This is a film that both delighted me and deeply upset me, because it seemed so happy, and yet, so unfair at the same time. The two best friends, the "Fox and the Hound", meet again after they are fully grown adults, or, when they are old enough to face the fact that their friendship was never meant to be. That broke my heart, because it was such a beautiful friendship, unfairly tarnished by a cruel world. If only our world was a happy place, where races and cultures didn't matter, and if only we could recognize those characters as our friends, and not our enemies simply because of our ethnic differences. Years later, Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" brought up that same point with a vengeance. And, like "The Fox and the Hound", it shows how much that beautiful friendship between people won't last because of how society determines our friends and enemies. It makes no sense, and it's unfair. What's more, Tod, the fox, endures more than any other character in the film. Other characters, and especially the hunter, discriminated against him without thinking. And we the audience had to endure seeing him go through this misery, all because he was born a fox! It's insane! Sadly, it's true to life. And that is the main reason it was made for kids, to point out how wonderful a friendship is, and how ridiculous it is to tarnish it because of a racial or ethnic difference! And although this film runs on the standard Disney formula, with the songs, the comic relief, the love interest, and the villain, this film really touched me, because I wanted to see their friendship go on. And although it did go on in some form, there is always that feeling of "he doesn't belong" being uttered by many of the other characters. Why? Well, this film asks children and adults alike, that very question.
