Robin Hood (TV series)/Fridge

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Legend

The Movies

Fridge Brilliance

  • In the 2010 movie king John swears on his mother's life that he will sign the charter(Magna Carta). However this oath loses a lot of its importance when you realize that King John DESPISES his mother and probably wouldn' hesitate to have her killed given the chance.
  • From the 1973 Disney film, during the lines "Reminiscin' this and that and havin' such a good time" in "Oo-De-Lally", Robin Hood and Little John are each urging the other to go first when crossing a river by log. The brilliance? In the original tale, the two meet when Little John prevents Robin Hood from using a log to cross the river; that's what they're remembering.
  • Also in the 1973 film, Prince John decided to order the execution of Friar Tuck to lure Robin out, a suggestion even Sir Hiss was horrified by. However, there is historical context to this. John and Richard's father, King Henry II, had Thomas à Becket, then Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated. Where do you think Prince John got the idea?

Fridge Horror

  • In the 1973 film, the Rabbit family scrimped and saved to give Skippy a birthday present of one farthing - the smallest denomination of currency at that point. That's like having to save up to give someone a penny nowadays. Now imagine the economic hardship that would create that kind of situation.

The Series

Fridge Brilliance

  • A minor thing with the first series episode titles: episode 1's title is the question "Will You Tolerate This?" Episode 13's title then provides the answer to that question: "A Clue: No".

Fridge Horror

  • Maid Marian's death in Robin Hood was already a punch in the guts, but the real kicker comes when you realize that she died in order to save the life of King Richard. The same King Richard who eventually gets back to England, only to bugger off to Normandy and get killed there, giving Prince John the opportunity to ascend the throne and become King. So Marian died for absolutely nothing.
    • Similarly, every adaptation of the Robin Hood legend which casts Prince John as the ultimate villain because he's "not the true king" runs into the Foregone Conclusion that he's going to end up being the true king anyway.