10 Movie Characters You Won't Believe Were Nearly Killed Off

7. Chief - The Fox And Hound

The Fox And The Hound may be the weakest animated feature to ever come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released at the height of the studio's dark age, it feels like the first draft of a movie. The story beats are contrived (an old lady caring for a fox, really), the songs are totally forgettable and few of the jokes actually hit. It even baulks at that age old Disney trope of murdering a hero. In the narrative structure of the film hound Copper turns against fox Tod not because of natural urges, but because Tod is responsible for injuring Copper's mentor Chief. Fair enough, but it really feels like the motivation should have been the old dog's death. It's not like there wasn't the opportunity; Chief is knocked by a speeding train off a bridge onto the rocks below, but comes out with only a broken leg. Well that was the original plan; in both the novel on which the film's based and early on in production Chief was going to die, but an all too unadventurous Disney felt it might be too much for young kids in the audience, so they reined themselves in. That logic would be understandable if this wasn't a studio known for habitually bumping off parental figures. Thankfully just over ten years later Disney got over their fear of murder; Mufasa's death in The Lion King is so traumatic it rivals the killing of Bambi's mother.