THE RESCUERS Opening "Gallery"

As the movie THE RESCUERS opens, we see what appears to be an old showboat, broken-down and barely adrift.

Little Penny, the kidnapped heroine of the story, scrawls a plea for help on a piece of paper, stuffs it in a bottle, and sets it adrift in hope someone will find it and rescue her. This scenario takes place here:


For THE RESCUERS opening credits, the Disney artists cleverly chose to use a series of paintings of the bottle making its way to "The Rescuers," through lightning storms and tempestuous waves.

There is great storytelling in these paintings. Using camera zooms as well as simple held shots, these magnificent paintings suggest great hope - if even a little bottle can find its way, so too will someone who will help.

Wonderful art!

TOOT, WHISTLE, PLUNK and BOOM (1953)

Disney went modern with a vengeance in "TOOT, WHISTLE, PLUNK and BOOM." Ward Kimball's hand is all over this one!

I hope one day thsi film gets a good restoration, and a high definition DVD release. In the meantime, these digitally recreated artworks are from the best source material currently available.

First up, the opening credits background art.

Now, the opening credits background art with credits (overlay).

more credits...


This is the background art for the title card...

Professor Owl's classroom:

The musical instruments:

Professor Owl's classroom with the instruments on his desk:

More incredibly stylish and stylized classroom B/G art:



A fifties moderne depiction of ancient Egypt!

I could have digitally erased Professor Owl, but this pose was irresistible!

The ultra stylized marquee:

The audience!

The doors to the concert hall:

Finally, the amazing theatre:

Bravissima!

More from MULAN

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China, wonderful use of perspective

A desktop:

Mulan's room:

Interior of Mulan's home:

A glimpse of Mulan's gardens. I was able to digitally remove Mulan, running down the stairs, but Father stood firm!

MULAN (Disney,1998)

Digitally reconstructed backgounds of the "Stone Dragon" from MULAN: