Meet Symbols they of Innocence and Love

On Thursday night Libby and I watched The Fox and the Hound, the classic Disney film. I hadn't seen it in years and years, so i was interested to see how it would go. I didn't remember the end, really, either. Which reminds me that I am going to be spoiling said end by the end of this post, so if you haven't seen the movie and think that you'd like it better with a surprise ending, it might be a good idea to stop reading at this point. However, if there's a statute of limitations on spoilers for movies, this one certainly should be past it

The basic plot is of course that there is an orphaned fox living with an elderly woman in the country and he meets the neighbor's young hound dog: forming a friendship that both animals claim will last forever. Everyone in the audience, however, knows that this can't work: the animals are natural enemies and so I had a sad inner ache for most of the happy parts. To combat this natural sadness, the writers through in a pair of clowns in the form of a red-headed woodpecker and a house wren that are always goofing off and messing up. They are somewhat annoying

The great part of the movie is the end: where the hound is redeemed by the love of a friend who is willing to die for his friend even though his friend wishes to kill him. I thought as a movie about friendship, the ending hit the nail right on the head: "greater love has no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friend." Thus the movie is intrinsically and powerfully a Gospel story, about loving your enemies, loving your friends, and sacrificing yourself for someone who is unworthy.