The Rescuers
Director: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Art Stevens
Cast: Eva Gabor, Bob Newhart, Michelle Stacy, John McIntire, Geraldine Page, Joe Flynn, Jim Jordan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, Bernard Fox, James McDonald
When a bottle containing a plea for help finds its way to the Rescue Aid Society, it is up to the brave mouse, Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor), and her chosen partner, the shy janitor, Bernard (Bob Newhart), to rescue a little girl named Penny (Michelle Stacy), who has been abducted by the evil Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page), and her henchman, the bumbling Mr. Snoops. Determined to rescue this lost little girl, Bernard and Miss Bianca journey to the terrifyingly gloomy Devil's Bayou, where they learn the shocking truth: Penny did not run away at all… she was abducted by Madame Medusa and she is being forced to search a dangerous, underground pirate's cave for a rare and valuable diamond, known as the Devil's Eye, because Medusa wants this diamond for her own. Miss Bianca, Bernard, and Penny must escape this madwoman’s clutches, as well as survive the raging tides inside the pirate's cave, if Penny’s wish to be adopted has any hope of coming true.
Faith is a powerful theme in this film, and nowhere is faith more beautifully illustrated, than in the character of Penny, herself and how her unwavering, childlike faith allows Penny and her teddy bear to be rescued and adopted by a loving family.
For Penny, her faith is illustrated in two distinct ways in the story: her hope that one day, she will be adopted and have a family, and in her childlike prayer, that someone will hear her cry for help, and rescue her from Medusa. Penny’s faith is first illustrated when Rufus tells her to have faith, after she confesses to him that she is heartbroken because she was overlooked by the potential families who came to the orphanage on Adoption Day, to adopt the children. One couple had considered adopting Penny, but they chose another little girl, instead. Rufus tells Penny that she is something extra special, and that someday, a family will come looking for a little girl just like her. Rufus helps Penny have faith by teaching her the wise proverb, “Faith is a bluebird you see from afar…it’s for real, and as sure, as the first evening star…can’t touch it, or buy it, or wrap it up tight…but it is there just the same, making things turn out right.” Rufus’s wise words of comfort encouraged Penny, but the next thing he knew, Penny had disappeared. Penny’s faith is shaken when Medusa breaks her promise to Penny; telling her that no family would want to adopt Penny, even if she did return to the orphanage, because she is so homely. Although Penny’s faith is shaken, her heart still clings to her childlike faith when she sees the evening star again, shining over the bayou, and she sees the bluebird and remembers Rufus’s gentle promise. Her faith is restored when she realizes that her cry for help was heard, and Bernard and Bianca come to rescue her from Medusa. Although Penny, much like Rufus, wonders how two little mice can possibly help her escape from this madwoman, that is Medusa, Miss Bianca reassures Penny that if the three of them work together, and have a little faith, they will surely be able to succeed in their plan to rescue Penny. Penny’s faith comes full circle in the end, when she gets her wish, and a loving family comes to adopt her.
The number thirteen plays a symbolic role in this film, with Mr. Bernard, and his superstition that anything having to do with the number thirteen is bad luck, but it seems, in Mr. Bernard’s case, that the number thirteen is more conducive to giving them good luck.
At the beginning of the film, when Bernard is retrieving Penny's note from the bottle, he realizes there are 13 steps on his ladder, and he is concerned, because he feels the mission to rescue Penny is a dangerous one, and he doesn't think that Ms. Bianca should go on the mission alone, but this is turned to good luck, at least for Miss Bianca, when she is chosen to rescue Penny, and she chooses Bernard to be her co-agent and help her rescue this lost little girl and bring her home. While the police have given up searching for Penny, the two little Rescuers are determined to find her, and indeed, their persistence pays off, when they interview Rufus, the cat who befriended Penny at Morningside Orphanage, and he gives them a bead on where to find Madame Medusa’s pawnshop… which then leads the mice to the Devil’s Bayou, in the murky swamps of Louisiana, where Penny is being held, after they discover Penny’s schoolbook at the pawnshop and overhear Medusa and Snoops talking about Penny. Bernard’s superstitious nature is shown again, when he sees that the flight number for their flight to Devil’s Bayou is 13, and he realizes there are 13 steps on the thing they use to climb onto Orville's back. Although the flight schedule says they have missed the flight, luck favors them, once again, because they do connect with Orville the Albatross, who agrees to fly them to Devil’s Bayou. When Bernard shows concern about the number of steps on the ramp, an amused Miss Bianca suggests that he jump the last step. In this moment, Bernard is scared to fly on Orville and wants to play it safer by taking the train. Although they have a rough takeoff, and they are blasted out of the sky by Medusa’s fireworks when they arrive at the Devil’s Bayou, on the outskirts of New Orleans, Louisiana, they still manage to arrive in one piece, and good luck has found them immediately, because they meet a muskrat named Ellie Mae, and her husband, Luke, who offer to help them rescue Penny from Medusa. They even locate Penny immediately, when she is captured by Brutus and Nero, and they follow her back to the riverboat where Medusa has been keeping her. In the end, Bernard seems to break this unlucky connection with the number 13, when he and Ms. Bianca embark on another mission to rescue another child who is in trouble…and their mission begins on Friday the 13th. This day is usually known as being a very unlucky day, indeed, however this time, we see that it is on Friday the 13th that Penny’s prayers are finally answered… not only has she been rescued from the terrible Medusa, but she has also brought home the world’s largest diamond, the Devil’s Eye, and it is now on prominent display at the Smithsonian Institute. Better still, Penny and she and Rufus are being adopted by a new family, and she gets to go home with them. This day is also significant because it represents the conclusion of Bernard’s first successful case with Miss Bianca and this number has brought the two of them together.
While not my favorite Disney film, The Rescuers is still a very worthy addition to Disney's animated collection. The animation is absolutely stunning, the casting is stellar, particularly for Eva Gabor who voices the beautiful and elegant Ms. Bianca, and Geraldine Page, who voices the notorious Madame Medusa (who is, in my opinion, one of Disney’s greatest female villains, among their many.) The songs are very catchy and the story, while not a fairy-tale like so many Disney films, is very heartfelt and beautiful. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2025 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved
Director: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Art Stevens
Cast: Eva Gabor, Bob Newhart, Michelle Stacy, John McIntire, Geraldine Page, Joe Flynn, Jim Jordan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, Bernard Fox, James McDonald
When a bottle containing a plea for help finds its way to the Rescue Aid Society, it is up to the brave mouse, Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor), and her chosen partner, the shy janitor, Bernard (Bob Newhart), to rescue a little girl named Penny (Michelle Stacy), who has been abducted by the evil Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page), and her henchman, the bumbling Mr. Snoops. Determined to rescue this lost little girl, Bernard and Miss Bianca journey to the terrifyingly gloomy Devil's Bayou, where they learn the shocking truth: Penny did not run away at all… she was abducted by Madame Medusa and she is being forced to search a dangerous, underground pirate's cave for a rare and valuable diamond, known as the Devil's Eye, because Medusa wants this diamond for her own. Miss Bianca, Bernard, and Penny must escape this madwoman’s clutches, as well as survive the raging tides inside the pirate's cave, if Penny’s wish to be adopted has any hope of coming true.
Faith is a powerful theme in this film, and nowhere is faith more beautifully illustrated, than in the character of Penny, herself and how her unwavering, childlike faith allows Penny and her teddy bear to be rescued and adopted by a loving family.
For Penny, her faith is illustrated in two distinct ways in the story: her hope that one day, she will be adopted and have a family, and in her childlike prayer, that someone will hear her cry for help, and rescue her from Medusa. Penny’s faith is first illustrated when Rufus tells her to have faith, after she confesses to him that she is heartbroken because she was overlooked by the potential families who came to the orphanage on Adoption Day, to adopt the children. One couple had considered adopting Penny, but they chose another little girl, instead. Rufus tells Penny that she is something extra special, and that someday, a family will come looking for a little girl just like her. Rufus helps Penny have faith by teaching her the wise proverb, “Faith is a bluebird you see from afar…it’s for real, and as sure, as the first evening star…can’t touch it, or buy it, or wrap it up tight…but it is there just the same, making things turn out right.” Rufus’s wise words of comfort encouraged Penny, but the next thing he knew, Penny had disappeared. Penny’s faith is shaken when Medusa breaks her promise to Penny; telling her that no family would want to adopt Penny, even if she did return to the orphanage, because she is so homely. Although Penny’s faith is shaken, her heart still clings to her childlike faith when she sees the evening star again, shining over the bayou, and she sees the bluebird and remembers Rufus’s gentle promise. Her faith is restored when she realizes that her cry for help was heard, and Bernard and Bianca come to rescue her from Medusa. Although Penny, much like Rufus, wonders how two little mice can possibly help her escape from this madwoman, that is Medusa, Miss Bianca reassures Penny that if the three of them work together, and have a little faith, they will surely be able to succeed in their plan to rescue Penny. Penny’s faith comes full circle in the end, when she gets her wish, and a loving family comes to adopt her.
The number thirteen plays a symbolic role in this film, with Mr. Bernard, and his superstition that anything having to do with the number thirteen is bad luck, but it seems, in Mr. Bernard’s case, that the number thirteen is more conducive to giving them good luck.
At the beginning of the film, when Bernard is retrieving Penny's note from the bottle, he realizes there are 13 steps on his ladder, and he is concerned, because he feels the mission to rescue Penny is a dangerous one, and he doesn't think that Ms. Bianca should go on the mission alone, but this is turned to good luck, at least for Miss Bianca, when she is chosen to rescue Penny, and she chooses Bernard to be her co-agent and help her rescue this lost little girl and bring her home. While the police have given up searching for Penny, the two little Rescuers are determined to find her, and indeed, their persistence pays off, when they interview Rufus, the cat who befriended Penny at Morningside Orphanage, and he gives them a bead on where to find Madame Medusa’s pawnshop… which then leads the mice to the Devil’s Bayou, in the murky swamps of Louisiana, where Penny is being held, after they discover Penny’s schoolbook at the pawnshop and overhear Medusa and Snoops talking about Penny. Bernard’s superstitious nature is shown again, when he sees that the flight number for their flight to Devil’s Bayou is 13, and he realizes there are 13 steps on the thing they use to climb onto Orville's back. Although the flight schedule says they have missed the flight, luck favors them, once again, because they do connect with Orville the Albatross, who agrees to fly them to Devil’s Bayou. When Bernard shows concern about the number of steps on the ramp, an amused Miss Bianca suggests that he jump the last step. In this moment, Bernard is scared to fly on Orville and wants to play it safer by taking the train. Although they have a rough takeoff, and they are blasted out of the sky by Medusa’s fireworks when they arrive at the Devil’s Bayou, on the outskirts of New Orleans, Louisiana, they still manage to arrive in one piece, and good luck has found them immediately, because they meet a muskrat named Ellie Mae, and her husband, Luke, who offer to help them rescue Penny from Medusa. They even locate Penny immediately, when she is captured by Brutus and Nero, and they follow her back to the riverboat where Medusa has been keeping her. In the end, Bernard seems to break this unlucky connection with the number 13, when he and Ms. Bianca embark on another mission to rescue another child who is in trouble…and their mission begins on Friday the 13th. This day is usually known as being a very unlucky day, indeed, however this time, we see that it is on Friday the 13th that Penny’s prayers are finally answered… not only has she been rescued from the terrible Medusa, but she has also brought home the world’s largest diamond, the Devil’s Eye, and it is now on prominent display at the Smithsonian Institute. Better still, Penny and she and Rufus are being adopted by a new family, and she gets to go home with them. This day is also significant because it represents the conclusion of Bernard’s first successful case with Miss Bianca and this number has brought the two of them together.
While not my favorite Disney film, The Rescuers is still a very worthy addition to Disney's animated collection. The animation is absolutely stunning, the casting is stellar, particularly for Eva Gabor who voices the beautiful and elegant Ms. Bianca, and Geraldine Page, who voices the notorious Madame Medusa (who is, in my opinion, one of Disney’s greatest female villains, among their many.) The songs are very catchy and the story, while not a fairy-tale like so many Disney films, is very heartfelt and beautiful. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2025 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved