Some movies are completely different from what you remember, but just as good in completely different ways. For example, The Fox and the Hound.
The Fox and the Hound was one of my favourite childhood movies. It isn’t a movie that I remember watching regularly, but it is one that stuck with me long after the last time I recall having seen it.
It’s about two young animals who didn’t realise that they shouldn’t be friends, but whose friendship went far beyond what should have been possible. For a lonely little girl, the story became a beacon of hope. But even lonely children grow up, and forget about those stories… until they find a DVD on a shelf in a library, and the emotional memories come flooding back.
But as much as I remembered the emotions that the movie evoked, I found that I remembered very little of the plot, characters, scenes, etc. Even the music, which is often the first memory that returns, was unfamiliar. What it meant, however, was that I had the opportunity to rewatch the movie for the “first” time. Maybe it wasn’t the most effective method of comparing childhood memories to adult ones, but maybe some movies don’t need the differentiation.
As I’ve said, I don’t remember any of the details from when I watched The Fox and the Hound as a child. What stuck with me was the feeling of hope. And watching it through an adult’s eyes, the movie is a lot sadder than I remember, or maybe just sadder than I understood at the time. But it’s still a film that leaves me feeling hopeful.
If the friendship between two natural enemies can survive, maybe there’s hope for all of us. Or maybe knowing that there are possibilities is enough.
