The Fox and the Hound 2
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The Fox and the Hound 2 | |
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Directed by | Jim Kammerud |
Produced by | Ferrell Barron |
Written by | Roger S.H. Schulman |
Starring | Reba McEntire Patrick Swayze Jonah Bobo Harrison Fahn Jeff Foxworthy Vicki Lawrence Stephen Root |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Walt Disney Home Entertainment |
Release date(s) | December 12, 2006 February 24, 2007 |
Running time | 69 minutes |
Language | English |
Budget | $24,000,000 |
Preceded by | The Fox and the Hound (1981) |
IMDb profile |
The Fox and the Hound 2 is a direct-to-video midquel to the 1981 Disney animated film The Fox and the Hound. It was released on December 12, 2006. The film was rated G in the United States, and was produced by DisneyToon Studios division.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film opens with young Tod the red fox kit (voiced by Jonah Bobo) and Copper the bloodhound puppy (Harrison Fahn), best friends, chasing a cricket together. They see a line of trucks bringing the county fair to town, and Copper is mesmerized by the sound of dogs singing together in an old school bus with 'Singin' Strays' painted on the side.
The pair are eager to go see the fair, but when Copper's clumsy tracking skills disappoint his master Amos Slade yet again, the pup is tied up in the yard while Slade and the older dog Chief go to the fair without him. Tod arrives and pulls Copper's collar off, and the pair go to the fair after all.
Copper finds the Singin' Strays rehearsing. The band has five members, all stray dogs: Dixie (a setter mix, lead female vocals for the group, voiced by Reba McEntire), Cash (a hound mix, lead male vocals, voiced by Patrick Swayze), Granny Rose (possibly a grey Pumi, voiced by Vicki Lawrence), and twins Waylon and Floyd (bloodhounds, backup male vocals). Their manager is a human, Lyle (Jeff Foxworthy). Tomorrow is a big day; a talent agent from the Grand Ole Opry will be here and the dogs want to get noticed, but Dixie and Cash are arguing. Cash refuses to admit that he needs Dixie, and Dixie is offended that she's not being appreciated enough. Dixie abruptly quits the group right before a performance, but in the middle of the show Cash notices Copper singing along in the audience. He invites the pup up on stage to harmonize with them. The musical number is a success. Cash invites Copper to join the band, and Tod convinces Copper to lie about being a stray.
Dixie, moping in the tour bus with an old cat named Zelda, feels spurned and is becoming jealous of Copper. She tells Copper that eating some peanut butter will help his performance, and then while the pup's mouth is stuck, she drops in on the band to say that he ran away. But Tod arrives with Widow Tweed's prizewinning cow and shoots a stream of milk into Copper's mouth to wash away the peanut butter, and the puppy rushes to rehearsal. Cash realizes the trick and gets mad at Dixie again.
Copper had agreed to meet Tod later to watch the county fair's fireworks, but he is sidetracked by Cash, and the two dogs sing of the dream of becoming big-time country music stars. They watch the fireworks together from the Ferris wheel. Later, Copper happens upon Tod, angry because of the broken promise.
Dixie sympathizes with Tod's feelings of being abandoned by his friend. She sings the song "Good Doggie, No Bone" to him. Tod happens to mention to her that Copper's not a stray at all, and Dixie begins hatching a plan to send Copper home with Tod and get herself back into the band.
The next day, Dixie and Tod hatch their plan. Tod gets Chief and Slade to chase him to the fair. Meanwhile the talent scout, a man named Winchell P. Bickerstaff with a big hat and a Southern accent, has arrived and is being led around by a little girl named Olivia Farmer who calls herself his "chaperone", though she ends up getting him bruised and stung along the way.
Slade and Chief chase Tod and into the barn where the talent scout is watching the Singin' Strays' performance. A surprised Slade discovers Copper on stage and commands him to come home, but mayhem ensues, leaving the fair in ruins as it begins to rain. Cash fires Copper. Waylon, Floyd, and Granny Rose, fed up with Cash, quit the band. Tod finds Copper sulking behind a barrel and apologizes, but Copper blames the fox for ruining everything. Slade takes Copper home, and Widow Tweed takes Tod home. Along the way Tweed narrowly misses being hit by the talent scout's car, and Bickerstaff's hat flies off and lands on Tod.
The following day, Tod and Copper admit their mistakes and are friends again. But Tod figures a way to fix everything: he gives the hat to Copper, who uses its scent to track down the talent scout in a nearby diner. Tod meanwhile tricks Cash and Dixie into thinking the other is in trouble. They all meet up at the diner, where Copper convinces them that "that they all needed to be together again as in the song." The Singin' Strays begin to howl a reprise of We're In Harmony, attracting the attention of the talent scout. Impressed and pleased with the band, he goes on to arrange for the dogs to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.
Cash and Dixie make up, with Cash giving what might be interpreted as a proposal and Dixie saying she thought he'd never ask, a continuation of a comment by Granny Rose early in the film, about them needing to be hitched (because they argue so much). Meanwhile, Tod thinks he has lost his friend for good until Copper comes bounding up the hill to him. "Aren't you going with them?" asks Tod. "Can't!" Copper replies, "You and me, we got crickets to chase."
[edit] Trivia
- Big Mama, Vixey, Dinky, Boomer and Squeeks make no appearances in this film. Amos Slade is a comic relief character here, without the darker side portrayed in the first film. Even though Chief appears, he has very few speaking parts and very little screen time.
- The tag line for this film was "Friends Forever."
- The goal of the Singin' Strays was to get on the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville. Disney worked with many popular country artists and the Country Music Television cable network to promote this film. [1]
- The scene of Dixie singing Good Doggie, No Bone while Tod is dancing is just like in Oliver & Company when Rita sings Streets of Gold while Oliver is dancing.
- In 2007, it was nominated for Best Sound Editing in a Direct to Video Project.
- A significant difference between the animal characters in this movie and the movie it is based on is that the animal characters are far more anthropomorphic and do more human movements that in the regular movie.
- 'Cash' is named after American country singer, Johnny Cash.
[edit] Soundtrack album
The Fox and the Hound 2 Soundtrack Album features a combination of country and bluegrass writers and performers were found in Nashville by Disney according to the music supervisor Kimberly Oliver, and Matt Walker Senior VP, DisneyToon Studios.
- Friends for Life - vocals One Flew South and composer Marcus Hummon. Best friends song. A Bluegrass meets Folk Rock song according to Marcus. The album features the full version of this song, which was cut shorter for the film.
- Nashville 7 - instrumental composed by Joel McNeely and Mike Marshall.
- We're in Harmony - performed by Chip Davis, music and lyrics by Will Robinson.
- Hound Dude - Cash - singer Josh Gracin, composer Will Robinson. A pun on Hound Dog, a backstage view of being a popular performer.
- Depressed Dixie - instrumental composed by Joel McNeely.
- Good Doggie; No Bone! - Dixie Reba McEntire, composer Marcus Hummon Late at night, howling at the moon with Dixie at a bar, over a bowl of kibbles. A background of the down times of the performing business, that the performers state they can all relate to.
- Sticky Hound Puppy - instrumental composed by Joel McNeely.
- Blue Beyond - lead vocals Trisha Yearwood, composer Gordon Kennedy and Blair Masters. Even though it is raining everything is down I will always be there. Gordon compares this song to the timeless When You Wish Upon A Star, and Trisha states that "if he was trying to write a classic, I think he did."
- We Go Together - vocals with the Singin' Strays - performed by Little Big Town composer Marcus Hummon. The main theme of the whole movie.
- You Know I Will - Lucas Grabeel with Little Big Town, also a music video version on the additional bonus features section. Music and lyrics by Gordon Kennedy.
- We're in Harmony - performed by the Singin' Strays - Dixie, Cash, Granny, Waylon and Floyd, with Copper. Music and lyrics by Will Robinson. [2]
Background music score composer instrumental songs Joel McNeely. Bluegrass music for setting the moods of scenes, performed by several famous Bluegrass performers. [3] [4]
[edit] References
- ^ [1] Reference CMT and Reba McEntire as Dixie
- ^ 'CD-Soundtrack Wonderland Music Company BMI, Walt Disney Records. '
- ^ "The Fox and the Hound 2": DVD, 2006 - credits for songs as listed at the end of the film.'
- ^ The Fox and the Hound 2 : DVD, Backstage Disney , 'the making of the music of the Fox and the Hound 2'
[edit] External links
- The Fox and the Hound 2 at the Internet Movie Database
- The Fox and the Hound 2 Official Disney DVD site
- DVD Review at UltimateDisney.com
- Director Jim Kammerud on The Fox and the Hound 2 Animated News & Views interview