Don Bluth’s The Fox’s Journey

Based on the Hungarian Novel by István Fekete.

Plot
In Winter, Eight newborn red foxes open their eyes to their parents, Kristoff and Bella, among the cubs, the parents name their son, Vic, after His paternal Grandfather. A few days after the coming of spring, Kristoff goes to find some food, at the farm. After a few minutes, Vic, who couldn’t sleep begins to worry about his dad, and goes off to look for him, at the farm. Kristoff arrives there and makes off with a chicken, unscathed. On his way home, He spots a rabbit and goes to capture it, but breaks off pursuit when a hunter enters the forest. Kristoff warns the family of the approaching hunter, and they run deeper in the forest, not realizing their son Vic is gone until they were safe. Vic returns home to find his home razed. And his family nowhere to be seen. Vic recognizes the scent and thinks a hunter killed his family. While looking for a new home, Vic encounters Karak, His uncle, Who takes him under his wing.

Karak teaches Vic on the best time to hunt, the animals in the forest, the tricks every fox should know, and most importantly, to stay away from human constructs, and the humans living there. Months passed, and Vic, a young adult is hunting for food. When He spots a crow bullying a young rabbit, Vic grabs the crow’s tail feathers, and flies off after saying He’ll get the humans to make the fox pay for his humiliation. Vic, knowing that He can’t let the crow warn the humans, goes after him, after telling the rabbit to find a hiding place. Against his better judgment, Vic enters and explores the farm, looking for the crow, but learns about the farm animals living there, then He notices a female fox in a cage. Vic tries to break open the lock, but was no use, so Vic says to the girl fox that He’ll come back, unaware that the crow is listening in, ready to make Vic’s raid His last. At a thunderous night, Vic and Karak infiltrate the farm, and with the help of an old wood wagon, Vic and Karak free the girl fox, and they escape with their lives, but the crow follows the foxes to their hiding place, and lures the hunting dogs to the fox’s burrow. The hunter uses a roll of firecrackers in hopes of scaring the foxes out of the burrow, but thanks to Vic’s observation, All three foxes escape with their lives. The girl fox, named Esther after hearing Vic’s name, asks Vic to come to the mountains in the morning for a gathering.

The next morning, The hunter, determined to kill the foxes has his friends make noise while searching the forest, killing any animal they spot. Karak, knowing that the hunters were approaching their hiding place, and the fact there was no other way, attacks the crow who led the hunters, killing him, and leading the hunters away so Vic and Esther can get away, resulting in Karak getting shot in the leg, and falling in the pond. At night, Vic and the Esther come to pond to find Karak, injured. Vic tries to carry Karak to his home, but Esther says that Karak will die soon. Vic, refusing to accept it, continues on, but Karak says, “Vic, It’s alright. You did enough. My one regret was that I didn’t fulfill my promise sooner...” seeing that Vuk won’t abandon Karak, Esther helps bring Karak to a cave, and awaiting them, are a group of foxes. Esther announces to the foxes that Vic is alive and well, revealing that Esther and the other foxes are Vic’s family. Vic’s parents don’t recognize Vic, until Bella recognizes His son’s eyes. Hours later, after Vic explains his adventures to His family, Kristoff tells his son that he doesn’t have an uncle named Karak, who wakes up, and is asked by Vic on why he lied. Karak explained that a few years ago, He once had a family of his own, but they leave Him, when Karak refused to leave the forest, where He was born. Days later, His home was razed, and a human construct was being built, leaving Karak homeless. Karak also explained that He had no one to turn to or trust until He found Vic. Karak leaves the cave, ashamed of lying to Vic, Whom knowing that the humans have gone too far, decides to take matters into his own paws.

At Autumn, Vic and Esther sneak in the human’s farm, and capture as many farm animals as possible, while confounding the farmer’s many dogs. In another part of the forest, Karak encounters his former mate Nora and their grown children. With some encouragement from His cubs, Karak goes to the farm to settle things with the farmer. The timing was perfect, during the chaos at the farm, a policeman comes by and notices the dogs running around, Karak spots a barrel ring and has Vic wear it like a collar, to fool the policeman to arrest the hunter for illegally keeping a wild animal. After the policeman takes the hunter away, and the dogs taken to shelters, Vuk burns the construct by tossing a lantern at a shed, containing gasoline, through the night. As Vuk, His family, and Karak watch from far away. At winter, Vuk and His mate, (a friend of Esther’s) finish their story as they promise to their 13 cubs. That they’ll meet Karak’s family once the snow melts.