It warrants some explaining. I'm not exactly sure when, but sometime in the 80s, Disney published a stage play for middle/elementary school students based on the film. It so happens that my father once directed this production. To that end, he obtained an LP which featured recordings made especially for the production, so that the children could learn the songs and sing along.

My dad no longer has this LP. But he did make a cassette copy, which I recently found rotting in our family's basement. I was thrilled ... not by the songs (which are belted out gracelessly by a roomfull of tykes) or by the musical arrangements (which are heavily dated and far from the film) but by the inclusion of a terrific OVERTURE!

Now, as you may recall, the film had no proper overture; the characters bustled about the screen to the original cue "Whistle Stop." Therefore, this overture is unique ... very obscure, and probably (though possibly) not even considered for the Classic Soundtrack Series release.

With that in mind, I cleaned the cassette, ran the audio into my computer, and created a high-quality .mp3. Given the fact that this is an .mp3 taken from a .wav file taken from an ancient cassette tape made from a used LP, it sounds as good as can be expected ... that is to say, wretched by today's mastering standards, but still fairly listenable. Besides, you don't mind stale bread when you're starving.

So, I assume, John & guys, that you are talking about the animated ROBIN HOOD from 1973, and not Disney's earlier live action version of the tale (from 1952) - I took a listen to the sound clip and although it is fresh and fun, it really doesn't sound anything associated with the animated version... sorry.

I have never liked the '73 ROBIN HOOD as a film - in my honest opinion it doesn't earn its Disney "Classic" title - BUT, it did have a splendid musical direction and score by George Bruns, as with 1963 THE SWORD IN THE STONE, 1967 THE JUNGLE BOOK, and even 1970 THE ARISTOCATS. So, as with the recent John Williams, I have a love/hate relationship also with this '73 ROBIN HOOD, because I would like to see a proper soundtrack release of the entire score, although the film itself is just an annoying piece of copied scenes and characters from earlier Disney Classics.

Nevertheless,
John - THANK YOU for the sound clip;
I wouldn't mind hearing also some of those songs performed by the roomfull of tykes (- at least, children's performances are always SINCERE)

and I don't think Disney made a robin hood live action film...I can't seem to remember on, and the imdb doesn't list one for 1952...

thanks for the track wedge!

Disney's live action THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN (1952) followed the live action motion picture TREASURE ISLAND (1950). Richard Todd starred as the title character. The film also featured a minstrel called Allan-a-Dale (singing the story as a ballad), so this light-hearted (and somewhat forgotten) adventure/comedy was in fact the predecessor of the animated version.

The film really does exist - I have it on video (but true, it's kinda forgettable film).

I belong to the other camp loving the "more serious" "human animation" side of Disney Classics - such as SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, THE LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, POCAHONTAS, and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (and surprisesurprise, even HERCULES) - in these "Classics" the animal characters are only supporting characters and the storylines are not as "light" and purely comedic as in the other camp's favorite movies (although BAMBI is far from being anything "light"). Unfortunately my camp loathes 1) ROBIN HOOD for the most obvious reasons; 2) MULAN because the movie had great difficulties in pleasing everybody in the audience, plus the characters were terribly animated; 3) THE LION KING, only because "everybody loved it".

ALADDIN is a more complicated case, because Aladdin, Abu, the Genie, and Jasmine (and even the Magic Carpet) were beautifully drawn and they had deep personalities, but Jafar and the rest of the characters were incredibly shallow (both on paper and as personalities) - it was all downhill from here in Disney Villains' development (except Frollo in HUNCHBACK) - and ALADDIN's screenplay is quite a conflict - but nevertheless ALADDIN is not anything as bad as MULAN or ROBIN HOOD.

Such a case.
And basically, again, a matter of tastes.

SNOW WHITE really is the MOST intense Disney movie because during those times "the studio" didn't need to "pull the strings" to get money - SNOW WHITE is the most purest example of Walt Disney's great understanding for not underestimating the child audience, and a perfect example of compact storytelling not forgetting the dramatics and humour.

It was funny to notice that over half century went by before The Disney Company dared to advertise SNOW WHITE as "The Scariest of Them All" - a title which it really deserves. (And if you don't believe me, just buy the splendid DVD and enjoy - the DVD itself begins quite dramatically, scaring every toddler away from the TV screen).

"No special characterse exclusively created for comic relief, for example."

Unfortunately I have to disagree completely on this with you, Marian. In ROBIN HOOD there isn't in my opinion a single SERIOUS character - all of them seem to have been created FOR comic relief (except Robin and Maid Marian). Prince John and Sir Hiss are some of the very first ancestors for "Baddies created ONLY FOR COMIC relief" - a thing that gets only worser and worser with each animated movie coming from Hollywood or anywhere else. I'd love to see such a pure Villain coming back as SNOW WHITE's Evil Queen/The Witch - there's a character with some extra-ordinary character

You indeed have a point there, Marian.

******

As one regular, wise member of these boards admitted in another thread
about MOULIN ROUGE being too over-the-top, thus making the tragic parts
"not believable", I have a similar kind of problem with '73 ROBIN HOOD.
When all of a sudden the film turns out to be dramatic after about 40 mins
of bustlings about, I can't unfortunately "buy it" - it seems just too
obvious attempt of "manipulating the audience". In these Disney
Classic favorites of mine the tragic & dramatic qualities are
always PRESENT f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g , thus making the stories
more "real" and accessable (at least for me).