Film

Robin Hood

Name: Robin Hood
Genre: Animation, Family, Adventure
Released: 1973
Cast: Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Monica Evans, Peter Ustinov

Other titles called Robin Hood: the 1922 film, the 2006 series (BBC One), the 2010 film.

Swashbuckler
Light-hearted

Disney's breeziest telling of the legend, told entirely by animals — a fox in a hood, a bear as sidekick, a lion in a crown having a tantrum. It's slight, funny, gently anti-authoritarian, and startlingly relaxed about recycling its own animation. Best enjoyed as comfort food: warm, quick, scrappy round the edges, and utterly disarming for kids and nostalgic adults alike.

TMDb rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like your swashbuckling served with animal caricature, sly gags and a wry, pared-down sense of mischief, the kind of cartoon that trusts its jokes to land quickly.

Skip it if you want lush, painterly animation or real emotional weight, since this one is economical in its drawing and keeps its stakes deliberately light and breezy.

What it asks of you: About eighty-three minutes of easy, brisk attention, moving quickly between gags and chases, with a light touch that never lingers on anyone's misery for long.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Sword in the Stone1963

Same Disney stable, same medieval English wood, same wobbly-line animation charm — Merlin's chaotic magic lessons have that identical puckish, anti-establishment humour as Robin Hood's archery contest.

But Looser plot, fewer songs that stick, and Merlin's shtick can grate if you're not in the mood for slapstick wizardry.

The Aristocats1970

Made by the same team a few years earlier, it's got that identical laid-back, jazzy, low-stakes Disney charm — animals with personality, gentle peril, a French countryside instead of Sherwood Forest.

But Even thinner plot, and the racial caricature in one musical number has aged badly.

The Jungle Book1967

The animal-voice-cast formula perfected — Baloo and Little John share more than a certain bear-ish laziness, and the songs are stickier, the jungle warmer.

But No real villain-vs-hero swashbuckling; it's more a boy's coming-of-age wander than an outlaw caper.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Robin Hood

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Adventures of Robin Hood1938

Same legend, same corrupt-prince plot, same forest hideout — but told straight, in flesh and blood, by the genre the Disney cartoon is quietly spoofing.

The Technicolor swashbuckler that invented the modern Robin Hood image — Errol Flynn's grin, the real swordfights, the outrageous tights — and it's still thrilling eighty-odd years on.

But No talking animals, no songs, and its swashbuckling earnestness has zero irony — a real tonal jump from cartoon comfort food.

The Fox and the Hound1981

Another Disney fox hero, but this one trades swagger for heartbreak — a gentler, sadder meditation on friendship across species lines that will wreck you quietly.

But Genuinely sad in a way Robin Hood never risks; not one for a rowdy family movie night.

Zootopia2016

Takes the "animals standing in for people" trick and turns it into a slick modern buddy-cop thriller about prejudice and power — same DNA, decades of technical distance.

But Its social commentary is more pointed and less interested in pure escapism; younger kids may find it talkier.

Chicken Run2000

A prison-break caper starring barnyard animals with real wit and stop-motion craft, carrying the same scrappy-underdogs-outwit-the-boss energy, just with hens instead of foxes.

But The claymation look and drier British humour is a different texture entirely — less musical, more Great Escape parody.

Shrek2001

Same fairy-tale-but-make-it-funny instinct, with a hero who's an outsider by design and a kingdom run by someone who really shouldn't be in charge.

But Broader, brasher, stuffed with pop-culture gags that Robin Hood's gentler comedy never reaches for.

The Great Mouse Detective1986

Same studio, same "small creature, big adventure" template, this time filtered through Sherlock Holmes pastiche — briskly plotted and genuinely thrilling for its length.

But Less musical, more mystery-thriller pace; fans of Robin Hood's laid-back tone might find it comparatively tense.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks1971

Made the same year, using some of the same animators, it mixes live action and animation for a wartime English fantasy with the same scrappy charm and half-hearted villainy.

But The live-action/animation blend is uneven, and its wartime setting is a tonal step away from Sherwood's timeless never-never-land.

Watership Down1978

Same trick — animals standing in for people under an oppressive ruler — pushed to its darkest, most serious conclusion instead of played for laughs.

Animated animals again, but here the fable turns properly grim — a warren of rabbits fleeing tyranny and death in a film that's beautiful, unflinching, and genuinely frightening.

But This is not family comfort viewing; it traumatised a generation of British children and doesn't soften a single blow.