History Trivia / TheRescuersDownUnder

* FakeNationality: Norwegian child actor Adam Ryen was the voice of Cody in both the Norwegian and English versions.

* FranchiseKiller: A third film was tentatively planned, but abandoned after ''Down Under''... [[JustForPun er]], ''under''performed. [[AuthorExistenceFailure Eva Gabor's death in 1995]] closed the book on the idea for good.

* BoxOfficeBomb: The movie only grossed $5 million in its opening weekend due to Fox's ''Home Alone'' opening the same day, which led Jeffrey Katzenberg to believe the film was going to bomb. Katzenberg promptly ended all advertising for the movie but reassured the producers to try again. The movie fell $10 million short of its $38 million budget.

* DuelingMovies: A losing battle with the box office juggernaut ''Film/HomeAlone'' (which, incidentally, also featured Creator/JohnCandy in a minor role). As mentioned above, Jeff Jatzenberg basically forfeited the duel by pulling any and all advertising for ''Down Under'' when it was clear that they were going to lose.[[note]]This wouldn't even be the first "kid empowerment" film that Disney would lose to in 1990, as ''WesternAnimation/DucktalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' had been beat out at the box office by ''Film/ProblemChild'' a few months earlier. Tellingly, both Disney movies received better critical reception than the film they were pitted against.[[/note]]

* [[AuthorExistenceFailure Actor Existence Failure]]: Orville’s actor Jim Jordan passed away at 91 right when casting for this film was getting started. Thus, the film gets to complete the Wright Brothers gag with John Candy as his brother Wilbur, though TheCharacterDiedWithHim is avoided as Orville is apparently just retired.

* KeepCirculatingtheTapes: There were rumors that a third copy of the 1991 VHS release by Walt Disney Home Video existed[[note]]it featured a preview of Robin Hood and the 1991 Feature Presentation bumper[[/note]]. To this day, it has never ever surfaced the internet.

* DuelingMovies: A losing battle with the box office juggernaut ''Film/HomeAlone'' (which, incidentally, also featured Creator/JohnCandy in a minor role). As mentioned above, Jeff Jatzenberg basically forfeited the duel by pulling any and all advertising for ''Down Under'' when it was clear that they were going to lose.[[note]]Interestingly, this wouldn't even be the first "kid empowerment" film that Disney would lose to in 1990, as ''WesternAnimation/DucktalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' had been beat out at the box office by the critically panned ''Film/ProblemChild'' a few months earlier.[[/note]]

* FranchiseKiller: The second film underperforming in theaters, combined with [[AuthorExistenceFailure the deaths of Eva Gabor and John Candy]], put the kibosh on any additional ''Rescuers'' sequels.
* GenreKiller: The film's failure, which coincided with the runaway success of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'' a year earlier, convinced Disney to literally figuratively put all their money exclusively on blockbuster musicals for the rest of the decade. They wouldn't produce another non-musical until 2000's ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' and wouldn't attempt action films again until 2001's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.

* DuelingMovies: ''The Rescuers Down Under'' dueled ''Home Alone'', and lost, thwarting an attempt at a Disney action film for years, guaranteeing Disney would go the musical route with their films (which became a problem when ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' opened), and also allowing the "smart child" trend to continue (this was the second "smart child" film in 1990 that Disney lost to, the other being ''Film/ProblemChild'', which defeated ''WesternAnimation/DucktalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' in spite of being critically reviled.)

* FollowTheLeader: [=McLeach=]'s role led to a further increase of the Evil Hunter archetype, such as [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Clayton]], [[WesternANimation/WallaceAndGromit Lord Victor Quartermaine]], and [[Literature/TheLittleVampire Rookery]]. The last two are especially notable as the films they're from aren't even made by Disney.

* GenreKiller: Disney waited until 2000 before doing any more Animated Classics with no singing (''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' was the next film to have no songs, and it was followed by ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'').

* FranchiseKiller: The second film underperforming in theaters, combined with [[AuthorExistenceFailure Eva Gabor's death]], put the kibosh on any additional ''Rescuers'' sequels.

* BoxOfficeBomb: The movie only grossed $5 million in its opening weekend due to Fox's ''Home Alone'' opening the same day, which led Jeffrey Katzenberg to believe the film was going to bomb. Katzenberg promptly ended all advertising for the movie, but reassured the producers to try again. The movie fell $10 million short of its $38 million budget.

* OldShame: Outside of releasing the film to video and TV, and considering it as part of the Disney Animated Canon, the studio practically refused to acknowledge ''Down Under'''s existence for years to come after the movie bombed at the box office. You'd be forgiven if you didn't know that Disney did an animated film in between ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.

* RoleReprisal: Both Creator/BobNewhart and Creator/EvaGabor (in her final film role) returned to voice Bernard and Miss Bianca, and also Bernard Fox returns as the Rescue Aid Society Chairmouse.

* FollowTheLeader: [=McLeach=]'s role led to a further increase of the Evil Hunter archetype, such as [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]], [[Disney/{{Tarzan}} Clayton]], [[WesternANimation/WallaceAndGromit Lord Victor Quartermaine]], and [[Literature/TheLittleVampire Rookery]]. The last two are especially notable as the films they're from aren't even made by Disney.

* GenreKiller: Disney waited until 2000 before doing any more Animated Classics with no singing (''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'' was the next film to have no songs, and it was followed by ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'').

* OldShame: Outside of releasing the film to video and TV, and considering it as part of the Disney Animated Canon, the studio practically refused to acknowledge ''Down Under'''s existence for years to come after the movie bombed at the box office. You'd be forgiven if you didn't know that Disney did an animated film in between ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.

* ShownTheirWork: Despite Wilbur being the main focus on-screen for the final scene; the animators put the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross Constellation in the sky.

* CrossDressingVoices: Creator/FrankWelker voices the female eagle Marahute and [=McLeach=]'s lizard, Joanna. (It's less surprising that the actor is a man than it is that the actor is ''human''.)

** Judging from [[http://www.artstormfineart.com/Disney/2-17-2013/rd0004.jpg early storyboard sketches]], Wilber was originally going to wear a jacket, instead of a scarf.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Percival [=McLeach=] is a ruthless poacher who was willing to add a young boy to his collection in order to track down the golden eagle and her eggs. In real life, his actor, Creator/GeorgeCScott, was an animal lover.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Percival [=McLeach=] is a ruthless poacher who was willing to add a young boy to his collection in order to track down the golden eagle and her eggs. In real life, his actor, George C. Scott, was an animal lover.

* OldShame: Outside of releasing the film to video and TV, and considering it as part of the Disney Animated Canon, the studio practically refused to acknowledge ''Down Under'''s existence for years to come after the movie bombed at the box office. You'd be forgiven if you didn't know that Disney did an animated film inbetween ''The Little Mermaid'' and ''Beauty and the Beast''.

* StillbornFranchise: The second film underperforming in theaters, combined with Eva Gabor's death, put the kibosh on any additional ''Rescuers'' sequels.

** Creator/DanAykroyd, Creator/SteveMartin and Creator/JamesBelushi were considered for the role of Wilbur, while Creator/MandyPatinkin was one of the original choices for [=McLeech=].

** [[http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-rescuers-down-under/39174/the-rescuers-down-under-the-lost-film-of-the-disney-renaissance According to this article,]] Cody was originally meant to be Aboriginal Australian, but [[ExecutiveMeddling Katzenberg insisted Cody be a white kid]] to make the film more "commercial".

* StillbornFranchise: The second film underperforming in theaters, combined with Eva Gabor's death, put the kibosh on any additional ''Rescuers'' sequels; ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is still the only sequel to be part of the DisneyAnimatedCanon for several decades (compared to the other departments of Disney; it's also one of two sequels produced under Jeffrey Katzenberg's watch, the other being ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} The Return of Jafar]]'', and both of these were better received than the {{Sequelitis}} prone movies that followed his exit).

* GenreKiller: It would take another quarter-century past ''The Rescuers Down Under'' for Disney to even announce another sequel that would be a Disney Animated Classic rather than a Disney Television Animation or [=DisneyToon=] project (''Disney/WreckItRalph'' was formally announced to have a sequel that will be made by Disney Animation on the back of the box office and Blu-ray release of ''Wreck-It Ralph's'' director Rich Moore's ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}''; the follow-up to ''Wreck-It Ralph'', ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', is also expected to have a sequel). They also waited until 2000 before doing any more Disney Animated Classics that have no singing (''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'' was the next film to have no songs, and it was followed by ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'').