Hi fellow Flynnians!
Aside from being a Flynn fan, I'm also a big Disney fan (and a fan of animation in general). Yesterday I saw Disney's new (50th) animated film “Tangled”. It's a really great retelling/re-imagining of the fairytale of Rapunzel. Anyway, so what does this have to do with Errol Flynn?
Well…the main hero in the film is a guy named Flynn Rider (actual first name Eugene — note the first initial “E”). The Disney filmmakers named him after Errol, and partially modeled his character on Errol and his swashbuckling hero persona. Here's a brief description of Flynn Rider, taken from a promotional magazine for “Tangled”: “The rogue bandit Flynn Rider is daring, and has always relied on his wit, charm and good looks to get out of even the stickiest of situations.”
Also, here's a quote about the character from one reviewer of the movie: “He's named Flynn by the way, and may remind parents, or grandparents, of a similar hero, circa 1937's 'The Prince and the Pauper'.”
And, to top it off, in the film Flynn Rider tells Rapunzel that he took his name from a legendary swashbuckler by the name of Flynnigan Rider — a man who was daring, heroic, good with the ladies, rich, and could do anything and go anywhere in the world. Sound familiar? :-)
So, this is the 2nd time (if you count their animated version of Robin Hood) that Disney has created an Errol Flynn-inspired animated character. I also know of 3 other Errol-inspired animated characters: The heroic archer-poet called Bow and the hero pirate called Sea Hawk — both from the 1980's animated TV series “She-Ra: Princess of Power”, and the heroic swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep — a computer-animated character in the Disney live-action “Narnia” films.
Anyone else know of any others?
— Rachel
