Reynard The Fox
Reynard at the court of King Noble, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, an illustration for Goethe's version.
Reynard is a series of stories dating back a 1000 years and is social satire, much akin to Aesop. There is more out there on the web than I will even try to present here, but the fox is a trickster, a thief, a rapist, and a survivor. Disney planned a treatment but Walt decided that Reynard was out of bounds due to his proclivities. One wonders why he ever considered Reynard at all. Robin Hood as a fox is what remains of that project. Great art as per usual.
Just where you would think Reynard would end up. Bill Peet.
These must be henchmen or some such. Reynard did not need help, not at all. Bill Peet.
Earlier in this blog I have mentioned Reynard, but today I am focusing on the Nazi and Anti-Semitic versions.
"Van den vos Reynaerde" was a version published in Holland by author Robert von Genechten in 1936. The story is of a rhinoceros who proclaims a republic and encourages the animals to mate outside their species. Hmmmm. The Nazis decided not to film it as, with Disney, they felt the fox a tad anti-hero. I am not comparing the two. Here is a fragment of the Dutch film, long believed lost.
Well, we can see where this is going. At last, the German Propaganda division decided to go with an animated version. It was never released, as by 1943 all the Jews had been deported and the war was not going very well, for them.
It is high time that this slander on Reynard's (ahem)! ...er... good name has been reversed. Fuchs Heil Reynard!
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