Rescuers Down Under doesn’t get enough credit for a lot of things, but one creative choice in particular that I think should be talked about more is the movie’s decisions to mostly have real life fauna but then also making one of the main characters a dinosaur-sized eagle and just act as if that’s a thing that already exists.
Marahute is a gift.
Wait, I thought Marahute was a Haast’s Eagle?
Ok, so, this is a Haast’s Eagle. Pretty big as far as real eagles that existed go.
This is Marahute, a MUCH larger bird.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: that’s a small boy on her back, not a grown human, so the size comparison isn’t as clear cut as you think. Which, yeah, sure, but-
That small boy is equal in size to her goddamn skull.
Even if this kid is, like, four years old and super shrimpy, that’s a HUGE ass bird.
This bird’s the size of a goddamn ceratosaurus.
Also, like, note the beautiful proportions of Marahute.
She’s not just a magnified eagle. Her wings are much longer and wider than a real eagle’s would be, her legs thicker and longer with even bigger feet, her head proportionally smaller. If you wanted to kaijufy an eagle, this is how you’d do it. They knew they weren’t making a normal eagle here - this is a monstrous, marvelous eagle of impossible size, with proportions modified to make that enormous body still plausible as a flying creature. Just a fantastical eagle monster, a divine beast.
When i was little, i was convinced real life eagles were as big as this one!
