Best movie of this year hands down!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The Rescuers (1977): Dir: Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery, Art Stevens / Voices: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Geraldine Page, Joe Flynn, Michelle Stacy: Disney animation about small factors making a big difference. The heroes are rodents who tackle larger than life challenges and they have just received bottled messages from a kidnapped orphan named Penny held by the evil Madam Medusa. Of these mice there is the humble and resourceful Bernard and the charming Bianca. They are assisted by Orville the wise-cracking Albatross who flies them to the everglades where Penny is being held. Meduca is searching for the biggest diamond in the world and using Penny to find it. Adventurous plot with dazzling images that only goes astray during its chaotic climax. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor voice Bernard and Bianca who lead the mission and take a variety of risks. Geraldine Page voices Madam Meduca as an intimidating villain. Penny seems unsympathetic though. Other voices include Joe Flynn voicing Meduca's standard henchman who ends up the product of deception. Michelle Stacy voices that dimwit Penny who sabotages more of the film than not. Fine directing by Wolfgang Reitherman and John Lounsbery with colourful animated spectacular. Entertaining Disney adventure that renders a bold statement about the fact that size does count, even if it isn't very big. Score: 7 ½ / 10

Two mice of the Rescue Aid Society (Eva Gabor and Bob Newhart) search for a little girl kidnapped by unscrupulous treasure hunters.Looking back now (2014), this film's biggest weakness is in its music. The style is very much a product of the 1970s and may not necessarily play well to today's audiences. (Other films of the era, such as "The Last Unicorn", have a similar problem.) Prior to "The Little Mermaid" in 1989, this was the last great Disney film. The use of Gabor, Pat Buttram and George Lindsey (all of whom were in "The AristoCats") was a good choice, and the animation holds up well. Some have called it "sketchy", but this seems unfair. It works for what it is and moves the plot forward just fine. We can even see the precursor of Ursula in Medusa's hair, not to mention the gators' similarity to Flotsam and Jetsam.

The Rescuers is a very cute animated adventure film - it is good to watch if you like any of the classic animated movies from Disney. But I will have to say that I was never that big of a fan of this animation - even as a 5 year old kid.The story is fairly good but I did not find the characters that alluring or appealing as I did with most other Walt Disney toons. To me, The Rescuers are not all that funny nor memorable (I did get a few laughs out of the film - just not that many). I realize that this movie is a crime film but so is 101 Dalmatians. Cruella De Vil was funny with her anger and vicious ways.Anyway, if you liked The Rescuers then try similar films like "101 Dalmatians", "The Fox and the Hound" or "Lady and the Tramp".7/10

"The Rescuers" is the sort of movie that I watch to heckle like on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". When they show the UN building at the beginning I said "John Bolton's not gonna like that!" I ended up not heckling most of it, just since I couldn't come up with anything. I assume that this was the first animated feature to have the voices of really notable people in the lead roles. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor remain best know for their roles on sitcoms, although I prefer to think of Newhart's roles in "Catch-22" and "In & Out". As for Gabor, it ate at me that her character is named Bianca. Anyone who knows anything about Hungary or its language knows that Bianca can't be a given name in the Magyar Republic. Examples of authentic Hungarian feminine names are Dorottya, Erzsébet and Piroska. Other transparently obvious goofs include Latvia's seat at the Rescue Society: Latvia was part of the Soviet Union at the time.Anyway, it's probably a movie that the little ones will like.