Robin Hoodlum is a 1948 cartoon directed by John Hubley.
It is an installment of the Columbia Cartoons series The Fox and the Crow. And you guessed it, it's a Robin Hood story. In this installment Fauntleroy Fox is a jaunty Robin Hood who robs from the rich to give to the poor, then robs from the poor to give back to the rich. ("I never do anything for the middle class.") Prince John appoints Chester Crow to the post of Sheriff of Nottingham after the Sheriff gets shot up by arrows, and Chester lures Robin to the palace with an archery tournament.
First "Fox and the Crow" short made by UPA, and in fact the first ever theatrical short by UPA, which was taking over animation duties for Columbia from the defunct Screen Gems studio.
Not to be confused with the trope of the same name.
Tropes:
- Almost Dead Guy: Depending on how one interprets the former Sheriff saying "I quit" right before he collapses in front of Prince John with two arrows sticking out of his back.
- Behind a Stick: Chester, somehow managing to manipulate a suit of armor, also somehow managing to hide behind a narrow tree.
- Brits Love Tea: How do the Merry Men figure out that Robin needs rescuing? Robin would never miss tea.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: Executioners wearing hoods with their eyes visible.
- Crapsack World: A throwaway gag has a poster announcing that the reward for catching Robin Hood is "exemption from torture".
- Distressed Dude: Robin ends up tied and about to be executed.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: The Fox and Crow formula always had Chester as the smarter one who got the better of poor Fauntleroy. In this the first UPA short, the fox comes out on top. Also, the fantasy setting was new to the Fox and Crow series.
- Limited Animation: Not so much on the characters, but the backgrounds are more stylized than those of most contemporary cartoons, reminiscent of medieval illustrations.
- Power-Up Food: One sip of tea, and Robin is able to free himself from his bonds and evade the executioners' arrows.
- Stiff Upper Lip: Spoofed with the Merry Men, who act like stuffy upper-class Brits.
- Thick-Line Animation: UPA's signature style, as seen from the beginning of their theatrical shorts.
- Universal-Adaptor Cast: Fauntleroy and Chester are cast as the main characters in a Robin Hood story.
- World of Funny Animals: This is the only Fox and Crow cartoon with anthropomorphized animal characters other than Fauntleroy and Chester. Prince John is a pig, while the other incidental characters are dogs.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Lots of thee-and-thou talk from Prince John, not from the fox and crow.
