The first of the Disney “classics” to improve the Xerography process considerably. While its xeroxed predecessors had a much sketchier look and used a black toner, this movie used a medium-gray toner for a softer-looking “line” (the cel artists added some color inks, too, but xerography handled most of the inking). The Rescuers was also the first one where purple outlines (for Miss Bianca) was used (color-xerography). Later other colors were developed.
Fans of Walt Disney animation, and animation in general, have often mistakenly referred to the sometimes “sketchy” style in this film, as well as in others such as The Sword in the Stone (1963) and The AristoCats (1970) as “lazy” and budget-cut. In fact, the veteran animators working on these films, particularly Milt Kahl, strongly objected to their drawings being altered in any way and demanded that they should appear on the film’s animation cels exactly as they had been drawn.
