it for a while i couldnt even stand 20 minutes of it and shut it off.
Derek D

Cute animated action film about a pair of mice who volunteer to rescue a cute little orphaned girl from a pair of kidnappers with pet aligators. I remember this film from long ago when I was a kid.
Conner R

It's a decent disney movie, but it's sort of bland in terms of storytelling. It's a little too much like the Great Muse Detective, just set in swampville. It is fun and has some good moments, mainly the crazy villains are what make the movie good.
Tim S

A lot of fun.
Jason O

Considered a Disney classic, but not really to me. "The Rescuers DOWN UNDER" is soooooooooo much better!
Dean !

An enjoyable cartoon film.
danny d

great disney family fun
Rachel F

Another great Disney classic.
Dan S

Classic Disney.
Jason S

A classic in the disney family. I really liked the second one as well.
Bradley W

I cant remeber much all I can remember was that it was boring and not very good.
DOCTOR P

4th of the "Do it like Walt" era The animation here is very nicely done, nicer then the previous films of the era. It has a nice look and feel to it, feeling dark and dreary yet still light hearted. The music is nice, sadly not very memorable. It has a nice tone to it… More
4th of the "Do it like Walt" era The animation here is very nicely done, nicer then the previous films of the era. It has a nice look and feel to it, feeling dark and dreary yet still light hearted. The music is nice, sadly not very memorable. It has a nice tone to it but it just doesn't stay in mind( this critic had forgotten it even had any after years of seeing it) which is sad considering that it does feel like effort was put into the songs. The Characters are fun, especially it's leads Bob Newhart (voice of Bernard) and Eva Gabor (voice of Miss Bianca) they provide a cheerful characterization for the characters. The supporting cast work well enough to entertain. Though the villain, Madame Medusa is not as fun as she should be, devilishly evil, but she just does not hold up as much interest as she should, it just feels like an evil character who had more potential to be of interest but just failed to showcase her potential. The story is pretty good, not many problems found within. It feels intense when it should. It just isn't as fast paced as it should be with certain moments, but all in all it's good. "The Rescuers" is an satisfying film for the era, but at times it can feel like it was not pushed to it's full potential, still though it is good enough to prove that not all hope was lost for the studio. (The reason that this film proved that for this critic is because while the previous film was great it was a collection of previously made shorts, while this was from scratch. Up Next: Quick Question, Can a Fox and a Hound be friends?
Michael M

One of the post golden-age pre-renaissance works of Disney, The Rescuers is an oddity of a film that doesn't quite fit with the other Disney works. It's not based on a fairy-tale, it has none of the classic Disney characters, there are no musical segments, no strong comic… More
One of the post golden-age pre-renaissance works of Disney, The Rescuers is an oddity of a film that doesn't quite fit with the other Disney works. It's not based on a fairy-tale, it has none of the classic Disney characters, there are no musical segments, no strong comic relief, and the majority of the film takes place in very unpleasant settings. Not to mention that the story and tone of the film are quite dark, involving a plot surrounding kidnapping, and plenty of scenes that are just designed to make you cry (I know a lot of Disney films have their tearjerker scenes, but half of this damn movie is one of those scenes). Does this make it a bad movie? Hell no! I loved this movie when I was a wee little one, and watching it again for the first time in years I still love it! The film opens with what I consider one of the greatest openings in animation. A hideous looking swamp is shown, the middle of which is a rundown boathouse. Out of the door appears a young girl clutching a teddy bear, spied on by a pair of maniacal looking alligators, as she goes to the edge of the house and drops a message in a bottle into the water. The film's beautiful theme song, "The Journey," then plays over the opening credits. Who is this girl? What's in her message? Why is she in the middle of a swamp? All good questions, and the movie takes its time to answer them. First it introduces us to a new set of characters, a group of mice who find the bottle. Turns out mice have their own miniature world and culture, and part of it is the Rescue Aid Society, which answers out to calls such as this. One of the members, Bianca, raises her desire to be the one to answer the call, and decides to take the janitor, Bernard, with her as her partner. Speaking of which, I'd just like to take a moment to say how much I love the fact that Bernard's janitor outfit looks strikingly similar to the outfit worn by Super Mario, which is odd considering this movie came out 4 years before Mario's first appearance. But I'm getting distracted, where was I? Ah yes, the story. Bianca and Bernard do some detective work to find out who sent the message and where she was taken too. Their investigation leads them to find out that the girl, named Penny, was taken by Madame Medusa for reasons yet unknown from an orphanage, and they go off on their adventure to rescue her from the swamp and the clutches of Medusa. This leads me to my favorite thing about this movie: Madame Medusa. Simply put, she is one of the most deliciously evil characters animation has ever been graced with. I read somewhere that the animator who designed the character based her appearance off his ex-wife whom he was not too fond of, and his hatred shines through. Sort of like a twisted Cruella Devile, Medusa is disgusting, vile, cruel, and someone you simply love to hate. She's not trying to take over the world or kill anybody, she's just systematically destroying the adorable Penny's spirits as she uses her for her own selfish means. No where else is this summed up better than in a scene where Penny asks if Medusa will ever return her to the orphanage so she can be adopted, to which Medusa replies "oh my dear girl, what makes you think anyone would want a homely little girl like you?" You just want to reach into the screen and strangle this woman, and I mean that in the best way possible. Along with Medusa we see a slew of memorable characters such as Rufus the elderly orphanage cat, Orville the albatross who flies them to the swamp, Evinrude the dragonfly who never says a word but still manages to be loveable, and an assortment of swamp-dwelling animals including a mouse that appears to be drinking alcohol that has the effect of Red Bull. Despite all my praise, The Rescuers isn't perfect. The biggest issue is regarding the oftentimes slow pace. This is regularly a film of mood, and usually it works. There are some scenes that serve no real purpose to the overall narrative, but are still very well done and emotional scenes. However, there are also some scenes that are simply pointless, and do nothing to enhance the plot, characters, or mood. The Rescuers feels like something of a fluke in the line of Disney classics, with its unusual and unpredictable nature. Sort of an animated drama more in vein of The Land Before Time or Disney's own Bambi more than an adventure-comedy, the likes of which we've gotten used to from Disney in recent years. It's an experience of a film, one loved by children and adults alike.