Lots of people swear by this one. They have their excellent reasons, which don’t bring me to agree with them. First, though, what gorgeous colour and design! The exposition and the inciting incident are actually quite involving, menacing, impressive. It seems that maybe they are at Disney going to incorporate some of the darkness and danger that haunts so much folk and fairy literature, and the nursery rhymes too. Not to mention real life.
Then they don’t. “We’re gonna hang ‘em all, we’re gonna hang ‘em all, we don’t know who is guilty so we’re gonna’ hang ‘em all” is actually a pretty great line, but at that point it seems to me that this makes a sharp turn and suddenly becomes busy and straining and too eager to please. There’s some unfunny courtroom stuff, some ill-considered or vague caricature. Mae West? With details? It’s a kids’ film, guys.
Courage and inspiration both run out at the end. Is that it? It was Cupid? I guess it is slightly interesting that Cock Robin is so feyly effeminate.