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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Ellen MacKay

This sequel reprises the dynamic duo of Eva Gabor and Bob Newhart as intrepid mice Miss Bianca and Bernard and places them in the terrific natural landscape of the Australian Outback. When young Cody is kidnapped by a poacher, Bianca and Bernard hop aboard Wilbur the Albatross (voiced by John Candy) and fly off to rescue the boy. In Australia, they team up with an Aussie mouse named Jake to save Cody and stop evil poacher McLeach from selling endangered animals.

Is It Any Good?

4

It is a rare sequel that improves on the original, but THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER does exactly that, this time without any of those lame songs. Disney makes the brave choice of using a decidedly un-cute bird of prey as the focus of its wildlife preservation story--Marahute is a majestic and wonderfully realistic character.

While Cody is impossibly cute and brave, it is really the animals' stories that will interest most youngsters, from the budding romance between Miss Bianca and Bernard to Wilbur's silly antics in a hospital run by mice. And not only are these stories entertaining, they also convey a strong environmental message. The only questionable aspect of this film is its failure to give anyone but Jake an Australian accent--what was Disney thinking? That only Americans live down under? Nonetheless, this is a wonderful looking cartoon that is bound to please.

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