1973 animated Disney movie
"Every town / Has its ups and downs / Sometimes ups / Outnumber the downs / But not in Nottingham..."
- Several songs in Robin Hood fully land on the sobering and depressing side of Disney song canon.
- "Not in Nottingham
" is infused with hardcore hopelessness. Very surprising for a Disney canon song.I'm inclined to believe
if we weren't so down
we'd up and leave.
We'd up and fly, if we had wings for flyin'
Can't you see the tears we're cryin'?
Can there be some happiness for me?
...Not in Not-ting-ham. - Even after things get better for the people of Nottingham, being chained up like that probably left life-long scars on most of the residents.
- "Love" is sadly bittersweet at best, and existentially depressing at worst. Supposedly, Marian sings off-camera about how time flies by in one's life, how "life is brief" and then we die, but "love goes on and on" note . While beautifully sung and directednote , "Love" is a heart-breaking accompaniment to Robin and Marian's seemingly romantic moonlit stroll at the start of their new life together.Oh how fast those moments flee.
Once we watched a lazy world go by,
Now the days, seem to fly.
Life is brief, but when it's gone,
Love goes on, and on.- "Love" could reflect how Robin and Marian haven't seen each other since Marian left for London long ago, and how they wish to spend as much time together as they can, before anything bad happens to them. (They get married at the end.)
- "Not in Nottingham
- The moment when Robin is due to be executed is poignant. Marian pleads Please Spare Him, My Liege!, claiming she loves him. Prince John scoffs and asks if Robin even loves her back. It's already been established that she doesn't know, so everything hangs until Robin answers, "Marian, my darling, I love you more than life itself." Even Prince John is moved, but he still orders Robin's execution, and Marian would have seen him die if Little John hadn't intervened.
- After the "Not in Nottingham" song, we cut to the church, which is empty and desolate and looks rather run-down. Friar Tuck is ringing the bells. One of the mice remarks that they doubt anyone's coming to Sunday service. Tuck answers that he simply wants to bring some comfort with the sound of bells.
- Later, in that same scene, after Friar Tuck loses all the composure and patience he had (if there ever was any) towards Prince John or the Sheriff and starts to fight him with a stick, the latter and Trigger manage to subdue him with a shackle and a chain and place him "under arrest for high treason to the crown". Some viewers just couldn't take seeing such a lovable character falling like that into the hands of the bad guys.
- The church mice can only watch sadly as Friar Tuck gets taken away, with the Sexton comforting his wife as she cries.
- When Friar Tuck is in prison, if you look closely, you can see the words "FORGIVE THEM ALL" carved into a stone on the wall. It's subtle, but so excruciatingly painful.
- Similarity, the cell where the rest of the villagers are kept has "God forgive Prince John" carved by the door. Tearjerker combined with Heartwarming Moment, as whether or not you are religious, it shows suffering people banding together and finding comfort in their faith.
- The scene where Robin and Little John learn about Friar Tuck's impending execution can leave a lump in your throat. Robin is so shocked that he briefly drops character and almost reveals himself to the Sheriff and the vultures. After making his way back out of the gallows yard to Little John, the exchange is emotionally charged, with Little John sounding like he's struggling not to cry and Robin sounding almost stunned.John: Rob - we can't let 'em hang Friar Tuck!
Robin: A jailbreak, tonight. It's the only chance he's got.
John: A jailbreak?! There ain't no way—
Robin: We've got to, Johnny... or Friar Tuck dies at dawn.- Making it worse, this is exactly what Prince John was hoping for, and both Robin and John know it. But there's no choice at all; they either walk into a trap, or Friar Tuck is doomed. They only succeed because they snuck in and broke everyone out the night before, while Prince John was presumably thinking they'd try at the execution itself (like in Prince of Thieves). And even then, only because the people they saved could provide some extra manpower.
- Robin's Disney Death, with Little John and Skippy crying their eyes out.
- Robin torturing himself with the knowledge that he'll never be with Marian because it would be wrong to ask her to share his outlaw life.Robin: (after accidentally burning the chow) Sorry Johnny. I guess I was just thinking about Maid Marian again. I can't help it. I love her, Johnny.
Little John: Look, why don't ya stop mooning and moping around? Just-just marry the girl.
Robin: Marry her? You don't just walk up to a girl, hand her a bouquet and say, "Hey, remember me? We were kids together. Will you marry me?" No. It just isn't done that way.
Little John: Aw, come on Robbie. Climb the castle walls. Sweep her off her feet. Carry her off in style!
Robin: (sighs) It's no use, Johnny. I thought it all up. It just wouldn't work. Besides, what have I got to offer her?
Little John: Well for one thing, you can't cook.
Robin: I'm serious, Johnny. She's a highborn lady of quality.
Little John: So, she's got class. So what?
Robin: I'm an outlaw, that's what! That's no life for a lovely lady; always on the run. What kind of a future is that? - Skippy crying desolately when the tax-collecting Sheriff takes away his birthday present, a single farthing. His mother reproaches the Sheriff, pointing out that the whole family pinched and saved to give Skippy that coin, but of course the Sheriff has No Sympathy. The fact that in his response, the Sheriff calls Mother Rabbit "widder woman" also enhances the pathos, as it reminds us not only are the rabbits pitifully poor, but they've lost their father. Fortunately, Robin Hood soon arrives with more money for them and with better presents for Skippy: a bow and arrow and the hat off his own head.
