In the 1981 Disney film The Fox and the Hound, Todd the Fox is voiced by Keith Coogan (Adventures in Babysitting, Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead) as a child and the legendary Mickey Rooney as an adult. As a kid, I was a big fan of The Fox and the Hound. A long time ago, in the deserts of Arizona on a family vacation, I discovered a shocking and baffling thing at a shopping mall toy store. A battery-operated barking Todd.
Before I get much further, the fox in Disney's movie is called "Tod", but this toy is "Todd" with two d's. Apparently this is a pretty common mistake, and I believe the character is called "Todd" in the original book by Daniel P. Maddix.
As much as I wanted this toy, I never got it. I also never saw it anywhere else.
Barking Todd is made by a company called iLLCO, which sounds like a parody toy company.
It would seem like Copper the Hound would have been a better fit for this particular toy technology.
To my knowledge, there was not a toy version of Copper that barked or even featured the voice of Corey Feldman or Kurt Russell.
Getting a good look at this toy out of the package, I'm kind of OK with the fact that my parents ignored my requests to buy it. The illustrations on the box seem to promise something better than what was made.
Sometimes I feel like I was meant to see some odd things when I was a kid so I could write about it here decades later. Such is the case with the Barking Todd toy from iLLCO.
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Wow, I don't remember seeing this Fox And The Hound item back in the day. In fact, I don't remember seeing that many Fox And The Hound items, period. I did pick up a couple related souvenirs at Disneyland when the movie first came out, however.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably aware of this, but there was/is a similar toy that's been around for a while of a dog that walks, barks, sits and does a back flip.
Hey TokyoMagic! I remember seeing The Fox and the Hound when it first debuted, and the only merchandise I recall seeing were books, records, and a board game. I did see Soap Figures and Plush Toys on our 1983 Walt Disney World trip. And yes, I am familiar with that toy dog that does a back flip! On the same track as the Todd the Fox toy, I think my friends' kids have a toy Cat that walks, wags its tail, and "barks" (squeaks, really---I thought it was hilarious when I saw that).
ReplyDeleteYeah, the illustrations make it look nicer than it appears to be in person. As a side note, I wonder if the kid's hair on the side of the box is real. That's the blondest blond I think I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteHey Snow White Archive! I definitely wanted this toy because of the impressive illustrations on the box. After 30 plus years, I still vividly remembered the image of Tod barking. And ever since writing this, I cannot get the "What Does The Fox Say?" song out of my head.
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