Movies like The Rescuers are simply not made anymore. Nowadays, it's all CGI with retarded, unfunny jokes, with no real seriousness or conflict to be found. The Rescuers has all that it says in the tagline - Mystery, Fun and Intrigue! Despite what others say, this truly deserves to be called a masterpiece.

The very idea of two little mice saving an orphan girl sounds very juvenile and slushy - but here, it isn't. The Rescuers combines dark themes such as child exploitation to light refreshing comedy which does not detract from the seriousness of the whole film.
Benard and Bianca are very admirable characters, and the swamp creatures are hillarious. Madame Medusa is an exellent villainness. She's intimidating and funny at the same time. There are plenty of colourful characters, Brutus and Nero, the two crocodiles, Orville the albatross and Penny, the sweet yet strong spirited little girl.

The very idea of two little mice saving an orphan girl sounds very juvenile and slushy - but here, it isn't. The Rescuers combines dark themes such as child exploitation to light refreshing comedy which does not detract from the seriousness of the whole film. Benard and Bianca are very admirable characters, and the swamp creatures are hilarious. Madame Medusa is an excellent villainness. She's intimidating and funny at the same time. There are plenty of colourful characters, Brutus and Nero, the two crocodiles, Orville the albatross and Penny, the sweet yet strong spirited little girl.

The animation is typical scratchy 70s style, but the backgrounds are really top-notch, especially in the swamp scenes. They portray a foreboding atmosphere that works well in the appropriate scenes. The paintings shown in the opening credits were inspirational. There are not many songs in The Rescuers, which is probably one of the reasons why it's such a serious film. The soundtrack is fits in well, and nobody bursts into song. 'Someone's waiting for You' is one of the fews songs that moves me to tears. It is just so touching and beautiful.

Sure, it's not entirely loyal to Magery Sharp's books, but who cares? You might as well just get mad at 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' because that doesn't stay loyal to the original Arthurian legend. The Rescuers is a true delight, and deserves a much better DVD than Disney has given it.

This is an enjoyable film, but I enjoyed the sequal more, which is rare.
The story is ok and it keeps one interested with the movie. The characters are fairly well developed, and the voice actors did a great job. The animation was ok, but in some placed got a bit too sketchy for my liking. Then again it was the style they were going for back then and which they used on many of their 70's films.
The score doesn't really stand out. It's a typical 70's score, which they all pretty much sound alike. The songs are ok, but nothing to get excited over. One thing that did stand out was none of the characters actually broke out into singing.
Overall it's a fun movie, it has some problems, but it's worth at least watching a few times.

A good solid film, but not a masterpiece, 'The Rescuers' was Disney's last feature of the 70's, and the last movie to be under the control of the 'nine old men' (joined by the newly promoted Don Bluth, who is a supervising animator here).

The 60's and 70's are not auspicious decades for Disney, and 'The Rescuers' is probably better than anything they'd done since '101 Dalmatians'. I do think the film is a little over-rated though (actually the best Disney film of the era would have to be 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh', but that was compiled from 1960's shorts)

The Rescuers doesn't really have any major flaws. It's more a matter of what they might have done better. Miss Bianca is superb, both the voice acting and the character design. Bernard isn't far behind, and I couldn't help but think these two mice could have been given more screen time. Most of the 'minor' characters are good, but the effect in the end is of an ensemble cast, when really Bianca and Bernard should have been given more room to shine.

Penny really reminds me of a character from a much later animated feature, but I just can't put my finger on who...

There are some good incidental characters - I really like the design of the crocodiles. I was less impressed with Rufus the cat, who just looked strange. Medusa was a slightly too obvious re-hash of Cruella de Ville, but she was a pretty adequate villain.

If the movie never really takes off, at least it hangs together solidly, without any truly stupid moments, which had tended to plague Disney features since 'Sword in the Stone'. I admit I have a little trouble understanding why Penny was kidnapped in the first place. I mean, I know why, but why her in particular? It's not a plot hole, it's just a point that should have been stronger, unless I missed something.

The film has a rather dark and gloomy tone to it, which could have done with a few more splashes of colour in my view. In this regard it's rather the opposite of the vividly coloured sequel. Still, this didn't stop 'The Rescuers' being a great success at the box office back in 1977.

This film marks the end of an era for Disney. Don Bluth would mutinee more than half way through the next feature 'The Fox and the Hound', taking a lot of the new talent with him, and Disney was left trying to pick up the pieces with an inexperienced bunch of young animators whose first solo attempts were rather shuddersome. Looking at it, it's rather apparent that Bluth took more than just some people, because 'Rescuers' reminds me in one way or another of all of Bluth's early solo films. Take the mice ('Secret of NIMH' and 'American Tail') and add the Bayou setting ('All Dogs go to Heaven') - you see what I mean? The first time you see that house-boat thing it just screams ADGTH. It even has alligators and an orphan little girl.

But that's a bit beside the point. I admit I don't quite see what the fuss is about over 'Rescuers'. It's probably the strongest movie Disney had made in 15 years, but it didn't have a lot of competition. It's a nice, solid film which is still entertaining today, and Miss Bianca is superb, but a classic? No. It pales beside the two great movies that were lurking around the corner in the early 80's - Disney's 'Fox and the Hound' and Bluth's 'Secret of NIMH'. Still, at least the old guard of Disney managed to go out on a relative high.

One final word. It's hard not to compare this with its sequel 'The Rescuers Down Under', which came some 13 years later. They're rather different films. 'Downunder' is shiny and bright whereas the original is muted and muddy. Bernard is quite a lot more assertive in the original than in the sequel, where he seems overwhelmed by his Australian rival and sometimes more concerned with his relationship with Bianca than with the mission. I wouldn't say that I prefer one to the other. Perhaps superficially 'Downunder' is a more enjoyable film, but it also has something of a 'by the book' feel to it, whereas the original is one of the last movies to have that 'old-time' Disney feeling. Less flashy, maybe a little more heart. They're both decent films, though.

I first saw The Rescuers in 1977 when I was 11 years old and fell in love with it. I hoped at the time Disney would make a sequel to it,and 13 years later,they did.

Although considered slightly inferior to it's sequel,this is one of the best Disney features ever, IMO. It has appealing characters,nice animation,good songs,and a fine story. Bernard,who looks like a rodent Lou Costello,is is a wonderful hero whose superstitionus nature is very amusing. Bianca is a fine heroine whose courage and beauty win Bernard over. Madam Medusa is one of the best Disney villainesses ever.Her evilness and comic nature puts her on a par with Cruella Devill.

As far as the other characters go,Penny is a
wonderful and sympathetic girl. Orville is my favorite secondary character in the film,Snoops is a great bumbling henchman,and Evinrude is a lovable little bug.

My favorite song is 'Tomorrow Is Another Day' which is accompanied by some lovely animation. The Oscar-nominated 'Someone's Waiting For You' is guarenteed to bring a tear to your eyes.

The Rescuers is a great but overlooked Disney classic.

This has always been one of my favorite Disney cartoons. It doesn't have the visual or emotional scope of many of the others, but the situations and characters are pure fun. The Rescue Aid society is such an interesting concept that I can't help wondering why Disney studios never considered exploiting that for a TV series. (Every week, a new crises and a group of brave mouse volunteers to meet it.)

The story wanders about a bit as they define character for Miss Bianca and Bernard. (Was the trip through the zoo really necessary?) But the story is compelling and interesting...from the eerie opening scene, we feel the desperation of the kidnapped Penny....and the film has some excellent songs, too--Who Will Rescue Me and Someone's Waiting for You are touching and beautiful. The Rescue Aid Society song...well, maybe it's just me, but it's one of those songs that run through my head forever once I think about it.

Miss Bianca/Eva Gabor steals the show, of course. Bernard is likeable, too, in a stolid, reliable sort of way, Penny is little-girl cute, and the supporting characters all have their own charm and personality. Madame Medusa is an interesting villain (though not especially scary.) She's selfish, slatternly, insensitive, arrogant, obsessed, and darned funny. The scene where she peels off her false eyelashes is great, and she has NRA buttons stuck up in her shop...a little foreshadowing to her getting out the shotgun! Her sidekick, the whiny and wimpy Mr. Snoops, was physically inspired by John Culhane (brother of animator Shamus Culhane, I think) who was giving art classes to the Disney animators at that time.

There is a fair amount of silly slapstick humor, quite fun if you enjoy that sort of thing. (I love the shotgun scene and the Swamp Critters Attack scene) It does rather lessen the sense of menace in this film, though, which is already weakened by a comic villain and her sillier-than-scary alligator pets. If you are one of those people who object to your kids getting scared while watching movies, this is a very safe one (except, perhaps, for the scene in the cave.)

Well worth taking the time to see!

A wonderfully animated movie. Arguably the strongest movie from the 70s. Although it still shares that decade's sketchy animation, it reached its peak with this movie. The story is strongly plotted and heartwarming. "Someone's Waiting For You" is probably one of Disney's most tear-jerking songs ever. The characters are great, especially the main characters. Bernard is wonderful with his superstitions. And I especially like his relationship with Bianca. You can tell they're romantic, yet their romance is laid back. And props once again to Eva Gabor for her voice work. The movie, especially with the villains, gets a little on the slapstick side, but this is a minor quibble. The Rescuers is still a fantastic movie.