Robin Hood Retrospective
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VOICE OVER: WatchMojo.com
It is the tale of a band of thieves and their iconic leader who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. While originally a staple of medieval English folklore, literature and theater; the legendary story became widely popular in 1922 when it first received the Hollywood treatment. Since then there have been hundreds of television and film version and parodies of the tale about the heroic outlaw Robin Hood, a highly skilled archer and swordsman, and his band of Merry Men. In this video, http://www.WatchMojo.com takes a look back at the memorable portrayals of Robin Hood in film and television.
He takes from the rich, and gives to the…well, you know…. Welcome to Watchmojo.com and today we’re taking a look at the most popular depictions of Sherwood Forest’s tight-wearing vigilante in Film and Television.
Though originally a staple of literature and theatre, the iconic hero popularized himself in film in 1922.
Though not the first film based on the classic tale, the feature titled “Douglass Fairbanks in Robin Hood” received unprecedented attention due to its high-profile Hollywood treatment. Aside from being the most expensive silent-film of its day, it introduced several of the signature elements of the series that would be included for years to come.
Yet, despite setting the foundation for the thieving crusader’s leap onto the silver screen, the swashbuckler “The Adventures of Robin Hood” astonished audiences by delivering a Technicolor extravaganza in 1938. Not only did it captivate moviegoers with its use of sound and color, but it quickly became considered the definitive Robin Hood depiction of all-time. This has been attributed to the 11 Academy Awards it won upon release, and for being classified as culturally and historically significant by the Library of Congress.
Following its release, there was an explosion of uninspired takes on the timeless hero in until the Canadian animated series “Rocket Robin Hood” debuted in 1966 to merge the medieval themes of old with the era’s cultural fascination with space travel. Set in the year 3000 on the Sherwood Forest asteroid, it depicted the series villain Prince John as the corrupt head of ‘N.O.T.T’, ‘The National Outer-Space Terrestrial Territories.’
As wacky as it was, Disney Pictures would go on to unveil its own bizarre spin on the character several years later with their hand drawn musical that represented the characters as various anthropomorphic animals. As such, Robin and Maid Marian appeared as foxes, little John became a bear, and Prince John was shown as a cowardly thumb-sucking lion.
Following the features’ success, Robin hood would only achieve unprecedented widespread attention again in 1991 when played by Kevin Costner in “Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves.” Not only did it give the story a dramatic tone, but became the most reputable take on the character for the following two decades.
In fact, the film was so influential when it released that an entire episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation quickly transported its crew to Sherwood Forest, and placed Patrick Stewart in the iconic role of Robin of Loxsley.
Shortly afterward, Mel Brooks released the wildly popular and incredibly hilarious comedy spoof “Robin Hood: Men In Tights”, starring Carrey Elwes, and an all-star cast including Patrick Stewart in a special cameo as King Richard.
And in the following years, the character would continue to be parodied, such as in the 2003 drama film “Robin’s Hood”. A modern-day take on the story, in which a female social worker becomes a thief in order to help the underprivileged.
Yet, it was only in 2010 when Ridley Scott would return mainstream attention to the character by placing Russell Crowe in the role of “Robin Hood.” The film is notable for its serious take on the character, and focus on portraying the subject matter in an extremely gritty and mature manner.
