The Fox and the Hound

by Walt Disney Company

A young fox and a puppy form a friendship, but as they grow up, they realize that their relationship can not stay the same.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Picture Books, Animals, Dogs, Fantasy, Media Tie In

95 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Note: The decision was made to consolidate all Disney publications under the name Walt Disney Company. This profile is for Walt Disney, the characters he created, and the company he founded. Any questions, please ask in the Librarian's Group.

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.

Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong.

Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5. On December 31, 2009, Disney Company acquired the Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

--from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Alisha Brook]

It has to be my favourite childhood story of all time. (:

[Evelyn]

This was a heartwarming book about - you guessed it! A fox and a hound. They were great friends until the hound (Copper) had to go on a trip! The fox (Tod) was very lonely after he left. When Copper came back with his brother, Chief and his owner, Amos, the two were fully grown animals. However Copper had a job, which was to hunt foxes. He told Tod that they couldn’t be friends anymore and Tod was sad. Tod kept on trying to be friends until Amos tried to shoot him. One day Tod decided to follow the dogs and Amos to where they were going with his new friend, which was a fox too. Amos got caught in a bear trap and there was a bear! Copper tried to fight for his dear owner but he got knocked down. Tod couldn’t let his friendship go like that so he saved Copper, Amos and Chief. Amos got out of the trap and aimed his gun at Tod. Since Tod just saved Copper and his loved ones life, Copper defended him. Amos brought his gun down, which was the right thing to do.

[Mary L.]

I'm giving this book to a 6 year old grandson and hope that he enjoys it. As with all Disney adaptations of stories it is sweet and simple. I hope he enjoys it.

[Cristina Di Matteo]

Una storia tenera e commovente sull’amicizia. The Fox and the Hound della The Walt Disney Company racconta il legame speciale tra una volpe e un cane da caccia, destinati a essere nemici per natura. Tra gioco, crescita e separazioni difficili, la storia parla di affetto, differenze e scelte. Un racconto dolce ma anche malinconico, che resta nel cuore.

[Kryssy]

When I read the novellas in the Twisted Tale Anthology, I also watched any media associated with the original stories. In the 2025 advent calendar, I read "Best of Friends." I am using this page as overflow. Official junior novelization

Before reading, I watched the following movies:
The Fox and the Hound
The Fox and the Hound 2

Summaries to compare are below.

The Fox and the Hound
I think this is one of the most messed up disney movies i have ever seen. And then they have the nerve to put the friends forever scene over the ending. What the actual… not heartwarming at all at any point. Solely a movie for a good cry

- fox watched mom get shot
- Lady came and named him todd because he’s a toddler. She’s lonely
- Farmer guy got hound as a hunting dog
- Copper sniffs something new. Follows it to todd
- Copper gets tied up so he can’t run away
- amos (farmer guy) goes after todd but he catches up with wido (old lady). Doesn’t go well. For him
- amos and the dogs go for a long hunting trip. Big mama tells todd that copper might track him down when they get back cause that’s what he’s trained to do
- todd comes to say hi after copper gets back. But he’s fair game now… copper lets him go. Todd is sad he lost his friend
- chief chases todd onto train tracks and gets almost killed by the train. Copper thinks todd got him killed and vows to get him. It’s not like he actually died. And chief loves it inside!
- Widow brings todd out to the woods and lets him go. Pretends everything is fine on the way there but todd knows something is wrong. What’s the most heartbreaking is watching todd realize what’s happening. Why would she let him go if she’s worried about him being killed?? And the night of a rainstorm too? He literally has no outdoor skills!
- Amos and copper go onto the reserve, set traps, and chase them down. Is this legal??
- A bear comes for amos. Copper protects him. Bear comes for copper. Todd protects him. Bear comes for todd. They both fall down large waterfall
- todd is still alive but barely. Copper blocks him from being shot by amos


The Fox and the Hound 2
- copper feels like he isn’t good at anything. Maybe hunting?
- deef?? Instead of deaf
- Hunting lessons with a stuffed animals. And chief steps on tail to get copper to howl
- Go to a fair and come across a singing group
- REBA!!
- the star flips out that she’s not being bowed down to. She leaves. The group recruits copper for a show
- Dixie officially quits so copper is invited to be in the band. Todd isn’t sure. He want to keep having fun
- amos and widow both win medals in their own contests
- Dixie tricks copper into eating peanut butter before a show. Todd helps by getting him water
- Copper got so involved with the band that he missed the fireworks with todd
- todd and dixie plan to get amos to the fair to bring copper home. Todd tries to taunt chief but he’s knocked out sleeping
- Whole band broke up after a scene was made at the big performance
- Todd and copper tricked dixie and cash to get back together. Band all comes together and the grand ole opery scout heard and loved. This is why cash was so strict with the band. His dream

[MelMon Sanchez]

Put the baby to bed with a book that is also in movie form. Since the movie is one of my favorites, it was only natural that my little one would enjoy it in reading for as much as me.

[Diana]

The cutest story ever.

[Rainz ❤️rainnbooks❤️(on a break)]

Such a lovely story about friendship between a fox and the hound. Disney surely knows to create such beautiful pictures that children sit thru the whole tale. Beautiful!

[Pedro Rupin]

Busco unos 3 minutos de leer

[Kathy J.]

I read this to my daughter last night just as I have many times before. She is seven and loves it. It is the perfect story for bedtime.

[Kayleigh]

What a lovely book

[Hope]

Book at ZuZu’s house

[Cutie Patootie]

i loved it so much and i watched the movie too. it was so sad when the hound was taken away

[Brenda]

The main characters are a fox, named Tod and a Hound, named Copper, a hunting dog. Although it's strange for a hunting dog to become best friends with a fox, these two create that strong bond between them.
They both have an owner and the fox and the hound's owners don't get along that well, they get into trouble and as time passes, they get older and distance themselves from each other.
There once was a small and abandoned fox left behind a wooden fence, where a sweet and lonely widow named Tweed lives. Down that road, she had a neighbor named Amos, a grumpy man who is also a hunter, he had a few chickens and his old dog, Chief.
It took place in a calm and quiet neighborhood, surrounded by so much nature and animals in their normal life, until the fox was found by the widow Tweed in between her sheets as she was hanging up laundry outside. She then decided to name him, Tod and took him inside and took care of him. Meanwhile, her neighbor Amos had brought home a baby hound and named him, Copper. Who he will raise to be a hunting dog just like his other dog, Chief.
Widow Tweed was nice enough to take in a wild and abandoned baby fox and raised it til it was old and big enough to walk and eat on it's own. She gave him a house, food, water, love, attention and everything else he needed to stay healthy and safe. She would let him wander outside to go play with his best friend, Copper. They would always play a game of hide and seek ever since they were younger.
Meanwhile, Amos would always have his dogs tied up to their barrel houses and he was the complete opposite or the widow Tweed. He only went out to feed his dogs, give them water and took them out for hunting when it would be hunting season. He wouldn't want Tod to come near or in his property or his life would be at risk because Amos thought that Tod was chasing after his chickens to eat them, when all he wanted was to play a game of hide and seek with his pal, but Tod was curious and caused trouble.
Tod was curious and went to go see what was making that loud snoring noise, right then, Chief woke up! Chief got out of his barrel house and chased after Tod, dragging his house behind him because he was still tied up to it. Leaving a mess and scaring Amos' chickens away too.
After all the trouble Tod has caused, it settled down a bit. Tod wasn't able to go out and onto Amos' property to play with his friend Copper anymore. He had no other choice other than to stay home, plus Amos and his dogs had gone hunting for the season, so it wasn't so hard for Tod to stay out of their property and stay out of trouble.
The widow Tweed released Tod back into the forest where he belongs after all the trouble he's caused to the neighborhood. Tod had trouble finding somewhere to sleep in the forest for that rainy night, but the following day he met another beautiful female fox and she showed him around the forest, maybe after all, he would enjoy living in the forest.
As the female fox, Vixey and Tod were walking around the forest, so was Amos and Copper, setting up traps to catch Tod. But then, a huge bear loomed up before him and Amos stumbled backwards into one of his own traps! Just then the bear slapped the gun from Amos' hand. Copper tried to protect his master and he lunged at the bear, but he was knocked to the ground. Suddenly, Tod heard Copper's howl and ran to help his childhood friend, leaping onto the bear's back, biting and scratching wildly.Tod then escaped onto a log, high above a raging river, where the bear was still close behind him and made the old log break because it was too heavy for it to maintain. The log then split in half and both, Tod and the bear fell into the river down below.
As Tod struggled to shore, Amos was already aiming right at him, just when Copper jumped in front of his masters gun, defending his friend, Tod. "Come on Copper, get out of the way!", Amos' said,but Copper refused to leave and finally, the hunter lowered his gun and made their way back home. After a few steps, Copper turned around and then smiled goodbye, knowing that a fox and a hound couldn't live together but they would always be the very best of friends.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
"Darlin', forever is a long, long time, and time has a way of changing things" (from the mama-owl)
"Goodbye may seem forever, farewell is like the end..but in my heart is a memory, and there you'll always be." (Widow Tweed)
The book overall was amazing, it had many emotions going on. It went from feeling sorrow, to happy, adventurous, curious, then frightened and now sadness because they went their separate ways. So it had a little bit of all mixed emotions going on throughout the story, but in the end it was interesting, I really enjoyed it and I'd rate it a 5.

[Georgia H.]

The Fox and the Hound is one of those stories that is both sweet and heartbreaking, and revisiting it brought back a lot of childhood memories.

Tod (the fox) and Copper (the hound) become best friends when they are young, completely unaware that the world around them expects them to be enemies. As they grow older, those outside pressures—and the roles they are expected to fill—pull them apart and eventually place them on opposite sides of a conflict neither of them chose as children.

What makes the story so emotional is that their friendship never really disappears. Even after everything that happens between them, there is still a bond underneath the anger, hurt, and separation. The ending, especially, shows that friendship can survive even when circumstances make it impossible for two people to remain as close as they once were.

There is something especially bittersweet about watching two childhood friends realize that caring about each other does not necessarily mean they can return to the way things used to be. That combination of love, loss, loyalty, and growing apart gives the story much more emotional weight than I remembered.

A beautiful and deeply nostalgic story about friendship, change, and the connections that stay with us even when life pulls us in different directions.

[Karin]

We had a bunch of these when I was little. Red cassette tapes with thin books to read along. I can still hear the music and instructions of "you will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring, like this...". I'm pretty sure they just used snippets from the movies to create the books, but they were great for learning how to read.
I remember that the Fox and the Hound wasn't my favourite, but that I would still pull it out when going through all of them.

[Lori]

this was a favorite book of mine as a child. I must have worn the poor thing as much as I can remember reading it. The copy we had also had an audio tape with it which we loved.

It's about a fox and a hound who become friends. Very cute story.
It's a great book to read along with your kids and also teaches them a lesson about friendship.

[Amira]

another of my favourite favourite books. one i have read over and over again. the cartoon is one of the first feature cartoons i watched as a child. so beautiful, i can still hear the voices of tod and copper and big mama. today's cartoons are incomparable to the old treasures.

[Noah]

Run run the little fox was doing. Running away from an angry guard dog chasing her away from the farm.

This book was ok but i didnt really like. I think thats because i dont like farry tailes that much.

I would reccomend this book to people who like fairy tales.

[Chris]

I thought this Disney book was really enjoyable, really fast-paced and really well-done. It had really colorful illustrations, great characters and a really nice story. This is one of my favorite Disney books when I was a kid. I recommend this book to fans of the original Disney movie.

[Emily]

This is such a heartfelt story of friendship. Even against all odds, Todd and Copper still care for each other. The illustrations are very well-done, and the story handles all of the sad parts very well for little kids.

[Theresa]

The Fox and the Hound (Hardcover)
by Walt Disney Company
retelling of the movie with movie stills

[Jaime]

This was a sweet and simple rendition of the Disney movie. Nothing great but the two character's friendship is so touching. This is one of my son's favorite books and movies.

[Jenny U]

I love this movie! Cute book for the movie. I read it to my elementary school children at the school I work for!

[Kenneth Flores]

OPne of the best friendship stories ever!

[H. Gibson]

Chronicles of Han Storm Book Club Read (Children)

A 'golden oldie' that has a movie as a bonus! (In this case the other way around). My children love book/movie combinations the best.

[Sabien Bee]

Mein absolutes Lieblings Buch als ich klein war! (Kindergarten alter) Ich hab es immer noch und kann es nur weiter empfehlen.

[Kristen EJ Lauderdale]

This brought tears to my eyes. Just saying.

[Brandon Burrup]

This was a favorite cartoon growing up and quickly became a favorite book. One of the original books I read that was also a movie.

[Kara]

Despite circumstances, the fox and the hound develop a friendship that survives their differences. When they get lost in the woods one day, they learn that a true friend always stays by your side.