The Rescuers

The Rescuers is one of my favourite Disney animated films. I love the dynamic between Miss Bianca and Bernard and I think they make a great Rescue Aid Society team! During the Bronze Age, The Rescuers proved to be the most successful film for the studios and it was the last film to be directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, who had worked very hard to keep the studios going after Walt’s death.

Premiered on: June 19, 1977 in Washington, D.C.

Directed by:

Wolfgang Reitherman
Art Stevens
John Lounsbery

Produced by:

Wolfgang Reitherman
Ron Miller

Based on: The Rescuers and Miss Bianca written by Margery Sharp

Sequels: The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

Cast:

Bob Newhart – Bernard
Eva Gabor – Miss Bianca
Geraldine Page – Madame Medusa
Michelle Stacy – Penny
Joe Flynn – Mr. Snoops
Jim Jordan – Orville
John McIntire – Rufus
Jeanette Nolan – Ellie Mae
Pat Buttram – Luke
Jimmy MacDonald – Evinrude
Candy Candido – Brutus / Nero
George Lindsey – Deadeye
John Fiedler – Deacon Owl
Bernard Fox – Mr. Chairman

Directing Animators:

Milt Kahl
Frank Thomas
Ollie Johnston
Don Bluth

Music by:

Artie Butler
Sammy Fain
Carol Connors
Ayn Robbins

Songs:

“The Journey”
“Rescue Aid Society”
“Tomorrow is Another Day”
“Someone’s Waiting for You”

Academy Awards: Best Original Song – “Someone’s Waiting for You” (nomination)

The Story:

The Rescuers opens with a stormy, nighttime scene of a bayou. There is a marooned and rundown riverboat along the shore of the swamp. A door of the riverboat opens and a little girl named Penny sneaks out onto the deck. There are two crocodiles watching her. She drops a bottle with a note inside into the water below. The song “The Journey” plays as the bottle journeys through the ocean. The opening credits are playing over animation of the bottle traveling through storms and passing large ocean liners.

The bottle then arrives on the shores of New York City. There are three mice who find the bottle on the beach.

The next scene is of the New York City skyline during the daytime. A caption reads “United Nations. New York.” There are many people arriving at the United Nations and unbeknownst to them, mice are hiding in their bags. These mice look at the Rescue Aid Society board which says that there is a summit meeting at 2 pm. The mice go through the mouse entrance and down to some abandon luggage where the Rescue Aid Society headquarters are. The mice are all greeted at the door by Bernard the janitor who is sweeping the front step. Inside, everyone takes their seat.

Mr. Chairman brings the emergency meeting to order. He says that everyone has been called because they believe that someone is in distress. But before the meeting begins, he pays respect to their founder Euripedes Mouse who started the Rescue Aid Society in 405 B.C. after helping a lion with his injured paw. All of the mice put their hands over their hearts and sing “Rescue Aid Society.” Bernard even sings along from outside of the meeting. Miss Bianca arrives late during the song. She sprays some perfume on herself, which catches the attention of all the male mice in the meeting.

Mr. Chairman asks the mouse scouts to bring in the bottle and then Bernard brings in the comb ladder. He is very clumsy with the ladder and everyone laughs at him; Mr. Chairman is not impressed. Bernard finally sets up the ladder and starts to climb. But he pauses at the top and Mr. Chairman asks “now what?” Bernard says that there are 13 steps on the ladder, revealing that he is very superstitious. Mr. Chairman says that it nonsense so Bernard continues. He pulls the cork out of the bottle and pulls the note out. Everyone claps for him as he gets the note out, but then he ends up falling down into the bottle. Mr. Chairman starts to read the note: “To Morningside Orphanage. New York.” The rest of the note is very smudged and he has trouble reading it. Miss Bianca comes to help out and she finishes “I am in terrible trouble, hurry. Please help. Penny.”

Miss Bianca is so sad about the poor little girl so she asks for the assignment. Mr. Chairman is hesitant because she is a lady but agrees to it. From inside the bottle, Bernard says that Miss. Bianca should not go because it is too dangerous. Mr. Chairman suggests that a co-agent go with her and he asks for a gentleman to volunteer. All of the men raise their hands eagerly but Miss Bianca chooses Bernard. Bernard is almost out of the bottle when she says this and is so surprised that he falls right back in. He argues that he is only a janitor but Miss Bianca convinces him to take the assignment.

The next scene is of a rainy night. The two mice are looking for the orphanage and Miss Bianca suggests taking a shortcut through the zoo. Bernard is hesitant but Miss Bianca reminds him of their pledge “Through storm and rain and dark of night, we never fail to do what’s right.” So they enter the zoo but then Miss Bianca is nervous because it is so dark. Bernard proves that he is brave by going ahead to check it out but then a lion growls at him and both mice go scurrying out of the zoo. Bernard suggests that they just head three blocks over and four blocks down to reach the orphanage instead of taking a shortcut.

They reach the orphanage and find a box labelled “Penny: Hold until further notice.” Rufus the cat hears the mice rummaging around the box and tells them that if people found out there were mice in the building, he would lose his job! Miss Bianca assures him that they will not be long and Bernard asks about Penny. Rufus says that she ran away. There is a flashback scene as Rufus tells the story.

Penny was sitting alone on her bed when Rufus found her. He asked the little girl what was wrong and she said that it was adoption day but a couple chose the little redheaded girl instead. Rufus tries to cheer her up and tells her that she needs to have faith. He shows her a bluebird outside and says that faith is like that bluebird from afar. It is real but they cannot touch it or buy it. This cheers Penny up and she gives Rufus some ginger snaps.

Rufus says that she seemed happy enough but the next thing he heard was that she was gone. Bernard asks if the police are still looking for her and Rufus says no, they gave up weeks ago. Bernard then asks if there is anything else and Rufus mentions that a crazy lady tried to give Penny a ride. Penny refused and Rufus does not think that Penny would want anything to do with those trashy people. He tells the mice that this lady owns a pawn shop close by and the mice take off to check it out.

At Medusa’s Pawn Shop the mice sneak in under door crack and look around. They find a child’s book and open it up to find that it belongs to Penny. The phone rings and Bernard and Miss Bianca run to hide. Madame Medusa appears and picks up the phone. It is Mr. Snoops on the other end and she assumes that he is calling because they have found the diamond. But instead Mr. Snoops asks for more time and he tells Medusa that he has caught Penny sending messages in bottles. Medua is very mad and says that she is going to come to Devil’s Bayou before slamming the phone down. The mice try to get in her suitcase to go with her but only Bernard is able to make it. Miss Bianca holds onto a loose strap. Medusa hops into her car and takes off, proving to be a crazy driver. Miss Bianca opens the suitcase but on a sharp turn, the entire suitcase goes flying out of the car with Bernard and Miss Bianca.

At the airport, the two mice are hurrying to catch a flight. They cross the runway and arrive at Fly Albatross Air Service. They are going to catch Flight 13, which has Bernard very nervous. The flight is running late and Bernard suggests that they take the train instead. They hear on the radio that the flight is coming in and the albatross is asking if it is clear to land. No one is around to answer so Bernard gets on the radio. The albatross Orville lands very roughly and Bernard runs outside to see if he is hurt. Orville says that was one of his better landings so Bernard again says to Miss Bianca that they should take the train. But Orville will not have it and says that Flight 13 will hit the wild blue yonder in 5 minutes. There are 13 steps up the ramp to the passenger’s seats, which again makes Bernard nervous. Miss Bianca suggests that he just jump the last one. The mice sit down in a sardine can and buckle up. Orville asks Bernard to read out the check list to him: “Goggles down. Wing flaps down. Tail feathers. If at first you don’t succeed; try, try again.” Orville has a very bumpy take off and Miss Bianca loves the thrill but Bernard is terrified. They soar over the streets of New York City and then soon it is smooth sailing down to the bayou. The mice curl up in the sardine can as the song “Tomorrow is Another Day” plays. Bernard starts to read an article about the dangers of the bayou but Miss Bianca falls asleep and soon Bernard does as well.

At the bayou, Penny once again sneaks out of the riverboat. She makes it down to the shore and takes off. The lights on the boat turn on and Medusa yells out for Penny. Penny keeps going and Medusa appears on the deck of the riverboat with her crocodiles, Nero and Brutus. She yells for Mr. Snoops and says that the little brat as escaped again. She sends Nero and Brutus after Penny and Medusa tries to take off in her swamp mobile which keeps breaking down. Medusa tells Snoops to light up the sky with flares to she can find Penny.

Orville is about to land at the bayou when the flares and fireworks start to go off. One of them hits his tail causing it to catch on fire. He spins out of control and Bernard and Miss Bianca fall out of the sardine tin. They are able to use an umbrella to slow their fall.

Near to the riverboat is a small cabin that is home to two muskrats, Ellie Mae and Luke. Ellie Mae sees that Orville is in trouble and wakes up Luke. Luke is a bit of a drunk and gets knocked over by Orville, but Luke just thinks that it is his new batch of moonshine packing a wallop. Bernard and Miss Bianca fall into the water and Ellie Mae and Luke help them out. Orville tries taking off again but gets chased by Medusa’s swamp mobile. He ends up going right through the engine before being able to take off.

Penny is hiding in the bushes. Medusa used a big spotlight to try and find the girl but is unable to. The mice and the muskrats see Medusa, and Luke and Ellie Mae comment that they would love to run Medusa right out of the bayou. Then they see that they crocodiles have found Penny. Brutus is carrying Penny in his mouth and Nero has her teddy bear. Ellie Mae explains that Penny has tried to run away again. The mice follow the crocodiles as far as they can on land but when they get to the water, Ellie Mae says that they need a boat. She says that Evinrude has the fastest boat around. She yells at the dragonfly to wake up and he starts his engine. Evinrude pushes the mice in a leaf while Ellie Mae goes to round up the neighbours.

Nero and Brutus bring Penny back to the riverboat where Mr. Snoops meets them. Snoops is scared of the crocodiles but Penny is not. Penny is very protective of her teddy bear and Snoops makes fun of her for it. He then sets off fireworks that spell out “Got Girl” so Medusa knows to come back to the riverboat.

The mice reach the riverboat and tell Evinrude to stay there in case they need him. Medusa’s swamp mobile goes flying onto the deck of the riverboat and she bursts through the door. Snoops tells her that he sent Penny to her room and Medusa blames Snoops for Penny’s escape. She plops down on the couch and puts her feet up for Snoops to take off her boots. Snoops blames “the lizards” but Medusa does not agree and only praises her crocodiles for bringing Penny back. The mice sneak onto the boat and they overhear that Medusa and Snoops are using Penny because she is the only one small enough to fit down the hole where the big diamond is hidden. Snoops points out that Penny has already brought up many small pieces of jewelry which will sell well. But Medusa does not care; she only wants the devil’s eye! Medusa says that Snoops has not left Penny down in the hole long enough and that next time there is a low tide, Medusa will put Penny down there and leave the girl there until she finds the diamond.

The mice decide that they must get Penny out of there that night. But before they can do anything, the crocodiles smell Miss Bianca’s perfume. The crocodiles start to chase the mice around and the mice hide in the organ. The crocodiles play the organ so that the air pushes the mice out of the tubes. But they are still unable to catch Bernard and Miss Bianca. Medusa is looking at a map of the bayou in her room and is getting very annoyed at the sound of the organ. She goes to yell at them and hits one crocodile on the head who then spits out Bernard, having just caught the mouse. Medusa starts to scream in fright at the little mouse and yells at Snoops to kill it. Snoops tries to use a broom and Medusa uses a shotgun. They end up destroying the whole living room. The gun jams, which gives the mice a chance to escape. They fall into the water and Evinrude saves them with the leaf boat. Miss Bianca is very unhappy that Medusa tried to kill them. Bernard does not think that two little mice can do anything to help Penny and they sit there looking very glum. Then the “Rescue Aid Society” starts to play distantly as if Miss Bianca is remembering the song and she encourages Bernard to never give up.

Penny is getting into her pajamas when Medusa yells at her to come see her. Medusa is also getting ready for bed and is telling herself that the brat is going to find her that diamond. Penny comes in and then Medusa acts very pleasantly towards Penny. She asks Penny if the girl knows what would make “Auntie Medusa” very happy. Penny answers that it would be if she could find the diamond. Penny insists that she has tried as hard as she could and tells Medusa that she wants to get back to the orphanage to get adopted. Medusa tells Penny that no one would want to adopt such a homely girl like herself.

Penny is then in her room crying. She goes out to the deck of the boat and looks out to the water. The song “Someone’s Waiting for You” plays. The two mice paddle up and see Penny. The girl goes inside and hugs her teddy bear. There is a picture hanging by her bed that she drew of her future mom and dad. Penny says her prayers with her teddy bear and she prays that Rufus and Teddy and all the kids at the orphanage are blessed. She starts to cry very hard and then the mice show up. Miss Bianca says that they are there to help her and Bernard says that they found her bottle with the message. Penny is very excited that her bottle worked. She then asks if they brought anyone big with them, like the police but there are only the two mice. Miss Bianca says that the three of them can work together and have a little faith. Penny is excited about faith because that is what Rufus said would work. Bernard says that they need to get out of there that night. But the crocodiles are still guarding the riverboat and Miss Bianca thinks that they should be locked in a cage. Penny suggests that they use the elevator as a cage and Miss Bianca thinks that her perfume will work as bait. Penny does an impression of Medusa as if she has found out that Penny is gone. Then they plan on taking the swamp mobile to escape. Penny is excited because she has always wanted to drive it. The last step in their plan is to set off Mr. Snoops’ fireworks to distract Medusa.

Medusa suddenly yells for Mr. Snoops and Penny know that they are up to something. She is scared that she will have to go back down into the awful dark hole again. Bernard calls for Evinrude and tells him to go get Ellie Mae and to hurry. Evinrude takes off but he soon gets chased by bats. He gets trapped in a glass bottle very close to Ellie Mae and Luke’s cabin.

All of the neighbours have gathered and are getting ready to help rescue Penny. They are waiting for word from Evinrude and comment that if the dragonfly does not get there soon, Medusa is going to put that poor girl down into the hole again.

In the next scene, Medusa and Snoops are about to put Penny down the dark hole again. Snoops angrily tells Penny that she is going down and is not coming back up until she has the diamond. But Medusa steps in and pretends to be nice to Penny and encourages her to go down. The mice are hiding in Penny’s pocket. Penny tells Medusa that her teddy bear is too afraid to go down there so Medusa snatches the teddy away. She tells Penny that teddy will just stay with her then. Penny still refuses to go down so Medusa threatens Penny by saying that she will never see her teddy bear again. So Penny gets into the bucket and is lowered down into the hole. Miss Bianca comments that it is such a dreadful place and Penny says that it use to be a pirates cave. Bernard asks Penny how she knows that and Penny points out a pirate skeleton. The three of them get to work looking for the devil’s eye. The whole cave starts to shake and Penny points out a hole where the water comes in during high tide. She is too afraid to go over there. Bernard says that if he were a pirate, that is where he would hide the diamond. He heads over there to take a look. There is a loud grumble and then Bernard is too scared to get any closer. Miss Bianca says that she can see something down there tough. So Bernard heads down the hole but then there is a rush of water and Miss Bianca heads over to help. They fall down into the hole and take a look around. Bernard is close to a skull when Penny shines her light near him. Something shines brightly from inside the skull and it turns out to be the devil’s eye. Penny yells up to Medusa that the diamond has been found. Medusa tells the girl to bring it up but they mice cannot get it out through the eye of the skull. Penny tells Medusa that it is stuck and Medusa is not happy. She tells Penny that she will never see daylight again! So Penny goes close to the hole to help the mice out but then she falls down. More water comes rushing in and Bernard wants to get out of there before they all drown. Penny begs Medusa to pull her back up because the water is coming in but Medusa refuses. Bernard suggests using the pirate sword and so Penny uses it to prop open the mouth of the skull. They are able to pull out the diamond! The water washes away Penny’s lantern and then they get stuck in a whirlpool. But they still manage to make it to the bucket and Snoops pulls it up. Medusa grabs the diamond and is very ecstatic about the find. Snoops and Medusa argue about how they are going to share the diamond and they take off. The crocodiles pick up Penny and take her back to the riverboat.

Evinrude pokes his head out of the bottle. He decides to brave the bats and takes off as fast as he can to Ellie Mae’s. He flies right down the chimney and everyone is surprised to see him suddenly appear. Poor Evinrude is completely tuckered out and so Luke gives him some moonshine to perk him up. The moonshine makes a new dragonfly out of him and he sounds the alarm! Everyone yells charge and they take off to the riverboat.

At the riverboat, Medusa has a gun on Penny and Snoops. She threatens them not to follow her or she will blast them. Medusa has the teddy bear and will not give him back to Penny. Miss Bianca and Bernard trip Medusa with a rope and she accidently shoots the gun. Teddy goes flying and it is revealed that the devil’s eye has been hidden inside the bear. Snoops lunges for teddy and Medusa trips him. They fight each other and so Penny is able to grab the bear and run. The neighbours then appear and attack Medusa. Nero and Brutus chase the neighbours but then Miss Bianca and Bernard lure the crocodiles in the elevator. The mice are dangling on a fishing hook hung by Deadeye the rabbit.

Penny starts the swamp mobile and Medusa shoots at her. Deacon Owl jams the gun with dynamite and then the other fireworks go off. Penny is not able to start the swamp mobile so Ellie Mae pours Luke’s moonshine in for fuel. And then they take off! Medusa is attached to the swamp mobile by a rope and ends up water skiing on her crocodiles. She crashes into the riverboat as Snoops is paddling away to save himself. He just laughs and laughs at Medusa. Penny is able to escape and all of the neighbours cheer.

Back at the Rescue Aid Society, everyone is watching the news report about Penny finding the world’s biggest diamond. The Devil’s Eye is now at the Smithsonian Museum. The news report also shows Penny being adopted at the orphanage. All of the other children are singing “For Penny’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Miss Bianca and Bernard reminisce about their adventure and Penny says that two mice helped save her, much to the shock of the news reporter. Suddenly Evinrude appears with another call for help. Bernard hands the note to Mr. Chairman and says that the leader will need some volunteers. Miss Bianca immediately volunteers herself and Bernard but Bernard complains because they just got back from a mission. But Miss Bianca does not care. She wants another adventure and the scene pans up to show the calendar and it says that it is Friday the 13^th (of January).

The next scene is of Orville taking off in the snow with Miss Bianca, Bernard, and Evinrude in the sardine tin. Orville has trouble taking off and Evinrude helps by pushing him. Then he curls up in the sardine tin with Miss Bianca and Bernard as they soar off into the sky. A reprise of “Tomorrow is Another Day” plays.

Trivia:

• This was the third year where two Disney animated feature films were released in the same year, with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh having been released earlier that year. In 1940, both Pinocchio and Fantasia were released and in 1942 both Bambi and Saludos Amigos were released.
• Miss Bianca represents Hungary at the Rescue Aid Society. Her voice actor, Eva Gabor, was born in Hungary.
• All of the songs except “The Rescue Aid Society” were performed by singer Shelby Flint.
• This was the first Disney animated feature film to have a prologue scene before the opening credits, excluding the brief narration before Robin Hood.
• The origin of the Rescue Aid Society is a reference to the Aesop fable “The Mouse and the Lion.”
• Rufus the cat is a caricature of animator Ollie Johnston.
• Margery Sharp wrote a total of 9 books for The Rescuers series.
• The dragonfly Evinrude was named after the Evinrude Outboard Motors company. Evinrude pushes a small boat in the film like an outboard motor.
• The popularity of this film almost led to a T.V. show. That show ended up becoming Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescuer Rangers, with a Rescuers’ sequel being made instead.
• There is a hidden mickey on the watch that is hanging on the wall of the Rescue Aid Society Headquarters.
• The characters call the bayou the Devil’s Bayou but on a map that Medusa is looking at the bayou is called the Black Bayou.
• Nero and Brutus are animated and referred to as crocodiles but it would make more sense if there were alligators given their location in the American bayou.
• There was a deleted song that was to be sung by the animals in the zoo called “Peoplitis.” It was going to be performed by Louis Prima who sung “I Wan’na Be Like You.”

Representation in the Disney Parks:

Unfortunately there is almost no representation of The Rescuers in the Disney Parks. Bernard and Miss Bianca are meet and greet characters at Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland, but that is it.

Check out the other films of Disney’s Bronze Age:

The Aristocats (1970)
Robin Hood (1973)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Oliver and Company (1988)