The Rescuers Down Under Review

Rescuers Down Under, The

by William Thomas |
Published on
Release Date:

27 Nov 1991

Running Time:

77 minutes

Certificate:

U

Original Title:

Rescuers Down Under, The

The continuing adventures of that kind of freelance, furry SAS - ie: they're mice that turn up places and rescue people. This time round, their international network turns up an unfortunate Australian lad, held captive by a suitably nefarious rare species poacher (complete with Disney regulation cringing reptile sidekick) who wants the boy to lead him to the nest of a giant eagle. An intrepid, but far-from-dynamic couple (they're middle-aged, genteel and his biggest worry is finding the right moment to propose to her) are despatched to bring the villians to book and from then on it's par for the course: light comedy from the cast of humanised animals; ingenious applications of everyday objects; a few moments of darkly-shadowed terror; and an edge of seat ultimately happy ending.

The voice (and the well-known character) of John Candy as the bumbling, big band-loving, big-hearted albatross is a bonus for accompanying adults, but that's about as far as multi-targetting goes and the Australian angle is confined to a few sillhouettes of Ayers Rock and a sprinkling of "G'days". A worthy diversion for the very young, but against their more venerable stablemates - notably DuckTales - The Rescuers's identification/memorableness factor remains second division.

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