"No, no, no, no!"
If you're at all familiar with Wolfgang Reitherman and his previous work, don't be surprised if you find yourself laughing hysterically at this movie.
- Robin takes issue with Little John's description of their activities:Robin: Rob? Tsk tsk, that's such a naughty word. We never rob, we just... borrow a bit from those who can afford it.Little John: Borrow?! Boy, are we in debt.
- The banter of Prince John and Sir Hiss.John: One more hiss out of you, and you are walking to Nottingham.
Sir Hiss: (under his breath) Snakes don't walk, they slither. So there.- Also, the visual gag after that line, when Sir Hiss folds his coils under his head so that they look like sulkily folded arms.
- Nearly every scene involving Prince John. Such as when Sir Hiss mentions John's mother:John: Mother always did like Richard best. (grabs his ear and begins sucking his thumb)
Hiss: Your Highness, please don't do that, if you don't mind me saying so.
(John ignores him and continues sucking his thumb)
Hiss: You see, you have a very loud thumb.
(John still ignores and continues sucking his thumb)- The knowledge of what a formidable queen his mother was historically, and that he really was her Unfavorite, makes the running gag of his mommy issues even funnier.
- There’s always a good deal of irony when a character (usually The Sheriff) brags that they could see through any of Robin Hood’s disguises… as they’re being fooled by one such disguise.
- The "fortunetelling" robbery:
- Sir Hiss tries to inform Prince John that the “fortune tellers” were stealing his jewelry, only for Prince John to be annoyed that Sir Hiss’s tongue was getting in his ear and finally grabbing Hiss, putting a knot in the snake’s body, dumping Hiss into a basket, sitting on top of it to prevent Hiss from getting out of it!
- Little John’s facial expressions when Robin says that Prince John has a “lovable … a cuddly face.”
- Prince John interrupts Robin's pretend fortune-telling: "I know my name! GET ON WITH IT!"
- When Robin hands the bag of coins over to Little John, the latter decides to steal the hubcaps to Prince John's carriage. Afterwards, he finds a treasure chest, grabs a knife and proceeds to screw a hole into the chest and pours all the gold into his bosom.
- Made even funnier when, after Little John steals the hubcaps and coins in question, one of the rhino guards mistakes him for a Big Beautiful Woman and lets out a Wolf Whistle. The scene in question needs to be seen to be believed.
- Then there’s what happens when Prince John finally realizes that what he thought were female fortunetellers were actually bandits (to be specific, Robin Hood and Little John) who just robbed him and left him in his underwear!Prince John: Robbed! I’ve been robbed! Hiss! You’re never around when I need you![Sir Hiss comes out of the basket where Prince John had stuffed him in after trying to warn the Prince that the so-called fortune tellers were stealing the jewels from his rings]Prince John: [coughs awkwardly] I’ve been robbed.Hiss: Of course you’ve been robbed!
- The aftermath of Robin Hood and Little John robbing Prince John. Dear God. After Prince John's carriage breaks, he throws a tantrum while yelling, "No, no, no, no!" (as seen on the page image), leading to this hilarious exchange.Sir Hiss: I knew it. I knew it! I just knew this would happen! I tried to warn you, but, no, no, no, you wouldn't listen. You just had to...(Prince John scowls)Sir Hiss: [flinching away in fear] Ah! Ah! Ahh!!(Prince John angrily pulls out a mirror so he can smash it over Sir Hiss' head)Sir Hiss: Seven years bad-(Prince John smashes the mirror over Sir Hiss' head) Oh! ...luck. That's what it is. Besides, you broke your mother's mirror.Prince John: [whimpering] Mommy! [begins sucking his thumb, then looks at it] I've got a dirty thumb.
- Extra funny is that Little John didn't steal the hubcaps so the wheels would come off the carriage; he stole them because they were made of solid gold! It just happened to have a very fortuitous result for him and Robin Hood — and a hilarious one for the viewers.
- The whole bit with Skippy and his friends sneaking into the castle to get his lost arrow, spying on Lady Kluck ("As your lady-in-waiting—I'm waiting!") and Maid Marian (very amused by Lady Kluck's attempts to get the shuttlecock out of her bodice), and culminating in Skippy's pretend duel with Kluck as Prince John. Her over-the-top villainy, melodramatic "death scene", and spot-on impression of the Momma's Boy is absolutely hilarious. Honorable mention goes to "dead" Kluck whispering to Skippy to take his lady fair to Sherwood Forest, followed by Skippy dragging Marian into the bushes calling her "lady fair" ("Oh Robin, you're so impetuous!") and, when he won't give a kiss to her, Marian kissing him (on the cheek of course).
- Another case is with Tagalong, who struggles to run fast with her siblings when they head towards the castle. Even their friend Toby (who is a young turtle himself) is more faster than Tagalong as he was able to keep up with Skippy and Sis.
Tagalong: [seeing Sis and Toby running too fast] Hey, you guys, not so fast!! Wait for me!! - Robin is sad that he can't be with Marian:Robin: What have I got to offer her?
Little John: Well, for one thing, you can't cook.- A little later on when Friar Tuck arrives:Friar Tuck: Oh, for heaven's sake, son! You're no outlaw! Why, someday you'll be called a great hero!
Robin: A hero? Did you hear that, Johnny? We've just been pardoned!
Little John: Oh, that's a gas! We ain't even been arrested yet!
Friar Tuck: Alright, laugh you two rogues, but there's going to be a big to-do in Nottingham. [tastes some of Robin's overcooked stew and coughs smoke rings, eyes watering when he stops] Well done, ain't it?- And he STILL continues to eat it.
- In the Finnish dub when Friar Tuck tastes the overcooked stew he just exclaims "Good!".
- A little later on when Friar Tuck arrives:
- The tournament:
- The way Little John in disguise introduces himself as 'Sir Reginald, Duke of Chutney' to Prince John. He's basically being as big a ham as the prince can be, and milking it for all it's worth.Little John: Ah, milord! My esteemed royal sovereign of the realm. [a la Humphrey Bogart] You're beautiful.
Prince John: He has style, eh, Hiss?
Little John: You took the words right out of my mouth, PJ!
Prince John: "PJ"! I like that! Do you know I do? Hiss, put it on my luggage!
Sir Hiss: And who might you be, sssssir? [leaves his forked tongue out after last syllable]
Little John: I am Sir Reginald, Duke of Chutney. And don't stick your tongue out at me, kid. (takes Hiss's hat and shoves it over his mouth) - Robin talking to the sheriff before the tournament while Robin's disguised as the stork:Sheriff: Listen, scissor-bill, if you can shoot half as good as you blabbermouth, you're better'n Robin Hood!
Robin: "Robin Hood," he says! Wowee! I'm tiptop, alright, but I'm not as good as he is. [casually shoots a perfect bullseye]
- The way Little John in disguise introduces himself as 'Sir Reginald, Duke of Chutney' to Prince John. He's basically being as big a ham as the prince can be, and milking it for all it's worth.
- Prince John catches Robin for once:
- Robin’s reaction to Prince John destroying his disguise and revealing him to the crowd. It’s brief, but he just has this dumbfounded expression. It’s almost as if he’s thinking “WHAT?! But how?!”
- When the Nottingham citizens shout out their loyalties to King Richard:
- Bonus funny points in that John literally starts jumping up and down and shaking his fists like a child throwing a tantrum.
- After Prince John sentences Robin Hood to death:Little John: (with a knife to Prince John's back) Now tell the sheriff to release my buddy or I'll...
Prince John: Sheriff! Release my buddy—ahh... I mean, release the prisoner! - The Sheriff is understandably confused, so Prince John has to repeat the order:Prince John: Sheriff, I make the rules, and since I'm head man... (sotto voce, to Little John, who is threatening him with a dagger) ...not so hard, you mean thing!... [Little John thrusts the dagger in deeper] ...LET HIM GO, FOR HEAVEN SAKES! LET! HIM! GO!
- And when the sheriff gets wise and discovers Little John, Little John smoothly ducks his attack and nails him with a beautiful uppercut.
- The skirmish after the tournament:
- Robin and Marian strolling through the fight planning their wedding, their honeymoon, and other aspects of their future together. Robin never sounds stressed or nervous, even while taking on three or four attackers at once, and Marian is positively giddy the entire time.
- Heck, the ENTIRE fight/chase scene.Little John: Hey, who's driving this flying umbrella?!?
- When Little John says that, we see everyone running in between the tents, and a few seconds later, it happens again, this time with the sheriff getting chased by the "flying umbrella."
- When Captain Crocodile, after a brief skirmish with Robin, tries to get everyone's attention, the 'flying umbrella' tramples him!
Captain Crocodile: Attention, everyone! [SPLAT!]- The "flying umbrella" finally catches up to the Sheriff, scooping him up into Prince John's throne, (which they all crashed into moments earlier) and he and Little John exchange bewildered looks. Then they see that they're headed right for a stone tower. The Sheriff is basically stuck but Little John skedaddles out of there just in time and we cut to the elephant trumpeters at the top of the tower, understandably terrified as they're about to be hit. They breathe a sigh of relief as the thing runs past them instead...and then get a hilarious Oh, Crap! look as it comes back and hits the tower anyway, with a gratuitous train whistle sound effect as it does.
- When an elephant guard sounds its trumpet, Lady Kluck squeezes that elephant's trunk. This is a recycled animation from The Jungle Book (1967).
- After Lady Kluck flattens him, Prince John yells, "Seize the fat one!" What follows is essentially Lady Kluck taking down the guards NFL-style to the tune of the USC fight song and "On Wisconsin".Lady Kluck: LONG LIVE KING RICHARD! YEA-HEA! [Little John grabs her from behind and yanks her away as a whole bunch of arrows fly in her direction]
- Drunk Sir Hiss.Prince John: Hiss! You're never around when I need you!
Sir Hiss: [from inside of the beer barrel] Coming, coming. [laughs] For I'm a jolly good fellow, for I'm a jolly good fellow. [Prince John uncorks the barrel and Sir Hiss comes out] Oh, there you are, old boy! PJ, you won't believe this, but the stork was really Robin Hood!
Prince John: Robin Hood? [Sir Hiss nods as Prince John begins to laugh, until he screams and strangles Sir Hiss, before tying him in knots on a pole] Get out of that, if you can. - "The Phony King of England":
- Midway through the song, someone sets up a booth with crude puppets of Prince John and Sir Hiss. As the verse plays out, the Sir Hiss puppet tickles the Prince John puppet with his tongue, leading to the Prince puppet hitting him. The Sir Hiss puppet retaliates by stealing the club and smacking the prince.
He sits alone on a giant throne / Pretending he's the king / A little tyke who's rather like / A puppet on a string / And he throws an angry tantrum / If he cannot have his way / And then he calls for Mom / While he's suckin' his thumb / You see, he doesn't want to play / Too late to be known as John the First / He's sure to be known as John the worst / A pox on that phony king of England! / Lay that country on me, babe!- Little John gets a last zinger in before the closing chorus, referring to the earlier "fortune-teller" scam:
A minute before he knows we're there / Ol' Rob'll snatch his underwear!- Not to mention how funny even the sheriff and Hiss think the song is and start singing it around the castle...which John does not take well.
- The skirmish between Friar Tuck and the Sheriff.
- It starts when the latter steals from the poor box.Friar Tuck: Now, just a minute, Sheriff! (stutters) That's the poor box!
Sheriff: It sure is. and I think I'll take it to poor Prince John. (laughs) Every little bit helps. - Friar Tuck doesn't take the threat of getting hanged too kindly, so he orders at the Sheriff to Get Out!. He carries this command by belly-bumping the Sheriff out of the church. Once they're outside...Friar Tuck: You want taxes!? I'LL GIVE YOU TAXES!
- Friar Tuck pokes the Sheriff's gut on the word "TAXES" with a rod. Then, he whacks the Sheriff on the head with the rod making a comical "Clang!" sound effect.
- It starts when the latter steals from the poor box.
- The gallows/early jail-break scene:
- After Nutsy tests the new gallows while the sheriff is standing right on top of the trap. After he falls down the trap door Nutsy activated, he is seen drumming his fingers while sporting an annoyed yet amused expression. His tone of voice when he says the above line shows the same emotion.
Sheriff: Criminently, now I know why your momma called ya Nutsy.- Little John is about to grab Nutsy from behind when...
Nutsy: OOOOONNNNE O'CLOCK AND ALLLLLLL IIIIIIISSSS WEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
Cue the clock chiming three times.
Sheriff: Nutsy, you better set yer brains ahead a couple o' hours...
Nutsy: Yes, sir. Uh, does that there mean addin' or subtractin'?
Sheriff: Oh, let's forget it.
Nutsy: Yes sir, Sheriff sir.
Sheriff: Nutsy, how can I sleep with you yelling, "All's well!" all the time here?- "Don't you worry, Sheriff; the safety's on Old Betsy." Cue the pinballing crossbow bolt.
- Then, when the sheriff and Trigger go out...Sheriff: Wait a minute. Is the safety on Old Betsy?
Trigger: You bet it is, Sheriff.
Sheriff: That's what I'm afraid of. You go first.
- Prince John talking in his sleep:"Robin Hood?! I'll get even. I'll... get..." *snoring* [groaning] "It's Robin Hood I.. I want..."
- Made even funnier by Robin's bemused reaction when he starts laughing hysterically in his sleep, due to Sir Hiss's tongue tickling the sole of his foot... who he then involuntarily kicks. The look Robin gave John for the strange noises he was making in his sleep prior to this can only be matched by Hiss's when he wakes up and sees John's foot nearby, post-kicking.
- After Robin gets the bag of money from under John's pillow, John starts crying like a baby and sucks his thumb, causing Sir Hiss to wake up with a hilarious look on his face. Robin gets the last money bag from beneath John's arm, which removed John's thumb from his mouth. Still sleeping, he tries to reach for his thumb. Robin takes one look at him, then gets the bag, sending the thumb right back into John's mouth.
- If you listen closely, they play a little bit of baby music during the above scene! It's hilarious!!
- The look on Sir Hiss's face when he sees Prince John wiggling his feet in his sleep like a baby. You can practically see Sir Hiss thinking "I actually serve this guy."
- At the very beginning of the climax, Prince John wakes up to Hiss holding onto Robin's rope and carrying him and his bed through his room and going off the side of his balcony window. That must have been one rude awakening.
- Then when he sees the villagers getting away with his gold, he calls upon the rhino guards to head toward the jail, only to realize he's right at the jail.Prince John: Rhinos, halt! STOP! DESIST! [rhinos crash into the gate and through the back wall with P.J. in tow]
- Then when he sees the villagers getting away with his gold, he calls upon the rhino guards to head toward the jail, only to realize he's right at the jail.
- As everyone is fleeing and the guards are closing in, both Skippy and Robin take aim with their bows and fire. An arrow catches every guard through the back of his shirt, carries them backward, and pins them to a post. Cue Skippy looking all cocky and smug, puffing his chest out, and pushing his hat down over his eye as he thinks he was responsible.
- Robin Hood and Little John bowling over Prince John's guards with barrels of wine.
- It's brief, but take a look at Robin's face when Skippy says he "could've swum twice that far." The fox is in no hurry to test that theory.
- "Your traps just never work! And now look what you've done to your mother's castle!"
- And the scene after that when Prince John screams and says, "Mommy," before he begins sucking his thumb again and then starts chasing Sir Hiss, trying to hit him with a stick that he was about to hit him with earlier before Hiss mentioned his mother.Prince John: Hold still!
Hiss: Sire, no!
Prince John: You cowardly cobra! Procrastinating python! Aggravating asp! You eel in snake's clothing!
Hiss: HELP!! He's gone stark, raving MAAAAADDDD!!!!' (echo)
- And the scene after that when Prince John screams and says, "Mommy," before he begins sucking his thumb again and then starts chasing Sir Hiss, trying to hit him with a stick that he was about to hit him with earlier before Hiss mentioned his mother.
- And right at the end, just when you think we've seen the last of ol' Betsie...
- King Richard making a joke at Robin and Marian's wedding."Friar Tuck? It would appear that I have an outlaw for an in-law."
