1929-30: The Tale of the Fox

Introduction

So, there are two version of this film that I will talk about. While, they have pretty much the same story, it is important that you know about the differences between the two. The first one that I will talk about is the German version since that it the one I actually watched.

I think I should mention the fact that while I am counting this as the 1929-30 movie since it was completed in 1930, it was actually released in 1937 (German) and 1941 (French). It was originally, a French film.

I should also point out while this does have German/French speaking parts, I will not attempt to translate them like the last one, so I will be using only the English subtitles. I will translate the titles, though.

Synopsis

While the captions say that the English versions of the German title is, "Reineke the Fox", the translated version makes it "Reineke Fox". Anyway, the opening titles happen overlayed on a book. After they are done, A few animals appear at the top of the book. A voice says, "Silence! Hell's bells!" A fist appears and pushes the animals back into the book. The man whom the fist belongs to says, "What a hell of a row! What shameful behavior!" A small monkey walks in front of the book. The man continues saying, "This place is not a zoo! You are not at the zoo! You stand before a Court of Law" and should be ashamed with yourselves. I won't have you barking while the Court proceeds." He then talks to the audience saying, "I first have to introduce you individually." The book opens and the monkey is pushed away. The first character is Master Raven. Next is Lady Hen and Sir Cock. Next is Good Master Lampe, who is a rabbit. The narrator says that he does not know the distressing role he will play. Next to dogs, which are supposed to be witnesses are shown. Next, is the Wolf, Old Isegrim and his wife and child. Next, is The Badger, Reineke's distant cousin and the barrister in the country in which the story takes place. Finally, Reineke the fox is shown. He is the defendant.

The story begins with Reineke watching Master Raven, who is in a tree. According to the narrator, this scene is showing his first crime. Reineke greets Master Raven, who has a piece of bread in his beak. He compliments Master Raven. Reineke then requests that Master Raven sings. He does and by doing so, drops his bread, which Reineke catches. Eventually, Master Raven notices that the bread is gone, but it is too late. Reineke is already eating the bread. The narrator says that the moral of the story is that you should not sing with your mouth full. 

We are then introduced to the Royal Court. First, the Leopard, who is the High Chancellor of War. Next, the Donkey, who wears glasses and is the Royal Scribe. Next, the Bear, Master Brown. He is the Chamberlain. Next, the Lynx, who is the Executioner. Next is the queen, Lioness, who is King Lion's wife. She is shown knitting. However, Cat grabs her attention. Cat starts to play his lute. Cat starts singing. In song, he compliments Lioness. Cat then reveals that Cat is in love with her. Cat continues to serenade Lioness.

Elsewhere, we are introduced to King Lion. The story then really begins. King Lion calls for his scribe. King Lion says that he is sick of his kingdom harming each other. He then says that he is enacting a law that says that all animals must love each other. He then says that the law should be posted throughout the kingdom. 

Later, the Old Wolf does not like the message. Although, he tries to eat a flower, but it doesn't taste good, so he spits it out. Elsewhere, the Leveret, a rabbit, is happy with the proclamation and puts flowers around it. He then kneels and thanks God. Elsewhere, Reineke does not like the proclamation, so he rips it off where it was posted and runs away with it. 

Meanwhile, at a nearby town, the Dogs are guarding it. However, they are also playing a dice game. The two Dogs see something and it worries them. The spyhole is opened and a hand puts the proclamation up. 

Elsewhere, Reineke shows Lord Cock the proclamation. He reads it twice. The birds start to dance. Reineke notices Mummy (mommy) Hen. Reineke asks her to dance. She accepts and the two dance until she passes out. Reineke takes the opportunity to kidnap her. Lord Cock notices. The Dogs chase after Reineke. However, they could not catch him.

Back at the castle, complaints start piling up. They all seem to be about Reineke. Donkey, who has his arms full of complaint is asked, by King Lion, to read Sir Isegrim's complaint. Donkey lets go of the other complaints and takes Sir Isegrim's. 

Donkey then tells the tale of how in the winter, Sir Isegrim's wife complained and hit him with her broom, telling him that he needs to get food for his family. He then wonders off and finds Reineke cooking some fish. Sir Isegrim asks Reineke if he can have any, but Reineke says that the fish is too rotten, but he says that he will show him a place where he can get more fish. The two go to an ice fishing hole, where Reineke shows the Sir Isegrim how to fish with his tail. Sir Isegrim puts his tail in the water and daydreams about the fish that he will be given. However, the hole freezes, making his tail get stuck. Meanwhile, Reineke wakes up human farmers. They start to chase him. Sir Isegrim notices that his tail is stuck. While he tries to escape, Reineke runs back to the pond. Reineke hides in the snow near the pond. A farmer soon arrives. He tries to look for Reineke, but Reineke pops up and trips the farmer. He lands next to Sir Isegrim. The farmer starts hitting Sir Isegrim. Soon, Reineke does what he did to the farmer to another farmer. The second farmer starts to hit Sir Isegrim. One more farmer joins them. Sir Isegrim manages to escape, but it loses his tail in the process. 

Badger spins a different tale. He tells the tale of how Reineke left his cubs and wife behind to look for food. He searched for hours. Eventually, he spotted a fisherman with a carriage. Reineke played dead in the path of the fisherman. He notices Reineke and stops. The fisherman believes that he is dead and puts him in the carriage. In the carriage, Reineke started throwing the fish out as a path back to his home. However, Sir Isegrim starts eating the fish. He then stops when he eats the biggest fish.

King Lion is already thinking about his final judgment when Leopard shows another complaint. He says that the Lampe Family was praising God with a canticle. Reineke shows up, pretending to be a monk, and joins the choir. He takes control of the hymn. A rabbit shows up at the door. the rabbit and Reineke start singing. He then takes the neck of the rabbit. Leopard is watching this happen. The Leveret, which was the rabbit, was scared to death. Reineke stops when he notices Leopard. The Leveret ends up with the hymn paper in his mouth.

Leopard says that if he had not seen the crime, Master Hare would not be around. King Lion asks Master Hare if this is true. Stuttering, Master Hare says that it is. Badger interjects. He says that Master Hare is lying and that Leopard is wrong.

Badger then spins the tale of how Reineke was praying when he notices Master Hare playing around. Master Hare, who is playing bells walks up and Reineke keeps repeating, "O filius meus!", which means, "Oh, my son!" and tells Master Hare to stop ringing the bells. He then punishes Master Hare. Unlike the first story, which showed Reineke only doing good, this one shows him in a much less good light.

For some reason, Master Hare rips his complaint. He then faints after King Lion questions him. King Lion makes his decision. He says that Reineke is cleared of his charges. A few seconds later, chickens come in with the body of the deceased Mummy Chicken. It is revealed that she is just bones and a few feathers. While Lord Cock tells King Lion about the story of Reineke coming to the town and kidnapping his wife, Cat offers Queen Lioness some hors d'oeuvres, which are roasted chicks. Badger tries to defend Reineke, but King Lion stops him. Badger wants to continue, but Lynx ties some rope around Badger's mouth. Lynx takes Badger away. Master Hare is then trying to put his complaint back together. King Lion orders Master Brown to go to Reineke's house and bring him to the castle, dead or alive.

At Reineke's house, they are peaceful. One of his cubs, Gnat (we learn that later), is sleeping, but wakes up. Reineke's wife tries to bottle feed, but the baby wants her breast milk. The scene then shows her doing so.

Outside, Reineke's other two kids act out the apple scene from William Tell. A rabbit is put in place of Tell's child. The cubs shoot all around, but mostly miss, which scares the rabbit. Eventually, they stop because they see Master Brown. They shoot arrows at his butt, but he keeps going. Reineke's cubs tell their father about Master Brown. They quickly make Reineke look like he is alone in bed with an injury. Master Brown arrives. He shows Reineke the order to bring him back, but notices honey combs. Reineke says that if Master Brown wants more honey, he can give him some.

The next scene shows the two at a tree trunk. Reineke says that if Master Brown wants some honey, he will have to put his mouth in there and search for it. Reineke his Master Brown with a hammer and his is stuck. Reineke then goes to the farmers and tells them about Master Brown. They start hitting him. Master Bear manages to escape.

Back at the castle, King Lion and Queen Lioness are eating dinner. Master Brown shows up. He is bleeding, complaining, wailing, and crying. The King swings a bone and breaks the table. Queen Lioness is distracted with the Cat. She has a mouse on a string. He catches it. He then takes out a piece of paper, studies it, puts it away, and then starts playing his loot and singing. King Lion does not like this singing. King Lion notices Cat and tells him to come to him. He orders Cat to bring Reineke to him.

At Reineke's house, he is skinning a rabbit, likely the one from the arrow scene, who is still alive. Cat approaches. One of the cubs warns of Cat's arrival. The family quickly changes the room to show Reineke playing the harp with flowers on his head and around the room. Above there is a mouse, who is tied to a cage. The mouse is forced to play along. Cat loves the music that he hears coming from Reineke. When Cat shows up, Reineke and the mouse sing a song about a cat and a mouse. Reineke says that there are mice at Mouse Castle, which seems more like a bar than a castle. Inside Mouse Castle, there is a female mouse is on a trapeze, a band, and a female stripper mouse. Cat says that he wants to go there.

Reineke takes Cat to Mouse Castle. Cat enters and is greeted to a beating by lots of mice.

Back at King Lion's castle, Cat shows up. He is mangled, crippled, and half-blind. Cat reports what Reineke has done, while Queen Lioness begins to laugh. King Lion yells that he wants Reineke brought to him. The scene ends with a look back at the storybook and the narrator says, "To hang a thief, you have to catch him first.

There is a 25 second intermission before Act 2 starts. What's that? You didn't know there was a second act? Yeah, neither did I before watching this. They don't indicate that the first part is Act 1 at all.

Act 2 begins with the storybook again. The narrator recaps the first act. The narrator and the monkey are then shown next to a projector. The monkey then starts the projector.

King Lion orders Badger to bring Reineke to the court. At Reineke's house, the Badger attempts to convince Reineke to do so. Reineke says that he will because he does not think he is as bad as everyone is saying he is.

Reineke goes to the castle. Here, he is greeted by Donkey, who has a document that says that Reineke is to be hung.

In the next scene, Reineke is in the noose, about to be hung. He tries to think of a way out. There is a crowd of animals around the platform. A choir sings and nearby, King Lion and Queen Lioness are seated to watch the execution. Donkey says that Reineke is being hung because he is guilty of many crimes. Reineke says a poem-like final speech as crows wait to feast on his body. In the final speech, Reineke mentions a treasure that he has supposedly buried. King Lion interrupts asking about the treasure. Reineke thinks that King Lion is stupid. Reineke walks over to King Lion. Reineke says that Bear, who supposedly wants to be king, Cat, who supposedly wants to be marshell, and the Wolf, who supposedly would be the King's murderer, are conspiring against him. King Lion believes him and sends the three to the dungeon.

In the next scene, the King's staff are digging for the treasure in a desert mountain. King Lion imagines the treasure and starts digging. They do not find anything.

Meanwhile, at Reineke's house, Gnat is shown in his basket. His other two siblings are downstairs and he hears them roughhousing. The baby screams and the other two siblings hide. Gnat searches for his siblings and makes his way downstairs to pee, but is greeted by his siblings, who toss him around. Eventually, Gnat lands on one of his siblings' head and pees.

Outside, an army is waiting to take Reineke away. King Lion gives Leopard a horn that indicates when the war is over. King Lion sends Wolf to the Reineke's castle first. Wolf asks Reineke to come down. Reineke does not do that. A plank goes out and Wolf is swept into the moat. Wolf manages to escape and goes back to the King. Next, King Lion sends Master Brown. He requests that Reineke come down. Reineke does not do that. He goes downstairs and one of his older children lower the drawbridge, but starts to do it fast, which makes more planks go out, causing Master Brown to be sent into the moat. He too returns, but we do not get to know that until later. With the drawbridge lowered, the army walks across it, but it is then lowered even more and the troops on the drawbridge fall into the water. The rest of the army starts attempting to invade. The family is able to thwart the attack for a little while using tricks and contraptions, but eventually the contraptions start to fail and the army is able to enter. Meanwhile, Leopard gives Master Cock the horn. Gnat sees Master Cock and grabs a fly, which is on a hook, which is on some rope. Gnat sends down the bait and Master Cock falls for it. Gnat pulls until Master Cock is there, but loses his grip and Master Cock falls. Later, Gnat notices that Master Cock dropped the horn and blows in it, which makes the army go home and Leopard to be angry at Master Cock.

Wolf stays because he wants revenge. Reineke slips through a hole and Wolf follows. Reineke goes to a well and gets a drink of water, but accidentally falls into the well. The Wolf also sees the well and wants water, but when he is getting it, he notices Reineke inside. Reineke says that he is dead. He says that he is in paradise and says how great it is. Wolf wants to go, so he pulls Reineke out so that he can be in paradise. As Reineke leaves and old lady is about to fill a bucket when she gets scared and runs away. She comes back with a few other people to see that there is a wolf in their well. They get him out and he is beaten.

In the next scene, King Lion has arranged a duel between Wolf and Reineke because he thinks that Wolf can kill Reineke this way. The two fight, but Reineke wins. He does not kill Wolf, but leaves him wounded. King Lion then pardons Reineke because of his wit and courage. He also makes Reineke part of the council. Gnat is then shown soaking up his father's glory.

French vs. German

There are a few differences between the French and the German versions of this movie and I will explain them here. I will not do every small difference, but the major differences.

1. The name of the Movie. Translated from French, it is "The Fox's Novel", but translated from German, it is, "Reineke (the) Fox".
2. In the German version (GV), there is relative darkness before the film starts, but in the French version (FV), there is not.
3. While GV just goes straight to the storybook, FV has a scene where the Narrator and the Monkey are shown next to the projector, making the Act 2 opening make more sense in FV than GV. The opening credits in GV are overlayed on the book, but in FV, it is slides in the projector.
4. In GV, it is implied that the narrator is a live action human, but in FV, it is shown that he is puppet monkey, who looks like a judge.
5. In FV, the narrator introduces the story, but in GV, animals are shown misbehaving before the characters are introduced.
6. In FV, it is Sir Cock, but in GV, it is Master Cock.
7. In FV, he is "Poor Coward" and "Hare", but in GV, he is referred to as, "Good Master Lampe", "Master Lampre", and "Master Hare".
8. The introduction of the hare character is different. In GV, the introductions is treated like he is about to be apart of the trial, but in FV, it gives his personality.
9. In GV, they are just called, "Dogs", but in FV, they are given the names, "Renaud" and "Cerberus".
10. The dogs are referred to as just witnesses in GV, but in FV, they are sergeant majors.
11. In FV, Wolf's family is noted in the introduction, but in GV, they are not. In fact, Wolf's wife is named, "She-Wolf".
12. In GV, he is called, "Badger", but in FV, he is called, "Master Badger".
13. In GV, Badger is a distant cousin of Reineke. In FV, he is just Reynard's barrister.
14. In GV, he is called, "Reineke", but in FV, he is called, "Reynard" and "Fox".
15. Extended scene. There is a little bit more at the beginning of the Master Raven bread scene in FV than GV. This scene in FV makes him more like a hero than an anti-hero like GV makes it seem like he is.
16. In GV, it is almost exclusively narration with only a few voices used for singing. In FV, it is almost exclusively voices with only a few parts of narration for when it is necessary.
17. In FV, he sings, but in GV, he does not.
18. In FV, it cuts to Reynard during the singing, but in GV, it does not cut to Reineke.
19. In FV, the end of that scene is the narrator saying that the Raven would not be taken advantage again. In GV, it is the narrator saying the moral of the tale.
20. In FV, the next scene is Wolf's story. In GV, the next scene is introducing the characters of the royal court.
21. In GV, it is just said to be winter in Wolf's story, but in FV, it is stated to be New Years' Eve.
22. In GV, Wolf's wife tells him to get food, but in FV, She-Wolf says, "fish".
23. In GV, Wolf's children are shown in the scene, but in FV, they are not.
24. In GV, Reineke says the reason that he should not eat the fish is because they are not fresh. In FV, the reason that Wolf is stopped by Reynard is because Wolf is stealing the fish.
25. In GV, the wolf daydreams of fish, but in FV, he does not.
26. In FV, there is a close-up shot of Wolf trying to escape the ice, but in GV, there is not.
27. In GV, it shows Wolf going home and then shows the tail in the ice, but in FV, it shows the tail and then Wolf going home.
28. In FV, the home scene is longer, showing She-Wolf partially in a chest and some meat being taken from the fireplace with Reynard being shown taking the meat on the roof. It then shows him running away.
29. After the scene in the last point, FV cuts to the complaints, which are more clearly about Reynard than in GV, which made it unclear if the complaints were about Reineke or the King's proclamation.
30. In FV, the Queen is introduced using the hors d'oeuvres scene. She is mentioned to be charming, coquettish, and greedy. GV more shows these traits than tells them to the audience.
31. In FV, the hors d'oeuvres are called, "Ortolan brochettes", but in GV, they are roasted chicks.
32. In FV, the clerk reads the complaint and then accuses Wolf of making the story up. She-Wolf and the children are shown. Renaud and Cerberus are also shown. In GV, Donkey reads the story instead.
33. In FV, Master Badger tells about how good Reynard is and about his family. The movie uses the footage that was used in the German version as establishing Reineke's home when Master Bear showed up. 
34. In GV, Gnat is the runt, but in FV, he is just a new-born child.
35. In FV, it is stated that Reynard has four children in total, but in the GV, there appears to only be three.
36. In FV, Wolf is only once shown during the cart-chasing scene before he is shown with the big fish. In GV, he is shown twice.
37. In FV, when Wolf is shown with the big fish, their is a focus circle around him, but in GV, there is not.
38. In FV, it explains that Hare was drunk on wine as the reason he was acting so weird in Master Badger's version of the story. In GV, it is just that he was childish.
39. In FV, right after the decision is made, the decree is also made. In GV, the decree is right after Cat singing to the Queen scene.
40. In GV, there is an introduction to the royal court, but in FV, there is not.
41. In FV, the cat singing to the Queen scene is shown after the decree scene. In GV, it is right after the introduction to the royal court.
42. In FV of the cat singing to the Queen scene, the song comes before the knitting. In GV, it is the other way around.
43. In FV, the cat's song is longer than in GV. 
44. In FV, the proclamation shows that people who break the rules will be hanged, but in GV, it does not. (Well, it does, but it not pointed out by the captions.)
45. In FV, the rabbit is the first one to see the proclamation, but in the GV, it is Wolf.
46. In FV, there is a song scene after the rabbit reads the proclamation that is not in GV. In this scene, the pre-cat interior Mouse Castle footage is shown.
47. In FV, the next scene is Wolf's reading of the proclamation.
48. In FV, the next scene is the well scene, starting with Wolf getting a drink.
49. The "Heaven" scene is longer in FV than in GV.
50. In FV, the next scene is the Lady Hen's body being carried into the castle.
51. In FV, the next scene is the kidnapping scene, starting from when Reynard put the proclamation up near the dogs. The scene is a bit shorter than in GV.
52. In FV, he is called, "Captain Bear" and in GV, he is called, "Master Brown".
53. When the Captain Bear is coming Raynard's castle, instead of the William Tell scene and the scene that is in the French version has already shown, it goes straight to one of the older cubs telling Reynard about Captain Bear.
54. FV shows what is on the paper that the Cat takes out. GV does not.
55. Right after the cat is shown walking to Reynard's castle, one of the cubs is shown playing with a frog.
56. FV and GV have different songs when Cat comes to Reynard's castle.
57. In FV, it is called, "Mouseland", but in GV, it is called, "Mouse Castle".
58. In FV, it cuts to Cat and Reynard after the exterior pre-cat footage is shown, instead of having Cat ask to go there like in GV.
59. In FV, the Cat's beating is a lot shorter than in GV.
60. In FV, after the Cat is beaten up, it cuts to him at the castle. In GV, there is a small part showing the King and Queen alone before he shows up.
61. In FV, Lynx gets Master Badger from his prison cell. In GV, Badger is never in a cell.
62. In FV, there is no Act 2 or Intermission, which might explain why there was no "Act 1" card shown in GV.
63. In FV, Reynard says he will think about it that night and get back to Master Badger. In GV, he just says that he will go.
64. In FV, the fight, which is the ending of GV, is a dream. In the dream, Reynard is defeated, instead of being the victor in the ending of GV.
65. In FV, Reynard briefly explains the treachery before he leaves the noose. He later goes into detail like he does in GV.
66. In FV, Cat plays a different role in the conspiracy than in GV.
67. In FV, the digging scene is longer and they show that it was not the prisoners, but his staff, who does the digging. GV made this unclear.
68. In FV, the fantasy is not required for the King to start digging.
69. In FV, the extended scene allows for an explanation of why the battle starts.
70. In FV, the Gnat's pee scene is not shown, but is in GV.
71. In GV, all the soldiers fall into the moat, but in FV, one does not and is taken into the castle.
72. In FV, how Wolf falls is shown. In GV, it is not.
73. The trap scene is a bit different between the two versions. 
74. In FV, it is shown when the battering ram is introduced. In GV, it is not.
75. In FV, they say Sir Cock betrayed them, but in GV, it is just said that he ruined the plan.
76. Instead of Wolf staying behind out of revenge, the well scene happening, and the battle like in GV, the next scene is Reynard getting a seat on the council.
77. In FV, when Gnat is shown at the end, his diaper falls off and he throws it in the air saying, "That's all folks."
78. In FV, the book is closed by Reynard and the projector is shown again. The monkey stops the projector and bows. The man then takes the monkey away and puts up a sign that reads, "Fin".

Characters

Unfortunately, since the characters are so different in the two versions, I cannot really talk about them.

 The one that really remains consistent is Reynard/Reineke, who is a clever thief, who is more of an antihero than a hero.

Animation

While the animation is not the best, it is okay. I'll talk about what it reminds me of in the next section. I think the effects were well done. I really liked the special hitting effects.

Similarities

The animation is very similar to the style used in Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The trap scene reminded me of Home Alone, more so in the German version than the French Version.

Apparently, the Master Raven bread scene is a reference to a fable where the same thing happened.

Conclusion

If you like the animation of Fantastic Mr. Fox and the story I gave, then I suggest watching it, but if you really don't like that animation style, I would stay away from this one.