Robin Hood

 On this date in 1973, Walt Disney's "Robin Hood" was released (premiering at Radio City Music Hall in New York City).

The idea to adapt Robin Hood into an animated feature dated back to Disney's interest in the tale of Reynard the Fox during his first full-length feature production, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). The idea was repeatedly shelved until writer and production designer Ken Anderson incorporated ideas from it in a pitch of the legend of Robin Hood using anthropomorphic animals rather than humans during the production of "The Aristocats" (1970).

Originally, Friar Tuck was to be a pig, but was changed to a badger to avoid insulting religious sensibilities. The Sheriff of Nottingham was originally a goat, but was changed to a wolf as they seem better representing villains.

The famous gap on Terry-Thomas' teeth was incorporated into the design of the character he voices, Sir Hiss (it makes a handy opening for his forked tongue to dart out).

The characters of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Pat Buttram), Friar Tuck (Andy Devine), Nutsy (Ken Curtis), and Trigger (George Lindsey) were all voiced by actors known for doing westerns. This is because at one point in the production, the setting was the Old West.

A few months before release, the Disney animators needed Peter Ustinov to come back to the Disney Studios to re-record some of his lines as Prince John. The animators made phone calls to New York City, London, Paris, Vienna, and Tokyo, trying to locate Ustinov, only to discover that he was working at the NBC Studios in Burbank that week, a half-mile down the street from them.