Whilst it's not as good as the original, The Rescuers Down Under is not a disgrace as far as sequels go. Many theatrical sequels tend to be no better than ones released direct-to-video. Down Under is an exception.

Plot-wise, there are a few faults. Some scenes just seemed to be there for the sake of it and the plot is considerably weaker than the original. But there are enough jokes and enough suspense to keep the film going so there's never a dull moment.
Some might say that the story is a rehash of the original and that is partly true. That's the only real major flaw I find in Down Under.

Benard and Bianca stay wonderfully in character and the new characters, such as Jake the Kangaroo Rat are very memorable too. Penny may have had Teddy for a friend but Cody has Marahute - a mighty Golden Eagle. Her movements are true to that of a real bird of prey, and yet she has a distinct humanoid quality. Whenever you look into her eyes, you know exactly what she's thinking.
Jim Jordan (the voice of Orville) is sadly dead. (God rest his soul). But instead of replacing the voice actor, we have a new albatross - Orville's brother Wilbur. He is a worthy replacement. He provides plenty of comic relief, especially during his nightmarish time in hospital.
Joanna the villain's sidekick is like Madame Medusa as a lizard. She looks like she came straight out of the original. McLeach, the evil poacher is a very intimidating villain. He's not as funny as Madame Medusa but he's not meant to be. He's not the sort of person you'd like to run into in the wilderness.

If there's one aspect of this film that's superior to the first, it's the animation. The computer generated shots are spectacular. Sure, they might be dated today, but I think that the hand-drawn animation melds nicely with the CGI. Whilst the jungle in Tarzan looked like plastic, the rocks and cliffs in The Rescuers Down Under look realistic and full of texture.
We have a lot of 'high-flying in the clouds' scenes which are a lot of fun and would be brilliant on the IMAX screen. Also, putting a tiny mouse against a vast landscape gives the movie an epic feel.
Like the first Rescuers, the backgrounds are beautiful and pave the way for the beautiful scenery seen in The Lion King.

However, Down Under does have its little flaws. One example is that Cody is Australian yet he speaks with an American accent. Also, how on earth did he climb up that huge cliff? There are other little inconsistencies too but they are easily overlooked.

The sequel connects nicely with the original. A lot of the RAS mice from the original are seen again. Also, a lot of character designs are true to the first as well. Benard has hardly changed at all. Only Bianca looks somewhat different.

In conclusion, The Rescuers Down Under is inferior to the original Rescuers, but it's still high-flying fun. This is definately one of the better Disney sequels. So sit back and enjoy. Remember, you *could* be watching Pocahontas II.

Few people remember that sandwiched between the two favs The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast was Disney's first animated sequel - The Rescuers Down Under. 13 years after the original Rescuers, looking for a hit to ease the wait for Beauty and the Beast, Disney went back to the Rescuers well. The original had performed fairly well with a $29 million take in 1977. Down Under was not as big a hit earning only $28 million (1/3 of mermaids take a year earlier).

The film boasts nice animation including a Miyazakiesque flying sequence. As for plot, Down Under has pretty much the same story as the original Rescuers. Overall, I probably slightly prefer this sequel to the first. It has has brighter colors and a fresher villain pair (Joanna the lizard and the poacher) that is just a Cruella knock off. John Candy was one of the more memorable characters as the funny Wilbur the albatross.

I cant imagine people being too passionate about the Rescuers characters or movies, or them being someone's favorite Disney films. Still this one is ok, worth a B-.

This film is one of those rare sequals that actually lives up to the original.

All the characters are enjoyable, and the ones that were brought back from the original stayed in character. Unlike many Disney dtv sequals. Of the new characters I think Jake, the kangaroo rat, was my favorite. The voice cast did a great job, even if a couple of the voices were obviously American and stuck out.

The animation is superb, and it ranks up there with the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.
One thing that seperates this film from other Disney films, is the lack of songs. There was not one song during the whole movie, it was all score, which I really enjoyed. The score is also one of the best Disney scores I've heard.

Overall this is a great movie, the story is good, the characters are great, and the animation is awesome. Definitely one to own.

The film starts. A little boy says goodbye to his mother and sets out from his home in the outback (no sign of a father). Shortly afterwards, after scaling about a 2,000 foot cliff he rescues a giant eagle who takes him to her nest. "Where's the daddy eagle", says boy. Eagle looks at him mournfully. Boy at this stage should have said "Oh, I forgot. This is a Disney movie."

'Rescuers Down Under' is a pretty good adventure movie. Disney do their best work when they concentrate more fully on drama or comedy, IMO, but still, it's not bad.

I do have a fairly large number of quibbles, though. They managed to find a genuine Australian actor to play Jake (the Kangaroo mouse) and most of the animals sound at least vaguely Australian (except the koala, who sounds plain British), and Bianca of course has a Hungarian accent - so is there some reason this kid living in the outback has an American accent? Ditto, George C. Scott is good as the villain, but why not an Australian villain? Also there are no birds anything like that bald Eagle thing, as far as I know, in the outback - though it IS, I suppose, supposed to be 'the rarest bird in the world'

Quibbles aside, the movie moves along nicely, the animation is decent, the romantic triangle thing between the mice works well (Eva Gabor should have had more screen time. Particularly as this was her final film, though).

Wilbur seemed like a bit of a millstone. He was nescessary to get the mice out of New York, but from thereon it seemed to be more of a problem for the writers to find something for him to do.

It gets held back to a three because whereas it does most of its things pretty well, I didn't find it oustanding in any way. A pretty solid effort though.

The sequel to the delightful Rescuers sacrifices the original's warmth and wacky characters for a distressingly more mundane story. But it also breathes new life into the characters with dazzling and generally superior animation, so the trade off puts the two movies on generally equal ground in my opinion. The child character of this movie is nowhere near as interesting as Penny of the first movie. Nor is the villain as interesting. McLeach is a distressingly one dimensional villain with no motivation or real menace and who poaches for the sake of poaching. His lizard sidekick is utterly useless, and the albatross character is nowhere near as memorable as the original, even if the sequel's version gets more screen time. It also follows that this movie's humor is nowhere near as witty as the original's. And the movie's Australian setting is merely cosmetics. Take away the kangaroos and the accents and you wouldn't be able to tell this movie took place in Australia.

Thankfully, though, the film's stars, Bernard and Bianca, are just as colorful as they were in the original, as is their romance, even if they don't do as much in this one as the first. The injection of the charming rival in the form of a kangaroo rat into the romance mix is delightful and the subplot about Bernard continually trying to ask Bianca to marry him is still good for giggles. And like I said. The animation in this one is better and makes for truly dazzling sequences, with the flight of the giant eagle being the highlight.

A worthy sequel to the original Rescuers, Down Under provides another daring mission for Bernard and Bianca to go on.

The protagonist and his situation in Down Under don't have the tender, tearjerking quality of the original film, but instead we are treated to the visually and emotionally exhilarating flight in the claws of a huge and friendly eagle. The highly likeable hero/victim, Cody, is not as helpless and frail as Penny was. He needs his spunk and resourcefulness, though--McLeach is a far more threatening presence than Medusa, and his lizard pet seems a touch smarter than Medusa's crocs. And yet, the odd relationship between McLeach and his pet provide much of the humor in the film.

Quite frankly, if the whole film was at the same level of excellence as the eagle plot, this film would be better than the original. But a couple of subplots mar, rather than adding to, the film.

Firstly, in the attempt to renew the romantic tension between Bernard and Bianca, an Australian rival is introduced. It all feels rather contrived and unoriginal (and completely lacking in suspense, since we know the characters well enough to feel they're a permanent couple.)

Second, sadly, the voice actor who played Orville the albatross had died before this film was made, and he was replaced with a different seagull voiced by John Candy...Wilbur is just as loud-mouthed, obnoxious, and gabby as every cartoon character voiced by Dom Deluise (who, I'm convinced, is John Candy's anti-matter version.) He is the center of an annoying and decidedly not-funny subplot of his own, involving being strapped down by mad-doctor mice and injected with giant needles.

Still, if you ignore the stupid subplots, this is an excellent and highly worthwhile film!

It often strikes people strange when I say that this film ranks at the top of my favourites list but I truly believe this is a masterpiece that is all too often forgotten.

One of the best features of this film is simply the way the plot moves. So many animated films get caught up in the visuals that they forget that it's always the story that drives the film forward. This movie takes the time it needs to be an entertaining film. There are several great sequences that are "plot enhancers" rather than "plot drivers", such as seeing the Rescue Aid Society mice relay the Australian call-for-help around the world, Wilbur (Bernard and Bianca's albatross ride) in the mouse-run hospital and the escape sequence in McLeach's cellar.

Plus, this film features some of the best animation from Disney. The animals, in particular, are wonderfully done. There's great attention to detail for their movements, especially those of the eagle (who looks suspiciously like a gold bald eagle, but anyways). Watch for a great sequence after Cody and the eagle meet, which manages to be stirring and touching without being overly sweet. It's a just a great movie and I highly recommend it.