History Trivia / TheRescuers

* BoxOfficeBomb: The second 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.
* 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''.)
** Even more bizarrely, the Italian dub of the original had Penny voiced by a young boy.
* CreatorBacklash: Animator Creator/DonBluth was said to have finally had enough of Disney repeatedly falling short of their reputation with this film and, shortly thereafter, lead an infamous mass exodus of animators to his garage-based studio. He later said that he was especially livid about the main characters' eyes not being colored in.
* 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.)
* FakeNationality: Norwegian child actor Adam Ryen was the voice of Cody in both the Norwegian and English versions.
* 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: 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'').
* 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''.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: When the opening box office weekend of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' didn't live up to expectations, studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg pulled the plug on the promotional campaign. It also didn't help that the movie competed against ''Film/HomeAlone'' (that said, Katzenberg did have a PetTheDog moment with that movie's producer over the phone, and ''Rescuers Down Under'' got better reviews than ''Home Alone'').
* ShownTheirWork: The final scene in ''Down Under''. Despite Wilbur, concentrate on the screen; the animators put the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross Constellation in the sky.
* 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)
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The first movie was originally a very different movie than what was released. It was going to be a vehicle for Louis Prima (King Louis of ''Disney/TheJungleBook''), playing Louie the Bear, and, according to the video in the link, to be about a Bear using a pair of mice to help him escape from the zoo and to save his friends at the North Pole. This version was scrapped shortly before Prima lapsed into a coma and it was {{Retool}}ed into the movie we know today.[[note]]Prima never regained consciousness from his coma, and died the year after the finished film was released.[[/note]]

** In the planning phase of ''The Rescuers'', Orville the albatross was originally a pigeon.
** 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=].
** Along with him, Creator/PaulHogan and Creator/ClintEastwood were considered to voice [=McLeech=]. If the former would have accepted it would have been an ActorAllusion to his famous character while in the latter's case, well, it would have been a massive PlayingAgainstType case.
** There were tentative plans for a third movie but they were scrapped after the death of Eva Gabor, Bianca's voice actress.
** Early drafts of the original movie involve saving a polar bear from a tyrant penguin. Not sure how the finished product would have been.

** 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.
** [[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".

** Also, before it was completely retooled, the movie's antagonist and villain was originally going to be Cruella [=DeVille=]. In fact there is a bit of a DevelopmentGag there - Madame Medusa not only drives ''very'' similarly to Cruella, but also her car looks to be inspired by it.

* Madame Medusa's swampmobile appears to be powered by a jet engine. This is evidenced by the jet engine-like rear exhaust and the distinctive jet noises the vehicle makes. However, in a later scene in the film, a normal four-stroke engine is shown to lurk under the hood at the front.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: In two frames of the movie in its theatrical release, when Bernard and Bianca are riding Orville, going down from the building they were on, one building next to them has an image of a live-action naked woman in one of the windows. Disney found this out prior to the film's initial VHS release and had the images removed. According to animator Tom Sito, on his Facebook page, the image was put in by background artist Annie Guenther.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: In two frames of the movie in its theatrical release, when Bernard and Bianca are riding Orville, going down from the building they were on, one building next to them has an image of a live-action naked woman in one of the windows. Disney found this out prior to the film's initial WaltDisneyHomeVideo/WaltDisneyClassics VHS release in 1992 and had the images removed. However, the images were accidentally reinstated in a 1999 WaltDisneyHomeVideo/WaltDisneyMasterpieceCollection VHS reissue, and Disney subsequently recalled the tapes. The re-issue (and subsequent releases) had the image cut out. According to animator Tom Sito, on his Facebook page, the image was put in by background artist Annie Guenther. He also claimed in the 2012 book "Walt's People" that the reason that the image was leaked in the 1999 VHS was due to an executive turnover inbetween releases.

* CreatorBacklash: Animator Creator/DonBluth was said to have finally had enough of Disney repeated falling short of their reputation with this film and, shortly thereafter, lead an infamous mass exodus of animators to his garage-based studio. He later said that he was especially livid about the main characters' eyes not being colored in.

* The WaltDisneyHomeVideo/WaltDisneyGoldClassicCollection DVD release of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' appears to be taken from a low-quality and degraded film print. This release shows all the characteristics of old film - dust specks, fluctuating brightness, and even the slight shifting of the image are present in this print. Ironically, ''The Rescuers Down Under'' was Disney's first film to be made entirely within a computer, and since the movie is on DVD, one would expect the full digital clarity present in most DVD movies.
* Joe Flynn died mysteriously in 1974, three years before this film was released. The voicework for the film was done around 1973.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: When the opening box office weekend of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' didn't live up to expectations, studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg pulled the plug on the promotional campaign. It also didn't help that the movie competed against ''Film/HomeAlone'' (that said, Katzenberg did have a PetTheDog moment with that movie's producer over the phone, and ''Rescuers Down Under'' got better reviews than ''Home Alone'').

* 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 ''Return Of Jafar'', and both of these were better received than the {{Sequelitis}} prone movies that followed his exit)

* BoxOfficeBomb: The second 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. [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Katzenberg promptly ended all advertising for the movie,]] [[PetTheDog but reassured the producers to try again.]] The movie fell $10 million short of its $38 million budget.

* CreatorBacklash: Animator Creator/DonBluth was said to have finally had enough of Disney repeated falling short of their reputation with this film and, shortly thereafter, lead an infamous mass exodus of animators to his [[StartMyOwn garage-based studio]]. He later said that he was especially livid about [[MinorFlawMajorBreakup the main characters' eyes not being colored in]].

* FollowTheLeader: [=McLeach=]'s role led to a further increase of the Evil Hunter archetype, such as [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]], [[Disney/{{Tarzan}} Clayton]], [[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: 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 2'' 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'').

* [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed By the Studio]]: When the opening box office weekend of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' didn't live up to expectations, studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg [[InvisibleAdvertising pulled the plug on the promotional campaign]]. It also didn't help that the movie [[OvershadowedByAwesome competed]] [[DuelingMovies against]] ''Film/HomeAlone'' (that said, Katzenberg did have a PetTheDog moment with that movie's producer over the phone, and ''RDU'' got better reviews than ''Home Alone'').

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The first movie was originally a very different movie than what was released. It was going to be a vehicle for Louis Prima (of ''Disney/TheJungleBook''), playing [[TheDanza Louie the Bear]], and, according to the video in the link, to be about a Bear using a pair of mice to help him escape from the zoo and to save his friends at the North Pole. This version was scrapped shortly before [[AuthorExistenceFailure Prima lapsed into a coma]] and it was {{Retool}}ed into the movie we know today.[[note]]Prima never regained consciousness from his coma, and died the year after the finished film was released.[[/note]]
** Also, before it was completely retooled, the movie's antagonist and villain was originally going to be Cruella [=DeVille=]. In fact there is a bit of a DevelopmentGag there - Madame Medusa not only drives ''very'' similar to Cruella, but also her car looks to be inspired by it.

* Joe Flynn died mysteriously in 1974, three years before this film was released. The voicework for the film was done around 1973.

* [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed By the Studio]]: When the opening box office weekend of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' didn't live up to expectations, studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg [[InvisibleAdvertising pulled the plug on the promotional campaign]]. It also didn't help that the movie [[OvershadowedByAwesome competed]] [[DuelingMovies against]] ''Main/HomeAlone'' (that said, Katzenberg did have a PetTheDog moment with that movie's producer over the phone, and ''RDU'' got better reviews than ''Home Alone'').

* 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 2'' 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''.)

* Joe Flynn died mysteriously in 1974, three years before this film was released. The voicework for the film was done around 1973.
----
* The 1991 [[Creator/WaltDisneyHomeVideo video release]] of ''Down Under'' starts with the 1984 white-and-red F.B.I. warnings, the 1986 Sorcerer Mickey Walt Disney Home Video logo, and then had a trailer for the Classics VHS of ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', which is followed by a gold-lettered "Feature Presentation" screen and then the 1989 WaltDisneyHomeVideo/WaltDisneyClassics logo and the 1990 Walt Disney Pictures logo. The movie became a general release until the end of The Classics due to bombing in theaters, and later printings remove ''The Jungle Book'' trailer due to it having returned to the Disney Vault; these copies only have warnings and either an off-centered 1988 Walt Disney Classics logo or the 89 logo prior to the WDP logo and the film.
* Some of Madame Medusa's animations served as inspirations for [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ursula]]'s.
* ''The Rescuers'' usually comes with a mouse-related short, usually a MickeyMouse short, for both theatrical and home releases (except for its original Classics release). ''The Rescuers Down Under'' was accompanied by ''Disney/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' in theaters for its premiere.
* On the original film's 1992 VHS, the program is the 1991 green F.B.I. warnings, a home video trailer for ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', a home video trailer for ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'', and the cursive handwriting Feature Presentation screen, which was a navy blue color instead of lilac blue. This is then followed by the distorted version of the 1992 Sorcerer Mickey Walt Disney Classics logo (the distortion was caused by a video error, but Disney wound up running with that version of jingle for the rest of the Classics line and then as part of their company theme at the turn of the century) and then the movie's Buena Vista logo, which wouldn't reappear until the later 2000's, then the film; the demo tape only has the 1988 Classics logo and a trailer for ''The Rescuers'' prior to the film, and the LaserDisc has the demo's program minus the ''Rescuers'' trailer.

** Creator/DanAykroyd, Creator/SteveMartin and Creator/JimBelushi were considered for the role of Wilbur, while Creator/MandyPatinkin was one of the original choices for [=McLeech=].
** Along with him, Creator/PaulHogam and Creator/ClintEastwood were considered to voice [=McLeech=]. If the former would have accepted it would have been an ActorAllusion to his famous character while in the latter's case, well, it would have been a massive PlayingAgainstType case.

** In the planning phase of The Rescuers, Orville the albatross was originally a pigeon.
** [[Creator/DanAykroyd Raymond Stanz]], [[Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles Neal Page]] and [[Series/AccordingToJim Jim Belushi]] were considered for the role of Wilbur, while [[Film/ThePrincessBride Inigo Montoya]] was one of the original choices for [=McLeech=].
** Along with him, [[Film/CrocodileDundee Mick "Crocodile" Dundee]] and [[Film/GranTorino Walt Kowalsky]] were considered to voice [=McLeech=]. If the former would have accepted it would have been an ActorAllusion to his famous character while in the latter's case, well, it would have been a massive PlayingAgainstType case.
** There were tentative plans for a third movie but they were scrapped after the death of Bianca's voice actress.

** Even after it was ReTooled away from being a vehicle for him, Loius Prima was still going to be in the movie with his intended character reworked. In the original draft, Bernard and Bianca were going to talk to Louis the Bear about Penny where he revealed she came to the zoo often. He also sang a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnHCbe24fjo "Peoplitis"]]. It may have been cut for time as Prima did record the song and, presumably, his lines.

*** Less a development gag and more the result of one animator's insane jealousy. Milt Kahl, one of DisneysNineOldMen, had been insanely jealous of his colleague Marc Davis's animation of Cruella and Medusa was his attempt to finally "outdo" him.

* On the original film's 1992 VHS, the program is the 1991 green F.B.I. warnings, a home video trailer for ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', a home video trailer for ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'', and the cursive handwriting Feature Presentation screen, which was a navy blue color instead of lilac blue. This is then followed by the distorted version of the 1992 Sorcerer Mickey Walt Disney Classics logo (the distortion was caused by a video error, but Disney wound up running with that version of jingle for the rest of the Classics line and then as part of their company theme at the turn of the century) and then the movie's Buena Vista logo, which wouldn't reappear until the later 2000's, then the film; the demo tape only has the 1988 Classics logo and a trailer for ''The Rescuers'' prior to the film.

* CreatorBacklash: Animator Creator/DonBluth was said to have finally had enough of Disney repeated falling short of their reputation with this film and, shortly thereafter, lead an infamous mass exodus of animators to his garage-based studio.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: In two frames of the movie in its theatrical release, when Bernard and Bianca are riding Orville, going down from the building they were on, one building next to them has an image of a live-action naked woman in one of the windows. Disney found this out prior to the film's initial Walt Disney Classics VHS release in 1992 and had the images removed. However, the images were accidentally reinstated in a 1999 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection VHS reissue, and Disney subsequently recalled the tapes. The re-issue (and subsequent releases) had the image cut out. According to animator Tom Sito, on his Facebook page, the image was put in by background artist Annie Guenther. He also claimed in the 2012 book "Walt's People" that the reason that the image was leaked in the 1999 VHS was due to an executive turnover inbetween releases.

* 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/{{Frozen}} 2'' and ''Disney/WreckItRalph 2'' are expected to have sequels that will be made by Disney Animation.) 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''.)

* {{Bowdlerization}}: In two frames of the movie in its theatrical release, when Bernard and Bianca are riding Orville, going down from the building they were on, one building next to them has an image of a live-action naked woman in one of the windows. Disney found this out prior to the film's initial VHS release in 1992 and had the images removed. However, the images were accidentally reinstated in a 1999 VHS reissue, and Disney subsequently recalled the tapes. The re-issue (and subsequent releases) had the image cut out. According to animator Tom Sito, on his Facebook page, the image was put in by background artist Annie Guenther. He also claimed in the 2012 book "Walt's People" that the reason that the image was leaked in the 1999 VHS was due to an executive turnover inbetween releases.

* The ''WaltDisneyHomeVideo/WaltDisneyGoldClassicCollection'' DVD release of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' appears to be taken from a low-quality and degraded film print. This release shows all the characteristics of old film - dust specks, fluctuating brightness, and even the slight shifting of the image are present in this print. Ironically, ''The Rescuers Down Under'' was Disney's first film to be made entirely within a computer, and since the movie is on DVD, one would expect the full digital clarity present in most DVD movies.

* The 1991 [[Creator/WaltDisneyHomeVideo video release]] of ''Down Under'' starts with the 1984 white-and-red F.B.I. warnings, the 1986 Sorcerer Mickey Walt Disney Home Video logo, and then had a trailer for the ''Classics'' VHS of ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', which is followed by a gold-lettered "Feature Presentation" screen and then the 1989 ''WaltDisneyHomeVideo/WaltDisneyClassics'' logo and the 1990 Walt Disney Pictures logo. The movie became a general release until the end of ''The Classics'' due to bombing in theaters, and later printings remove ''The Jungle Book'' trailer due to it having returned to the Disney Vault; these copies only have warnings and either an off-centered 1988 ''Walt Disney Classics'' logo or the 89 logo prior to the WDP logo and the film.

* ''The Rescuers'' usually comes with a mouse-related short, usually a MickeyMouse short, for both theatrical and home releases (except for its original ''Classics'' release). ''The Rescuers Down Under'' was accompanied by ''Disney/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' in theaters for its premiere.
* On the original film's 1992 VHS, the program is the 1991 green F.B.I. warnings, a home video trailer for ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', a home video trailer for ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'', and the cursive handwriting Feature Presentation screen, which was a navy blue color instead of lilac blue. This is then followed by the distorted version of the 1992 Sorcerer Mickey ''Walt Disney Classics'' logo (the distortion was caused by a video error, but Disney wound up running with that version of jingle for the rest of the ''Classics'' line and then as part of their company theme at the turn of the century) and then the movie's Buena Vista logo, which wouldn't reappear until the later 2000's, then the film; the demo tape only has the 1988 ''Classics'' logo and a trailer for ''The Rescuers'' prior to the film.

** [[Film/{{Ghostbusters}} Raymond Stanz]], [[Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles Neal Page]] and [[Series/AccordingToJim Jim Belushi]] were considered for the role of Wilbur, while [[Film/ThePrincessBride Inigo Montoya]] was one of the original choices for [=McLeech=].

* [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed By the Studio]]: When the opening box office weekend of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' didn't live up to expectations, studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg pulled the plug on the promotional campaign. It also didn't help that the movie [[OvershadowedByAwesome competed]] [[DuelingMovies against]] ''Main/HomeAlone'' (that said, Katzenberg did have a PetTheDog moment with that movie's producer over the phone, and ''RDU'' got better reviews than ''Home Alone'').

* The ''Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection'' DVD release of ''The Rescuers Down Under'' appears to be taken from a low-quality and degraded film print. This release shows all the characteristics of old film - dust specks, fluctuating brightness, and even the slight shifting of the image are present in this print. Ironically, ''The Rescuers Down Under'' was Disney's first film to be made entirely within a computer, and since the movie is on DVD, one would expect the full digital clarity present in most DVD movies.

* The 1991 [[Creator/WaltDisneyHomeVideo video release]] of ''Down Under'' starts with the 1984 white-and-red F.B.I. warnings, the 1986 Sorcerer Mickey Walt Disney Home Video logo, and then had a trailer for the ''Classics'' VHS of ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', which is followed by a gold-lettered "Feature Presentation" screen and then the 1989 ''Walt Disney Classics'' logo and the 1990 Walt Disney Pictures logo. The movie became a general release until the end of ''The Classics'' due to bombing in theaters, and later printings remove ''The Jungle Book'' trailer due to it having returned to the Disney Vault; these copies only have warnings and either an off-centered 1988 ''Walt Disney Classics'' logo or the 89 logo prior to the WDP logo and the film.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Anyone who watched sitcoms in the 60s will instantly recognize Bob Newhart (Bernard) and his stutter as well as Eva Gabor (Bianca, who even mispronounces "rollercoaster" the way [[Series/GreenAcres Lisa Douglas]] might). Jim Jordan, the voice of Orville, is Fibber [=McGee=] from ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly''. For ''Down Under'', you have Creator/GeorgeCScott as [=McLeach=] and Creator/JohnCandy as Wilbur.
** Mr. Snoops, in the first movie, is Joe Flynn (Capt. Binghamton from ''Series/McHalesNavy'').
** And fans of ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'' might recognize Wayne Robson (Mike, the ex-con) as Frank.
** Jake's actor, Tristan Rogers, did quite a bit of other work before and after ''Down Under'' including Robert Scorpio for ''Series/GeneralHospital'' and being a former spokesman for Outback Steakhouse.
** Eva Gabor had already played [[Disney/TheAristocats another animal of the same color (white), though from a different species]].
** Avid Disney fans will likely notice that Krebbs the Koala has the same voice as the Sultan in ''[[{{Disney/Aladdin}} Aladdin]]''.
** ''Series/HogansHeroes'' fans will say Wilbur was right to fear the doctor trying to "operate" on him. He (the doctor) was voiced by Colonel Crittendon (Bernard Fox).
*** ''Or...''' if they happen to be ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' fans, they'll recognize Bernard Fox as Samantha's quacky witch doctor, Dr. Bombay; Wilbur's fears would ''really'' be justified then!
** Penny is voiced by the same girl [[{{Film/Airplane}} who takes it black like her men.]]
** Creator/BillyBarty played the baitmouse in ''The Rescuers Down Under''.
** In the Japanese dub (both films):
*** [[Creator/YasuoYamada Bernard]] was [[Anime/LupinIII Lupin]] in the first dubbed version and the sequel. In the second one, [[YoshitoYasuhara he is]] [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Juza of the Clouds]].
*** [[Creator/NorikoOhara Bianca]] is [[Anime/{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi's first voice]] in the second dubbed version and also in the sequel.
*** [[Creator/RihokoYoshida Madame Medusa]] is [[Manga/GetterRobo Michiru Saotome]].
*** [[Creator/TesshoGenda Wilbur]] is [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Kurama]] and [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]] in the sequel.
*** [[Creator/KikukoInoue Cody's mother]] is [[Manga/AhMyGoddess Belldandy]] and [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear I-No]] in the sequel.
** In the Mexican Spanish dub (both films):
*** Bernard is Series/{{Automan}}.
*** Bianca is [[WesternAnimation/TaleSpin Rebecca Cunningham]] and [[Disney/TheJungleBook Mowgli]].

* {{Bowdlerization}}: In one frame of the movie (theatrically and on the 1992 ''Walt Disney Classic''s VHS), when Bernard and Bianca are riding Orville, going down from the building they were on, one building next to them has an image of a live-action naked woman in one of the windows. Disney found this out when the movie was released again on VHS under the ''Masterpiece Collection'' (the successor to ''The Classics'') in 1999, and recalled it. The re-issue (and subsequent releases) had the image cut out. According to animator Tom Sito, on his Facebook page, the image was put in by background artist Annie Guenther.