50 Fun Facts About Robin Hood (Disney)

In Disney's Robin Hood, what does the hero disguise himself as to enter Prince John's archery tournament?

A stork from Devonshire is the hero's cover, but Prince John sees through it. Only one archer in England could shoot as well as this long-legged bird does.

A sped-up loop of Whistle Stop from Disney's Robin Hood became the soundtrack to which early internet meme?

The Hampster Dance, a 1997 GeoCities page of looping cartoon rodents, ran on a nine-second sample of the film's opening-credits tune. CNET later named it the number-one Web fad.

Phil Harris, the voice of Little John in Disney's Robin Hood, had already played which Jungle Book character?

Baloo came first, in 1967. Harris then voiced Thomas O'Malley in The Aristocats before playing Robin's best friend, three Disney animated features in six years.

Director Byron Howard called Disney's Robin Hood his childhood favorite and a major influence on which animated hit?

Zootopia grew out of Howard's wish to make another film with animals in people's roles, this time in a modern city designed by animals for animals.

Which habit overtakes Prince John, the lion villain of Disney's Robin Hood, whenever his mother is mentioned?

Sucking his thumb is the prince's reflex, part of a villain written as cowardly, infantile and comical instead of frightening. Robin humiliates him again and again.

In Disney's Robin Hood, which disguise does the hero wear to bring birthday gifts to young Skippy's home?

A blind beggar is the cover Robin uses just after the Sheriff has seized the boy's birthday farthing. Once the lawman has gone, the outlaw hands over presents and a small bag of money.

Short on time, Disney's Robin Hood animators reused dance scenes from The Jungle Book and which older classic?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, from 1937, lent its dancing to the villagers' big musical number, as did The Aristocats. The shortcut let a late production meet its deadline.

Which disguise do Robin Hood and Little John use to rob Prince John's royal coach in Disney's animated film?

Fortune tellers is the act the two outlaws put on, and the theft so embarrasses the prince that he offers a very large reward for Robin's capture.

Which animal is Friar Tuck in Disney's Robin Hood, after an earlier design was dropped for fear of offending the Church?

Badger was the second choice. Designer Ken Anderson first drew the friar as a pig, then worried that the symbol of a pig might be offensive to the Church.

Which animal is Little John, Robin Hood's loyal best friend, in Disney's animated version of the legend?

Bear was an easy call for designer Ken Anderson, who reasoned that a sidekick known in legend for his size should be big and overgrown.

Which animal is the Sheriff of Nottingham, who takes coins from the poor in Disney's Robin Hood?

Wolf was the director's pick, a classic storybook villain. The character designer had wanted to try a less expected creature, but he was overruled.

Which kind of bird is Alan-a-Dale, the minstrel who narrates Disney's Robin Hood in song?

Rooster is right. In the old legend Alan-a-Dale belongs to the outlaw band, but the film turns him into its singing narrator.

What kind of animals are Skippy and his sisters, the children who idolize Robin Hood in Disney's film?

Rabbits make up the whole family. Skippy, Sis and Tagalong live with their mother, and the outlaw drops in with gifts on Skippy's birthday.

In Disney's Robin Hood, what does the winner of Prince John's archery tournament receive from Maid Marian?

A kiss is the bait in Prince John's trap. Robin and Marian were childhood sweethearts, so the outlaw cannot stay away from the contest.

Whose return from the Crusades ends Prince John's rule and frees Nottingham at the close of Disney's Robin Hood?

King Richard pardons Robin, cancels what the villagers owe and jails his brother, the Sheriff and Sir Hiss. Robin and Marian then marry.

How does Prince John punish Nottingham after hearing the villagers' song mocking him in Disney's Robin Hood?

He triples the taxes, and villagers who cannot pay are thrown in jail. The tune had caught on so well that even the Sheriff and Sir Hiss were singing it.

Cornered on a turret of Prince John's burning castle, how does Disney's Robin Hood escape the archers?

He leaps into the moat and vanishes, leaving Little John and Skippy fearing the worst. He then surfaces safely, having breathed through a reed underwater.

Disney's Robin Hood draws Prince John as a scrawny lion lacking which feature that his royal brother has?

A mane marks the rightful ruler and its absence marks the usurper, whom the designer made deliberately scrawny and childish beside his regal, proud brother.

The Sheriff of Nottingham's guards Trigger and Nutsy are which kind of bird in Disney's Robin Hood?

Vultures both, they were voiced by George Lindsey and Ken Curtis, two actors best known for playing country characters on American television.

What kind of animal is Toby, the young friend of Skippy and his sisters in Disney's Robin Hood?

A tortoise, Toby is one of four Nottingham children who hero-worship the outlaw, and the only one who does not belong to Skippy's own family.

Besides a small bow and an arrow, what does Disney's Robin Hood give young Skippy as a birthday present?

His hat goes to the boy along with the archery set, and Robin leaves the mother a small bag of money, saying he wishes he could give more.

Which gentle ballad from Disney's Robin Hood earned the film an Academy Award nomination for Best Song?

Love is the film's romantic ballad for Robin and Marian, performed by Nancy Adams instead of a cast member. It was the picture's only Academy Award nomination.

How is Maid Marian related to Prince John, the villain of Disney's animated Robin Hood?

His niece is how the film places her, so the returning monarch is her uncle too, and he sees her married to Robin at the end.

How did Sir Hiss get the rightful ruler of England to leave for the Crusades in Disney's Robin Hood?

Sir Hiss hypnotized him into going off to fight, which let Prince John usurp the throne. The snake serves the prince as aide-de-camp and gets constant abuse for it.

From where in Friar Tuck's empty church does the Sheriff take the last farthing in Disney's Robin Hood?

The poor box holds a single coin, and losing it is the last straw for Friar Tuck, who flies at the Sheriff in a rage and is promptly arrested.

On what charge is Friar Tuck arrested and sentenced to hang after attacking the Sheriff in Disney's Robin Hood?

High treason is the charge, but the hanging is really bait. Prince John expects Robin to come out of hiding to save his friend.

At what unlikely moment, once his tournament disguise is exposed, does Disney's Robin Hood propose to Maid Marian?

During a battle with Prince John's soldiers he pops the question, and Marian accepts before the two of them escape into Sherwood Forest.

Which companion of Maid Marian fights Prince John's soldiers beside her in Disney's Robin Hood?

Lady Kluck is a hen who serves Marian as lady-in-waiting, and she escapes with the heroes into Sherwood Forest once the brawl is over.

At the archery tournament in Disney's Robin Hood, Little John poses as which invented nobleman to sit near Prince John?

Duke of Chutney is the title he invents, and it works. He gets close enough to hold a dagger at the prince's back and force Robin's release.

What kind of animal is the Captain of the Royal Guard in Disney's Robin Hood, voiced by Candy Candido?

Crocodile it is, voiced by a radio veteran nicknamed The Man of a Thousand Voices, who had earlier played the Indian Chief in Peter Pan.

Which English stage actor, spotted by Disney executives in a Los Angeles play, voiced the hero of Disney's Robin Hood?

Brian Bedford, a Tony-winning Shakespearean actor, tested for the part in May 1971 and beat one other finalist to it.

Which Oscar-winning actor voiced both lions in Disney's Robin Hood, Prince John and his crusading brother?

Peter Ustinov voiced both brothers, and he also dubbed Prince John himself for the film's German release.

Which English comedian, famous for the gap between his front teeth, voiced Sir Hiss in Disney's Robin Hood?

Terry-Thomas built a career playing upper-class cads and bounders, complete with monocle and cigarette holder. The snake was a notable part late in his career.

Which country star, famous for King of the Road, voiced Alan-a-Dale and wrote songs for Disney's Robin Hood?

Roger Miller began composing for the film in 1969 and performs three of his own songs in it, including the tune over the opening credits.

Monica Evans and Carole Shelley, Maid Marian and her attendant in Disney's Robin Hood, played sisters in which comedy?

The Odd Couple cast them as the Pigeon sisters on Broadway, in the 1968 film and on television. Disney had already paired them as goose sisters in The Aristocats.

Pat Buttram, the Sheriff's gravelly voice in Disney's Robin Hood, played Mr. Haney on which rural TV sitcom?

Green Acres cast him as a regular from 1965 to 1971, and Disney also used that voice for a hound in The Aristocats and the hunting dog Chief in The Fox and the Hound.

John Fiedler, the church sexton's voice in Disney's Robin Hood, was the long-serving voice of which Pooh character?

Piglet was his for nearly forty years, after Walt Disney heard his voice on television and picked him for the part.

Disney's Robin Hood turns up as a recurring guest at the dinner club in which early-2000s animated crossover series?

House of Mouse has Mickey and friends running a dinner theatre in ToonTown, with characters from the studio's animated features as the paying guests.

Where did designer Ken Anderson first want to set Disney's Robin Hood, before the director insisted on England?

The Deep South appealed to him because he hoped to recapture the spirit of Song of the South, but studio executives were wary of that film's racial controversy.

Walt Disney's long-shelved plan to film the fables of which medieval trickster fed into Disney's animal Robin Hood?

Reynard, a sly fox of twelfth-century tales, tempted Disney from 1937 on, but he feared a crook made an unsuitable hero. Recasting him as a noble outlaw solved it.

Which New York venue hosted the premiere of Disney's Robin Hood as its big holiday-season attraction?

Radio City Music Hall showed it first on November 8, and the film reached 400 theaters across the United States and Canada on December 21.

In 1984, Disney's Robin Hood was the first title in the Walt Disney Classics line, which released films how?

On home video it launched the Walt Disney Classics line. Executives feared tapes would hurt cinema reissues, and picked this film first because it was held in less esteem than the others.

Which celebrated lyricist wrote The Phony King of England, the song Little John sings in Disney's Robin Hood?

Johnny Mercer wrote the villagers' taunting anthem, the only song in the film he contributed, and Phil Harris sang it in character.

Which Jungle Book star was so angry at being left out of Disney's Robin Hood that he funded his own tie-in album?

Louis Prima, the voice of King Louie, paid the recording costs himself and then sold the finished album to Disneyland Records.

Which Wes Anderson film borrowed a ballad from Disney's Robin Hood for its own soundtrack?

Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop-motion tale of another charming thief in a fur coat, used the Oscar-nominated romantic number in 2009.

Characters from Disney's Robin Hood turned up a decade later in the cast of which Oscar-nominated holiday featurette?

Mickey's Christmas Carol retells Dickens with Scrooge McDuck in the lead and fills the smaller parts with familiar faces from earlier Disney films.

Ken Curtis, the voice of the guard Nutsy in Disney's Robin Hood, was best known as Festus on which TV western?

Gunsmoke kept him on screen as a scruffy deputy for 304 episodes. The twangy accent was an invention for the role and nothing like his real voice.

Which British entertainer was first cast as the hero of Disney's Robin Hood but could not sound heroic enough?

Tommy Steele won the part on the strength of The Happiest Millionaire, but his readings never made the outlaw sound heroic, and a stage actor replaced him.

George Lindsey, the voice of the guard Trigger in Disney's Robin Hood, played Goober Pyle on which sitcom?

The Andy Griffith Show introduced Goober in 1964, and Lindsey went on playing him for decades. Disney also used his voice in The Aristocats and The Rescuers.

Which Disney composer scored Robin Hood, using harpsichords and a mandolin to give the film a medieval flavor?

George Bruns reached for French horns too, and he co-wrote the film's Oscar-nominated ballad with lyricist Floyd Huddleston.