The Fox and the Hound (novel)
OCLC 2047816 | |
The Fox and the Hound is a 1967 novel written by American novelist Daniel P. Mannix and illustrated by John Schoenherr. It follows the lives of Tod, a red fox raised by a human for the first year of his life, and Copper, a half-bloodhound dog owned by a local hunter, referred to as the Master. After Tod causes the death of the man's favorite hound, man and dog relentlessly hunt the fox, against the dual backdrops of a changing human world and Tod's normal life in hunting for food, seeking a mate, and defending his territory. As preparation for writing the novel, Mannix studied foxes, both tame and wild, a wide variety of hunting techniques, and the ways hounds appear to track foxes, seeking to ensure his characters acted realistically.
The novel won the
Plot
Copper, a bloodhound crossbred, was once the favorite among his Master's pack of hunting dogs in a rural country area. However, he now feels threatened by Chief, a younger, faster Black and Tan Coonhound. Copper hates Chief, who is taking Copper's place as pack leader. During a bear hunt, Chief protects the Master when the bear turns on him, while Copper is too afraid of the bear to confront him. The Master ignores Copper to heap praise on Chief and Copper's hatred and jealousy grow.
Tod is a red fox kit, raised as a pet by one of the human hunters who killed his mother and litter mates. Tod initially enjoys his life, but when he reaches sexual maturity he returns to the wild. During his first year, he begins establishing his territory, and learns evasion techniques from being hunted by local farm dogs. One day, he comes across the Master's house and discovers that his presence sends the chained pack of dogs into a frustrated frenzy. He begins to delight in taunting them, until one day when Chief breaks his chain and chases him. The Master sees the dog escape and follows with Copper. As Chief skillfully trails the fox, Tod flees along a railroad track while a train is approaching, waiting to jump to safety until the last minute. Chief is killed by the train.
With Chief buried and Master crying over a dead dog he trains Copper to ignore all foxes except for Tod. Over the span of the two animals' lives, man and dog hunt the fox, the Master using over a dozen hunting techniques in his quest for revenge. With each hunt, both dog and fox learn new tricks and methods to outsmart each other, Tod always escaping in the end. Tod mates with an older, experienced vixen who gives birth to a litter of kits. Before they are grown, the Master finds the den and gasses the kits to death. That winter, the Master sets out
As the years pass, the rural area gives way to a more urbanized setting. New buildings and highways spring up, more housing developments are built, and the farmers are pushed out. Though much of the wildlife has left and hunting grows increasingly difficult, Tod stays because it is his home range. The other foxes that remain become unhealthy scavengers, and their natures change—life-bonds with their mates are replaced by promiscuity, couples going their separate ways once the mating act is over. The Master has lost most of his own land, and the only dog he owns now is Copper. Each winter they still hunt Tod, and in an odd way he looks forward to it as the only aspect of his old life that remains.
The Master spends most of his time drinking alcohol, and people begin trying to convince him to move into a nursing home, where no dogs are allowed. One summer, an outbreak of
One morning, after Tod's escape from the greyhounds, the Master sends Copper on the hunt. After he picks up the fox's trail, Copper relentlessly pursues him throughout the day and into the next morning. Tod finally drops dead of exhaustion, and Copper collapses on top of him, close to death himself. The Master nurses Copper back to health, and both enjoy their new popularity, but after a few months the excitement over Copper's accomplishment dies down. The Master is left alone again, and returns to drinking. He is once again asked to consider living in a nursing home, and this time he agrees. Crying, he takes his shotgun from the wall, leads Copper outside, and pets him gently before ordering him to lie down. He covers the dog's eyes as Copper licks his hand trustingly.
Development
Desiring a realistic depiction of
Mannix felt it was nearly impossible for any writer to escape imparting some anthropomorphism in such a novel, as a human must guess at the way an animal's mind may work and what motivations it may have.[1][2] He felt animals think differently from humans, though are capable of reason on a "rudimentary level compared to a human."[1] In explaining his descriptions of hunting, he said it was hard to decide how a hound with non-human scenting ability interprets and responds to scents while tracking another animal.[1][2]
The last chapter of the novel, covering Copper's last hunt of Tod, was based on the story of Boston, a fourteen-month-old bloodhound–
In 1967,
Reception
The Fox and the Hound was selected as a Reader's Digest Book Club selection in 1967 and an abridged version was printed in the fourth volume of the publisher's Condensed Books series.[5][10] The same year, it was awarded the Athenaeum Literary Award.[11][12]
The Booklist called the novel one of "the highest level of books about animals" and praised its combination of "brilliant psychology, writing of rare beauty, and little-known hunting and animal lore".[13] According to the Booklist, Publishers Weekly gave the novel its "highest recommendation" and referred to it as a "marvelous evocation of the animal world".[13] Reviewing the novel for Best Sellers magazine, William B. Hill considered it a "corking good novel", praising it for its "simplicity and straightforwardness" with the dog and fox being "real" rather than allegories for social issues. While he felt the novel was overly detailed in a few places, as a whole he considered the story "credible, almost all fascinating" and the characters entertaining.[14]
Robert Ramsey of the
Film adaptation
Along the way, the story was greatly modified to make it more suitable as a
The film premiered theatrically in the United States on July 10, 1981.[21] It was an immediate success, grossing $39,900,000 to become the 14th top film of the year.[19][23][24] It was subsequently re-released theatrically on March 25, 1988,[24] and saw its first home video release on March 1, 1994.[25]
See also
References
- ^ E.P. Dutton. pp. 252–255.
- ^ OCLC 9434129.
- ^ a b c Herb (July 1898). "Boston and Baldy" (Google Books, digitized version of compendium edition). Recreation. 9 (1). George O. Shields, American Canoe Association: 3–7.
- ISBN 978-0-7385-4834-0.
- ^ a b c d e "Dutton Animal Award Goes To Mannix Book Set for Fall". The New York Times. May 20, 1967. p. 33.
- )
- ^ The Book Buyer's Guide, Volume 70, Part 2. 1967. p. 107.
- ^ a b "Formats and Editions of The Fox and the Hound". WorldCat. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- Hoffmann und Campe. Archived from the originalon July 19, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
- ^ Christy/Life with Father/The Fox and the Hound/Nicholas and Alexandra/The Gabriel Hounds (Reader's Digest Condensed Books, Volume 4: 1967). Reader's Digest. January 1967. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
- OCLC 6365352.
- ISBN 0-395-65380-0.
- ^ ISSN 0006-7385.
- ISSN 0005-9625.
- ISSN 0008-820X.
- ^ Knight, Richard Alden (November 28, 1967). "Outdoors with Richard Alden Knight". The Progress. p. 11.
- ^ Alden Knight, Richard (November 26, 1967). "Required reading Suggested for Book on Animals". Reading Eagle. p. 62. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
- ^ "Literary Guidepost: Salute to the Cowboy". Reading Eagle. September 10, 1967. p. 58.
- ^ Disney. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- ^ Ansen, David (July 13, 1981). "Forest Friendship". Newsweek: 81.
- ^ ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
Mannix 1967 fox hound.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1981). "The Fox and the Hound". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
- ^ "1981 Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
- ^ a b "The Fox and the Hound (1981): Releases". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ASIN 6302961572.