Now here’s a strange one. Disney take on the British legend of Robin Hood and, as they did with the myths and legends of King Arthur in The Sword in the Stone (1963), bend it into something it was never intended to be. In this case, Robin Hood is recast as the hero of an animated musical western… It’s an odd decision that doesn’t really work, the company’s cost-cutting is more obvious than ever and there’s still an occasional feel of Saturday morning cartoons about it, though the end result has its moments and it’s a lot more fun than The Sword in the Stone.

It begins with minstrel rooster Alan-a-Dale setting up the back story and, as with so many of the characters, voice actor Roger Miller (the singer who had scored hits with King of the Road and England Swings) does nothing to disguise his accent, Texan in his case, establishing the film’s faux western credentials. The story proper begins with the fox Robin Hood (Brian Bedford) and bear Little John (Phil Harris, essentially playing a variation on The Jungle Book (1967)‘s Baloo again – even the character design is exactly the same), who live in Sherwood Forest, call each other Johnny and Robbie and spend their days robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, the downtrodden people of Nottingham (there aren’t many of them it seems, and their taxes are crippling). The Sheriff of Nottingham (Pat Buttram) is on their trail, in the service of the thumb-sucking Prince John (Peter Ustinov) who sits on the throne in place of King Richard, off fighting the Crusades. He’s advised by the snake Sir Hiss (Terry-Thomas though the character is clearly modelled on The Jungle Book‘s Kaa) and has taken Maid Marian (Monica Evans) under his wing, unaware that she and Robin were childhood sweethearts. There’s much cuteness with animal children, a daring robbery of John’s riches from under his very nose and of course the legendary archery contest which, of course Robin, disguised as a stork, wins. Robin, Little John and Friar Tuck (Andy Devine) escape, taking Marian and her lady-in-waiting Lady Kluck (Carole Shelley) with them, but are forced to return to Nottingham when the vengeful John triples taxes and imprisons anyone who can’t afford to pay.

The voice cast is terrific, even if Harris is just trotting out the same routine he’d already perfected in The Jungle Book and already watered down in The Aristocats (1970). The show is stolen by the marvellous double act of Ustinov and Terry-Thomas who are the very best thing about the film – it really sparks into a life missing from elsewhere whenever they’re within earshot. And Carole Shelley is an absolute hoot as the no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners Lady Kluck – she and Evans had been the lovable geese in The Aristocats. The two leads aren’t given a great deal to do, though at least they sport authentic English accents.

There are some very odd moments, including a blink and you’ll miss it moment where Robin appears to fondle Little John’s fake breasts while they’re putting on their disguises and the decision to do away with the rest of the band of merry men (there’s no room here for Will Scarlet, Much, Will Stutely et al) was because Reitherman had also been inspired by the success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (there’s that western connection again) and wanted to capture something of the same “buddy movie” dynamic. But it’s the film’s cheapness that hurts it the most. You can’t help but notice that Marian’s dance is recycled from same live-action reference that helped Snow White to dance with the seven dwarfs and Baloo’s dance with King Louie was reused here for the dance between Little John and Lady Kluck. Gags, backgrounds and supporting characters are on loan from The Jungle Book and there’s an overall tight-fistedness to the proceedings that had never been obvious in a Disney animation before.

All that said, the film was another hit for a Disney still trying to find its feet years after the death of Walt and it could have been a lot worse – early plans were to relocate the entire story to the American Deep South until someone brought up the still touchy subject of Song of the South (1946) and sense prevailed and after Wolfgang Reitherman recalled the success of the company’s live-action film, The Story of Robin Hood (1952), directed by Ken Annakin. In 1973, it took $18 million in overseas earnings, a record for Disney at the time and has been a consistent money earner for the company ever since. It’s critical stock has always been high and the children who were entranced by its knockabout silliness and an action-packed jailbreak finale wouldn’t have cared much that the legend had been tinkered with so extensively and probably won’t care that much today as grown-ups. If you’re looking for the definitive screen take on Robin Hood, this isn’t it. It’s far from Disney animation at its best but it has bags of charm, some decent tunes, from Miller, Floyd Huddleston, George Bruns and Johnny Mercer, and it made it to the number 10 slot in the American Film Institute’s top 10 animated films.

Strangely, despite its success, there wasn’t the straight-to-video sequel that followed so many of the classic Disneys, though you can see some of the characters in Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983). It has, however, been announced that it’s going to get that live-action remake with Kari Granlund writing and Carlos Lopez Estrada directing. If reports are to be believed, it’ll be in the same vein as The Jungle Book and The Lion King remakes, with CGI animals “playing” the roles and it’s set for release, at some indeterminate point in the future, on streaming service Disney+.