Product Details

• Actors: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Geraldine Page, Joe Flynn, Jeanette Nolan
• Directors: Art Stevens, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman
• Writers: Burny Mattinson, David Michener, Dick Sebast, Frank Thomas, Fred Lucky
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, HiFi Sound
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 23, 1999
• Run Time: 77 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305319138
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,703 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What can two little mice possibly do to save an orphan girl who's fallen into evil hands? With a little cooperation and faith in oneself, anything is possible! As members of the mouse-run International Rescue Aid Society, Bernard and Miss Bianca respond to orphan Penny's call for help. The two mice search for clues and, with the help of an old cat named Rufus, track Penny to the clutches of the evil Madame Medusa in a dilapidated ship in Devil's Bayou. It turns out that Medusa is using Penny to locate and retrieve the Devil's Eye Diamond--a stone she'll stop at nothing to possess. With a cunning plan, courageous acts, cooperation from local animal life, and lots of faith, Bernard and Miss Bianca help Penny find the diamond and escape from Medusa. The result of their adventure is that Bernard and Miss Bianca become close friends and Penny gets adopted. This somewhat dark, classic 1977 animated Disney film is based on Margery Sharp's The Rescuers and Miss Bianca, and features the Academy Award-nominated song "Someone's Waiting for You." Voice talents include Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca, Bob Newhart as Bernard, Geraldine Page as Madame Medusa, and Jim Jordan (radio's Fibber McGee) as Orville Albatross. Followed by the sequel The Rescuers Down Under. (Ages 5 to 11) --Tami Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rescue Aid Society Mice Save Orphan!, April 6, 2005

By 

Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rescuers (DVD)

When a little orphan girl falls into the hands of Madame Medusa and sends a message in a bottle, the Rescue Aid Society answers in the form of Bernard (Bob Newhart) and Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor). What can two mice possible do to help the little girl? It turns out they can do a lot.

The movie starts on a reasonably funny note, as the rodent duo hop aboard an albatross to head for the swamps. Albatrosses are incredibly aerodynamic, but they are less then stellar at takeoffs and landings, and Orville the Albatross (Jim Jordan) proves no more adept than his brethren. After a plummet off a building that thrills Miss Bianca and petrifies Bernard, the journey has begun.

In the swamps the duo marshals the other animals to take on Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page), who needs the little orphan Penny (Michelle Stacy) to fit into a hole that leads to a cave. In the cave is located a quantity of jewels, but Madame Medusa is interested only in a huge diamond called the Devil's Eye. The Rescue Society mice and their swampland friends must overcome Madame Medusa and her aids Mr. Snoops (Joe Flynn) and a pair of alligators, who also frequently play babysitter to Penny.

Madame Medusa never realizes that the mice and swamp animals are trying to rescue Penny, which makes this movie more interesting to watch. As happens with many such movies, Madame Medusa's henchmen are cerebrally challenged and the animals are able to plan around them.

The ending of the movie contains a few surprises, and I found the end interesting. This movie also nicely sets up the excellent sequel "The Rescuers Down Under."

The real star of this clever movie is Eva Gabor. Bob Newhart gets top billing, but Eva was perfect for her role and seems to get the best lines in the movie. She is clever, funny and fearless as compared to Bernard's timid character. Only when Miss Bianca is in trouble does Bernard seem to rise to some measure of courage. There were a variety of other notable characters. Evinrude (James MacDonald) the dragonfly was cute and funny. George Lindsey was classic as Deadeye the Rabbit. Other supporting characters gave this movie depth and interest.

The art of this movie is also unusual in that the artist drew some of the characters in a rough style. I am unsure of the reason, but I found the art style to initially be distracting. I eventually became accustomed to the style and no longer noticed it as the movie went on. The music was also notable. A song from this movie was nominated for an Academy Award.

This movie is clever and funny. In places the movie is tense and suspenseful. There are a few places where the alligators are a little bit scary, but I believe this movie should be suitable for all family members in line with the movie's G rating. I would recommend this movie for any collection of family-oriented movies and for those who collect animated movies. Most families will want to see this movie more than once.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Disney Tale!!!, November 19, 2004

By 

Gregory Nyman (Winchendon, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rescuers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is such a heartwarming story of two mice, (the voices of Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor), to set out to rescue little Penny from Madame Medusa on Devil's Bayou, that's it brings sentiment to my eyes when I think of it.

There's wonderful music, and the ensemble cast of the folks in the Bayou is terrific. Then of course there are the two crocodiles who are just as mean and evil as Madame Medusa, and all for what - the Diamond - and Medusa is going to never let Penny see her little Teddy again if she doesn't produce it.

This is classic melodrama for children, although not too heavy handed. It's a nice movie, but maybe a little too intense for the real small kids.

Highly recommended!!!

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated., February 11, 2002

By 

R. Tan (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rescuers (Disney's Masterpiece) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Rescuers is Disney's most underrated work! It was the last great feature film before what became a strings of forgettable works like The Black Cauldron, The Great Detective, Oliver and Company in which the Disney studio was trying to break into new ground but somehow was unable to find the right formula.It wasn't until The Little Mermaid that Disney Studio has reclaimed it's number one position as the world's greatest cartoon creator.Having said that, The Rescuers Down Under- produced after The Little Mermaid - is a thorough disappointment, both in its story and in its style of drawing. This always seems to be the curse of sequels! The Rescuers, however, has all of the Disney's magic! Medusa is possibly one of the greatest of Disney's villains, yet somehow she doesn't catch on as did the others.T he only criticism I would make is the opening of The Rescuers. It seemed that the studio had run out of money when they were doing the opening scene, for all we have is a collage of storybook sketches from an artist's impression.